The past year has seen a strong focus on training models in the AI industry, with many technology companies aiming to change enterprises across industries. However, the recent NVIDIA GTC event highlighted the importance of inference, where the actual business value of AI lies. Retail is one industry that stands to benefit significantly from AI, with image recognition systems being deployed for tasks such as inventory control, loss prevention, and customer service.
According to Nvidia’s 2024 State of AI in Retail and CPG report, 42% of retailers are already using AI, and an additional 34% are assessing or piloting AI programs. Among large retailers with revenues exceeding $500 million, AI adoption is even higher at 64%. Retailers are seeing a solid return on investment from AI, with many reporting an increase in annual revenue of up to 15% or more as well as a decrease in operating costs. However, the complexity of AI can be a challenge for retailers and their ecosystem partners, as infrastructure needs to scale beyond many retail locations.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation has introduced the AITRIOS edge AI sensing platform, which simplifies vision processing and inference. AITRIOS aims to address six significant cloud challenges faced by IoT systems by accelerating the deployment of edge AI-powered sensing solutions across industries. By developing hyper-efficient inference capabilities integrated directly into a sensing device, Sony’s solution keeps vision data local, enhances privacy, reduces latency, conserves energy, ensures service continuity, and secures data.
The AITRIOS platform works by processing data on the device and only sending essential metadata to the cloud for action. This approach reduces data sent to the cloud, leading to advantages in privacy, security, and service continuity as well as reducing electric power consumption and data transmission delays. Sony’s solution is helping retailers and logistics companies digitalize their physical locations by providing AI insights to solve problems like on-shelf availability and optimize store operations.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions, Hacobu, and Restar Electronics have partnered to develop a service that leverages AITRIOS edge AI technology to enhance efficiency in logistics warehouses’ loading and unloading areas. This service automates the capture of usage records and work times, reducing drivers’ workloads. By using edge devices with AI capabilities to detect and recognize license plates, the service minimizes manual input errors and omissions, enhances data accuracy, and optimizes driver work hours.
Industry analysts view Sony’s AITRIOS platform as a game-changer for industries reliant on real-time data and AI, offering enhanced privacy, reduced latency, and improved energy efficiency. Sony’s strategic partnerships and integrations across various verticals demonstrate the company’s commitment to addressing the limitations of cloud-based systems in environments like the retail edge, logistics, and manufacturing. The success of such a platform will depend on widespread adoption and continuous evolution to meet the dynamic demands of IoT applications. Industries like retail are poised for significant advancements with the use of AI technology.
