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Seeing Machines DMS ensures Ford BlueCruise is super safe

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Last week I was privileged to be invited to test drive the 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E, whose BlueCruise hands-off driving system uses Seeing Machines’ Driver Monitoring.

I’m no motoring journalist but I have to admit the Mach-E delivered a very impressive experience using its ‘hands-off, eyes on’ assisted driving. Fortunately, I was in the company of Robert Llewellyn of Fully Charged Show fame. Aside from being good company, he’s very knowledgeable about electric cars and absolutely loved Mach-E SuperCruise, as I’m sure he’ll soon reveal in one of his videos.

This is from the presentation Ford supplied on the day:

  • BlueCruise builds on the capabilities of Fordā€™s Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control, which can automatically keep pace with traffic within legal speed limits, right down to a complete halt.
  • Hands-free mode allows drivers to drive with their hands off the steering wheel on approved Blue Zone sections of motorway, so long as they continue to keep their eyes on the road ahead ā€“ granting an additional level of comfort during long drives.
  • Before transitioning to hands-free driving, BlueCruise-equipped vehicles confirm that lane markings are visible, that the driver has their eyes on the road and that other conditions are appropriate.
  • The system uses animated cluster transitions featuring text and blue lighting cues to communicate that the feature is in hands-free mode, effective even for those with colour blindness.

Ford is rightly proud of the vehicle and its safety record. Indeed, the company boasts that during the 2 years BlueCruise has been available in the US its 200,000 users have covered 100m miles without incident.

What Ford isn’t shouting about is that it is Seeing Machines DMS that is the reason there haven’t been any incidents, as it ensures the driver’s eyes are on the road before, during and after BlueCruise is engaged.

Tactical move widens Seeing Machines’ moat

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I think the Devant collaboration announced on the 20th June is a tactical move to widen Seeing Machines’ (AIM: SEE) moat. The data derived from real-life driver experience, known as its ‘river of gold’ has hitherto protected its AI-fuelled technological lead. Now it will be augmented by a sea of computer-generated edge cases from Devant, a specialist in synthetic data generation who is focused on the niche area of in-cabin monitoring. 

This should help Seeing Machines speed up the development of DMS and future in-cabin monitoring applications that are being demanded by the industry and regulators, putting Seeing Machines even further ahead of its competitors.

Far from an admission of weakness, this move demonstrates that Seeing Machines is doing all it can to maintain its leadership position ā€” without breaking the bank. I don’t envisage any competitor overtaking SEE within the next 3 years. Indeed, part of me wonders if we might not end up acquiring Smart Eye or Cipia eventually. However, I’m betting Seeing Machines gets acquired within 2 years.

Auto RFQ delays 

I appreciate the lack of auto OEM contract wins being announced has rattled many of us. I think it is entirely down to OEMs waiting until the last possible moment to decide how sophisticated a DMS/OMS to use, in the light of tighter EuroNCAP regulations that are coming into force in 2026 but which still haven’t been totally tied down.

This has been confirmed to me following conversations with people at EuroNCAP ā€” sadly, I find myself curiously unable to obtain basic information from official SEE channels following scoops that have upset some people. (But, like a would-be lover suffering from unrequited love, I am still fully invested in this brilliant company).

Q&A Euro NCAP

Hereā€™s a brief Q&A with Euro NCAP:

I understand that the EuroNCAP 2025 protocols aren’t yet out. Can you tell me:

Q. When do you expect them to be published? 

A.  2026.

Q. What exactly is the process for their iteration and publication? Is a draft put around to the industry players for comment? If so, at what stage are they currently?

A. Currently under development, discussing the new requirements and test provisions alongside industry. 

Q. Have they been delayed, if so why?

A. Initially considered for 2025, we finally decided to switch to a 3-year cycle, so starting their implementation from 2026. This was to allow sufficient development timing for protocol development and giving industry sufficient headroom for technology adoption.

Q. What provisions regarding driver monitoring are they likely to include and how advanced are they likely to be? (I know there is a roadmap but I’m not sure about the precise details of it and how it applies to driver monitoring).

