Verizon 5G First Responder Lab's Third Cohort Focused on AI

Verizon and Responder Corp. last week unveiled five more companies they intend to usher into the 5G market, constituting the third and final cohort of their 5G First Responder Lab, a startup-accelerator program in Washington, D.C.

Recapping the announcement at a three-day public safety event hosted by Verizon and Nokia, a news release said the new cohort will focus on uses for artificial intelligence, including for weapon detection, geo-intelligence, autonomous security, virtual reality training and situational awareness.

By participating in the accelerator, these companies will have three months of access to the lab, its 5G network and consultants from Verizon and Responder Corp. to help with use case testing and market strategies. Verizon and Responder Corp. will then make the resulting tools available to public safety agencies across the country.

The startups participating in this cohort include:

• Edgybees: adds layers of graphics and information to live video feeds
• SimX: makes augmented and virtual reality programs for medical training
• Knightscope: makes self-driving robots with AI to help with surveillance and security
• Lumineye: uses pulse radar technology and signal analysis software to “see” through solid walls
• ZeroEyes: makes cameras and surveillance technology with AI for automatically detecting weapons and alerting responders

Verizon announced this startup accelerator program in November 2018, promising to choose 15 companies — three cohorts of five companies apiece — and get them to realize and sell their ideas. The latest cohort will conclude the first year of the program, although statements in the news release suggested the program would continue in 2020.

Previous cohorts focused on drones, advanced imaging, virtual reality training and education, and smart city technology.

Editor's note: This story was updated to correct the list of companies involved in the cohort, which was incorrectly stated on the press release.