More companies in several industries are seeking to leverage digital technologies to increase productivity by streamlining or revamping business processes, thus meeting customers’ changing needs and the market. And this is where artificial intelligence (AI) comes into play.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government put forth an effort into creating a prime site for AI industry development near the Yangjae district. AI Yangjae Hub, established by the city government in December 2017, plays a key role as a special cluster for growing creative talents, innovative companies, and promoting exchanges. The Hub helps about 100 of its nourishing companies cross the threshold into the global stage by diverse support programs ─ from fundraising, investment facilitation, cooperation with conglomerates, test evaluation, business networking, human resource training to global expansion ─ Here’s the four startups with prospects which are supported by the AI Yangjae Hub.

▲ AI Yangjae Hub

▲ Managing Director: Jong Y. Yoon

▲ https://ai-yangjae.kr/

▲ info@ai-yangjae.kr

▲ +82-2-2135-6818

AI Technology for Better Air Quality; Brilliant & Company

It’s true that all of us face a variety of risks to our health due to air pollution as there are various pollutants present in our lower atmospheric zone. Exposure to ambient airborne particulate matter (PM) is hazardous to human health. It is associated not only with respiratory diseases but also other diseases. PM is not a single pollutant, but rather is a complex mixture of particles of various sizes and chemical composition originating from combustion and other sources. People with heart or lung diseases such as coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, and asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), children and older adults may be at greater risk from PM exposure. Children and infants are more vulnerable to harm from inhaling PMs as children’s immature immune systems may cause them to be more susceptible to PM than healthy adults.

As most people spend nearly 80% of their time indoors, where the air within homes, offices, and other buildings may be more seriously polluted than the outdoors, it is significant to continuously monitor and control the PM levels in the surrounding indoor and outdoor atmosphere. Brilliant & Company, a promising startup, came up with an AI-based platform with a precise device in order to ensure air quality in our daily lives.

PiCOHOME, a small and portable device developed by the company, collects accurate real-time air condition data anywhere – at home, in the car, outdoors, the office and even in the gym. It is very easy to carry, set up and use. PiCOHOME can be connected with devices such as your smartphone or AI speaker and other platforms such as smart home systems or Amazon Alexa. It is possible to monitor the air with multiple PiCOHOMEs, as a hub, from anywhere using the mobile app. PiCOHOME’s monitoring will let you know if the air you breathe is too dry, hot or cold, or when to ventilate or adjust your air quality. It allows you to have an understanding of your air quality to maintain your health. PiCOHOME also helps you stay in the comfort zone with an optimized environment. Particularly, this system is recommended for those living with asthma, allergic rhinitis, and atopy.

Despite its portability, it is equipped with high-quality sensors to collect six different air quality measurements, including PM2.5, PM10, VOCs, CO2, temperature, and humidity. PiCOHOME received first-class certification from the Korea Testing and Research Institute (KTR), certifying it at 86.2% in terms of accuracy and precision. It means that its performance is on a par with industry-level air quality monitoring systems.

With PiCOHOME and its own platform, Brilliant & Company enables real-time collection, processing and analysis of air quality data using sensors. The platform, furthermore, can provide data collected by customized smart sensors to support customer-required protocols, data types and forms, and security. Abundant experience in developing data monitoring solutions optimized for diverse clients – such as a large Korean hospital, research institute and healthcare companies – needs and technical skills can effectively identify factors that worsen air conditions and use them for further tasks that require precise prediction.

Digital Therapeutics for childhood asthma under development is Brilliant & Company’s next milestone. Dorazee is a digital therapeutic that utilises the combination of the environment sensor and wearable patch-type respiration sensor. It provides therapeutic solutions for better asthma care through day-to-day management. The system monitors the status of the respiratory system and the patient’s real-time environmental data, including temperature, humidity, air quality, pollen, mite, mold, and pet. It can enable management of asthma exacerbation triggers, taking medications, and symptom logs.