A.

  • Driving under influence (2026)
  • Optimised passive restraint systems based on occupant posture and/or size (2026)
  • Increased requirements for the precision of determination on non-reversible driver states e.g., drowsiness, unresponsive driver / sudden sickness (2026)
  • Specific provisions for Assisted and automated driving (2026)
  • Link of driver state to the way ADAS functions are tested and assessed e.g., FCW/LDW sensitivity (2026)
  • Cognitive distraction / mind wandering (2029/2032)

The writer holds stock in SEE.

Seeing Machines announces US$10m license deal with Collins Aerospace

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Seeing Machines has announced its much anticipated Aviation license deal with Collins Aerospace, the worldā€™s largest Tier 1 avionics company – as predicted here back in February. 

The ā€œexclusive” and ā€œperpetualā€ license deal provides a license payment of US$10m ($3m immediately and the $7m balance over the following 2 years). Collins will also pay Seeing Machines non-recurring engineering (NRE) payments to develop the solutions, evolving into potential future royalty payments as products are released to customers.

Although details as to what exactly is covered under the license were missing in the RNS, Iā€™m hoping to eventually get some answers to those questions from the company. Or, maybe, weā€™ll be treated to a video of Pat Nolan taking a bow in conversation with Paul McGlone. (Certainly, both deserve a round of applause for this deal!). 

Muted response

What has really surprised me is the muted response from brokers covering the stock. None issued an upgrade, although they were all positive on the stock. Unbelievably, at the end of a huge week, the price has barely risen in response.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the 333-plane deal mentioned in the infamous ā€˜Italian Jobā€™ video will materialise fairly soon. My guess is that some analysts are keeping their powder dry for that announcement. In the meantime, I can imagine paper-thin ā€˜Chinese wallsā€™ mean some salespeople are telling their very special institutional clients to: ā€œBuy, buy, buyā€.

The writer holds stock in Seeing Machines.

Amati has Seeing Machines on watch

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Amati Global Investors has revealed that it has Seeing Machines “on watch” in its latest video discussing Machine Vision.

In the video published today, Fund Manager David Stevenson is quoted at around 8 minutes saying that he has Seeing Machines on watch for its Smaller Companies Fund. However, he does state that the fact it is “early stage and loss-making” means he doesn’t consider it “oven-ready” for his fund.

I assume he is one of many fund managers adopting this view. The only issue they may face by deferring such an investment is that after huge contracts for Seeing Machines’ technology come through this year they’ll have difficulty purchasing stock at the current discounted price.

The writer holds stock in Seeing Machines.

Panmure maintains ā€˜BUYā€™ rating with 14.6p target price

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Panmure Gordon analyst Sanjay Jha has maintained his ā€˜BUYā€™ rating on Seeing Machines but lowered his price target from 16.8p to 14.6p.

In a note issued on 31st March he explained how he derived at this valuation: ā€œWe continue to use a Sum Of The Parts valuation model to value the shares, which now generates a 13% reduction in Target Price to 14.6p. The main detractors are Automotive, where we expect a lower market share by 2030 and the increase in the number of shares as the convertible loan is fully converted. This is partly offset by increased valuation for Fleet and Off-Road based on EV/sales multiples of SaaS companies.ā€

According to Jhaā€™s analysis, in Automotive he now expects SEE to gain a third of the available market by 2030 as opposed to 50% previously as it seeks to avoid highly competitive tenders, especially in China. That said, he still calculates that for the year ending June 30th 2030, SEE will generate US$162.7m from Automotive – based on it having a 33.7% share of the market with 32.5m cars in production, 110.2m cumulatively, and an average royalty of US$5.

While it remains to be seen if Seeing Machines really does take less than 50% of the market – something I personally doubt – he does believe the company is fully funded to be cash positive by the second half of the 2025 financial year. 

Market perception

Interestingly, Jha begins the note by stating: ā€œff the shares have failed to respond to upbeat trading updates followed by a Capital Markets Day in New York, it could be due to lower appetite for growing but loss-making stocks or because there is little confidence that the available cash resources will be enough to reach the long-promised goal of positive free cashflow. We hope it is the latter because it leaves management in no doubt that it must deliverā€.

