A Quebec artificial intelligence company helped design a state-of-the-art telescope unveiled at the major exhibition in Las Vegas this week.
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Hectiq.AI, a Quebec company specializing in artificial intelligence solutions, has had a fruitful collaboration with Celestron, an American company that is a leading authority on astronomical instruments.
“It’s really exciting,” says Martin Laprise, founder and chief scientific officer of Hectiq.AI. We have been making customized artificial intelligence prototypes for a long time.
“Our model will be found in all telescopes that people buy. That's great visibility, but it's also interesting to know that our work will have a positive impact on people's lives.
“We hear a lot of negative things about AI these days, but there are also positive things.”
Astronomical images
The project spanned a period of almost three years.
“Celestron is the specialist in astronomical instruments for amateurs,” adds Martin Laprise. However, the entire astronomical imaging software development part was an area in which they had no expertise.
“When we offered them an artificial intelligence-based approach, they were really excited. We made a custom model for her.”
When the Celestron Origin telescope points to the sky in search of stars, Quebec technology is used.
“The camera opens and receives photons and data. Our goal is to convert this raw data into a final image. When you take a picture with a mobile phone, everything happens automatically, but taking an astronomical picture is much more complicated.
This collaboration between Hectiq.AI and Celestron could lead to further projects in the coming years.
“They are not specialists in artificial intelligence and have no interest in developing it further internally. Celestron has a reputation for keeping its products on the market for a long time. Our software is upgradable and the system is designed to do so.”
A childhood dream
Laprise was not commissioned by Celestron to develop this technology. Rather, it was the Quebecer and his four colleagues who took the first steps with the Californian company.
“I had an idea for a technology we could sell to them. “I contacted them directly and showed them what we had in mind,” explains the trained physicist.
“The technology we developed for them wasn’t exactly what they wanted. Then they presented us with their telescope, which was under development.”
Laprise has been passionate about astronomy since he was a child. At the age of 12 he purchased his first telescope. Which brand? A Celestron.
“For the little prick from Lac-Saint-Jean that I am, it's exciting to be able to work on this technology,” says Laprise proudly.
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