Australian computer vision company Seeing Machines has launched a physical AI platform to apply its human-centred AI design philosophy to robotics and industrial automation.

The firm’s driver and occupant monitoring technology is deployed in more than eight million vehicles globally, helping vehicles understand drivers, anticipate risk and prevent accidents. The company is now applying the same human-centred AI philosophy to give robots the contextual awareness needed to interact safely and intuitively with people in complex real-world environments.

The physical AI platform gives robots a deeper understanding of the situation around them by creating a dynamic three-dimensional perception map of people, objects and their environment. Rather than simply recognising individual features, it continuously builds contextual awareness that enables robots to understand spatial relationships, interpret human behaviour, anticipate risk, and make safe and intuitive decisions in real time.

“For more than two decades, we’ve been teaching machines to understand people,” said Paul McGlone, CEO of Seeing Machines. “Our technology is already protecting millions of drivers around the world by enabling vehicles to better understand human behaviour and respond to risk in real time. With the launch of our physical AI platform, we are extending that capability into robotics, enabling machines to interact with people safely, naturally and intuitively.”

As robots begin moving beyond research labs and into factories, workplaces, hospitals, homes and public spaces, understanding people and the environment they are in becomes just as important as understanding the task they’re performing.

“We believe our human-centred AI design philosophy will extend into a foundational capability for the next generation of robotics,” he said.

Unlike conventional AI systems focused on recognising individual objects or executing predefined tasks, this technology interprets people, objects and the surrounding environment as a unified scene. This contextual understanding gives robots the situational awareness required to operate safely alongside people in dynamic and unpredictable environments.

The platform has potential applications across a broad range of industries, including manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, aged care, warehousing, mining and industrial automation, where robots are increasingly expected to work collaboratively with people.

A video demonstrating the physical AI platform can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=rifE6nIN-Vw.

Seeing Machines (www.seeingmachines.com) was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Australia. Its technology combines AI algorithms, embedded processing and optics to deliver real-time understanding of human behaviour, attention and cognitive state. The firm has offices in Australia, USA, Europe and Asia and supplies technology and services globally.