LOOKOUT Launches Advanced AI Technology For Augmented Marine Navigation
Boston, Mass. – LOOKOUT, an AI pioneer in marine safety, revolutionizes marine navigation with the launch of the LOOKOUT camera system, designed to detect hazards beyond human capability.
Built by a team of leading AI researchers, video game developers, 3D designers, and hardware engineers, the LOOKOUT camera system uses advanced computer vision algorithms to detect and track every marine hazard, such as other vessels, buoys, debris, whales, and even people in the water.
LOOKOUT combines data from charts, AIS, radar targets, and online sources into a clear, 3D augmented reality view. This reduces the captain’s cognitive load and enhances situational awareness, making decision-making more efficient while underway. LOOKOUT uses data from other NMEA-compatible sensors and integrates with modern MFDs from Garmin, Furuno, Raymarine, Simrad, as well as smartphones.
“We’re living in an era where AI, augmented reality, and spatial computing are transforming navigation and safety,” said David Rose, CEO of LOOKOUT. “Boating should benefit from the same innovation we see in automotive and aerospace. LOOKOUT integrates AI tech with intuitive, beautiful, and beneficial software design, providing clarity especially in challenging conditions like low light, fog, and crowded harbors.”
The LOOKOUT system installs easily on existing vessels with three components:
- LOOKOUT Camera: An AI-optimized three-camera system featuring infrared night-vision, high-resolution daylight zoom, and 360-degree views for docking.
- LOOKOUT Brain: The most processing power ever deployed on a recreational vessel, powered by NVIDIA technology to process multiple data streams and create an intuitive and comprehensive augmented reality view.
- LOOKOUT Cloud: An optional service for boats with StarLink or other internet connection, enabling community-driven data sharing.
“LOOKOUT’s sensing and data-sharing capability is what boats need today,” remarked Todd Tally, General Manager Atlantic Marine Electronics, a subsidiary of VIKING Yachts. “Knowing when a nearby boat detects a floating log or a whale is a game-changer. Like Waze, it provides a network of lookout eyes on the water, ensuring everyone’s safety.”
“I invested in LOOKOUT not only because of its potential in recreational boats but also because it’s a must-have technology for ferries worried about hitting logs, law enforcement and military vessels, inland tugs, and workboats,” said Rich Miner, inventor of Android, Google Ventures partner and avid boater.
The LOOKOUT camera retails for $3,995. Customers can choose between the LOOKOUT Brain for $4,995 and the Brain PRO for $9,995, with the PRO version offering higher frame rates and resolution for detecting smaller, more distant targets. The product is shipping now.
For more information on LOOKOUT, please visit www.getalookout.com.
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I won’t argue that “AI” today is more hype than useful results. In fact, when Chat GPT came out I asked it to write an obit for “Ben Ellison of Camden, Maine” and got a hilarious example of plausible but completely untrue AI “hallucinations”. The large language model is much more careful about obits today, but still mainly to see all the trite phrases that are best not to use.
On the other hand, I have a strong sense that LOOKOUT is the real deal. While I haven’t seen it in action yet, I’m impressed with the screenshots and super impressed with the associated parties willing to vouch for it in the press release. Viking Yachts has long run a serious electronics test program via their AME subsidiary — https://www.atlantic-me.com/about-us/philosophy/ — and they simply don’t push hype on their customers.
Moreover, I got to tour Rich Miner’s beautiful and tech-packed Lyman Morse 35 and learned how deeply involved he was in every aspect of its build. PMY profiled the boat nicely…
https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/boats/hood-35lm-boat-review
…though there could have been a major sidebar about the major Raymarine install (chosen in part because it runs on Android).
For the last couple of seasons, I’ve noticed (via Marine Traffic) Shadow running many hundreds of miles up and down the Maine coast, often at 30 knots and sometimes in foul weather. It seems likely that Miner has had LOOKOUT systems onboard since early development, and it’s hard to imagine a tester, test boat, and running environment that could better reveal hype in a safety system promising so much.