| In May 2009, NavPrescience,
Inc. became the first spinout from the Quality of Life Technology (QoLT)
Center’s Foundry program, with a license of ERC technology from Carnegie
Mellon University. The Center is one of NSF’s Engineering Research
Centers (ERCs) and is based at CMU and the University of Pittsburgh.
In June, with the assistance
of QoLT’s Foundry, a company-generating program within the ERC, NavPrescience
was invited to join Innovation Works’ AlphaLab business incubator.
Innovation Works is the single largest investor in seed-stage companies
in Southwestern Pennsylvania and one of the most active in the country.
AlphaLab is providing NavPrescience with space, marketing, and future funding
assistance, as well as seed money.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based
NavPrescience is developing and commercializing GPS navigation and mobile
information systems technology initially developed at CMU by three researchers
in the university’s Computer Sciences and Robotics departments. The
technology is based on a statistical machine learning framework and computational
algorithms developed by the researchers and NavPrescience founders: Anind
K. Dey, Drew Bagnell, and Brian Ziebart (a graduate student).
NavPrescience systems enhance
a driver’s ability to safely and efficiently reach a destination.
The adaptive systems can accurately anticipate the intended destination
and preferred route and use available information without constant intervention
from the vehicle driver. The system accomplishes this goal with an
efficient algorithm that leverages both immediately available, “live” information
and a learned understanding of driver preferences and intentions.
As roadways continue to become
increasingly congested, such “telematics” technologies that reduce the
workload of drivers are expected to grow in their applications and popularity
among the driving public. |
