I realised my tweets about #SEE have been quite fragmented, so I thought I'd do a thread summarising the stunning investment case (and why I think it will see further substantial interest from both the UK and US investor base, among others).

Seeing Machines (LON: #SEE) is an Australia-headquartered, London-listed company that specialises in driver and occupant monitoring systems (DMS and OMS).

This is essentially a system which, through artificial intelligence and a camera, monitors how alert the driver is, or whether they are intoxicated, tired, or something else entirely.

Based on this, the driver can be alerted, the vehicle slowed, or anything else according to the vehicle manufacturers' preference.

Why is this important?

According to European Commission statistics, 90% of crashes on the road are at least partially due to human error.

In 2017, 25,300 people died and 135,300 were seriously injured on EU roads. The global casualties are, of course, even more significant.

Imagine saving 90% of these lives, or even half of that. It would represent a step change in how we travel.

It's not ludicrous to think that over time, DMS could have be as transformational as a seatbelt.

This is not a pie in the sky idea; this is proven technology.

#SEE's DMS has been installed in tens of thousands of heavy trucks, detecting just under 8 million fatigue events and making about 160,000 interventions (more on this later).

Each of these are potentially life saving.

But, I hear you ask, what about self driving?

Shouldn't this invalidate the need for such a solution given that self driving is apparently set for the roads soon, and so could save all these lives (or so Elon Musk and $TSLA would have you think)?

Not exactly.

Auto experts call the type of self driving defined above "Level 5 autonomy". Right now, we're at about Level 2, which, in a nutshell, needs human attention at all times.

So DMS is as relevant as ever.

The self driving dream is dead, at least in the near term (10 years).

Uber $UBER has sold the self-driving unit it invested more than $1bn in. An article from February of this year reads "Tesla needs to fix its deadly Autopilot problem".

There is a growing recognition from the auto industry that L5 autonomy is nowhere near, and solutions like #SEE's are sorely needed.

The EU is making this tech compulsory in EVERY car from 2024.

The US Moving Forward Act, which has already passed the House of Representatives, does the same. Clearly, based on life-saving potential, #SEE is very much an ESG investment. The total addressable market is enormous: about 100 MILLION motor vehicles are produced yearly.

Imagine DMS installed in most, if not every, one.

By the way, #SEE has an aviation division too, to supply for flight simulators, and eventually, in planes.

What about, though, when L5 autonomy does come?

I'm as firm a believer in the power of innovation as anyone, and fully recognise that this is a significant possibility (and would be greatly welcomed).

Does #SEE just become irrelevant then?

Not exactly.

Here's where the OMS (occupant monitoring systems) that I mentioned earlier become useful.

As the name suggests, occupant monitoring enables life-saving improvements by being able to tell if, for example, a passenger has had a seizure, or someone has left their child in the car, for example.

This matters: over 900 children have died from being left in hot cars since 1990, just in the USA. The amount who have died, and sadly, will die, from having medical events while unattended in cars is hugely significant.

By the way, this is just what we know.

In theory, OMS can be extended to just about any passenger-involving event that can happen in a car. Based on the automakers' discretion, actions can be taken to mitigate these risks (the car making a noise if a child is left in it, for example).

Even disregarding OMS, just imagine the applications of eye tracking technology that can understand an individual's attentiveness/state of mind.

Imagine the improvements to user experience by using this on phones to, for example, dim the brightness when the user is tired.

This is just what we know: the possibilities are absolutely endless. This is innovative technology that cannot be supplanted easily.

So we've got a sector overview, with a few examples of why #SEE is so special. Let's go a bit more micro.

Why Seeing Machines and not its competitors: Smart Eye from Sweden or Cipia (formerly Eyesight) from Israel?

For one, the lead expert in DMS worldwide, Colin Barnden, holds the view that #SEE has the superior DMS worldwide.

One reason for this is that the technology applied in heavy trucks above has been used for over 5 billion kilometres of travel.

This has allowed #SEE to optimise its algorithms and Human Factors technology: they are the market leader in connecting the visual signals to a definitive: "Is this person tired/drunk/something else?"

A larger company, let alone the above two competitors, cannot just replicate the Human Factors technology outlined above. As I wrote in a recent article, data is the physical manifestation of time spent on a project.

Seeing Machines, founded in 2000 as a spinout from the Australian National University, has spent countless hours and thus has an impregnable vat of data to show for it. This is why it is the market leader.

Don't believe me?

Maybe you'll believe Mercedes, Ford, BMW or any of the others who have already secured deals with #SEE to supply their DMS to their vehicles.

Seeing's chipmaker connections are second to none. Nick DiFiore, who heads up the automotive division, is a Xilinx and Ford veteran.

He helped build Xilinx to what it is today.

It comes as no surprise that #SEE has deals in place with Xilinx and Qualcomm. Below is an image from a Qualcomm automotive presentation in November; pretty illustrious company for a minnow by market capitalisation.

Qualcomm's Snapdragon Automotive Platform features #SEE tech.

#SEE is all but confirmed to have its DMS in the Ford F-150, the highest selling vehicle in the US.

#SEE tech was in the GM driver assistance platform, that was so raved about.

These are endorsements from industry royals. They're what give me confidence in #SEE as the market leader. On to the numbers:

Colin Barnden estimated a 40-45% market share for Seeing in November 2019. This is about 40-45 million cars a year.

At estimated pricing of A$10 a vehicle, the automotive division alone would generate about £250m in revenue. This is just for the DMS application to cars.

The current value of the company, according to its market capitalisation, is about £200m.

Barnden has previously stated the possibility of #SEE being bought out for $10bn by a company like Waymo (by the way, this is the analyst who called ARM Holdings' rise when it was but a minnow).

With the fact that the company is purportedly "fully funded" to profitability, even a valuation 5 times less than the possibility above represents substantial upside, and a massively distorted risk/reward. It's why #SEE makes up a significant % of my portfolio.

I am not alone here: Seeing Machines is seeing significant investor interest from the US and the UK (at least) at the current bargain basement valuation.

Lombard Odier Asset Management (a subsidiary of a Swiss private bank) owns about 20%.

Federated Hermes (a US investment manager with over $500bn in assets under management) owns about 10%.

This is among a host of other institutional investors.

This, in my view, is my chance to make a substantial reward for little risk: the business is fundamentally solid, with little debt and a huge, unique moat, in a massive growth sector that can save countless lives.

At a time when many are chasing the next $TSLA, $ABNB or $PLTR I find this minnow to be a woefully underlooked gem.

Seeing Machines #SEE is the future.

I'm beyond excited to be invested in it.

P.S. for a briefer overview check out my May article: https://shreysnotepad.com/2020/05/05/driver-monitoring-systems-and-seeing-machines/