You’ve probably heard the terms “digital image recognition” and “vision AI” thrown around, and you might even wonder if they refer to the same thing. The truth is, both terms are relevant, and while they exist in the same technological sphere, Vision AI represents a more advanced and comprehensive capability
The use of computer vision – whether through cameras, mobile phones, or even shelf cameras – combined with AI to understand visual information, is a rapidly growing and highly sought-after area. We’re seeing a significant increase in requests and proposals as older legacy AI computer vision technologies reach the end of their contracts, prompting more companies to explore new vendors and the nuances between image recognition and Vision AI
What is Digital Image Recognition?
At its core, image recognition is the fundamental ability of an AI system to process a photo or a scene, compare it against a catalog or database of images, and then recognize, classify, or identify what it’s looking at.
- For example, it can identify a product on a shelf and say, “This is a bottle of shampoo”
- This basic capability allows the system to reach initial conclusions about what is present in an image
Stepping Up to Vision AI
Vision AI, on the other hand, takes these foundational capabilities much further. While image recognition can tell you “what it is,” Vision AI answers deeper, more complex questions and provides actionable insights. It encompasses an entire stack of capabilities that allow it to understand:
- What is it?
- Where is it?
- What am I looking at?
- What’s in the right place?
- What’s in or out of compliance?
- What do I need to do to fix it?
- What actions should be taken?
In essence, Vision AI builds upon image recognition but goes beyond mere identification to interpret the scene and understand the context to recommend actions for improvement or optimization. It’s about how sophisticated the AI’s understanding and interpretative capabilities are.
Why Does This Distinction Matter?
This entire domain, particularly Vision AI, is becoming incredibly important. It offers immense potential for automating activities at retail and generating digital data and insights that can enhance and streamline the entire supply chain, from top to bottom.
So, while image recognition is certainly at the heart of it, Vision AI elevates this technology to a level where it can drive significant operational improvements and strategic decisions.
Curious to dive deeper into the differences between vendors and how they leverage Vision AI? We’re happy to discuss this further.
Check out the video below where we break it down in a bit more detail.
