“ iSIZE develops AI-based solutions to save throughput and improve quality for the media and entertainment industry. This acquisition brings SIE significant expertise in the application of machine learning to video processing, which will benefit a range of our R&D efforts as well as our video and streaming services », Explains the press release signed Ueli Gallizzi, the man in charge of PlayStation’s Future Technology Group, in other words the manufacturer’s research and development department.
Size Matters
Former executive of Gaikai, the rising star of cloud gaming captured by PlayStation in 2012, Ueli Gallizzi has been the strong man of the cloud at SIE all this time, notably responsible for PlayStation Now (dissolved in the new PlayStation Plus formulas) and remote play (technology at the center of PlayStation Portal which is released this month). This acquisition comes as PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers can now play a number of PS5 games through cloud gaming on their console. These same Premium subscribers also have access to the Sony Pictures Core film catalog which could also benefit from an acquisition like this. Not to mention Crunchyroll which really needs it but for which SIE is not responsible.
“ Founded in 2016 and based in London, iSIZE has a team of talented engineers and technical experts who have developed a suite of software solutions to optimize video. For example, the company built an AI-based perceptual preprocessing solution that enables third-party conventional encoders to produce higher quality video at a significantly lower bitrate », Adds the press release which does not reveal the terms of the transaction. The official iSize website is available here.