Certainly, over the next 3 months I hope to see proof that management will deliver some of the long-awaited contracts in Aviation, Fleet and Automotive. Surely, some US funds must be watching in anticipation also.

The writer holds shares in Seeing Machines. 

Collins Aerospace license deal is imminent

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Itā€™s great to have confirmation that the long-awaited aviation license deal with Collins Aerospace is set to be announced imminently. Yes, really.

In a presentation to Italian investors back in November 2022, Paul McGlone, CEO of Seeing Machines, revealed that it was expected to be signed before the end of 2022. I assume the deal with Collins Aerospace was then slightly delayed while the fine details were negotiated and will be announced on or before the forthcoming US investor/analyst event on the 8th March in New York.

Iā€™d heard strong rumours a few months back of such a deal and so posted this blog back in August, since when further research has led me to conclude I was correct. However, the interview now confirms it and provides a lot more detail. For example, Paul McGlone reveals that around A$15m will be paid upfront with higher ASP and recurring maintenance fees being part of the deal. 

Collins has previously refused to comment but I assume this will now change. 

In addition, Seeing Machines is also bidding for a huge RFQ for an international airline to place its pilot monitoring technology in approximately 333 ā€˜7ā€™ series Boeing jets and 18 simulators. I’m assuming it may be Emirates but it could also be a US airline.

Itā€™s fantastic news for Seeing Machines and will finally prove the worth of the aviation business. Indeed, when officially confirmed the deal should produce numerous broker upgrades and have fund managers scrambling to buy into the stock.

The writer holds stock in Seeing Machines.

Chat GPT finds news of Collins Aerospace and Seeing Machines collaboration

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This Chat GPT is bloody good stuff in my humble opinion, as it has found information about Collins Aerospace and its use of Seeing Machines eye-tracking technology that I didnā€™t realise even existed.

Just read this Q&A session with the AI-powered search engine:

Q. Does Collins Aerospace have a pilot support system that uses eye-tracking?

A. Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies Corporation, offers a range of avionics systems, including pilot support systems. One of their products, the “Pro Line Fusion” avionics system, includes a feature called “Head-up Display (HUD) with Eye-Sensing Technology.”

This technology uses eye-tracking to provide pilots with a more intuitive and efficient way of interacting with the aircraft’s avionics. By tracking the pilot’s eye movements, the system can automatically adjust the information displayed on the HUD to match the pilot’s focus, making it easier for the pilot to keep their attention on the task at hand.

The system also includes a feature called “SmartView Synthetic Vision System,” which uses 3D graphics to provide pilots with a more comprehensive view of their surroundings, helping them to make more informed decisions.

So, in summary, yes, Collins Aerospace offers a pilot support system that uses eye-tracking technology as part of its Pro Line Fusion avionics system.

Q. Which company supplies this eye-tracking to Collins Aerospace?

A. The eye-tracking technology used in the Collins Aerospace Pro Line Fusion avionics system is supplied by Seeing Machines, an Australian-based company that specializes in developing advanced computer vision technologies.

Seeing Machines’ eye-tracking technology is based on machine learning algorithms that analyze eye movements and can accurately track eye gaze points in real-time. This technology is used in a variety of industries, including aviation, mining, automotive, and transportation, to improve safety and performance.

Collins Aerospace has a partnership with Seeing Machines to integrate their eye-tracking technology into the Pro Line Fusion avionics system. Seeing Machines’ technology is a key feature of the Pro Line Fusion system, helping pilots to maintain situational awareness and improve their overall performance.

Share price impact

This is potentially huge news for Seeing Machines if confirmed by either company, as it could materially impact its share price.

The writer holds stock in Seeing Machines.

