SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JUNE 30th, 2020 – Deep learning and “AI” were meant to lead us to the promised land. From self-driving cars to in-home robots, 2020 was supposed to be the year AI took over. Yet, most AI companies have pivoted into consulting business models while many others face R&D delays. At Invisible, we believe that AI can prove to be transformational over time but it needs to be deployed in very targeted use cases today in order to flourish. This philosophy has led to our first product — a no-code computer vision solution that can be deployed in 15 minutes.

Before founding Invisible AI, we worked at Luminar, a self-driving company whose LIDAR sensors will power the future of autonomous vehicles. Together, we grew Luminar’s software team and built the backbone of their advanced self-driving systems. However, over time, the barriers to reaching full self-driving became clear to us. The crux of the problem was that most algorithms in-use only had a surface-level understanding of the world. This reality was further echoed by industry-wide delays from the most advanced self-driving companies. We saw the industry’s excuse evolve from “it doesn’t work yet” to “we need more data”, even with billions of miles logged.

While deep learning is great for narrow use-cases, problems emerge when we dig deeper. Siri and Alexa can’t help with queries more complicated than “start a timer”. Natural language models produce realistic sounding content that is devoid of all meaning. We know that technology will get better over time, as evident by the last decade alone. Researchers will continue to push the envelope — and so will we. However, in order to build a company that can provide decades of innovation, we have to strike a balance between practical business models and investments in the future.

Our experience in self-driving made it abundantly clear that we cannot depend on the false hope of end-to-end deep learning to solve everything. We cannot just say the phrase “AI” for every problem and walk away. This approach is a data-heavy beast that does not scale across domains and results in a consulting business model for most AI companies, as noted by the folks over at a16z.

Invisible AI is here to change that.

We left self-driving with two key lessons: (1) edge compute is required for any real-time computer vision application; and (2) customers want an end-to-end AI solution that’s easy to use and deploy. With these requirements in mind, we developed a no-code product that works out of the box without long lead times, bandwidth needs, or other pitfalls of current AI solutions.

At Invisible, we have built an AI-enabled camera that monitors body posture and movement to automatically prevent assembly errors in manufacturing facilities. Our key advantage is that anyone can deploy our camera within 15 minutes — without writing a single line of code. In addition to the simplicity of our solution, we have designed our product as an error-proofing tool that works with the employees, instead of replacing them.

With our proprietary neural networks and algorithms, we are able to reduce the dependence on enormous amounts of data collection that would be impossible to scale in manufacturing. An average automotive factory has over 300 assembly workstations and if our solution required four weeks of data collection per process, we’d spend 20 years just labeling data.

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In addition to quick deployment times, our cameras have built-in AI chips that ensure all processing happens locally and no video ever leaves the camera. This lets us avoid most IT objections (can’t avoid them all!) and allows our customers to deploy hundreds of our cameras without a hiccup to their IT infrastructure. Most customers not only lack the necessary bandwidth to upload 1080p video streams to the cloud, they also prefer to avoid any cloud interactions due to privacy and legal issues. This further exemplifies the need for edge compute in any practical AI deployment.

Forgetting the bandwidth, privacy and legal issues, it is also incredibly expensive to implement real-time computer vision in the cloud and those who do are effectively pouring all venture capital money into the pockets of Jeff Bezos. While we pursue an edge strategy, we encourage others to continue with the cloud route because we own a bunch of AMZN stock in our respective IRAs :)

Our core philosophy around computer vision and its practical future has gotten us paid pilots with multiple automakers, most prominently with Toyota North America. We also recently raised a $3.6M seed round, led by 8VC, to grow our team and product. The future consists of intelligent cameras that just work and Invisible AI is at the forefront of this revolution.

While we all wait for self-driving cars, check out our website at www.invisible.ai to join us on a more exciting journey.

ABOUT INVISIBLE AI

Invisible AI is a visual intelligence platform building the next generation of computer vision solutions for manufacturing. The company has created an easy to use AI-enabled camera that tracks body posture and movement to automatically prevent assembly errors in real-time. Invisible AI is deploying their cutting-edge technology at major automakers, including Toyota North America.

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BUSINESS CONTACT

Prateek Sachdeva
Invisible AI
prateek@invisible.ai

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA – MAY 6TH, 2020 – Invisible AI, a next-generation computer vision company, today announced that it has raised a $3.6-million seed round, led by 8VC. Participating investors include iRobot Ventures, K9 Ventures, Sierra Ventures and Slow Ventures. 

Invisible AI offers the industry’s first no-code, edge-based computer vision platform. Their first application tracks body movement to improve manual assembly processes in manufacturing facilities. Invisible AI's technology augments the workforce by giving operators real-time feedback to increase productivity, improve quality, and ensure safety.

Earlier this year, Invisible AI was showcased by Toyota Motor North America as one of four technologies augmenting the workforce on the manufacturing floor of the world’s largest automaker.

