Seeing Machines signs air traffic control deal in Australia

Computer vision technology company Seeing Machines has signed an agreement with Airservices Australia to integrate its technology into the air traffic control environment, it announced on Wednesday.

The AIM-traded firm said the initial programme of work was valued at around AUD 0.25m (£0.14m), and would see it work with the government-owned Airservices to pursue the development and integration of head, eye and face tracking, and related high-level signals.

It said those signals would include workload, fatigue and attention, and would “support and optimise” safe and effective controller performance in an increasingly automated air traffic control environment.

The collaboration would launch Seeing Machines' capability into the “highly-regulated and safety-critical” console-based environment, with a key focus on what it called the ‘human-in-the-loop'.

“Having worked with Airservices for over five years on data collection and testing, including a feasibility study in their operational environment, I am delighted to progress to this commercial stage in our relationship,” said Patrick Nolan, general manager of aviation at Seeing Machines.

“Both companies are driven by a strong focus on safety and supporting the operator.

“I have confidence that this collaboration will provide a great solution for Airservices and enable a global capability to support console-based operations across any industry.”

At 1047 BST, shares in Seeing Machines were down 0.29% at 10.02p.