News

Rikei Corporation (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Satoru Isaka; hereinafter “Rikei”) is pleased to announce that it has signed a new distribution agreement with ax Inc. (Head Office: Shibuya, Tokyo, President and CEO: Takehiko Terada hereinafter “ax”), and has begun selling “ailia”, a solution that provides an environment for introducing the latest AI (*1) functions and enables the use of AI on all kinds of devices.

*1 AI：Artificial Intelligence. An artificial reproduction of human intelligence on a machine.

Product Overview

Rikei and ax will provide total solutions from the provision of learned AI models to the development of applications implementing AI models, centering on the “ailia SDK” which is customized based on the AI solution “ailia” to meet customer needs and enables easy implementation of AI functions in applications used on the edge (device) of smartphones and PCs.

AI model refers to a mechanism in which a computer analyzes input data and returns results through “repeated training”, for example, by inputting images of cars, it can be identified as “this is a car”.

Although when it comes to image recognition AI, model learning requires loading a huge amount of image, which is very time-consuming and costly generally, since “ailia” has more than 200 types of AI models that have been learned in advance, users can adopt an AI environment without the burden of learning from scratch.

In addition, the core “ailia SDK” specializes in inference (* 2) on the device side, making it possible to incorporate AI models into applications used on smartphones and computers. AI models are mainly used for image analysis, and specialized for distance estimation and object detection.

* 2 Inference: The process of inputting new data into learned model and obtaining results according to patterns established in the learning.

Images of “ailia”

Product Features

• Speedy verification and implementation using more than 200 types of learned AI models
  Taking advantage of the many AI models prepared in advance, “allia” make it possible to reduce the labor, cost, and time to learn from scratch. Customization to existing models to meet customer’s needs, such as adding adjustments and learning are also available.
  Application examples of “ailia” by AI model
  ・AI model specialized for detection of defective products: Product inspection in the manufacturing process, etc.
  ・AI model specialized for object detection: Self-checkout, survey of traffic volume, etc.
  ・AI model specialized for density prediction: Visitor counting at large-scale events, etc.
  ・AI model specialized for face detection: Beauty counseling for cosmetics manufacturers, etc.
• High-speed AI processing at edge (device) side
  Compared to conventional AI that is mainly installed on the cloud, installing AI on the device side eliminates for a network connection and has advantages of “no communication fees”, “real-time AI processing”, and “no load on the network environment”. It can also process large-capacity images at high speed.
• Easy to realize AI environment on different platforms
  Although it has been very time-consuming to create AI applications on different devices such as Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, etc. traditionally, “ailia” enables smooth implementation of AI environments for various OS.
• Providing an environment for development of customer-specific AI models
  Providing a learning environment for the development of new AI models and the improvement of existing models, for corporate technology departments and other organizations that develop AI.

Background of the market

While AI is already being used in various situations of modern life and the need for AI is growing, some people say, “It takes too much time to develop AI that can be used on each device” or “Want to use AI but don’t know how to go about it”, “ailia” solves these problems.

Future Development

Taking advantage of the ability to perform tasks that have been determined by humans so far unmanned, we will make proposal mainly to industries including transportation infrastructure such as trains and buses, security, beauty, camera manufacturers, and photo studio, as well as responding to requests from companies that want to “use AI easily” in various scenes, regardless of the industry.

Sales price of main product

Please contact us separately

Expected sales of main products

12 sets of SDK in the first year

About ax Inc.

ax Inc. provides total solutions for machine learning from provision of SDK to implementation support and application development. With its proprietary SDK featuring high-speed inference as the core, ax Inc. provides environment for introducing the latest AI functions, helping to realize a society in which AI is used on every kind of device.

About Rikei Corporation

Since its establishment in 1957 as a solution vendor in the IT and electronics industries, Rikei Corporation has provided a variety of solutions ranging from systems to networks, VR/AR contents, electronic materials and electronic devices.

Rikei proposes solutions that utilize cutting-edge technologies and advanced products from Japan and overseas, and contributes to business development such as improving efficiency of operations and profits of customers.

*Product and company names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.