MARCH 27--Empress Software (Markham, ON, Canada; www.empress.com), developer of the Empress embedded real-time database software, has teamed with the Laboratory for Active and Attentive Vision, part of the Center for Vision Research at York University (Toronto, ON, Canada; cvr.yorku.ca), to embed the software into facial-recognition systems, robotic devices, and systems for space exploration. Empress is a database engine designed for embedded systems operating on UNIX, Linux, and Windows operating systems. "Any kind of complex application can use a database-management system, and the possibilities of using Empress in the field of computer vision are many," says John K. Tsotsos, director of the Center for Vision Research at York.
The Laboratory for Active and Attentive Vision is currently involved in applications involving computer vision and artificial intelligence, including the development of vision-based robotic aids for people with disabilities. The Playbot, for example, is a motorized wheelchair guided by human and robot vision. This teams the user's visual systems with the robot's visual system to form a closed loop system. Empress is used to store a library of user commands, behavior and visual signals for motion interaction with the user and robot.
"We were fortunate in having the Innovation Synergy Centre in Markham (ISCM; Markam, ON, Canada; www.iscm.ca) perform the initial matchmaking with York University," comments John Kornatowski, president of Empress Software. ISCM assists companies in both the domestic and international market. The ISCM links advisors, government programs, and resources with York University, Seneca College (Toronto, ON, Canada; www.seneca.on.ca) and industry associations.
