Berlin (10 June 2021). New approach to developing human-machine interfaces (HMI): the Berlin-based company Incari offers a convenient user interface for designing complex interfaces with no knowledge of programming. Having seen success in the automotive sector, the application is now being rolled out to other industries. A new round of financing provides a fresh boost; the expansion is to be driven forward with additional € 15 million funds from investors.
“Incari can be used wherever an interface between a human and a machine is needed”, says Osman Dumbuya, CEO and founder of Incari. “We offer an uncomplicated platform which allows developers and designers to work together starting right at the prototyping phase. Our system currently sees particular use in the automotive industry. There is, however, great demand in a variety of other industries such as health, construction, and aerospace.”
The European entrepreneur and investor Lukasz Gadowski (Team Europe) is currently leading the Series A round of financing: “Incari’s approach is fascinating. I’m amazed by what the team has already achieved in the automotive sector. These experiences can be carried over to a wealth of other applications. Together, we’re now looking to create a large, independent company which is active at the global level.”
Together with investors led by Lukasz Gadowski, the founders will take the company to the next level of growth after being supported in the early stages by angel investor Armin Pohl’s Wunderkind Invest. The founding team is being supported by Pius Equity and business angel Gunnar Gräf.
The way in which humans and machines interact is fundamentally changing
Society’s digitalisation in both private and commercial life is changing the way we understand technology. Specialisation of products and use of new concepts for interaction is prompting a paradigm shift. In particular, innovations in human-machine interaction, such as augmented reality, remote touch, computer-brain interfaces, are driving the process of change – after all, navigating inside an AR environment or vehicle can’t be mapped with a mouse.
At the same time, the complexity of the individual systems is increasing. The HMI concepts of the future will not be limited to displays and will require a three-dimensional reference, as is the case when virtually representing three-dimensional construction plans on a construction site or controlling a surgical robot arm remotely.
The Incari HMI development platform is tackling these challenges head-on. It facilitates a development process which is optimised to meet the needs of new HMI concepts and products. Incari’s “3D-first approach” does away with the restrictions or previous tools which are geared towards simple two-dimensional representation. Dynamic processes and 3D models can be rendered in real-time and visualised on a variety of output devices. This is what allows applications with a spatial reference, such as augmented reality, to be realised in the first place.
Strong cooperation partners
The Incari platform’s ongoing development is being carried out in joint research and development cooperation with the Fraunhofer Society’s Institute for Open Communication Systems and Institute for Industrial Engineering and Organisation as well as the Daimler Center for Automotive IT Innovations.
Incari is also involved in the field of neurotechnology and digital medicine, in the future integration of neural interfaces as well as bio-trackers, sensors and exoskeletons to name but a few – an example of how Incari can be used in HMI systems of all types in both consumer and industrial goods.
The veteran founding team has already been able to establish a standard solution in the industry using the Vred visualisation software. Incari emerged in May 2021 from its predecessor company “CGI-Studio”, which had up to that point primarily been active in the HMI sector for the automotive industry.
Advisors for equity financing, VC:
- Graef & Company (Berlin/Paris) – Prof. Gunnar Gräf
- Pius Equity (Berlin) – Georges S. Mario
- Noerr (New York) – Dr. Sascha Leske, LL.M.
- Gobbers & Denk (Frankfurt a.M.) – Dr. Klaus Denk