It is reported in 2019 that 44.3 percent of American children aged 18 and younger who had asthma reported having one or more asthma attacks in the past year. According to the American Lung Association, an estimated 400,000 to one million children with asthma have their condition worsened by exposure to bad air quality such as secondhand smoke. In light of it, the advanced air-quality monitoring system with PiCOHOME and the digital therapeutics named Dorazee is quite noteworthy.

▲ Brilliant & Company Co., Ltd.

▲ CEO : Jungyon Yun

▲ https://www.brilcom.com/

▲ ​info@brilcom.com

▲ +82-2-6959-5538

Cutting-Edge Technology to Innovate Corporate Productivity: Ellexi Co., Ltd

We may safely say that this is the age of artificial intelligence (AI) which has become a game-changer for business renovation. Companies in many industry sectors are seeking optimized AI technologies, including pattern analysis and prediction capabilities, to innovate productivity. With AI adoption, some companies could capture value from AI at the enterprise level, and many are generating revenue and cost reductions. However, achieving impact at scale is still elusive for many companies adopting AI for their business model, as it would have required organizational changes and in-house development. Here’s a ready-to-utilize AI service which is accessible to even those who do not have an AI-skilled programmer on board.

Philo-AD, the service provided by Ellexi Co., Ltd, is a deep learning-based anomaly pattern detection solution utilizing a sensor or log data analysis. It is modeled to make the most accurate failures predictions, monitor malfunction of certain parts and detect suspicious events or system misuse, which can reduce the alarm fallacy and also minimize the alert fatigue issues. These self-learning algorithms that continually improve efficiency are sector-agnostic, which means that its applicable scope is not limited to a specific industry.

While some AI software requires one more process to collect anomaly data when learning the pattern itself, the Philo-AD can utilize and analyze the entire operation data with its own time-series data analysis technology. The hybrid approach of deep neural network (DNN) and hierarchical behavior knowledge space (HBKS) curtails time and cost for the algorithm system buildup by at least 50%, compared to its rivals.

If, particularly, your company is facing a shortage of AI technical experts or an urgent need for an AI system, Philo-G would be helpful. Philo-G, a service version of Philo-AD, is available through the AWS marketplace in the AIaaS (AI as a Service) category. This subscription-based service in a simple API format enables customers to carry out data pre-processing, modeling, and analysis on specific data without worrying about the enormous cost of building an environment for AI analysis.

Philo-V is another deep learning-based solution, which can detect abnormal behavior captured on surveillance videos such as CCTVs. Its point of difference is that it is a self-learning model which can continuously detect newly-found behavior, threat, and other movements that have never been specified before, which brings excellent performance in finding unknown threats.

Ellexi attempted to optimize efficiency and productivity of both the manufacturing system and workers. Philo-UB, a deep learning-based User Behavior analysis solution, enables efficient workflow. It automatically visualizes task-related data sets, provides input error correction, alerts the user for review and recommends next worksteps for predictive maintenance, based on the historical information collected through the user’s keyboard and mouse events.

Members of Ellexi are confident of its best-in-class technological quality. Its data acquisition, analysis and visualisation tools have been used in collaboration with diverse companies – the company has been participating in the Proof-of-Concept project of developing AI-based immigration management systems with the Incheon International Airport and the Korean Ministry of Justice. Ellexi integrated existing processes in the airport with its Philo-V to detect and track abnormal or suspicious behaviors. The technology got great respect because it showed the highest detection rate under a wide range of conditions including lighting, camera angles, CCTV installation location, and throngs.

By continuously improving the productivity of working or manufacturing processes, Ellexi’s solutions can lower costs, reduce downtime and minimize waste. With the usage of solutions, identifying and reducing misplaced or underused production capacities would bring opportunities for growth without investing in additional monetary for physical resources.

