Tractica: Computer Vision Technology Making Big Gains in Short Term

Computer vision technology—which involves turning image and/or video sequences into quantifiable data—isn't a commonly-considered technology, but if word from Tractica pans out, it will be in the near-term future. Tractica's newest report suggests that growth for computer vision technology is set to be strong over the next few years, and as such, around 182.7 million devices that incorporate computer vision in operations will be shipped annually by 2019.

Tractica's findings were summed up in its new report, “Computer Vision Technologies and Markets,” and covers the five-year period from 2014 to 2019. It covers movement in several fields, ranging from consumer electronics and robotics to industrial and automotive applications as well as in less expected fields like healthcare and sports and entertainment uses.

The case for Tractica's assessment is expressed via Tractica's Anand Joshi, a senior analyst with the firm. Joshi noted: “The degree to which computer vision technology is being adopted depends hugely on the application. Applications like gaming, automotive, and machine vision for industrial applications are leading the way where market traction is already occurring. Other applications, such as security and surveillance, are just starting to emerge.”

But Joshi didn't stop there, also noting that there was still room in the market for whole new developments—and whole new developers—to emerge. Indeed, Joshi noted that several major players, ranging from Google (News - Alert) to NVIDIA to Microsoft (News - Alert) and beyond were all setting up labs around computer vision, and overall, the gains in technology are regarded as “rapid.” That's making for an environment that Joshi describes as being heavily optimistic, and huge growth is expected for the future.

While admittedly, Tractica's vision won't actually come to pass for several years, the market it describes is one that appears to be primed for growth. There are so many different fields that are taking on computer vision technology, and so many different firms in those fields, that failing to see some degree of growth is all but impossible. Even assuming a staggering failure rate of 90 percent, that would leave 10 percent of several markets growing and delivering product, so the way this market is shaping up, about the only way it couldn't grow is if it were a total failure.

Tractica's predictions may not pan out when 2019 arrives, but it's a very safe bet at this point that someone's going to win in this field, and computer vision in general will likewise win. There are simply too many forces working to drive it toward success.