GeckoSystems Intlernational Corporation is pleased to announce that due to the licensing agreement recently reached, the company forecasts a net profit for the 4th quarter of their fiscal year ending June 30. For over fifteen years GeckoSystems has dedicated itself to development of "Mobile Robot Solutions for Safety, Security and Service™"
GeckoSystems is forecasting revenues of $200,000 or more before June 30, 2013. This forecast revenue results from the international joint venture licensing agreement that is now finalized. GeckoSystems believes that as a result of the due diligence performed by the joint venture partners
and the technical and business experience backing the new company, this long sought after agreement provides irrefutable proof of the value of GeckoSystems technology.
"It's taken sixteen years to get us to this point;" reflected Martin Spencer, President and CEO of GeckoSystems International Corporation, "sixteen years and many dedicated engineers and programmers whose goal was to help people live better, more independent lives. We've done a great deal of R&D, testing, market research and business-to-business promotion and now we feel that we have the best and most marketable robotic platform on the market. Our fully autonomous navigation is unequaled as to cost and benefits."
Spencer continues: "We have always believed that Mobile Service Robots (MSR's) have incredible potential for the benefit of humanity in general, but we are especially dedicated to improving the ability of families around the world to take care of their own, their children, the disabled, and the elderly. This licensing agreement and its impact on the profitability of GeckoSystems marks the transition from the pre-revenue Development Stage to the revenue producing, now profitable, Emerging Growth stage. This first joint venture has made us profitable for this quarter.
"Because the GeckoSystems platform exploits the economic benefits of Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) mechanical and electronic systems and subsystems, products using our AI MSR platform will be affordable for smaller businesses and families and not be limited to major corporations or one percenters looking for expensive toys. We are about to see robots enter the mainstream and become a part of every day life."
The company is satisfied that this initial licensee appreciates the breadth of the MSRs' market and is motivated to establish itself as the dominant regional developer, manufacturer, and marketer of MSRs. The licensee has stated its intent to develop and market some of the product concepts that have been created by GeckoSystems' such as the ChairBot™, AI+ CareBot™, CareBotPro™, SecurityBot™, GeckoNED™, and GeckoSuperSentinel™. http://www.geckosystems.com/high_level/
State of the Market for Mobile Service Robots
GeckoSystems is not alone in their struggle to introduce cost effective, truly utilitarian service robot products to market. The entire sector of service robotics is in its infancy. MSR's for applications such as warehouse security, telepresence for K-12 students at home, or telemedicine (mobile video conferencing platforms) in select hospitals are just beginning to appear in the market. These MSRs have either very limited functionality, or are so expensive that they are not practical from a ROI perspective.
Personal and domestic service robots now being sold are mostly small home vacuuming machines and toys. Industrial and business robots largely focus on dull, dirty and dangerous tasks with routine "supervised autonomy" (a form of teleoperation control with the human making many common sense decisions). This 2012 report from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) highlights the difficulties GeckoSystems has faced:
"In 2011, about 2.5 million service robots for personal and domestic use were sold, 15% more than in 2010. The value of sales increased by 19% to US$636 million.
"Service robots for personal and domestic use are recorded separately, as their unit value is generally only a fraction of that of many types of service robots for professional use. They are also produced for a mass market with completely different pricing and marketing channels.
"So far, service robots for personal and domestic use are mainly in the areas of domestic (household) robots, which include vacuum and floor cleaning, lawn-mowing robots, and entertainment and leisure robots, including toy robots, hobby systems, education and research.
"Handicap assistance robots have not taken off to the anticipated degree in the past few years. In 2011 however, this market seemed to start up. 156 robots were sold, up from 46 in 2010. This is still quite a low number but the prospects are promising. A lot of national research projects in many countries concentrate on this huge future market for service robots. In contrast to the household and entertainment robots, these robots are high-tech products.
"The market of robots for personal transportation as well as home security and surveillance robots will gain importance in the future.
".... Sales of robots for elderly and handicap assistance will be about 4,600 units in the period of 2012-2015. This market will increase substantially within the next 20 years." https://ifr.org/
In March of 2015 the Japanese national health care plan will begin to cover robotic personal assistance at a rate of 90%. The 2012 IFR study was made before this plan was announced. GeckoSystems believes that this program and research subsidies associated with it will ignite the personal assistance robotics sector. Because of the demographic issues outlined in the report below, a CareBot™ type personal robot designed to help people live independently in their own home as long as possible will be in high demand globally, but the need is most urgent in Japan. GeckoSystems believes that no economically viable solution can be developed for this market by the March 2015 date without using their technology.
Asia One Article on Japanese Subsidies for Robotics Development
http://www.geckosystems.com/downloads/SafePath_Need_and_Benefits.pdf
http://www.geckosystems.com/investors/GeckoSystems-Family_and_Health_Care_Markets.pdf
GeckoSystems' Market Position:
GeckoSystems' AI mobile robot solutions are unique in that they are portable and extensible, enabling ready migration and usage in a large number of MSR applications and marketplaces. Using GeckoSystems' proprietary technology, licensees are able to develop new products quickly and with reduced R&D cost, giving them a "fast to market" solution and a competitive advantage when entering new markets. In addition, GeckoSystems' robust hardware and software architecture makes applications based on their technology "obsolescence proof" because new technology and/or cost reduction can be integrated on a modular basis as it develops.
The extensible and portable nature of GeckoSystems tech was proven in 2010 when the AI navigation software developed for and used on the CareBot(tm) was migrated and with limited additional R&D to the wheelchair. The company was able to use GeckoNav™ to create the SafePath™ "collision free" power wheelchair upgrade. It is this extensibility and portability that will allow GeckoSystems licensees to accelerate development of their own MSR applications.
GeckoSystems is gaining worldwide recognition in the robotics field because its technology solves fundamental problems that have held back the development of the MSR sector and it solves them in a way that makes service robots more affordable. Research and Markets recently identified GeckoSystems as one of eight "key market players" along side Honda, iRobot, Sony, Toyota, and others. The company is delighted to receive this global recognition. https://www.researchandmarkets.com/
"While we remain focused on our Pacific Rim business development activities, we now have new, ongoing discussions in several EU and Mediterranean countries. These additional discussions are primarily in the areas of commercial security and professional healthcare. We generally get favorable reactions and heightened interest due to our willingness to share risk in the proposed joint ventures. Due that reality, we believe that we will soon be announcing additional licensing revenues. I expect development in the personal robot, social robot, elder care robot, mobile service robot, personal assistance robot, UAV, UMV, drone, driverless automobile, etc. (all use MSR technologies) sector from 2015 to 2020 to parallel the explosive growth of Apple's and IBM's personal computer market in the early 80's, or the equally dramatic development of the automobile industry with Ford's famous Model T in the early 1900's. This first $100,000 in licensing revenues is our beginning and a definitive sea change for us. Now we have a revenues and net profits proximate," concluded Spencer.
GeckoSystems stock is quoted in the U.S. over-the-counter (OTC) markets, on the Pink OTC Current Information tier, under the ticker symbol GOSY.