News

Standard Cognition buys robotic mapping startup

January 31, 2019

Standard Cognition, which provides AI-powered autonomous checkout solutions for brick and mortar retailers, has acquired Explorer.ai, a mapping and computer vision start-up founded by Akshay Goel, Tushar Dadlani and Nagasrikanth Kallakuri.

As part of the acquisition, Standard brings on a team of seven AI engineers and mapping technology to accelerate the rollout of its autonomous checkout solution, according to a press release.

Standard's autonomous checkout solution uses cameras on store ceilings to determine what is in the store, the location of customers, and which items they possess. Indoor mapping is an essential component of this equation.

Explorer.ai's technology was initially developed for autonomous vehicles by a team out of Carnegie Mellon University, according to the release.

"We are thrilled to join forces with the Explorer team," said Jordan Fisher, co-founder, and CEO of Standard, in the release. "The team is highly experienced and already works well together — having them in place gives our engineering team a big edge and a running start toward applying their state-of-the-art computer vision and mapping skill sets in autonomous vehicles to retail. We believe mapping is a critical ingredient to autonomous checkout. The Explorer team has a strong record of tackling these problems together, and we're confident that this will allow us to make rapid progress at Standard."