OutdoorSecurityChallengesInspiredSightLogix'Beginnings

SixmonthsaftertheSept.11attacks,JohnRomanowichparticipatedinasecuritysurveyatGroundZero,theWorld
TradeCentersite.ThePortAuthoritywasjuststartingtoreconstructthetrainsystem,andRomanowichwasaskedto
recommendanautomatedvideosystemtoprotecttheconstructionsite.Itwas
averyfrustratingexperience,Romanowichrecalled.Wewereinthemiddleof
arguably the richest, most powerful city in the world at the site of our nation's
most devastating security event, but the capability for video to adequately
protectsuchanimportantreconstructionprojectsimplydidn'texist.
It was a realization that led to the founding of SightLogix, a company that has
since transformed video analytics technology to deliver accurate, costefficient
outdoor security at facilities around the world. And as a fitting milestone, in
September2011theSightLogixOutdoorVideoSystemwasdeployedbythePort
Authority of New York and New Jersey to protect The World Trade Center
Memorial.
Romanowich had held management positions in video technologies with Intel,
IBM and the Sarnoff Corporation, and he cofounded Pyramid Vision
Technologies, which worked with intelligent video surveillance and was acquired
by L3 Communications. In 2004, he brought together a group of fellow entrepreneurs, video imaging experts and
computingengineersfromSarnoff,PanasonicandAT&TBellLabstofoundSightLogix.
NewApproachtoOutdoorAnalytics
At thetime of SightLogix's genesis in the early 2000s,marketdynamics were converging to create ideal timing for a
new approach to outdoor security. IP networkbased solutions were replacing analog solutions, and new video
managementsystem(VMS)playerswerechallengingentrenchedcompaniesandprovidinggoodvalue.
Several companies were offering video analytic software systems, but none had been designed to address outdoor
securityrequirementsadequately.Videoanalyticssystemsoperatebydetectingmovement,butoutdoors,everything
moves.Camerasmountedonhighpolesswayinthewind;cloudstravelacrossthesky;leavesflutterontrees;small
animals scurry; and the sun goes from light to dark daily. The existing solutions were doing a good job for indoor
applications,Romanowichsaid,butwerenotreallybuilttotackletheoutdoordifficulties.
Romanowich understood that, at its most fundamental level, the successful deployment of video analytics outdoors
had to begin with a foundation of quality imaging. This would be possible only with a new kind of intelligent
camera,onethatbroughtatremendous amountofimageprocessingtotheedge.Romanowichenvisioneda device
thatwouldintegratetheeye(thecamera)withthebrain(asupercomputerwithmanyprocessors)toremovethe
extraneousmovementoftheoutdoorsanddeliveraccuratedetection.Theengineeringchallengewastheequivalent
of squeezing many servers into a camerasize enclosure productized to survive the outdoor elements, while
decreasingthepowerconsumptionfrommorethan1500wattsdownto15wattsoriginallyandsixwattstoday.
SightLogixProtectsthe
WorldTradeCenter
Itwasadauntingundertaking,onethatwouldrequirebuildingateamwithauniquecombinationofimagingphysics
andcomputinginnovation.
TheEarlyDaysofSightLogix
In addition to Romanowich, there were three key people involved in SightLogix early on. Chairman James Hahn was
tapped for his experience helping begin a company that ultimately grew to five international divisions and a
successful IPO. Leading the engineering team was Danny Chin, who was Romanowich's own boss back in 1994, and
whohas45patentsinvideoprocessing.Chinhadpreviouslydesignedthemostpowerfulvideoondemandcomputer
ever built, with more than 8,000 processors. Eric Schwab, an AT&T Bell Labs mechanical engineer, was tapped to
solve the challenge of designing a product that would endure the outdoors. They were all very smart, principled
people with whom I share tremendous chemistry, so we built the company on a strong foundation to scale,
Romanowichsaid.
Location was important, too, and SightLogix chose New Jersey's Video Valley as its headquarters. The company
began on the Princeton University campus and became the youngest of several major video companies nearby,
includingSarnoffLabs(RCALaboratories),Panasonic,Samsung,Intel,SiemensandNEC.Thousandsofpatentsinvideo
engineering have come out of this area of New Jersey, where color TV, LCD displays and CMOS technology were all
invented.
Technically,whatSightLogixwasseekingtocreatewashighlycomplex.Theproblemwassolargeandthesolutionso
complicated that the building blocks the team needed the tools to build a multiprocessor camera weren't even
available.Wehadtoliterallystartatthebeginningandbuilditourselves,Romanowichsaid.
Fundraisingwasalsoanearlychallenge.Thelongdevelopmentcycleforsuchasophisticatedproductrequiredpatient
investors. SightLogix had to communicate the value of the company's vision in order to raise capital long before it
wouldshipitsfirstproduct.Marketresearchandplanningwerealsoahugeeffort.
FocusOnaBigVision
SightLogix'soutdoorvideoanalyticcamerasystemsarenowbeingusedallovertheworld,fromtheCanadianarcticto
theMiddleEast.Butsuccesshasn'tchangedthecompany'sfundamentalvaluesestablishedfromthebeginning.
I knew early on that it was important to focus on a big vision, Romanowich said. I remember looking out the
window of a plane and thinking It's a huge world. Look at all that infrastructure. We need solutions to make
everythingdowntheresafeandsecure.'
UsingmarketresearchhasenabledSightLogixtoidentifythebroaderneedsofthemarketratherthanfocusingona
singletopicorfeature.Romanowichalsoemphasizestheneedtohirethebestpeopleandbuildrelationshipsbased
ontrust.
Afterthemarketandthepeople,Romanowichsaid,it'saboutstrategyandexecution,whilealwaysstayingfocused
onthebigpicture,thebigobjectives:Howareyougoingtomaketheworldsafer?
ForMoreInformation:
SightLogix
745 Alexander Rd
Princeton, NJ 08540 USA
+1 609.951.0008
www.sightlogix.com