At present, there has been a remarkable advancement in the technology of image recognition and analysis in the world. In China, image recognition and analysis technology has been used to arrest more than 5,000 fugitives and has been effective in a variety of fields such as automated driving.
In this article, we would like to introduce some of the hot companies in Japan and abroad for engineers who are interested in companies that are making a splash in image recognition and analysis technology.
Contents
What kind of Technology is “Image Recognition & Analysis”?
First of all, we would like to explain what image recognition and analysis is.
Image recognition is a technology that allows a computer or machine to identify what exactly is in an image. This is one of the pattern recognition technologies that read features such as color and shape from an image and put those features into various learning machines to recognize new images.
Reference: Ledge.ai / Web Media Specializing in AI
Translated from Japanese to English by Gtalent
To illustrate with an example, the technology allows AI to analyze features such as “fluffy, small, tail, ears, eyes, and shape” from an image and recognize that the thing in the image is a “cat”.
Mechanism for Image Recognition and Analysis
The basic mechanisms of image recognition and analysis can be classified into two types: “Recognition/Analysis” and “Detection”.
（Table Reference：IMagazine /Image Recognition & Analysis, Table translated from Japanese to English by GTalent)
“Recognition and Analysis” is the stage of classifying the various information in an image by features. For example, if an image has human features, it is used to determine how many people are present in the image by collecting them. Also, “Detection” is the stage where the information gathered so far (people, cars, etc.) is used to determine where in the image it is located.
International Companies that are in the Spotlight
We are going to introduce four companies that are providing Image Recognition & Analysis Technology services that are gaining worldwide attention.
China
SenseTime
The company, said to be one of the world’s top-valued venture firms, aims to apply its image recognition technology to a wide range of fields, and is also involved in businesses other than face recognition, such as automated driving and medical image analysis. In addition, SenseTime is also actively collaborating with government companies, and its investor, Alibaba, is expanding its reach into smart city projects.
SenseTime
FACE++
Face++ is the first company that uses artificial intelligence for facial recognition and is one of the most notable AI startups in the world. In addition to its introduction in the Beijing police force, Face++ authentication systems have also been introduced in several major banks, the Alibaba-affiliated payment service Alipay, and the major car dispatch service Didi.
FACE++
USA
GumGum
GumGum is a new type of advertising platform that specializes in creating brand engagement aligned with premium editorial content that is guaranteed to be seen. It is best known for creating in-image advertising.
The company is so high-profile that it does business with more than half of AdAge’s top 100 U.S. ad spenders, including Disney, L’Oreal, Toyota and Samsung.
GumGum
Switzerland
Scandit
Scandit is changing the way businesses and consumers interact with everyday objects, enabling businesses and consumers to use smartphones, tablets, wearables, drones, and robots to scan barcodes and extend the real-time data obtained by recognizing text and objects in the physical world. Many of the world’s innovative companies are already reaping the benefits of Scandit’s next-generation mobile data capture platform. Clients include world-renowned companies such as Ahold, Levi Strauss & Co, Coop, Macy’s, Louis Vuitton, DHL, Cardinal Health, NASA, and Verizon Wireless.
Scandit
Image Recognition Technology Companies in Japan
With the growing interest in image recognition and analysis technology in Japan, we would like to introduce some Japanese companies that have already succeeded in expanding their business overseas and companies that provide familiar services using this technology.
Manufacturing Industry
YE DIGITAL
YE DIGITAL has developed MMEye, an AI image evaluation service that uses AI technology to allow for real-time inspection of defective products at the manufacturing site. It is one of the Japanese companies that has become a hot topic not only in the Japanese manufacturing industry but also overseas.
YE DIGITAL / AI Image Analysis Service
DENSO
DENSO is one of the world’s leading suppliers of advanced technologies, systems, and auto-parts for the automotive industry.
Customers include the world’s major car manufacturers such as Toyota, Daihatsu, AUDI, BMW, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, and many others. Globally, it is a large company that can have more than 200 subsidiaries and affiliates in 38 countries and territories.
Denso is focusing on image recognition and analysis, also it is said to have the world’s top-level automated driving technology with its strengths in “image sensing” and “automated driving algorithms”.
Denso / Automatic Driving
Medical Industry
Holoeyes
Holoeyes is a company that is introducing VR and MR-based services to the medical field and medical education. The company provides services using image recognition and analysis technology that allows data to be converted into 3D and stored as a digital library, which can be viewed at any time.
Holoeyes / Medical VR
Apparel Industry
First Retailing
StyleHint is an application developed jointly by UNIQLO and G.U, group companies of First Retailing that uses image recognition and analysis technology to search for outfits.
The app allows you to search for images of similar clothing outfits from your smartphone’s camera roll, Instagram, and other photos as well as UNIQLO and G.U. products that are similar to those images.
StyleHint / UNIQLO & G.U.
Chaos Map of Japan’s Image Recognition & Analysis Technology
Finally, here’s the chaos map of Japanese image recognition & analysis technology published by AISmiley (as of June 2020). In addition to the services we’ve covered so far, there are many other companies offering services.
Reference: AISmiley / Chaos Map of Japan’s Image Recognition & Analysis Technology 2020 (Article in Japanese)
Conclusion
In recent years, many services that use image recognition and analysis technologies have been created in Japan, and the Japanese image recognition and analysis industry is a great place to grow for IT engineers who want to develop products that have a social impact using such technologies.
If you are a foreign IT engineer looking to work for a company with Japanese image recognition and analysis technology, register with G Talent, the leading recruitment agency for foreign IT engineers. Our professional consultants will help you find a job at a Japanese technology company for free.
