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Our technology

Explore the principles and components behind Ubicept’s approach to single-photon imaging and perception.
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The limits of conventional imaging

Conventional imaging systems can deliver excellent results, but their performance is often limited in difficult lighting conditions. To understand why, let’s look at the compromises that affect how their images are captured.
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The impossible triangle

Modern cameras struggle to balance three competing demands: capturing detail in low light, freezing fast motion, and achieving high dynamic range. Improving one often comes at the expense of another, which limits how well downstream perception can work.
Low Blur
High Noise
High Blur
Low Noise

The exposure tradeoff

Use the slider to change the exposure time to see one of the tradeoffs firsthand. Shorter exposures reduce blur but increase noise, while longer exposures reduce noise but increase blur. No setting produces a clear image.

The benefits of SPAD sensors

SPAD sensors detect and time individual photons with zero read noise, preserving information that conventional imaging systems discard or degrade. Let’s look at how they work and what challenges they present.
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Try it yourself

This video shows simulated SPAD sensor output, where each dot represents a single photon arrival. After a few loops, you should be able to see what’s happening.
Now, press and hold the video to pause it. Notice that, at any given moment, there isn’t enough visual information to perceive anything.

Smart processing

You might assume that your eyes are averaging those “photons,” just like how conventional sensors expose frames. But that results in motion blur, as shown here.
What’s happening? Your visual system is intelligently fusing the data over time, allowing you to read the text and identify the emoji.

Computational challenges

Implementing this fusion in a computer vision system is challenging, especially given the volumes of raw SPAD data.
That’s where Ubicept comes in—we provide processing technologies that efficiently transform SPAD measurements into high-quality imaging and perception.

Our building blocks

Discover the core technology components powering our products and partner integrations.
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CMOS SENSOR
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This is a simplified sketch of a conventional imaging pipeline.

Conventional pipelines

To set the stage, let's start with a simplified sketch of a conventional imaging pipeline. Here, incoming light generates electrical charge in each CMOS pixel, which accumulates over the exposure before being converted into digital raw data.
This data is sent to an image signal processor (ISP) which reconstructs and refines the image through demosaicing, noise reduction, tone mapping, and other processing before passing the result downstream.
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ISP
UPF
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Ubicept Photon Fusion (UPF) transforms raw sensor data into results optimized for downstream perception.

Robust image reconstruction

Ubicept Photon Fusion (UPF) is our physics-based method for reconstructing visual information from sparse or noisy measurements across time, for both imaging and downstream perception. It works with both CMOS and SPAD sensors, but is particularly well suited to SPAD data, where precise photon timing and zero read noise preserve information that conventional imaging loses.
UPF supports select GPUs and embedded CPUs, with ISP integrations planned in the future.
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SPAD SENSOR
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The Flexible Light Acquisition and Representation Engine (FLARE) optimizes SPAD capture and encoding.

Efficient photon encodings

UPF can operate directly on raw SPAD output, but the high temporal resolution of SPAD sensors can require substantial bandwidth and power. Our Flexible Light Acquisition and Representation Engine (FLARE) addresses this by shaping how SPAD sensors capture and encode data, optimizing for goals such as reducing noise and blur, increasing dynamic range, and more.
FLARE runs in gateware on supported SPAD cameras, with direct sensor integrations planned in the future.

Product availability

Ubicept technology is available in the following products.

SPAD Evaluation Kit

Purpose

Evaluate next-gen SPAD imaging and perception for future products.

Technology

UPF
Included
FLARE
Included

Benefits

Clear frames in conditions that challenge conventional systems:

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High speed motion (1314 fps)
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Limited illumination (0.05 lux)
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High dynamic range (160 dB)

Currently tested numbers; these may improve with future updates to FLARE gateware.

Camera

Includes Ubicept camera with a 1MP SPAD sensor from one of our technology partners.

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Toolkit for SPAD 

Purpose

Improve imaging and perception with existing SPAD cameras.

Technology

UPF
Included
FLARE
Select cameras

Benefits

Clear frames in conditions that challenge conventional systems:

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High speed motion (1000 fps)
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Limited illumination (0.05 lux)
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High dynamic range (140 dB)

Representative numbers only; actual results will depend on hardware and configuration.

Camera

Not included; works with any SPAD camera, with FLARE supported on select models.

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Toolkit for CMOS 

Purpose

Improve imaging and perception with conventional CMOS cameras.

Technology

UPF
Included
FLARE
Not applicable

Benefits

Reliable image quality improvements for downstream perception:

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+10 dB signal to noise gain
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+20 dB dynamic range boost
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No algorithmic hallucinations

Representative numbers only; actual results will depend on hardware and configuration.

Camera

Not included; works with any CMOS camera providing raw, uncompressed image data.

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Not sure which is the best fit?

Whether you need help choosing the right product or want to discuss integrating our technology more directly into your perception system, book a demo with us to learn more!
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