Ultravision is 'for sale'

SALEM, N.H.--As first reported by Venture Business Research, and confirmed by vice president of sales and marketing Bill Lozon, security sensor manufacturer Ultravision is being actively shopped by owners OYO Corp, which is based in Tokyo.

The company has gained attention for its technology with award wins at both ISC West and IFSEC. Essentially, the company's ultra-wideband detection technology allows users to “see” through concrete and other dense materials, allowing sensors to be buried underground, for example, and to be used as highly reliable motion detectors, which can gauge an object's size and motion.

Ultravision has embedded this technology in three basic products: LifeLocator, which assists in the search for living victims in debris piles, as in the recent Chinese earthquake; MicroDetector, a portable detector for use by SWAT teams and other first responders needing to evaluate what might be behind walls or in buildings; and UltraSensor, which it sells through the security installer channel and is used as “intelligent” motion detection.

“We need to find a partner that we integrate well with,” said Lozon, “maybe one of the monster houses that sell a little bit of everything. Maybe we become a component of an overall solution.”

Sandra Jones, whose Sandra Jones & Company has been enlisted to assist in the sale, said she was impressed with the way the company has turned its technology into market-facing products rather rapidly. She noted that OYO, a global company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is “not really in the security business” and that security “has a different dynamic than a lot of other markets,” which may be why the company is looking to exit its only security foray. OYO's main business is geo-engineering services and related measuring equipment.

Lozon said the Ultravision staff welcomes the idea of a sale. “We've just hit our head on a glass ceiling,” he said. “To make the leap, with this really remarkable technology, we need an influx of brain power and capital.”