Haivision acquires video tech AI specialist Lightflow Media Technologies

Video streaming technology provider Haivision has acquired Madrid-based Lightflow Media Technologies, the advanced media optimisation arm of media software innovation specialist Epic Labs.

Haivision said that the acquisition adds artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to Haivision’s innovation portfolio to form the basis for advances in content-aware video encoding, content indexing, object detection, as well as optimisation of video contribution, distribution, and delivery for low-latency live feeds or video on-demand.

LightFlow’s technology suite also gives Haivision a media cloud orchestration architecture, which it said would provide a foundation to accelerate the company’s cloud strategy of creating an ecosystem of modular video streaming and management technologies.

The LightFlow team led the development of the DASH.js implementation that includes low-latency CMAF support, Haivision said added to its market leadership with the Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) open source initiative for delivering low-latency video over the open intnernet, and the development of the Haivision SRT Hub intelligent cloud media routing platform.

Miguel Serrano

DASH.js is an initiative to establish a production quality framework for building video and audio players that play back MPEG-DASH content using client-side JavaScript libraries leveraging the Media Source Extensions API defined by the W3C.

“Haivision is a recognized leader and pioneer in video streaming with the Makito series of video encoders and the open-source SRT initiative. Epic Labs is a cutting-edge innovator in cloud development and AI for video streaming. By bringing our visions together, we are poised to enable the delivery of revolutionary new end-to-end media solutions that will transform low-latency streaming workflows – from contribution and distribution, all the way to delivery and monetization,” said Mirko Wicha, founder and CEO of Haivision.

“Innovation is at the heart of Haivision’s cloud development efforts. Haivision is pioneering next-generation cloud video services made possible through intelligent media routing, AI-optimized media and metadata processing, as well as blockchain-enabled decentralized federated content distribution, opening new opportunities for more content providers to deliver video to ever-expanding audiences,” said Mahmoud Al-Daccak, Haivision’s CTO and EVP of Product Development.

“With so much real-time data available throughout the media workflow, the magic dwells in understanding, learning, and adjusting continuously to achieve optimal results. By applying artificial intelligence in different layers of the video workflow, we can harness the combined power of the cloud and edge processing to reinvent the way broadcast and media organizations produce, deliver, and monetise their content,” said Miguel Serrano, CEO of LightFlow Media Technologies.