Irish microchip manufacturer Movidius has signed a partnership deal with United States-based thermal imaging technology company FLIR Systems to create the world's most intelligent thermal imaging solutions. The partnership will combine FLIR Systems' thermal imaging technology with Movidius' virtual processing unit.

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The partnership between Movidius and FLIR Systems aims to combine, for the first time, artificial intelligence with thermal imaging products.

Dubbed the Boson Thermal Camera, the latest product from FLIR combines extra-small form factor with a variety of applications. FLIR highlighted that its latest camera can be used for thermal imaging, facial recognition for security purposes, and pedestrian detection.

Movidius claims that its camera also supports super-resolution, a feature popularized by TV shows like 'CSI.'

In a statement, Movidius chief executive officer Remi El-Ouazzane said, "The state-of-the-art in-computer vision has come a tremendous way in the last few years. FLIR has developed the first-ever integrated solutions that now allows customers to take advantage of these new advancements while continuing to leverage FLIR's unique thermal imaging technology and support ecosystem."

Movidius claims that its microchips are three times more powerful, ten times smaller and five times more energy efficient compared to its closest competitors. This sheer power, packed in a relatively small form factor, will help the camera to recognize people and objects.

The partnership with FLIR Systems is Movidius' third major partnership deal. The company has also penned a partnership with drone and camera tech manufacturer DJI as well as with Google.

As part of Movidius' deal with Google, the chipmaker will power Google's upcoming virtual reality headsets.

Movidius was founded about ten years ago in Dublin by Sean Mitchell and David Moloney. The company now has offices in San Mateo, California and Shanghai, China.

TagsFLIR, FLIR Systems, Thermal camera, Movidius, Movidius camera, Movidius chips, FLIR camera, FLIR thermal camera