A featured contribution from Leadership Perspectives: a curated forum reserved for leaders nominated by our subscribers and vetted by the Construction Tech Review Advisory Board.
Shinya Motohashi
Smart cities use sensors to collect and integrate a variety of data to optimize the city's infrastructure, facilities, and operations. If you add “video + AI” to this smart city, you will be able to judge by looking at the abnormalities and dangers that sensors and AI warn.Also, if AI processing is performed at the location (edge) where the surveillance camera is installed, there will be no delay in transmitting video to the cloud.The advantage of "video + edge + AI" is that warnings and actions are in real time.In addition, AI recognition accuracy can be improved because the video does not need to be compressed for transmission.
EDGEMATRIX offers a complete set of solutions for “Video Edge AI”
EDGEMATRIX which provides “Video Edge AI” solutions is a startup founded in Japan by spinning off in 2019 from Cloudian Inc., headquartered in Silicon Valley. The company has raised $ 19M from NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile operator,Sony Group and others.
The company develops and provides a device "Edge AI Box" that has a built-in GPU that processes deep learning and a Wi-Fi / LTE / 5G communication module, and is equipped with various interfaces such as camera connection. EDGEMATRIX also offers the “EDGEMATRIX platform service”, for remotely managing and maintaining the Edge AI Box and surveillancecameras in the field, and the “EDGEMATRIX store”, which sells various AI applications of providers.
Suppose you have installed an Edge AI box and surveillance cameras to detect intruders into a facility that is rarely accessed by people.Many of these facilities will often be in locations that are difficult for humans to visit. In addition, many locations are often set up across the country.Their management becomes very difficult.
The EDGEMATRIX platform service can remotely monitor and maintain the status of Edge AI Boxes installed in the field, adjust the angle of view of the camera, and update or replace software such as AI applications and operating systems.EDGEMATRIX offers products and services that are completely different from AI cameras such as toys.
Creating an ecosystemlike iPhone AppStore for “Video Edge AI”
EDGEMATRIX has introduced smartphone-like business models such as iPhone + App Store and Android + Google Play into the double-digit growing video edge AI market. In other words, the Edge AI Box is a device for video edge AI like the iPhone, and the platform of the AI application for that device is the EDGEMATRIX platform service. Users can obtain various AI applications developed by third parties (aka Contents Providers) from the "EDGEMATRIX store" like the AppStore of iPhone.
The EDGEMATRIX store offers a variety of AI applications such as fire and smoke detection, detection of anomalies and dangers such as suspicious person intrusion and suspicious object detection, counting of cars and people, reading car license plates, and detecting congestion etc. The number and variety are increasing.
You don't have to develop your own AI, just select the AI you want to use from the EDGEMATRIX store and you can easily introduce video edge AI. On the other hand, AI for video analysis is becoming easier to develop due to the increasing number of development tools using open source and cloud services.AI development is becoming more active not only in companies that specialize in AI development, but also in the R & D departments of general companies. With EDGEMATRIX, AI developers can focus solely on AI development without having to prepare on-site implementation or operations maintenance mechanisms.
EDGEMATRIX accelerates the spread of smart cities.
Smart cities use sensors to collect and integrate various data such as environmental data, equipment operation data, consumer attributes, and behavior data.AI analyzes these data and remotely controls facilities and equipment to optimize urban infrastructure, facilities, and operations.
If you compare it to a human, this sensor informationfor smart cities is the nervous system. Video Edge AI with Edge AI Box and EDGEMATRIX platform service provided by EDGEMATRIX will serve as an infrastructure and platform for visualizing smart cities like the eyes of human.And since the EDGEMATRIX storewill be ready to monetize AI applications for smart cities, it will increase the variety, promote generalization, and accelerate its spread.
Profile
After working for major telecommunications companies KDD, Vodafone, and Softbank, he was in charge of business planning at Cloudian Inc, the headquarters of Silicon Valley. In 2019, he spun off the Japanese AI project team and founded EDGEMATRIX. He holds a bachelor's degree from Hitotsubashi University and a master's degree from University Southern California Graduate School.
