OSLO, Norway--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Board of Directors of Sonitor Technologies AS announced today that it is establishing Sonitor IPS Holding AS (Indoor Positioning Systems) and creating two subsidiaries; Sonitor Technologies AS and Forkbeard Technologies AS. Forkbeard Technologies will focus on the development of platform technologies for cloud-based, indoor positioning of mobile devices. Sonitor Technologies will continue to focus on the commercialization and expansion of the market leading Sonitor Sense™ platform and will partner in the commercialization of the Forkbeard™ technology platform in healthcare and other markets.
“After careful consideration, the Board of Directors has determined that separating Sonitor into two independent entities will accelerate the growth and development of each and lead to greater shareholder value,” said Carl Christian Gilhuus-Moe, PhD, Executive Chairman, Sonitor Technologies AS. “The current Sonitor Board of Directors will continue as the board of directors for Sonitor IPS Holding and the new Sonitor Technologies subsidiary. Forkbeard Technologies will establish a new board under the leadership of Knut Sandven as Chairman. Wilfred Booij, PhD, currently CTO of Sonitor will assume the role as CEO of the new Forkbeard subsidiary.”
Sonitor's patented ultrasound technology continues to set the standard for accurate indoor positioning in healthcare and other verticals. Commercially launched in 2014, Sonitor Sense™ has established itself as the RTLS (Real-Time Location Systems) market leader in accurate and reliable indoor positioning in hospitals, clinics and long-term care facilities worldwide. Forkbeard, with its potential to turn billions of smart mobile devices into highly accurate indoor positioning and wayfinding tools, is on the threshold of revolutionizing and transforming indoor positioning in healthcare and across additional and larger market verticals.
"Sonitor pioneered indoor positioning technology and has led the industry since we executed our first hospital deployment with our patented ultrasound technology more than a decade ago," stated Dr. Booij. "We believe that creating Forkbeard as a new business entity will allow us to take the technology rapidly mainstream."
"Today's announcement demonstrates our commitment to continuing to lead the indoor positioning technology market,” said Arne Øyen, Group CEO of Sonitor Technologies AS. “Forkbeard offers further exciting business and investment opportunities in the large and expanding global indoor positioning market for our partners and our shareholders alike.”
About Sonitor and Forkbeard
Sonitor is a leading provider and innovator of accurate and reliable ultrasound-based Real Time Location Systems (RTLS) and Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS) linking the physical world with the Internet of Things (IoT) to provide real-time visibility and connected intelligence. As the first and only company to use proprietary ultrasound technology as the primary technology for indoor positioning, Sonitor’s Sense™ and Forkbeard™ platforms work seamlessly together to help users navigate indoor environments and automatically determine the real-time location of moveable equipment and people.
Building on Sonitor’s patented ultrasound technology, the Forkbeard platform provides accuracy and reliability in software-enabled positioning of smartphones, tablets and other mobile smart devices. Combining industry standard audio with Bluetooth technology, Forkbeard achieves close to 100 times the location accuracy of other commercially available technologies. Unlike these other technologies, Forkbeard always delivers room-level accuracy based upon Sonitor’s proprietary ultrasound technology.
