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Why These 10 Venture Capitalists Are Investing in Visual Technologies

analytic, AR, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented reality, computational imaging, computer vision, Content Recognition, Facial recognition, finance, Funding, imaging, interview, investment, LDV Summit, PhotoTech, technology, visual recognition May 13, 2019 Evan Nisselson Leave a comment

Investors from Union Square Ventures, Spark Capital, Lux Capital, Glasswing Ventures, Imagination Capital, B Capital Group, FirstMark Capital, True Ventures, Eniac and we at LDV Capital share insights. Visual technologies were once considered cute, niche & science fiction. With more visual technology companies like Pinterest and Zoom going public, the world is starting to see the impact that visual technologies will have on our everyday lives. Large acquisitions of visual technology companies range from GM acquiring Cruise for more than $1 Billion, Intel’s acquisition of Mobileye…

Photo storage: Shoebox – the end of an era ?

Adobe, content, google, Interface, Marketplace, mobile, photo organizing, photo sharing, UGC, Visual 1st May 1, 2019 Hans Hartman Leave a comment

Last week Shoebox announced it’s closing its door on May 22nd, signifying the end of an era when one innovative cloud-based photo management/synching solution after another came to market in the 2010-2015 timeframe. Founded in 2012, Shoebox has always stood out to me for its novel interface, which enabled users to search for photos by leveraging the photo’s metadata in innovative ways. For instance, you could filter your photo collection by the camera model you used, your location, time of the week, year and month, or season. MyShoebox even…

LDV Vision Summit 2019: 10 Questions to a founder : Forma Technologies

AR, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented reality, computational imaging, computer vision, Content Recognition, depth imaging, e-commerce, Interface, interview, LDV Summit, Marketplace, PhotoTech, technology, transaction April 26, 2019 Paul Melcher Leave a comment

The LDV Vision Summit, with its mixture of passionate visual tech entrepreneurs, scientists, researchers, professors, journalists, and investors is right around the corner (May22-23). As a sneak peek and respecting our now well-established tradition, we touched base with some of the scheduled speakers. The biggest challenge for online clothing retailers is not letting customers try before they buy. Not anymore, if Forma Technologies has its say… Benjamin Chiang, CEO, and co-founder agreed to sit down and tell us more about his company: – A little about you,…

Visenze : Visual search 4 years later

Brands, computer vision, content, Content Recognition, e-commerce, Facial recognition, Funding, interview, Marketplace, PhotoTech, transaction, visual recognition February 27, 2019 Paul Melcher Leave a comment

In 2015, we interviewed the CEO of then little known visual search company Visenze. Four years later, after raising $20 million in a series C and announcing a deal with Samsung, we caught with Oliver Tan to see how things have changed for his company, the technology involved, the marketplace and more Last time we talked, in 2015, ViSenze was just starting. Four years later and you are now on your Series C, with about 80 employees worldwide. How would you describe the last four…

5G is upon us. What now?

AR, Augmented reality, computational imaging, computer vision, content, depth imaging, imaging, mobile, photo organizing, PhotoTech, prosumer, Social Media, UGC, video, Visual 1st, VR January 23, 2019 Hans Hartman Leave a comment

If CES was any indication, 5G is supposed to change the world as we know it. And after all the noise we’ll no doubt hear next month at Mobile World Congress, even my 96-year-old mother-in-law will demand 5G on her phone. Before we look into how 5G might impact the world of consumer imaging, let’s first explore what it is and review the most discussed use cases in the consumer tech world at large. In simple terms, 5G is a cellular communications protocol that uses higher radio frequencies…

What to expect in 2019 (and beyond)

3D, advertising, Artificial Intelligence, Brands, computational imaging, computer vision, content, Content Recognition, e-commerce, Emotion analysis, Facebook, Facial recognition, google, imaging, in-image, Instagram, mobile, Pinterest, Snapchat, Social Media, Twitter, video, visual recognition December 26, 2018 Paul Melcher Leave a comment

As the year comes to a close, it is an excellent time to review the emerging visual tech trends ( and failures) and predict those that will have a significant impact in 2019 and beyond. Without further notice and in no particular order, here they are: Eyes in your house : There is a race, right now, to get cameras in your homes. Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant voice search are getting eyes, to serve you better. As they insert more deeply into our lives, they…

The six consumer imaging trends that stood out in 2018

Artificial Intelligence, computational imaging, content, editing, imaging, mobile, photo organizing, photo sharing, PhotoTech, Snapchat, technology, Visual 1st December 19, 2018 Hans Hartman 1 Comment

I’m a sucker for year-in-reviews, especially if they’re about soccer or speedskating (yes, really). So, with things slowing down before the holidays and a soon forthcoming CES that will bring us right back to the future, here are the six consumer imaging trends that I feel stood out this year. 1. AI is becoming ubiquitous. AI has moved way beyond its initial imaging use case of classifying objects portrayed in photos (“show me all photos with a cat in it”). For each of the phases of the…

Google, Images and rights

content, google, in-image, keyword, mobile, photo organizing, Search, Social Media, visual recognition October 16, 2018 Paul Melcher 1 Comment

Ever since its inception, in 2001, Google Image Search did not show much love to those who create photographs. In fact, when subsequently sued for recreating and publishing thumbnails of images on its result page, it fought back and won. A victory that forever helped devalue pictures thereafter. A reversal of policy Google considered photos as freely available assets to classify and display and by result, helped comfort this illusion to its users. They hugely benefited from the complete absence of a central organization (unlike the music, TV…

New study analyzes what’s driving the explosion in user-generated videos and hybrid photo-videos

imaging, mobile, Mobile Photo Connect, phablet, photo organizing, photo sharing, prosumer, Social Media, study, tablet, technology, video September 5, 2018 Paul Melcher Leave a comment

Videos and phodeos surge into the Mainstream Consumer video sure ain’t what it used to be. The category now includes numerous variations, ranging from full-length to short-form narratives, plus what could be called “phodeos”: hybrids of photos and videos such as Boomerang clips, Instagram Stories, and even the (now venerable) GIF animations. Due in large part to these new options that free consumers from the “one (huge) size fits all” straightjacket of the past, motion imaging is more popular now than ever. Are we witnessing a bubble? Or…

Pursuing low hanging fruit or the long tail?

computer vision, content, editing, imaging, mobile, Mobile Photo Connect, photo merchandise, prosumer, Social Media, technology, Visual 1st August 29, 2018 Hans Hartman Leave a comment

The proliferation of cameras, visual formats, and monetization methods are transforming the consumer imaging industry It’s not really new: consumers want – and are getting – more and more finite choices for buying exactly the types of products they need. Specialty retail stores are making a comeback, SMBs with niche products can now easily get nationwide (and to some extent overseas) distribution through Amazon, and big brand vendors keep adding collections of boutique brands that address specific use cases and consumer segments. What is new…