How AI and Computer Vision Are Reconstructing Business Today

Guess what? Digital images are almost everywhere you look now. New innovations and trends evolve and flourish in the fields of marketing and computer science daily; if not each moment! So why is this important to YOU? One of the less addressed trends and fields are computer vision, machine learning and AI--and how they are DISRUPTING business and society in a pivotal way--considering 90% of the data our brain analyses is visual. So, when over 80 international speakers from companies like Google, Facebook, Apple, Flickr, Samsung, Wired and others come together in one place and explore how visual technologies and AI are revolutionizing how humans communicate and do business--it’s a must attend event for any tech guru, marketer, or entrepreneur.

For the fourth year in row, investor, serial entrepreneur, professional photographer and digital media expert, Evan Nisselson, has presented the LDV Vision Summit. The summit is a premier annual visual technology event with the main focus of bringing together top technologists, visionaries, startups, investors, executives, and just human beings in general, who share an interest and/or insight on exploring, understanding and shaping the future of imaging and video in human communication. Dashmote, was of course, amongst the attendees ready to sink into some learning, networking, and even competing. 

Nisselson, claims that one of the main purposes of the summit is to get up-and-coming, as well as newly developed startups the recognition that they desire and thrive for. The LDV Vision Summit featured two competitions; a Startup Competition as well as an Entrepreneurial Computer Vision Challenge. Entering these competitions is not simply a “for fun” concept, entering (and winning) increases your odds of being recruited, raising capital, or selling for over $100M since your work and products become visible to such a large audience of people. If you want specifics, over 500 people from all over the world packed the SVA Theatre in New York City on May 24th and 25th!

So, what is there to be said about the event? In short--computer vision is the trend watch for. Spreading like wildfire to a multitude of industries in the business sector such as medicine, marketing, healthcare, transportation, etc.--computer vision and visual technology is being applied to everything you can land your eyes on, most literally. The LDV Vision Summit allowed for attendees to get a two day submersion into current technologies and applications as well as insight on what can and will be the future of technology.  

The first day focused primarily on computer vision strategy, AI, AR, and basically everything related to visual content from companies such as Google, Pinterest, Facebook and Nvidia. One particular focus was autonomous driving, self driving cars and the future of AI integrated with cameras and visual tech. A presentation by Dr. Jianxiong Xiao, CEO of AutoX claimed his aim to disrupt autonomous driving by leveraging cheap cameras, computer vision and AI--rather, that one day we may be utilizing our mobile phones to control and drive our cars. The autonomous driving presentations and discussions were particularly intriguing to the Dashmote team as transportation is the biggest application in computer vision and robotics--it changes everyday life! The self-driving industry was once the initial and sole domain of Google’s research, but now it has flourished and caught the attention of several other large companies.

One key concept that really stuck with you was Evan Nisselson’s speech on How Will Visual Technologies Disrupt & Empower Businesses & Society. In 2003, Evan wrote an article about camera-phones replacing point-shoot cameras. In 2016, Evan predicted that the “Internet of Eyes” will enable inanimate objects to see and recently, Amazon Echo Look validated this thesis. In his speech, he explains that by leveraging computer vision and AI, products and merchandise and stores and many other sectors can be designed to build emotional connections with consumers in a dynamic way. That personalization is what takes it to the next level. In an article written on the release of the Amazon Echo Look, it’s to be expected that with the addition of the camera, Amazon has just added a massive source of data. The camera allows for you to voice-command it and takes selfies of you in your outfits to send the photos to consulting style experts for advice. Amazon can begin to collect data about what it is that a consumer likes to wear and thus informs them of what they need to sell. This hybrid that Amazon has paired voice with vision has the potential to make the system infinitely more powerful by supercharging it with data from a new source, adding even more context. "Leveraging computer vision and artificial intelligence a camera will hopefully help proactively shop for me without needing me to physically search online or in stores", says Nisselson. "Ideally, Amazon Alexa would send me an email saying “looks like your favorite red pants are wearing out because you wear them all of the time. We noticed a hole on your back pocket and thought you would like to know that we have two of those pants in the same color and size in stock. Would you like me to order you one or two of them?”

With a large array of more presentations, keynote speakers, and discussions--it’s impossible to summarize all of the techy goodness in one article. The LDV Summit is an event you must attend to fully grasp the concepts, knowledge, connections, and future developments of the visual technology sphere. Computer vision is truly affecting each aspect of our lives and the LDV Summit provided a burst of various knowledge, strategies, future insight, and discussions of the impact on its market sectors. One of the advantages of the summit was the wide range and diversity in attendees. Ranging from engineers, to developers, founders, CEO’s, investors, researchers, journalists, etc. this allowed anyone with a general interest in visual tech to mingle and discuss trends and thoughts with people of various backgrounds--with one common interest. According to Dashmote and many other attendees, the atmosphere on--as well as off the stage, was centered entirely around inspiration, learning, and sharing of knowledge. Being somewhat of a hybrid version of a two day academic seminar/workshop as well as a venture capital roundtable, as Serge Belongie, Professor of Computer Vision at Cornell Tech described it, the LDV Vision Summit is not to be missed next year!

