Ubicept is a company that transforms how machines perceive the world by combining next-generation image sensors with advanced computer vision algorithms. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Ubicept co-founder and CEO Sebastian Bauer to gain a deeper understanding of the company.
Sebastian Bauer’s Background
What is Sebastian Bauer’s background? Bauer said:
“I’m an engineer by training, and I’ve always found myself working somewhere along the line between groundbreaking new research and bringing technology into the real world. I did my PhD in Karlsruhe, Germany, on hyperspectral imaging processing, and then joined the University of Wisconsin–Madison as a postdoc, working on seeing around corners and fluorescence lifetime imaging. My career essentially has been focused on processing exotic types of images, i.e., capturing light and making the resulting images useful to people.”
Formation Of The Company
How did the idea for the company come together? Bauer shared:
“During my time in Madison, our team also did lots of research into capturing individual photons for imaging, with Single-Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs). Back then, they were single-pixel only. When we learned that very similar hardware was introduced on the iPhone 12 Pro as part of the LiDAR system, with tens of thousands of pixels, we realized that the SPAD hardware required for our imaging could be manufactured so cheaply, that it was feasible for implementation on consumer devices.”
“That combination of the hardware getting ready and our core know-how of processing individual photons in the best possible videos encouraged us to explore the possibility of doing a startup. We eventually spun out Ubicept from UW–Madison and MIT, from where a few colleagues joined us.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Bauer reflected:
“I can’t think of a single favorite memory. Rather, I find our whole story extremely interesting and exciting – there is an emerging class of image sensors made by semiconductor companies, but these guys don’t focus on processing the data and/or what can be done with that new sensor technology.”
“But we as computer vision/computational imaging experts knew that these sensors can generate data that, if processed the Ubicept way, allows for a camera that can see in all environments, especially low light/very bright light/fast motion. Who of us hasn’t taken an image with our smartphone camera in a dimly lit bar – and the result was either a grainy or blurry image, but not a high-quality one?”
“The thing is that when we started a couple of years ago, we just had the vague idea that what we were working on could be the best imaging possible – and what has been confirmed repeatedly in many customer conversations, is that imaging in these environments is a huge pain point. That holds not only for consumer devices, but also lots of companies that build cameras into their products, think robots, advanced driver assistance systems for cars, and many more. You wouldn’t want your car to run over a pedestrian at night simply because the emergency brake assist system doesn’t see them, would you?”
“Now we’re at that point where potential customers reach out and buy into the vision, and we think that single-photon perception will be the future. We see the hardware becoming available, too – big sensor makers are seriously looking into this technology and have the first products available. So everything is coming together now, and the future is bright!”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Bauer explained:
“Our core product is algorithms to convert gigabytes or terabytes of single photon detections into conventional, say 30 frames per second, video output, but at a much higher quality than a conventional camera could. All that while running very efficiently on off-the-shelf compute hardware. These algorithms also work well with conventional sensors, but eventually, single-photon image sensor hardware will be the future: Right now we’re also evangelizing this technology with our FLARE (Flexible Light Acquisition and Representation Engine) development camera, which has a 1-megapixel color SPAD camera sensor from our hardware partner.”
“SPADs can also be synchronized with active lighting like lasers and LEDs, and for such configurations, we have algorithms to make the resulting system see through fog or dust and even detect moving objects like pedestrians behind obstacles.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges has Bauer and the team faced in building the company? Bauer acknowledged:
“I think that while our core vision is becoming a reality, the path towards reality is quite rough, with a lot of uncertainties. But I guess that’s just how startup life works – it’s like building and flying an airplane at the same time. In our case, the solution is to keep going, continue to hustle, and find solutions to problems. That sounds quite straightforward, but I think it has actually worked well for us.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since its launch? Bauer noted:
“It’s somewhat ironic that we’re still using some algorithm components that we already had a couple of years ago, but today obviously with lots of quality improvements, and maybe most importantly with runtime improvements of 100,000 – 1,000,000 times.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Bauer cited:
“The introduction of our FLARE camera at CES in January 2025 – 1 megapixel single-photon sensing in the hands of people. With this announcement, it doesn’t take much for our customers and partners to imagine that this type of imaging can significantly improve their sensing capabilities. In the last couple of years, I got asked probably hundreds of times if we can do color as well, and here it is – finally.”
Funding
When asking Bauer about the company’s funding details, he revealed:
“We are currently seed stage, with more coming soon. We’ve received a lot of interest in evaluation contracts, and are in discussions to move them forward into production contracts, simply because what we’re doing works.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Bauer affirmed:
“We are 2-3 years ahead of the competition simply because of our research background and the knowledge how to work with these sensors, which is something we already had before the sensors became available – and not many people have had their hands on these sensors in the last few years. Our goal as a company is to keep moving fast and maintain that competitive edge.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Bauer concluded:
“Our biggest goal is to get our processing algorithms on as many cameras as possible.”
