DECEMBER 20--JAI (www.jai.com) has acquired 35% of the shares in the Japanese technology-development company Micro Vision Co. Ltd. Micro Vision specializes in the development of software and hardware for high-speed digital serial transmission systems, image processing, and motor control. Furthermore, Micro Vision specializes in DSP and FPGA programming, writing device drivers and designing analog and digital circuits.
"By investing in Micro Vision, JAI will have direct access to the company's unique skills, providing leading-edge technology for the coming generations of JAI cameras. This plays an important part in maintaining JAI's position on the market," says Jørgen Andersen, founder, CEO, and president of JAI.
Micro Vision will continue to operate as an independent company, but under the close supervision of Takami Hasegawa, the president of JAI's Japanese organization (JAI Corporation).
Micro Vision Co. Ltd. is located in the Niigata prefecture. It was founded in 1996 by Noriaki Kaneda, a graduate from Toyama University. Micro Vision provides vision and automation solutions, which are used in such diverse industries as mobile phone manufacturing, automotive industry, and general factory automation.
Group JAI was established in 1963 in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has subsidiaries in Japan, USA, Germany, and UK. The JAI Group has annual sales of more than USD 55 million and employs 260 employees worldwide. At the end of April 2003, JAI A·S announced the purchase of PULNiX America Inc. Now named JAI PULNiX Inc., the company will continue to provide world-class video products and technology to its existing customers while taking advantage of the JAI Group's technological, production, customer service, and marketing capabilities to serve new markets.