Raytheon puts new focus on a 360-degree camera

Bizjournal
Posted: 2008-01-14 16:21:02

Raytheon Co.'s recent release of a 360-degree sensor system aimed at border security places it in the same tech market as a MetroWest surveillance technology maker. But neither firm seems to mind the market company. In fact, the smaller of the two says it sees it more as an opportunity.

Waltham-based defense giant Raytheon is manufacturing the Eagle-300 sensor for Virginia-based SkyWatch Surveillance Systems. The Eagle-300 provides 360-degree, persistent, high-resolution surveillance, according to Raytheon technology fellow Steven Botts.

"It's constantly staring with an unblinking eye," said Botts.

Raytheon, which employs 80,000 people, said its sensor is the first of its kind on the market. An 18-person Westborough company, RemoteReality Corp., however, said it makes technology that provides a similar service with a market focus on port and building security. But Botts claims Raytheon's Eagle-300 range extends farther, with the sensors being able to detect a 2-meter object at 10 kilometers.

"Our perception is that this is a new capability we brought to the market," said Botts.

RemoteReality's OmniAlert360 and ThermalVision360 cameras also provide 360-degree surveillance capability and movement detection, said company COO Michael Zwolinski. He said RemoteReality's product can blanket an area with several sensors and serve border control as a "virtual fence."

RemoteReality's system price tag in the "tens of thousands of dollars," said Zwolinksi, is the real distinction between theirs and Raytheon's sensor systems. "It's a fraction of their price," he said.

Raytheon officials did not return calls related to the price of the Eagle-300.

Despite the apparent market overlap, RemoteReality for one doesn't consider Raytheon competition, said Raghu Menon, the company's executive vice president of advanced programs and sales.

"We don't plan to compete with Raytheon," said Menon, noting that RemoteReality sometimes works with Raytheon in its role as a defense integrator.

At the same time, Zwolinski said RemoteReality plans to market its sensor systems to Raytheon's bread-and-butter defense market for placement, for instance, in military vehicles or submarine periscopes, Zwolinski said.

"We want every (military) vehicle to eventually have a 360-degree camera," said Zwolinski.

In general, the sensors are intended for use in border security, high-value asset protection and military situations, according to both companies. But Scott Schnell, CEO of VideoIQ Inc., a company that makes video analytics and tracks the industry, said he envisions wider, more ordinary applications for 360-degree sensor technologies down the road, including corporate videoconferencing and protecting outdoor assets like celebrity homes or copper wire.

"Can they be made and sold at a price that makes them cost effective?" he said. "If so, you have a really interesting technology."

SkyWatch developed the basic Eagle-300 product and contracted Raytheon to refine it, said Raytheon product line manager Lucy Thoms-Harrington. It took Raytheon's Rapid Initiatives Group less than a year to complete development of the sensor, which is being marketed by both companies.

"(SkyWatch) needed a more robust demonstration unit -- more reliable and more deployable," she said.

The Eagle-300 is designed to complement another Raytheon surveillance product, the Rapid Aerostat Initial Deployment systems. These traditional, narrow field sensors would be triggered by movement detected by the Eagle-300. The RAID, perched on a floating balloon, could then zoom in on the intruding object and identify it.

Thoms-Harrington estimates the existing market demand for the sensors to be in the "thousands" of units.