“We are seeing visual technologies, especially combined with AI and machine learning, disrupt a broad array of existing markets and create new ones. From the role they are playing in autonomous vehicles, to transforming marketing technologies, to the roles they are playing in physical and cyber security - and of course the role they are playing around consumer electronics and robotics. It is comforting to know everyone is just as excited as I am about computer vision and AI, and to see how big the opportunity is and how early in the cycle we are as well.” -Rudina Seseri, Founder & Managing Partner of Glasswing Ventures

NYC: Big Buildings, Big Dreams, & Entrepreneurial Vibes

 While reading a recent article in The Atlantic,  New York is said to have transitioned from a place that  had virtually no high-tech startups to one that hosts a sector attracting more than $3 billion per year!

So, when and why exactly, did the startup world decide to book their flights from Silicon Valley to New York? There is a quote that goes, “something’s always happening here. If you’re bored in New York, it’s your own fault.” As I learned first handedly on my trip; the implication of The Big Apple being a lively, innovative, and extraordinarily unique city of its kind has been around for far longer than its recent explosive growth of startup sectors. With other huge and competitive cities with foundations for startups like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin and Miami; it’s not too surprising that NYC landed the 6th spot for Forbes’ Top 25 Hottest Cities for Startups. With venture capital funding for tech companies exploding by 240 percent over a 10 year period and the city of dreams becoming the new hot hub for startups--it’s clear why Dashmote’s growth market includes and focuses on New York. From connecting and networking with people of various backgrounds, to closing our first deals--it’s truly difficult to say that this city hasn’t captured my heart on a business and personal level. There are three specific elements I’ve noticed, that make NYC stand out as a startup hub and entrepreneurial haven.

The Velocity & The Speed

     New York’s notoriously fast paced, “city that never sleeps”  lifestyle is synonymous with the the fast thinking and movement required when first building a startup. Even when coming from a busy and constantly moving city like Amsterdam--I found it much easier to meet people and schedule meetings in NYC. I was able to schedule 50 meetings in one week while in New York, while the same number would typically require two weeks in Europe or Asia!  People were also much more inclined to not just hear, but actually listen to your story, your ideas, and offer their own advice or input. Noticeably, this mentality of mentoring was much more prevalent in NYC, than in regards to the European startup sphere. However, this also means that your competitor may have the same advantage. By perfectly suiting the startup criteria of “fall fast and move fast”, The Big Apple has transitioned from epicenter of financial disaster to the focal point and home of various startup successes such as Foursquare, Etsy, and Tumblr.

Corporate Startup Engagement

      Along with my own experience with Dashmote, corporate startup engagement is undeniably critical. This is relevant for most startups with the intention of scaling. Since people are more receptive and open to listening to your story and ideas, the question of how easily you can sell your product to a client becomes more defined. When talking A.I. or other technology, explaining your business as the “Uber for X, or Skyscanner for Y”; people are able to comprehend and relate to your product relatively quicker in NYC--which also allows them to shoot it down faster, as well.

Big corporations see many startups as an opportunity to partner, find new innovative ideas, invest or even listen to potentially successful and/or experienced entrepreneurs. As David Kidder, CEO of Bionic, says: it’s either disrupt or be disrupted. This is in regards to corporations needing organic growth--therefore they engage with the startups more in order to potentially make their companies profit on more innovative and creative products. The significance of the engagement being more prevalent, is that both, large corporations and startups would benefit from the friendship. They each bring two distinct and integral skills needed to the business sector. Startups are excellent at producing and detecting the latest and most innovative products, sparking the innovation. While larger companies lack that innovation--yet, are successful at scaling proof of concepts. This engagement and teamwork from both ends deliver a much higher success rate--thus, startups wanting to be based in an environment with these advantages.

The Dharma & The Energy

  “San Francisco is a boring fucking city. In New York, you don’t have to entertain people because the city entertains people," eloquently put by Mario Schlosser, CEO of Oscar--a healthcare startup in SoHo valued at nearly $3 billion. It’s truly difficult to compare any other city to New York. With our own Dashmote office located near the very center of one the most architecturally beautiful and romanticized cities in Europe--it’s still impossible to compare the level of glamour to that of NYC. It was, in fact, the gateway to the United States, and its popular cultural hub remains part of the “American dream”. The energy within the city vibrates with lights, traffic, millions of people, ambition, movement, culture, innovation, and drive. People are excited about what they do, they aren’t shy about loving their city, and don’t remain quiet about their ambition. With the buzzing enthusiasm, you immediately feel an inclination to be just as passionate and extroverted as them. As the famous saying goes: “surround yourself with people who have dreams, desire, and ambition; they’ll help you push for, and realize your own.” The dharma in The Big Apple uplifts you to have a greater purpose in life, encourages you to announce it and take pride in your idea, and allows people to call you on it--this innovative culture and drive only contribute greater to this buzzing city’s startup centered success.

In regards to New York City: “No one lives here because they live here: Everyone lives here because they want to be here.”