Know Labs
Visualant, Incorporated develops a spectral matching technology using a patented ChromaID approach. Founded in 1998, Visualant is a public company based in Seattle, Washington. The ChromaID technology shines LED wavelengths or laser light onto a material and measures the intensity of the light that is reflected back. The data collected can be used to determine what the material in question is by detecting slightest variations in the pattern of the material's reaction to the structured light. History. Visualant was founded in 1998 by Ron Erickson. The technology was originally developed by Tom Furness and Brian Showengerdt over  a period of seven years at Furness's private research lab 'RATLab'. Visualant acquired TransTech Systems of Aurora, Oregon in 2010. TransTech distributes security products and systems to security and law enforcement industries. In May 2012, Visualant entered into a joint development contract, and licensing agreement with Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd. focusing on the commercialization of the SPM technology. The following year, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted its sixth Visualant a patent titled "Method, apparatus, and article to facilitate distributed evaluation of objects using electromagnetic energy." Later in 2013, Visualant partnered with Intellectual Ventures (IV) to  further the commercialization of Visualant's ChromaID technology and catalyze the development of further intellectual property through IV's 'Inventor Network'. Products. Visualant, Inc. offers the ChromaID Scanner Kit that includes the ChromaID Scanner and the necessary software (ChromaID Lab) to configure and operate the scanner from a PC. The kit also includes an SDK so developers can build their own applications using the technology. The product consists of a hand-held scanner of LEDs that are emitted onto an object and measures the color variations reflected back. The ChromaID is produced from the data that is generated from this  process and the associated ChromaID Lab software plots a chart showing the intensity of the light, the software then compares the result to a database of patterns. This technology and product offer a wide variety of uses in industries in identification authentication, and diagnostics. Awards and recognition. In February 2013, Visualant won the Green Photonics category of the 2013 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation for its ChromaID technology.