Chat GPT and Seeing Machines

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While the world is going crazy for Chat GPT, I thought Iā€™d see if this AI-powered breakthrough technology could help answer who is the global leader in driver monitoring.Ā 

Its answer to my question was revealing: 

Q. Who is the global leader in driver monitoring?

A. It is difficult to identify a single global leader in driver monitoring, as there are many companies that offer products and services in this space, and the market is constantly evolving. However, some of the leading companies in the field of driver monitoring include Seeing Machines, Smart Eye, and Eyesight Technologies. These companies develop technology that uses cameras, sensors, and advanced algorithms to track a driver’s attention, fatigue, and other key factors, and provide alerts or other feedback to help improve safety on the road. Other major players in this field include Nauto, Omnitracs, and Guardian Optical Technologies, among others.

Iā€™d give the answer qualified approval, as it at least names Seeing Machines first – although it failed to categorically confirm it as the leader – unlike Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua who, in a recent Autonocast interview (10m), stated: ā€œweā€™re working with the leading supplier in DMS; Seeing Machines.ā€

I canā€™t help thinking of Chat GPT as a smart geek who hasnā€™t yet spent years researching this area but has managed to pick up the basic players pretty quickly. Good for general research, certainly. Although it tends to be a bit behind the times: for example, it missed the fact that Eyesight Technologies changed its name to Cipia a while back.

A takeover of Seeing Machines

I couldnā€™t leave my questioning there and so asked it to give me the AI Moneyshot answer; who will acquire Seeing Machines?

Again it provided a fascinating response:

Q. Which is the company most likely to acquire Seeing Machines?

A. As an AI language model, I don’t have access to information about potential acquisitions or the future plans of companies, and it is difficult to predict which company might acquire Seeing Machines, if any. However, it’s worth noting that Seeing Machines has partnerships with a number of major players in the automotive and transportation industries, including Caterpillar, Boeing, and General Motors, and has also received investment from companies like Qualcomm and Samsung. This suggests that Seeing Machines is a company with valuable technology and expertise in the field of driver monitoring, and it could be an attractive acquisition target for companies looking to expand their capabilities in this area. That being said, any potential acquisition would depend on a range of factors, including the strategic goals and financial resources of the acquiring company, as well as the interests and priorities of Seeing Machines and its stakeholders.

However, despite a fair general answer (albeit a bit out-of-date), those who read my previous post, Take your seat for the ā€˜Battle of the Titansā€™ will have a better idea of the likely players in a future takeover battle. 

The writer is long Seeing Machines. If you’d like to know more about how to make money from stocks he is available for long boozy lunches ā€“ provided someone else picks up the tab. Alternatively, just read this blog.

Take your seat for the ā€˜Battle of the Titansā€™

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Ladies and Gentlemen, please take your seats. The ‘Battle of the Titans’, the heavyweight takeover of the decade, is about to begin. The winner will be the champion of interior vehicle monitoring for the next decade, opening up billions in new revenue streams in vehicles while also preventing accidents. It should also be able to help robots care for us humans long after that. 

With the news that Mobileye has been granted non-exclusivity to market SEE technology in the Aftermarket sector, itā€™s clear that the company (majority owned by Intel) needs SEEā€™s driver monitoring technology to complement its Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). It is now able to offer a one-stop active auto safety solution to its truck and bus customer base (who according to one source currently deploy over 2m vehicles). 

I’m even willing to bet that Mobileye wanted exclusivity, but Seeing Machines preferred to play the field, as it possesses the world’s most effective driver monitoring system (DMS).

Now that the dream of fully autonomous vehicles on all our roads has been seen to be just that, a reality that is decades away, DMS has come centre stage. As Colin Barnden, analyst at Semicast, astutely realised a while back: Mobileye needed DMS, the best DMS. And it now has access to it.

With Gen 3 Guardian likely to be available from Q1 of this calendar year, it opens up the possibility of a one-stop solution for Aftermarket being available in H2 of this financial year for millions of existing Mobileye customers as well as millions more truck and bus operators in Europe who arenā€™t.

