Immersal

Immersal, a Helsinki-based firm founded in 2015, operates as a specialized developer of spatial mapping and Visual Positioning (VPS) technology. The company was established by a team of serial entrepreneurs with deep roots in 3D graphics and gaming, including Anttoni Vesterinen, Jufo Peltomaa, Mikko Karvonen, Panu Liukkonen, and Teemu Berglund, many of whom were pioneers in the Finnish gaming and demoscene communities. Peltomaa, for instance, was a co-founder of ZenRobotics, an AI and robotics company, and Hybrid Graphics, a mobile graphics firm acquired by NVIDIA. This collective background in cutting-edge digital technologies provided a strong foundation for developing Immersal's AR platform.

The company's core offering is a Software Development Kit (SDK) that enables developers to create augmented reality applications by anchoring digital content to physical locations with high precision. This is achieved through a Visual Positioning System (VPS) that uses a device's camera to create and recognize machine-readable maps of the environment, a method that functions effectively both indoors and outdoors, even in areas where GPS is unreliable. The technology allows for the creation of persistent, multi-user AR experiences on a variety of devices, including iOS and Android smartphones, as well as AR glasses like Magic Leap and HoloLens. Immersal's platform supports both offline on-device processing and online cloud services for mapping and localization.

Immersal's business model is structured around providing its technology to developers and enterprise clients. It offers a free developer license for smaller projects and tiered subscription plans for larger-scale applications, such as those for museums, stores, or industrial facilities. The company targets a diverse client base, from gaming and media entertainment to industrial applications like asset tracking, maintenance, and navigation. For instance, it has collaborated on projects to enhance the fan experience in stadiums for Major League Baseball and created indoor navigation solutions for large shopping centers. In July 2021, Immersal was acquired by Hexagon AB, a global leader in digital reality solutions, and now operates as part of Hexagon's Geosystems division. This acquisition integrates Immersal's AR capabilities with Hexagon's extensive sensor and software portfolio, aiming to deliver enhanced, data-rich digital realities to on-site workers across various industries.

Keywords: Visual Positioning System, VPS, spatial mapping, augmented reality, AR SDK, digital twin, location-based services, indoor navigation, AR development, Hexagon AB, computer vision, asset tracking, persistent AR, world tracking, 3D mapping, mobile AR, AR glasses, metaverse foundation, AR platform, city-scale AR, Jufo Peltomaa, Anttoni Vesterinen, Mikko Karvonen, Panu Liukkonen, Teemu Berglund