On September 15, 2026, OMNIQ Corp. (OTCQB: OMQS) announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted the company U.S. Patent No. 12,633,155 B1, titled "HOV detection system using multiband line-scan imagery." The patent was originally filed in 2020 and names Yoram Hofman as the inventor. The technology is designed to automatically determine the number of occupants inside a moving vehicle by using roadside cameras to capture line-scan images in two separate infrared bands.
The system utilizes deep-learning networks to locate vehicle windows and identify faces within them. By comparing the two infrared bands, the technology increases the contrast on occupants' faces, which is made possible because human skin reflects infrared light differently than vehicle interiors, seats, and clothing. The patent also covers the integration of this occupancy count with license plate recognition (LPR).
According to the filing, the patented occupancy detection technology is already deployed at two active U.S. sites and one international site. These deployments provide real-world validation of the technology under live traffic conditions. The technology builds upon OMNIQ’s existing machine vision platform, which is used for applications including toll roads, border crossings, airport rideshare and curbside operations, and gateless parking.
The company provided an economic assessment for the technology. A representative deployment is estimated to generate approximately $1.6 million in annual revenue. Based on an assessment of comparable opportunities nationwide, the total annual U.S. addressable market for this technology is estimated at approximately $218 million. This estimate is based on 136 addressable HOV and high occupancy toll facilities, after excluding jurisdictions where automated vehicle occupancy enforcement is legally restricted. The Federal Highway Administration identified 145 such facilities across the United States.
The press release highlights the difficulty of enforcing High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane compliance. Manual enforcement requires officers to visually count occupants in vehicles traveling at highway speed, often on a shoulder with limited safe pull-off space. The California Highway Patrol has indicated violation rates reaching as much as 39% of vehicles in a diamond lane during peak commute hours, with local experts estimating an average of 19% to 24%.
Regarding data privacy, OMNIQ states that its solutions are built to meet agency requirements. Data is processed and stored in a private network, and access is limited to authorized personnel. The company notes that it does not sell plate data or share it with third parties for commercial purposes. In accordance with privacy requirements, the system blurs occupants' faces in the evidentiary images it produces.
