Have you ever wondered how our brain deals with that massive amount of data we get during the day? Everything starts with processing the information from our sensory organs that is further transformed into stimuli.
Could you imagine that the information may traverse the brain with a speed of 250 miles per hour? The brain needs only a split second to handle complex processes like recognizing and detecting objects. With innovative AI solutions, computers can substitute more and more human functions and actions, including replicating human vision.
Today computer vision technologies help businesses automate operations, improve performance, enhance quality control, and generate more revenue.
Wondering how your business can benefit from a new tech? Below we handpicked a list of top computer applications to boost your business.
What is Computer Vision?
Computer vision is a subfield of artificial intelligence (AI) that enables computers to identify, classify and analyze visual digital content like photos and videos.
CV is all about recognizing the patterns in the picture or any other visual object, and the best way to teach a machine is to feed it a huge number of images, allowing the computer to capture specific patterns from the data.
Simply put, the point is to teach machines to “see,” understand and process visual content even more accurately than the human optical system.
Computer Vision Market Overview
Computer vision is currently applied across a variety of industries such as manufacturing, marketing, healthcare, fintech and others. In 2019, the computer vision market was valued at $13.7 billion in 2019, and this figure is expected to increase up to $24.3 billion with an average growth rate of 7.7% from 2020 to 2027.
Based on the Economist Intelligence Unit survey, 75% of manufacturing companies claim that the efficiency of production and quality control have been improved due to the application of CV. Also, computer vision innovations helped to boost cost saving efforts by 10% in all sectors.
The Current State of Computer Vision
Modern computer vision algorithms use special neural networks which help machines analyze digital content — they are called convolutional neural network (CNN). These networks process every pixel of the image, capture all the patterns and memorize them. The more images the system scans, the more likely it is to provide the correct output.
Security
CV is a revolution in the field of surveillance technology since currently security depends on human precision and attention.
It can be tiring for a human to manage traffic or maintain a decent level of security on an object. According to the studies conducted by Microsoft, an average human being has the attention span of 8 seconds. It means that we are frequently distracted to other activities, which might be critical to a person dealing with security issues.
But with an introduction of cutting-edge computer vision technologies and techniques, it has become easier for machines to identify and analyze objects by sending the data to a cloud for a further investigation.
Transportation
What images spring to your mind when you think of Batman or any other sci-fi movies? We bet it is something high-tech like self-driving cars.
The good news is that it’s not a science fiction dream anymore but a real-life solution that helps people and businesses worldwide. CV “teaches” vehicles how to follow traffic rules and avoid people and other obstacles without drivers’ involvement.
Sports
Sports is an excellent field of work for CV since it is all about motion. The NBA has been using computer vision technology since 2009 to record player and ball movement, identify and analyze actions. It is a great benefit for coaches and players to analyze gameplay, identify weaknesses, and use it to create better experiences for gamers.
Real Estate
In this field, CV is used to find the right property for clients, conduct real-time tours, and estimate accommodation costs. The machine compares the house’s value with its characteristics, such as footage, number of floors and rooms, allowing people to find the property with the best value-to-quality ratio.
Where is Computer Vision Used?
When you’re pretty aware of the state of affairs in the field of computer vision, we can move on to the list of areas where you may apply it to scale your business.
At first sight, computer vision might seem a bit complicated and accessible to big enterprises only. In fact, it is just a myth. When it comes to implementing computer vision in your business, the main point is to stick to your customers’ wants and needs, and revenue won’t keep you waiting.
Computer Vision in Healthcare
Improving Accuracy of Diagnosis
One of the computer vision examples in healthcare is helping medical workers make accurate diagnosis. The machine can scan, analyze and detect a wide variety of diseases, including tumors, with impressive accuracy.
CV-based solutions are also capable of indicating certain symptoms scanning X-rays, CT scans and MRIs in order to diagnose and suggest further treatment.
The team of engineers from the University of Central Florida’s CV Research Center developed a CV solution to capture the slightest specks of lung cancer, by analyzing CT scans, which was difficult to identify even for experienced radiologists. This system is 95% accurate, whereas the human’s accuracy is only about 65%. Engineers “taught” the system how to look for the patterns analyzing CT scans and detecting the tumors.
The researchers from Orlando Health Winnie Palmer Hospital applied CV to help women during childbirth by controlling their blood loss. Without this solution medics couldn’t know how much blood was lost during the labor. Due to the application of CV, medics are able to measure blood loss and treat the patients properly.
Health Monitoring Software
Apart from medical diagnosis, there is a set of solutions available to smartphone users.
Mobile app “Aysa” was designed to help people check their skin condition and identify possible skin diseases by simply using the phone’s camera. Users only have to take a photo of their skin concerns and that’s it — Aysa processes the photo, comparing it to 120 000 medical images, and finally provides personalized information, possible diagnosis and instruction on what to do next.
Computer Vision in Automotive
Self-driving Vehicles
You have probably heard about self-driving vehicles from Uber and Tesla. This is all about computer vision — such cars are equipped with numerous cameras to analyze and understand the environment, detect people and obstacles on the route.
However, computer vision is not limited to this use case only. There are more solutions to use computer vision software in the automotive sector, such as driver scanning by analyzing the body and eyes movement and detecting decreased attention.