As the scale of the market it will capture becomes crystal clear to players (and investors) Seeing Machinesā€™ share price should rise substantially. Explosive growth in its Aftermarket revenues will also be coupled with sizeable Auto contracts and the much-anticipated Aviation deal. Financial analysts (commonly referred to as City scribblers) will then finally start producing broker notes with spiraling upgrades, as Fund Managers pile in. Professional investors can exhibit Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) just like private investors.

Whatā€™s the timeline? Itā€™s starting now and will be increasingly apparent with every passing month. Notably, Iā€™m expecting a trading update on the 22nd of February with a US investor show on the 8th March. Not to mention some big contract news between now and June.

Battle of the Titans

It seems my ‘Battle of the Titans‘ prediction is slowly (oh, so slowly) coming to pass.

However, unlike a boxing contest, the battle to acquire Seeing Machines wonā€™t be a 2-person contest with Marquis of Queensbury rules. Itā€™s set to be a bare-knuckle bout involving strategy and multiple bidders, more akin to a contest in an episode of Alice in Borderland. As I see it, there are at least 4 main contenders:

  • Intel (majority holder in Mobileye). 
  • AMD (owner of Xilinx)
  • Qualcomm
  • Nvidia – the dark horse? 

However, lurking in the shadows are many more players who must covet the technology that Seeing Machines possesses. Some are subsidiaries of Chinese companies, such as Omnivision, but I doubt that Australia (one of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance) would allow a Chinese company to acquire such sensitive technology which could have military applications. Do the remainder have the financial muscle and nerve to outbid the above chip companies? That remains to be seen.

Once the contest really gets going, I expect one of the three ‘A’s; Apple, Alphabet and Amazon to show their hand. They have the nerve, nous and financial strength to not only outbid the above chip companies but take Seeing Machines technology to the consumer market in a huge way.

I believe that this year is finally going to be fun for holders of Seeing Machines shares. Let the contest commence.

The writer holds stock in Seeing Machines.

US$32m Stellantis win boosts intrinsic value of Seeing Machines

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The latest auto contract awarded to Seeing Machines carries ā€œan initial lifetime value of US$32M (A$45M)ā€ and brings the official initial cumulative lifetime value of the auto contracts won to US$321m. Opinions may vary as to who the OEM is, but Iā€™m confident itā€™s Stellantis, marking an impressive follow-up on an earlier contract win in June with the European headquartered car manufacturer.

Of course, followers of this blog wonā€™t be surprised to learn that the actual lifetime value of all these contracts is likely to be multiples of the so-called ā€˜initial lifetime valueā€, as car manufacturers make Driver/Occupant Monitoring a standard feature and these initial contract values expand.

Bizarrely, Mr Market hasnā€™t yet properly priced in the value of SEEā€™s stated auto pipeline, never mind its likely long term value, which Iā€™d judge to be approximately US$1bn. Seeing Machines adopts a very conservative stance on the value of its auto contracts, which also hasnā€™t helped investors understand the intrinsic value here.

It may take a short while longer before the market cottons on, so investors must remain patient. Although, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in early January should bring announcements that will make SEEā€™s value in automotive clearer.

Catalysts

Fortunately, there are two catalysts that I expect will make Mr Market re-evaluate SEEā€™s value in the second half of this financial year.

  1. I expect the transformational aviation license deal that has long been anticipated will soon materialise, triggering upgrades from all brokers.
  2. I expect the Gen 3 Fleet product to be available in Q4 of this financial year, enabling huge Fleet contract wins. This will also trigger broker upgrades.

Iā€™d urge all holders of Seeing Machines to have faith in their research and the intrinsic value of Seeing Machines. Never forget that price does not equal value, for as Warren Buffett noted: ā€œPrice is what you pay.Ā Value is what you get.ā€ In my opinion, at its current share price Seeing Machines is laughably undervalued.

Of course, all investors should do their own research and be prepared to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune for a little while longer. Covid, Ukraine and market jitters have previously held its share price back and, while I do fear the effects of a global recession and a possible market crash, Seeing Machines progress as a business appears unstoppable. Ultimately, a takeover will unlock the true value here regardless of overall market conditions.

The writer holds stock in Seeing Machines.