"We are proud to be working closely with 8VC and other strategic partners to help us advance the product and meet demand," said Eric Danziger, CEO of Invisible AI. "We are already working with some of the best names in manufacturing, but we believe every organization can benefit from our AI-enabled cameras. Our service helps to assure high quality, a safe workplace, and replicate best practices throughout manufacturing facilities."

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Businesses are starting to rapidly install cameras to gain visibility but this simply increases the burden on employees to review the video to gain insights. Invisible AI instead uses computer vision to help businesses answer critical questions, consistently and inexpensively. Specifically, the inability for manufacturers to monitor assembly processes results in millions of dollars of waste, lost worker time and preventable human injury or error. With this first product, Invisible AI has seen strong demand within top-tier manufacturing companies and this round of funding will be used to rapidly grow the team and expand product capabilities.

Invisible AI’s low-bandwidth and low-cost cameras can be deployed at each workstation to enable full visibility into assembly processes. This computer vision technology operates entirely at the edge with deep learning models 100x smaller than the current state-of-the-art technology available today. The proprietary, custom solution can be deployed in hours, compared to their competition which typically has a lead time of 8 weeks. There is also built-in privacy, with no video data stored in the cloud and no facial data ever utilized.

“8VC is excited to help Invisible AI expand its reach and grow its customer base,” said Alex Moore, partner at 8VC. “We are convinced that Invisible AI is set to have a huge impact on the $200-billion global manufacturing market, saving money and helping improve processes for a multitude of clients.”

For more information about Invisible AI, please visit www.invisible.ai.

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ABOUT INVISIBLE AI

Invisible AI is a visual intelligence platform that’s building the next generation of computer vision solutions for manufacturing. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, the company’s founding team comes from the world of autonomous vehicles, having previously developed state-of-the-art AI systems. Invisible AI has built an intelligent camera that tracks body posture and movement to automatically monitor assembly processes, and works with operators to ensure high production quality. The company recently closed a seed round led by 8VC, with participation from iRobot Ventures, K9 Ventures, Sierra Ventures and Slow Ventures.

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BUSINESS CONTACT

Prateek Sachdeva
Invisible AI
prateek@invisible.ai

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PRESS CONTACT

Chris Allieri
Mulberry & Astor
chris@mulberryandastor.com

TUESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2020, 6AM PT/9AM ET: At a Toyota Motor North America event on January 17th, 2020, Invisible AI showcased its latest efforts in developing a visual intelligence platform to improve manufacturing processes. Invisible AI’s groundbreaking technology is now creating true value on the manufacturing floor for the largest automaker in the world, and was showcased as one of four technologies that are augmenting the workforce at Toyota’s event. Alongside Invisible AI were Elementary Robotics, Microsoft HoloLens, and Ready Robotics.

“We are thrilled to be recognized as a technology that is positively augmenting the workforce and are excited about the many opportunities to leverage visual intelligence to create real value for manufacturers,” said Eric Danziger, CEO of Invisible AI. “The automotive industry shows significant promise for using Invisible AI’s visual intelligence platform at scale to improve quality in manufacturing assembly lines while accentuating human craftsmanship.”


At the core, the Invisible AI computer vision platform measures how assembly is completed, tracking body posture and movement, to support line operators in real time so they can constantly improve their manufacturing processes and innovate on the factory floor. Through Invisible AI technology, operators get the assistance they need to make every part the correct way, every time.

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By leveraging existing chipsets, Invisible AI is able to make powerful, low-bandwidth camera systems for its platform that run machine-learning models 100x smaller than existing state-of-the-art solutions. This no-code computer vision platform uses a simple web dashboard that makes the technology usable by a broad audience. In addition, as manufacturing processes improve and new parts or processes are implemented, Invisible AI’s technology digitally updates instruction sheets so unique tribal knowledge is saved.

“Invisible AI’s computer vision platform gets line operators involved with digital innovation to directly increase their productivity and safety, as well as the quality of goods they are manufacturing,” said Prateek Sachdeva, COO of Invisible AI.

Invisible AI is augmenting the workforce by helping operators increase their productivity across manufacturing industry sectors, from automotive to consumer goods to heavy equipment. To learn more, visit www.invisible.ai or reach out to us at hello@invisible.ai. To join us in building the future of computer vision, check out our career page.

ABOUT INVISIBLE AI

Invisible AI is a visual intelligence platform that helps manufacturers improve the quality of their products. By leveraging the power of edge computing and computer vision, Invisible AI is able to reduce quality errors in assembly by giving real-time feedback to employees without causing IT and bandwidth issues. We are currently working with some of the most prestigious manufacturing companies in the world, including the largest automaker in the world. To learn more, visit www.invisible.ai and follow Invisible AI on LinkedIn + Twitter.

CONTACT

For all media and news inquiries, please contact Invisible AI at press@invisible.ai.