Route Predictions
AEye — software development company in the US — is going to take the automotive industry to the next level. Their CV solution is based on military-spec technology so the vehicle not only detects objects or people on the route but also makes accurate predictions about their further movements and actions.
AEye has already raised $19.4 million from such investors as Subaru, Intel, LG, Airbus Ventures etc.
Computer Vision in Retail
Contactless Payment Systems
Computer vision technology is expected to revolutionize the retail industry. Imagine going to the grocery store to buy foodstuff for the family dinner and there will be no need to wait in a long queue to pay for your purchase. Just take all the necessary items and leave — CV will handle it by processing your purchase.
Bossa Nova Robotics, the US-based provider of smart robots, provides a humanless method of checking whether the price tags match the prices at the register. These robots improve the customer experience by providing inventory scans and making sure that prices and discounts are used correctly.
Bossa Nova Robotics has already raised $69.6 millions from the largest retailers.
Personalized Promo Campaigns
Advertima from Switzerland uses CV to understand customers’ behaviour for new retail solutions. The company has already increased retailers’ revenue by nearly 10.5%. It helped businesses to understand their target audience better and create personalized promos and discounts for each client.
Advertima also offers solutions for better cashierless checkout experience, which include tracking customers, products and detecting human actions. This CV solution helps to get rid of long queues and manual checkout.
This company with its innovative CV solution has already raised $26.1 million from the investors.
Computer Vision in Manufacturing
Computer vision technologies are actively applied in the manufacturing sector to optimize processes at factories and make them more efficient, autonomous and safe.
Improved Quality Control
Machines when applied together with computer vision can substitute quality control functions by scanning products for breakdowns and defects. Automated manufacturing becomes faster and safer because it doesn’t require human intervention and surpasses human abilities at large. System analyzes visual information from the camera and predicts potential troubles with the help of computer vision algorithms.
IoT Software
Allerin, one of the leading software solutions providers, created the Internet of Things (IoT) for the manufacturing sector. IoT is capable of providing workers with all the relevant information, implementing better management at every stage of production and performing predictive maintenance.
Using predictive analysis, manufacturers receive notifications if the machine detects any breakdowns or unusual usage of energy. As a result, equipment costs are reduced since the machinery can be fixed before the failure occurs.
Allerin collaborates with such partners as IBM, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Predix and ThingWorx.
Computer Vision in FinTech
Fintech companies use AI, machine learning, and data science solutions to provide high-quality financial services to their clients or partners. There are several computer vision software options that can be applied in the fintech sector, including digital codes and KYC (Know Your Customer).
Contactless Payment Systems
Digital codes enable customers to use ATMs without cards. When visiting the ATM, the customer receives a digital code on the smartphone, and there’s no need to use a physical card. This process may reduce the number of frauds and enhance security.
KYC Procedures
Such systems allow customers to verify their accounts via selfie or video call. There’s no need to go to the bank and verify your account manually waiting for the several days for your results. IWith CV software, it will take only a few hours.The customer won’t be waiting in a queue and the human effort in the banks will be reduced.
Software for Text Extraction and Analysis
Fintech company Hyperscience developed computer vision software to automate document extraction and decipher handwritten text. There are always tons of documents in the financial institutions and it can be extremely difficult to find the right one. Hyperscience resolved this issue by developing CV algorithms which can analyze and read the documents, classify incoming records and extract data from various document types.
Hyperscience raised $60 million from the investors by July 2020. The company has already gained popularity among big techs and cooperates with Anika Systems, Blue Turtle, Hexaware, Productive Edge, Softomotive etc.
Computer Vision in Marketing
Marketing is one more area to apply computer vision. Marketers use this tech to improve targeting and analyze users’ actions more effectively. This helps them to create and suggest ads according to their preferences.
Enhanced Targeting
With the help of these computer vision examples marketers have a possibility to explore their audience in a completely new way and improve customers’ experience more effectively.
Virtual Sampling
Sephora, a chain of beauty stores from France, offers the customers to pick the perfect product for their skin tone by trying it on virtually. Uploading the photo to an app Sephora Virtual Artist, the customers may try on every Sephora’s product from powders and foundations to lipsticks and eyeshadow palettes. It’s a perfect solution for the marketers to improve customers’ experience and enhance the revenue.
Digital Models
CGI firm, ModelingCafe, created an extremely realistic 3D image of a digital fashion model named Imma who currently has over 234 000 followers on Instagram. Instead of hiring new models, companies can save money and invest more in advertising campaigns and promotion which, in turn, will improve the customer experience and boost the revenue.
Main Challenges of Computer Vision
Even though computer vision provides lots of advantages to businesses and users alike, nothing is perfect, and computer vision is no exception.
The main challenge of CV is that it is supposed to imitate the work of the human visual system and brain. However, since their work hasn’t been fully understood and replicated, the development process of algorithms is still complicated.
Another issue is that humans can understand the context and draw conclusions based on the experience, whereas the machine isn’t capable of it yet. This trend is just developing now, so computer vision applications are still a great chance to benefit your business and be one step ahead of your competitors.
Get Innovative CV Solution to Grow Your Business
As you can see, computer vision applications are really already accessible to companies of all sizes and industries. So, if you have an issue you’re struggling to resolve, it is time to look at innovative AI software available on the market.
Contact LITSLINK and our seasoned team of software engineers will come up with the right solution to benefit your business.
