Himax Technologies has made a strategic investment in Obsidian Sensors, a thermal imaging sensor maker based in San Diego, according to the Taiwan-based IC design house.
Himax's strategic investment in Obsidian Sensors, as the lead investor in Obsidian's convertible note financing, was driven by the potential for the US company's proprietary and revolutionary high-resolution thermal sensors to dominate the industry through low-cost, high-volume production capabilities. The size of the investment was not disclosed.
In addition to an ongoing engineering collaboration in which Obsidian uses Himax's IC design resources and know-how, the two companies intend to combine Himax's WiseEye ultralow power AI processors with Obsidian's high-resolution thermal imaging to develop an advanced thermal vision solution. This will supplement Himax's existing AI capabilities and ecosystem support, improving detection in difficult conditions while increasing accuracy and reliability, opening the door to a wide range of applications such as industrial, automotive safety and autonomy, and security systems.
Obsidian's proprietary thermal imaging camera solutions have already sparked interest in the industry, with notable existing investors including Qualcomm Ventures, Hyundai, Hyundai Mobis, SK Walden, and Innolux.
"We are pleased to begin our strategic partnership with Himax through this funding round and look forward to a fruitful collaboration to potentially merge our market-leading thermal imaging sensor and camera technologies with Himax's advanced ultralow power WiseEye endpoint AI, leveraging each other's domain expertise," John Hong, CEO of Obsidian Sensors. "Furthermore, progress has been made in the engineering projects for mixed-signal integrated circuits, leveraging Himax's decades of experience in image processing. Given our disruptive cost and scale advantage, this partnership will enable us to better cater to the needs of the rapidly growing thermal imaging market."
Thermal imaging sensors are extremely adaptable, able to detect heat variations in full darkness, measure temperature, and identify distant objects. They are ideal for a variety of surveillance applications, particularly in hazardous and life-saving situations.
Obsidian is transforming the thermal imaging business by developing high-resolution thermal sensors using its proprietary Large Area MEMS Platform (LAMP), which allows for low-cost production in large volumes. Obsidian, with large glass substrates capable of producing sensors with superior resolution (VGA or higher) at volumes exceeding 100 million units per year, is poised to drive mass market adoption of this unrivaled technology in industries such as automotive, security, surveillance, and drones.
"We see great potential in Obsidian Sensors' revolutionary high-resolution thermal imaging sensor. Himax's strategic investment in Obsidian further enhances our portfolio and expands our technology reach to cover thermal sensing which represents a great compliment to our WiseEye technology," said Himax president and CEO Jordan Wu. "Further, we see the tremendous potential of Obsidian's technology in the automotive sector where Himax already holds a dominant position in display semiconductors. We also anticipate additional synergies through the expansion of our partnership with our combined strength and respective expertise driving future success."
