AI inside Announces a Functional Collaboration between its No-Code AI Development and Operation Platform and the Modular Cameras of i-PRO

Simplifying Implementation of Image Recognition AI and Promoting AI Democratization

Tokyo, December 14, 2022– AI inside Inc., which promotes the democratization of AI by providing AI infrastructure announced a functional collaboration with i-PRO Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “i-PRO”), which holds the leading share in Japan’s security camera market. This arrangement makes it possible to use “Learning Center Vision” and i-PRO’s modular camera to perform all processes, from collecting training data, to training, and inference. This solution will allow anyone to easily implement image recognition AI in any facility or space where cameras can be installed, both indoors and outdoors. 

Through functional collaboration with various hardware, AI inside will continue promoting AI democratization, enabling anyone to create and use AI easily, while aiming to realize “Smart X,” a sustainable future society in which AI permeates every corner of the world and is solving society’s problems.

Background

AI is already found in various services involved in daily life and business operations, enriching our lives and bringing greater convenience. There are expectations for its use in industries of all kinds, as the spread of AI in society is forecast to continue accelerating globally. In the case of image recognition AI, this is being introduced actively in many fields, including automation of appearance inspections, image diagnosis and other visual tasks, human flow, crime prevention, and security. The market size is expected to grow 135.2% in fiscal 2022 from the previous year to 36.5 billion yen, and to exceed 100 billion yen by 2026.^*1

Despite the high expectations for a new value from the market for image recognition and other AI technology, there are currently many cases where AI development, implementation, and operation are dependent on specialized vendors, with considerable effort and costs on the way to implementation. For everyone to be able to enjoy the value provided by AI, an environment in which AI can be used more easily must be created.

*1 Deloitte Tohmatsu MIC Research Institute Co., Ltd., Current State and Outlook of the Image Recognition Solutions Market Using AI (Deep Learning) [FY2022 Edition]([Japanese only)

Overview of the Functional Collaboration

With “Learning Center Vision,” which enables anyone to easily develop and operate image recognition without code, and i-PRO’s modular camera collaboration, AI can be implemented in business operations more easily and at a lower cost than ever before. Specifically, images taken by i-PRO modular cameras can be sent directly to “Learning Center Vision” for training, without manually collecting training data in advance and uploading it, simplifying the AI development and operation processes. Moreover, since this function collaboration can perform even inference without having to configure a new system (inference engine), the effort and cost of outside system procurement or in-house development and operation are reduced.

Once the functional extension software “Learning Center Connect for i-PRO” has been downloaded, “Learning Center Vision” can collaborate with modular cameras provided by i-PRO, holder of the top share in Japan’s security camera market. The i-PRO cameras consist of modules smaller than a business card, which can be embedded and installed in equipment and systems of various kinds. Another feature is the high degree of customizability offered by the Build to Order (BTO) option, which lets customers choose their desired combination of lens unit shape, angle of view, focal distance, communication means, and other specifications.

Furthermore, “Learning Center Vision” can develop general-purpose AI models such as human and car detection, which are standard in existing AI cameras, and various image recognition AI models customized for specific applications. By taking advantage of these strengths in this functional collaboration, customers can implement image recognition AI as solutions optimized to their areas of concern and for various usage environments, both indoors and outdoors.

Details of the functional collaboration: https://help.inside.ai/hc/ja/articles/12739180038425 (only Japanese)
Modular camera products page: https://i-pro.com/global/en/surveillance/products/ip-camera-network-camera

Use Cases

Manufacturing industry: Automating appearance inspection

For companies of all kinds that have their production facilities to manufacturing parts and products, the appearance inspection is an important production process, to ensure quality by confirming whether the surface of the manufactured item has foreign substances, dirt, scratches, or defects. In most cases, the confirmation is made visually by inspection personnel. Depending on the skill of the people doing the inspection, the criteria can lack certainty, resulting in quality variation; or inspectors can overlook defective products due to the difficulty of continuing inspection work for long periods. Another of the many issues with this approach is the difficulty of flexibly adjusting inspection personnel assignments in line with production volume.

By introducing Learning Center Vision with its functional extension of i-PRO modular cameras, AI for automating appearance inspection can be implemented quickly and at a low cost. The benefits include quality assurance based on standardized criteria, the improved yield from reducing the overlooking of defective products, and more efficient inspection.

Construction industry: Raising the level of on-site safety management

Much of the work at construction sites is performed in a dangerous environment, such as at high places or around large equipment, which leads to workers wearing safety gear. Since failure to wear the safety gear properly can be a threat to human life, the site supervisors have to check the situation for each worker visually and keep records of it. Inside the work area, however, many workers go about their work while moving from place to place, requiring much time for checking and giving rise to the problem of overlooking wearing failures.

By introducing “Learning Center Vision” with its functional extension of i-PRO modular cameras, an AI model can be created that detects from camera images whether workers are properly wearing their safety gear, and can be used as is for continual analysis. Besides improving productivity by eliminating the need for visual confirmation by supervisors, overlooking failures can be prevented, and users can monitor the proper wearing of safety gear in real-time. Moreover, as data is compiled on the status of safety gear worn by workers, that data can be used to help raise the level of on-site management.

About AI inside Inc. 

With our mission, “to bring AI to every being in the world and contribute to a richer future society”, AI inside aims to realize a society in which AI spreads to every corner of people’s life. We provide a platform for anyone to utilize AI easily through our services: “Learning Center,” a platform for anyone to utilize image recognition/prediction and judgment AI without code, “AI Growth Program,” a practice-based AI human resource development program, “DX Suite” to digitize various information into highly accurate data, “AI inside Cube,” an edge computing service that realizes the operation of AI in a secure environment, and “Developer’s API,” a collection of intelligence APIs. 

Product Websites
DX Suite：https://dx-suite.com/global/lp/en/
Learning Center Vision (Japanese only)：https://learning-center.inside.ai/
Learning Center Forecast：https://inside.ai/en/service/learning-center-forecast/
AI inside Cube: https://inside.ai/en/service/ai-inside-cube-series/

Company Name: AI inside Inc. 
Location: 4th Floor, 3-8-12 Shibuya Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo, Japan 
Representative: Representative Director, President & CEO (Concurrently) CPO Taku Toguchi 
Founded: August 2015 
Business details: Development and provision of artificial intelligence and related information services
HP: https://inside.ai/en/

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