▲ Ellexi Co., Ltd

▲ CEO : Jangwon Suh

▲ https://www.ellexi.com/

▲ marketing@ellexi.com

▲ +82-70-7733-5679

Make Informed Choices about the Food You Consume; INI Solutions

Good nutrition based on healthy eating is an essential factor that helps us to stay healthy and be active across the lifespan. Most Americans, however, do not have a healthy diet. The absence of balanced food and nutrition security can impair our daily health and wellbeing and contribute to the risk of developing some illnesses and other health problems, including obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. About 11 million deaths worldwide in 2017 were attributed to diseases related to unhealthy diets. Healthy diet can help people with chronic diseases manage these conditions and prevent complications.

Whether you hope to lose weight, protect yourself against disease, train for an athletic competition or just stay healthy, the meals throughout your day should complement one another, and each meal should provide an adequate amount of nutrients. An increasing interest in sustainable meals, health and freshness increases makes people want to know what’s in their food, where it came from and how its production and sourcing impacts the environment.

A good place to start is to check out what you usually eat and what you should not eat anymore. Do you check every ingredient of what you eat? Probably not. People with hypertension, allergies or diabetes, who need careful management of their daily meals, also find it difficult and cumbersome to check the list of ingredients every time picking up the food package – picky consumers included.

Make informed and speedy choices about the food you consume with advanced artificial intelligence and enormous food data developed by a food-tech startup, INI Solutions. Its mobile app ‘Bella’s table’ can allow you to easily check all food ingredients you take or buy. The sophisticated systems can provide you with information regarding its ingredients and nutrients, the country of origin of food, and additives. You don’t need to read tiny letterings on the back of every package. Just scan the barcode on the package through the app. Based on the Nutri-Score,, which is the 5-colour nutritional rating system selected by the French government, the solution tells you whether the pick in your hand is healthy or not and whether it is low in fibre or high in fat, salt and sugar. You can also record every meal on your table through the app. It is not just a diet diary but a sophisticated Ai-based platform. Your private dietitian, ‘Bella’s table’, can give you nutrition assessments by letting you know which ingredients you should take more or less.

INI Solutions is in the process of further developing services such as personalized recommendations and advice, although it has already achieved creating an enormous food database of around 50,000. People don’t need to reach out to nutrition experts outside to perform health assessments, whose services are costly, time consuming, and not readily available. It is scheduled to update a personalized nutrition recommendation based on the user’s current and future health conditions from human experts who can be matched through the app. The user can get non-face-to-face advice and meal planning from the expert nutritionists. They will apply their extensive knowledge and experience in nutrition and health to develop highly customized meal plans for each user after carefully listening to their needs and preferences. Coaching services guide and accompany users during their purchases and throughout the metabolic cycle, including personalized nutritional needs, dietary recommendations, culinary recipes, and transparency on product quality.

If the company establishes partnerships with food retail companies, the algorithm can recommend to the users which product of the food company the user should take based on the daily eating habits or current nutritional status. INI Solutions is now planning to expand its database and platform to the U.S. market. A nutritionist registered in the U.S. (RDN; Registered dietitian nutritionist) joined the company in 2020 and is engaged in algorithm buildup with food databases. The company is looking forward to collaborating with various companies.

▲ INI solution

▲ CEO : Yangwon,Kim

▲ https://inisolution.io

▲ contact@inisolution.io

▲ +82-70-5159-7730

Track Your Lost Dogs with Their Nose Prints: Petnow INC.

Dogs are bright and curious creatures which like to roam and explore the world. They are also so quick that they disappear in a flash if pet parents become distracted and lose track of their kids. One in three pets will become lost at some point in their life, as the American Humane Association estimates that ten million pets are reported lost or stolen in the U.S. every year.

Pet owners will often turn to conventional methods of searching for their stray pets; from flyposting, searching and getting help through social media, and microchipping. Offering unique and permanent identification by implanting a microchip underneath a pet’s skin was considered as the most cutting-edge and reliable technology that increases the likelihood of a pet returning home. Unfortunately, a passive microchip is not the same thing as a GPS, and its frequency and database for identifying pets have been fragmented in the U.S. A dedicated device is required to scan a microchip inside a pet, and some owners mind that the insertion may be painful for their pets.

