Augmented Pixels

Augmented Pixels, established in 2013 by Ukrainian tech entrepreneur Vitaliy Goncharuk, carved a niche in precise 3D geolocation and autonomous navigation technologies before its acquisition by Qualcomm in January 2022. Goncharuk, with a background in applied mathematics, business administration, and early startup ventures, founded the company in Odesa, Ukraine. A pivotal moment came in 2014 when the company moved its headquarters to Palo Alto, California, after participating in the Plug & Play accelerator, while maintaining its R&D offices in Ukraine. Over its lifetime, the company successfully raised approximately $7 million from investors including AVentures Capital, The Hive, and ICU Ventures.

The company's core business centered on developing software for augmented reality, robotics, and drones, enabling devices to navigate the physical world with precision, much like humans. Its clientele included major technology firms like LG, Intel, and eventually, its acquirer, Qualcomm, which had been a customer since 2014. Augmented Pixels' business model revolved around providing its proprietary technologies through two main solutions. CorpMap.AI was a B2B offering for businesses to optimize facility management and indoor logistics using AR navigation and AI analytics. The second, GlobalMap.AI, was a B2C crowdsourcing platform designed to create a comprehensive 3D map of the planet by allowing users to capture locations and earn rewards.

Underpinning these solutions were two key proprietary technologies. The first was a real-time SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) SDK, which provided an alternative to platforms like AR Kit and AR Core. The second was a Navigation SDK that facilitated 3D map crowdsourcing and cloud-based localization. These technologies were instrumental in providing AR-based indoor navigation for robots and drones, helping to reduce accidents and human oversight. The acquisition by Qualcomm was a strategic move to bolster Qualcomm's own Extended Reality (XR) division, integrating Augmented Pixels' team and expertise to enhance their capabilities in mixed, virtual, and augmented reality.

Keywords: 3D geolocation, augmented reality navigation, SLAM SDK, autonomous navigation, 3D mapping, computer vision, indoor positioning, robotics navigation, AR software, digital twin, cloud localization, extended reality, XR, Vitaliy Goncharuk, CorpMap.AI, GlobalMap.AI, drone navigation, AR glasses software, facility management logistics, visual localization