New Maayan incubator co adjusts photo brightness $500,000 have been invested in Bright, which has technology to make dark and bright objects live together in photographs.

Jul. 26--Maayan Ventures Ltd. (TASE:MAYN) has received the approval of the Chief Scientist to form a new incubator company called Bright. The new company has received $500,000 (NIS 2.2 million) in investment, of which 85 percent is a loan from the Chief Scientist, the common practice for privatized incubators. Bright is developing a photographic technology that makes it possible to capture poorly lit and brightly lit objects in the same picture. At present, it is not possible to capture both kinds of items since brightly lit objects will look too bright when shot with a flash bulb while dark objects look too dark if flash is not used. Most cellular cameras don't have a flash accessory at all, so the photograph often appears to be too dark. Bright's product consists of a sensor and a series of algorithms that regulate the desired flow of light from each object. When the sensor detects that an object has reached the maximum pre-defined light level, it transmits a signal to the camera to stop receiving light from this source but to continue receiving it from other sources. At present, such results can only be achieved with very expensive cameras, and it is not always possible to adjust the brightness on a digital image after the fact. Maayan says that Bright's technology will be fairly cheap and that it can be installed in any camera, including minute cellular cameras. The development is also suitable for medical imaging, since a camera with this technology will provide maximum information on any photographed limb. Bright's entrepreneur is Dr. Daniel Barnea, former chief scientist at Clal Industries and Investments (TASE: CII), CEO at Clal Electronic Industries, and manager at Elscint and Motorola Corporation (NYSE: MOT). Maayan Ventures CEO Tsvika Ben-Porat said, "The entrepreneur and his team are industry leaders in imaging in Israel." Maayan will receive a 40 percent fully diluted stake in Bright in exchange for its investment. The two sides are currently negotiating detailed agreements.