In the pursuit of a reliable identification method for doggies, an AI startup named Petnow Inc. has introduced a cleverly designed app that uses a dog’s unique nose print to help identify and reunite lost dogs with their beloved humans. Similar to human fingerprints, dog nose prints can be used for biometrics as they are unique to each canine and remain unchanged over time. The mobile app, ‘Petnow’, makes it easier and more accessible to register an inscription at home without a chip implant surgery or hospital fees. Although the app is not tracking the location of registered puppies, users can bring a great saving of time and cost without sacrificing chances to reunite lost dogs with owners.

With the help of AI-driven pattern recognition and image processing technologies, the mobile app leverages the unique features of nose prints for dog identification. Its nose print recognition technology can auto-focus the canine snout and capture the high-quality clear image. And its own algorithms classify a dog’s nose print and confirm dog identity by comparing the similarities between nose print characteristics. This nose print verification method also leaves no worry of chips being damaged or lost in the pet’s body and is less invasive than other approaches to dog identification such as DNA tests and microchip implants. The ‘Petnow’ app will be available for Apple and Android devices in the first-quarter of 2022.

Giving your pet identification which can go through the computing process conveys quite a significant meaning to the pet industry. You can create a pet profile for registering pet insurance or checking-in through print searching. While the trend for pet insurance has spiked in the past several years, the absence of standardized codes for pets has remained as a setback. In that sense, the dog nose print verification technology can boost the implementation of a standardized framework of pet identification.

Petnow Inc. is pouring its efforts into further development including sophistication with more data and another development of identification algorithms for cats. Its technology is actually proven by the industry, as the mobile app is selected as the Best of Innovation in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022, which is the most influential technology event in the world. While preparing for the exhibition, the company is also pursuing partnerships with diverse stakeholders; from government agencies, insurance corporations, pet-tech companies, to animal shelters. Petnow Inc. seems to be at the corner of a springboard for business expansion.

▲Petnow Inc.

▲ CEO : Jesse Lim

▲ https://petnow.io/

▲ contact@petnow.io

▲ +82-10-6439-1139

 Kayla Hong

Asia Journal

Artificial intelligence (AI), a major component of the wave of technological innovation, showed rapid progress since the 2010s. Countries around the globe are sparing large efforts to foster AI industries. Endeavor of the South Korean government is also strong in order to become an AI technology powerhouse. Each local government is also devoted to fostering the AI industry, by supporting particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or startups.

AI Yangjae Hub was established by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in December 2017 as a special cluster for growing creative talents, innovative companies, and promoting exchanges. AI Yangjae Hub, as reflected in its name, specializes in cultivating and promoting the AI industry.

It is located in Yangjae R&D campus. Yangjae district is 10 minutes away from Gangnam and Yeoksam districts which are known for high concentration of wealth, finance and business, and 15-20 minutes away from Pangyo district which is emerging as a new IT techno valley. It is also surrounded by gorgeous green areas, including Yangjae citizens’ forest and Umyeon mountain. There are several research institutes nearby which are run by large conglomerates such as Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, LG energy solution, and KT Corporation. It will be scaled up as a global cluster by attracting more domestic and foreign universities, research institutes and companies related to future information technology industries such as AI and big data.

In a conversation with Los Angeles Times Asia Journal, the director of AI Yangjae hub, Jong-yung Yoon, explained major programs and his vision. According to the director, as of June 2021, Approximately 88 SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and start-ups are stationed in AI Yangjae Hub. The center leases cozy workspaces for them at low rents, which is also equipped with venues for open communication, collaborative spaces, meeting rooms, rest lounges and several office equipment and services. Actually, being offered a workspace on an affordable rent in Yangjae district is a quite big benefit for startups. Director Yoon explains that he thinks support for startups with weak financial status starts from securing stable and comfortable working conditions.

