Universal Avionics (UA) has completed the development of the first Aperture visual data management solution as it readies series production for a major avionics OEM and is seeing strong interest from aircraft manufacturers and operators. The initial release of the product line connects eight video streams to four independent users, enhancing safety and improving decision-making for flight crews and mission specialists.

Introduced last year at NBAA-BACE 2021, Aperture is now available for installation. UA's first agreement will see a large avionics OEM deliver Aperture to new aircraft currently in development as part of its flight deck offering. This release of Aperture can process eight video inputs and supports four video outputs with near-zero latency, at the highest level of integrity in commercial aviation (Design Assurance Level A). Imagery from an enhanced vision system (EVS) camera and other sensors will be presented in the flight deck to enhance situational awareness of the flight crew.

Ongoing developments of Aperture will expand capabilities to include added video/sensor channels, low latency video aggregation and manipulation, and the generation of synthetic imagery. Universal Avionics' dedicated team of engineers and artificial intelligence specialists will further complement these capabilities as they forge a path toward the delivery of augmented reality. Combining information from onboard sensors and other avionics with advanced image management, Aperture will enable pilots to take advantage of real-time content analysis and augmented reality, such as visual positioning, obstacle detection, taxi guidance and traffic awareness to dramatically improve their situational awareness in high workload environments.

“Aperture unlocks the door for new capabilities to become a reality in our everyday lives. Urban transport, space travel, single-pilot and autonomous operations once impossible are becoming a reality with the emergence of AI-powered augmented vision driving pilot safety and aircraft optimisation,” says CEO Dror Yahav. “We help customers connect what's next because next is now.”