Member Introduction: Younite
Younite has joined DDE to create and co-develop defence solutions for both national needs and especially exports towards international markets. The company’s main market area is the United States. Sami Heinonen, Head of Studio and CTO, XR, has high hopes for future cooperations.
“We look forward to open, fruitful brainstorming and product development without silos where everyone has the courage to share knowledge within the network for the benefit of all. We are a company that boldly dives into prototyping with technology that’s far from polished. It’s both interesting and fun – and it often leads to great solutions.”
What expertise do you offer?
"We support the defence industry in four main areas. First, digital twins and asset management, adapted from the manufacturing industry. Second, synthetic data for AI training, such as realistic imaging of objects, cities, or even surveillance footage. Third, AI-powered simulations in NVIDIA Omniverse or similar engines. Lastly, we develop mixed reality training systems with Varjo, using see-through glasses to overlay 3D elements, like a digital tank, onto real environments."
Which themes interest you the most?
“We are particularly interested in Sensing & Surveillance across land, sea, airspace, outer space, and cyber domains. This includes a focus on simulation, training, and contextual situational awareness – helping various operators navigate the limitations of human cognitive capacity in understanding what is happening in their surroundings. Additionally, we excel in creating ultra-photorealistic product visualizations, and photos and videos, if needed.”
What are your thoughts on DDE’s future?
“In my opinion, DDE undoubtedly strengthens Finland's security and creates new expertise in the defence sector, which is needed internationally. I believe that, with the help of DDE, Finland could become an exporter of security solutions. NATO is, of course, an important driver that opens entirely new opportunities for us and the entire ecosystem. I also think the network might expand into new sectors in the future, driven by threats related to climate change."
What projects are you working on now?
“In the New Defence sector, dedicated to enhancing crisis resilience, we create synthetic data for flood and storm simulations in NVIDIA Omniverse. This enables AI training to identify scenarios such as street flooding or fallen trees, supporting applications like computer vision and data visualization. In addition, product development around synthetic data has advanced rapidly with DDE, despite our short membership. Our work with bleeding-edge technologies explores their potential without fear of failure. By combining NVIDIA technology with AI and 3D visualisation, we venture into uncharted territories."