Getting a good night’s sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your health. The Center for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends adults to get seven or more hours of sleep per night for the best health and wellbeing. Unfortunately, according to the CDC, nearly one-third of adult Americans say that they get insufficient sleep, and the CDC even went so far as to call the situation an epidemic. Not getting enough sleep can negatively impact your health, happiness, and longevity. Sleep deprivation has also been linked to the development and management of a number of chronic diseases and conditions, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression, according to the CDC. What do you think you should do if you don’t want to lie staring at the ceiling everynight any longer?

Here is one Korean company that originated from the idea of improving the quality of sleep: LUPLE Inc. The company has researched ways to deal with sleep problems or people lacking light due to longer hours of staying indoors. Finally, it launched a smart gadget named ‘Olly’ for getting a good night’s rest as well as for better quality of life by using HCL (Human Centric Lighting) and artificial intelligence technology.

Olly offers a sunlight solution to make you sleep well and have an active day with biorhythm-friendly light and optimized application upon algorithm. It took the Innovation Award at the 2021 CES. The product is currently available on Amazon US and Shopee and scheduled to be available in Japan soon after July. LUPLE Inc. continues to develop more advanced products adapting cutting-edge technology for better-quality life.

Solution for Effective AI Modeling and Data Management Service: SmartMind Inc.

SmartMind Inc. in South Korea provides an artificial intelligence platform for integrated digital marketing and advertising, AI modeling and digital transformation for enterprises. The company developed various specialized AI algorithms.

The algorithm named ‘THANOS’ by the company provides an out-of-box tool for AI modeling and data management service for any vertical applications such as marketing, advertising, smart factory, game development, and pharmaceutical research. ‘THANOS’ drastically reduces the size of the raw data required for the AI modeling, maximizing the speed of repetitive modeling and deriving insight in real-time. When performing AI modelings with massive amounts of structured or unstructured data, it can accelerate machine learning (ML) training, which takes hours to hundreds of hours. It remarkably reduces time to market from data to insight, providing a source of competitive edge for enterprises.

‘LIGHTHOUSE’ is also a software as a service (SaaS) platform which provides AI transformation and data related services. Clients also have options to use vertical business applications such as marketing and digital ads solutions. According to the explanation of the company, many clients have already achieved cost savings and increased sales through the solution. With the latest edition of LIGHTHOUSE, you can experience the easy-to-use dashboards, providing integrated data visualization for digital advertising performance.

SmartMind Inc. will continuously add more patents related to AI and big data to secure further technological competencies and to provide the best experiences to clients.The company said that any talk with entrepreneurs who are seeking a performance boost via AI transformation would be welcome.

Decorate your home virtually using ‘Archisketch’: Archidraw Inc.

As the time spent indoors is increasing due to the pandemic, people are getting interested in interior-improvement. However, everyone must have experienced difficulties while decorating the interior or furnishing. You might have been a little hazy on whether the furniture you are looking at in the offline or online store would be well-matched with your house or office. You might also have experienced that furniture you chose and brought home might not have been as good as you thought.

Archidraw Inc. developed artificial intelligence (AI) technology which allows you to check styles of your own space through online experience. The core technology of Archidraw Inc. enables auto-conversion from 2D to 3D in order to build your own floor plan. Anyone can easily get photorealistic images drawn into 3D models through the web or an application. ‘Archisketch’ creates five different results with a single 3D model: Floor Planner, Panorama 3D, 4K rendering, 360 HD viewer, and AR viewer. You can build a house virtually and decorate it yourself to predict which wallpaper or furniture will go well with your house when using the cloud home-furnishing platform. You can freely place the furniture you want in a virtual space.

The company also designed an AI algorithm which helps you when choosing interior design with your picks. It will give you some recommendations for furniture arrangements. The products shown in the platform service are actually being sold in various brands, so you can even check the expected estimates. Not only interior experts but also anyone who is not confident in decorating their homes can experience more convenient home furnishing.

 

Kayla Hong

Asia Journal