How alwaysAI Is Different From Other Computer Vision Platforms

Computer vision (CV) is a powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tool that’s increasingly gaining traction across many industries — and for a good reason.

CV allows your camera systems to identify and classify objects in images and video to the same level of accuracy as humans (and in some cases, more accurately). The ways you can use it to your business’s advantage are virtually endless. Plus, its ability to provide real-time video analytics can help you respond more quickly to issues, improve operations, and boost revenue.

Just as numerous as potential use cases, are the options you have for implementing CV. For instance, you can build your tool from scratch or opt for a pre-built computer vision solution like alwaysAI to save time and resources.

With a growing number of options for your consideration, we’re here to break down what makes alwaysAI stand out from other computer vision solutions.

What Is Computer Vision and How Does It Work?

Computer vision gives computers and machines intelligent sight and allows them to interpret the physical world. This requires an extensive training period, during which a computer vision model is fed many examples of what it’s supposed to detect to help it deliver increasingly accurate assessments of new image data.

Machine learning – the ability of computer systems to learn and adapt without instruction – forms the basis for computer vision’s capabilities of identifying and categorizing objects in an environment. Without it, there’s little separating a CV system from a collection of cameras.

Computer vision is becoming a vital tool for businesses to take advantage of many advanced AI functions. These include real-time data collection, business analytics, security improvement, and process optimization which allow businesses to maximize operational efficiency and create tremendous ROI.

The Benefits of Using a Computer Vision Platform

While the benefits of computer vision are easy to envision, how to implement it is more complex.

In theory, a business could design its own computer vision system with open-source code available to anyone. Realistically, however, this is an extremely personnel- and resource-intensive process as not all businesses have the time or bandwidth to wrestle with the complexities of building a CV system from scratch. This requires hiring costly engineers and developers with expertise in AI, machine learning, computer vision, internet of things, and edge computing.

There are several other ways a business could implement computer vision, including:

• Working with a consultant
• Using no-code tools
• Utilizing a CV platform

The cost for computer vision consultants can be quite expensive. Hiring a consultant takes the burden of development off companies' shoulders, but solutions may be more standardized with longer implementation timelines and customer serviceability may vary.

Similarly, no-code tools can also lack flexibility, making them less practical for projects that require customization to provide truly meaningful data.

In most cases, using a pre-built CV platform and then making customizations to suit your business’s needs is the most efficient and cost-effective option — and that’s where alwaysAI comes in.

What Makes alwaysAI Better Than the Competition

Plenty of companies offer computer vision services, but it’s hard to compete with alwaysAI’s CV platform offerings. Here’s what you can enjoy when you decide to make use of our CV platform.

End-to-End CV Development and Deployment

alwaysAI is the only computer vision platform that offers support for every stage of a computer vision solution.

The CV experts at alwaysAI have already laid the foundation to establish the basic functions your platform needs — which leaves you with more time to perfect the finer, customized details of your application to drive to greatest value for your business.

When you choose the alwaysAI CV platform, you benefit from:

• A complete, pre-built, pre-trained model architecture with a low-code model training toolkit.
• A cloud-based training environment that allows you to easily annotate and train models using your own data for enhanced accuracy.
• Starter applications and our edgeIQ library of Python APIs for faster prototyping and application testing.
• Simplified application deployment that can be applied to virtually any environment — whether that’s on one device or a hundred.
• Pre-built analytics dashboards that allow you to assess inferences in real time.
• The ability to outsource the entire computer vision training and deployment to alwaysAI. We truly are an end-to-end solution. 

Greater Compatibility 

alwaysAI’s CV platform offers greater universal compatibility across devices, operating systems and infrastructure components. We provide the ultimate versatility to deploy CV solutions in the cloud or on the edge that integrate with many hardware (e.g. cameras and accelerators) and software tools (e.g. data management platforms).

With other CV services, you may need to create a unique platform compatible with particular devices. But, with alwaysAI, you can easily use one single platform to convert applications to virtually any operating system, sensor, or edge device.

alwaysAI can even work with your existing camera systems. Our platform is compatible with 90% of cameras, sensors, and edge devices on the market. That means you can enjoy further cost savings since you won’t have to buy new systems and equipment just to incorporate new CV software.

More Flexibility

While plenty of other platforms and no-code CV tools might seem to be able to provide tools that are turnkey solutions, they rarely offer options for customization. But because the code is actually hidden behind graphical user interfaces (GUIs), you’re working with more of a templated builder.

That lack of flexibility could render the tool impractical for your intended use, and that’s the last problem you want to be dealing with after making such a sizable investment in a CV tool. For example, a CV application in a well-lit room will need to perform differently than a camera in a setting with varying light conditions and more varied activity.

alwaysAI’s flexibility allows you to easily train your application based on your business's unique environmental conditions, enabling it to make accurate assessments necessary for responding to your business's challenges in real-time.

Luckily, the alwaysAI platform is designed with flexibility in mind, so you can tailor the CV software to meet your specific needs in unique and varying environments. And because those needs may change over time, alwaysAI’s platform makes it easy to make system adjustments when necessary.

Support From Computer Vision Experts

As mentioned above, CV is complicated. Luckily, the alwaysAI team is filled with CV experts who can help you determine how the technology can be used across businesses and industries.

Our CV experts work hard to maintain and update the CV platform on an ongoing basis, help troubleshoot issues as they arise, and brainstorm creative new use cases.

Our experts can help perfect your CV application and implementation while you remain focused on the big-picture items that keep your business successful.

Automate and Enhance Your Business With alwaysAI

While there are plenty of options available for employing computer vision technology, few compare to what alwaysAI’s platform offers: end-to-end development and deployment, wide compatibility across operating systems and devices, and extreme flexibility built for the cloud or the edge.

When challenges arise, you’ll also have access to our world-class experts who know CV inside and out.

Granted, none of this means much unless the benefits of employing CV justify the costs to employ it. Fortunately, many businesses who use alwaysAI see a 4-6x ROI. Compared to the alternative computer vision options out there, that’s pretty hard to compete with.

Ready to automate your business with computer vision? Speak to an AI expert today to learn how you can use alwaysAI to your business’s advantage.