It's been over six months since New Mexico Inno picked out 10 startups in the state that we thought were primed for big things in 2023. Since we're now over halfway through the year, New Mexico Inno wanted to follow up with those startups to see how things are going and if our January predictions were accurate.
Over the coming weeks, New Mexico Inno will roll out stories checking in with our 2023 Startups to Watch. Next up is Perspective Components Inc., an Albuquerque startup with a smart microphone technology to keep cities and spaces safer.
Click here to see the full list of New Mexico Inno's 2023 Startups to Watch.
In late March, a dozen artificial intelligence-backed "smart" microphones buzzed to life inside a parking garage under Downtown Albuquerque's Civic Plaza — pieces of equipment built and installed by an Albuquerque security technology startup. About five months later, that startup has expanded its work with the City of Albuquerque, this time through integration with an Albuquerque Police Department security software.
Perspective Components Inc., the Albuquerque startup, is gearing up for its second phase of work with the Albuquerque Police Department. It'll expand on some free, initial work the company carried out with the department that involved integrating its NoiseVu microphones with Genetec, a physical security software used by the department at its Real Time Crime Center.
Those microphones are bits of technology that use a machine learning model to detect various abnormal noises like gunshots, car accidents, verbal aggression, speeding or catalytic converter theft, for example. Integrating that tech with the Genetec software meansPolice Department would be able to observe and respond to events picked up by 14 total microphones more rapidly through the department's Real Time Crime Center. Right now, the department can only access the microphones' feed through Perspective Components' own web application.
Moving from initial testing to a more expansive scope of work — which includes bringing the full functionality of the web application to the Real Time Crime Center and initial training sessions with department personnel — can help further prove the effectiveness of Perspective Component's tech, Erik Strobert, the startup's founder and CEO, said. All future NoiseVu microphones used by the City of Albuquerque would be integrated with the Genetec software, as well.
"It shows that we operate at the same level as the City's other keystone technologies," Strobert said.
It'll cost just under $6,000 to integrate the microphones with the Genetec software, per a quote sent to the City of Albuquerque by the startup. That's not as much money as installing a dozen cameras at a parking garage, for instance, Strobert said, but it's still a step forward for the startup, he said.
Perspective Components has had an ongoing relationship with the City, said Mark Leech, the City of Albuquerque's director of technology and innovation. It spun out of an Internet-of-Things bootcamp run by Central New Mexico Community College and has been boosted by some funding and testing provided by the City, including at its Pino Yards tech testing ground.
"It makes the City more effective in using scarce resources," Leech said about its work with Perspective Components. "With audio detection, we can be alerted that something is happening in a specific area and then get more eyes on it. It can increase operational efficiency."
Its flagship system with the City of Albuquerque has been in operation at the Albuquerque Convention Center parking garage since late March. Strobert said the system has been "operating perfectly," and Leech added that the City is in the process of tracking specific metrics like the number of incidents detected to analyze the microphones' effectiveness.
The startup also recently completed the first of a series of the U.S. National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps program. It's now prepping to apply for the next regional phase of that entrepreneurial training program, readying Perspective Components to submit a more intensive proposal for Phase I of the National Science Foundation's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, which comes with seed funding and more startup training.
"You get a big grading advantage on your proposal if your company has gone through [Innovation Corps]," Strobert said about the SBIR application. "Since you have one year to submit that proposal from the time you're invited, we're working our way as high up that chain as we can before we submit our proposal."
Strobert added that Houston and Minneapolis are two cities his startup is eyeing for installing more of its smart microphones in the next couple of months. He's also trying to diversify where those microphones are installed by working with car dealerships and other commercial businesses, including some in Albuquerque.
The startup plans to raise money once it starts out-of-state installations, Strobert said.
"Because we work with governments and because we work in security, our internal philosophy is doing things methodically," he said. "If they're investing in security, they have to be very low risk. That means that we have to move a lot more methodically and our decision-making can't be reckless. Even if it's slower, we have to show our customers that we share the same operational philosophy that they do."
