Villgro backed AIndra Systems, an AI and computer vision startup, is creating impactful products for multiple industries
After much talk and promise in the 1960s that machines would soon think like humans there was a stall in the progress on that front. However, the past 15 years have seen a lot of technological innovation in the field of machines that can see and talk. It could not have been a better time for Adarsh Natarajan’s artificial intelligence (AI) startup, AIndra Systems, as this technology is navigating its way into all the major industries like healthcare, banking and retail.
AIndra’s journey goes way back to 2012 when it was commissioned by the Government of India to find a solution to subsidy leakage occurring in rural Indian schools, which was a part of the mid-day meals program. The team had to dig deeper and understand the ground realities of the problem and after this study, they built an early prototype of their product that relies on both AI and computer vision. “That was the genesis of our fascination with this domain and the trigger to look at problems that could be solved by leveraging advanced technologies,” said Natarajan.
Today, right from creating products ranging from screening and detention of cervical cancer to identity and fraud management, asset risk profiling to facial recognition, AIndra Systems is changing the face of AI and at the same time is working on problems of huge impact.
Understanding AIndra
“AIndra uses deep technologies like artificial intelligence, computer vision and deep learning deployed on high performance computing systems like GPUs. We also make use of advanced optics and mechatronics to build our products,” said Natarajan, a graduate of IIM Bangalore, who runs the organization along his co-founders, Abhishek Mishra and Ritabrata Bhaumik.
AIndra Systems’ patent pending computer vision platform now powers cancer detection at the point of care as well as powering smartphone and handheld devices to identify pre-defined subject-of-importance from real-world scenarios. The cancer detection product for the point of care is currently undergoing verification and CR certifications. The device banks on a pap smear test to detect potentially cancerous cells. The product will hit the market by the end of the current calendar year.
AIndra Systems’ patent pending computer vision platform now powers cancer detection at the point of care as well as powering smartphone and handheld devices to identify pre-defined subject-of-importance from real-world scenarios.
“To add to our technology stack, our identity and fraud management solution has been deployed in multiple sectors like facility management services, vocational training companies to track and monitor both their employees and beneficiaries,” explains Natarajan. Their object detection solution is being piloted in the insurance sector to help assess risk profiles of the assets being insured. AIndra’s AI and machine learning (ML) platform also enables insurance, fin-tech and logistics companies to define their subject-of-interest and bring in AI driven visual analysis of the data collected from day-to-day business activities.
“Few of the use-cases that we address are, to estimate the extent of damage of the car in vehicle insurance sector, valuation of an asset based on its risk profiling example: count of the number of fire-extinguishers, smoke-detectors, no-smoking and fire-exit signs, detecting identity related fraud in KYC process etc. We have filed for multiple patents in these areas,” adds Natarajan.
Getting the right view
Drishti, the mobile visual identification and recognition system built by AIndra Systems is another patent pending technology based on artificial intelligence. It provides handheld devices with inbuilt cameras like smartphones, tablets and laptops the ability to detect and identify people. Images that are captured using these devices are sent to AIndra’s cloud based server and are then processed by intelligent algorithms to detect and identify objects. With the ability to gather demographic data, the system generates contextual data that can then be consumed by marketers. Applications in various sectors such as retail, tele medicine and the textile industry can be built using Drishti.
A huge moment for the team of 13 was when they received a round of funding from Villgro, a social enterprise incubator, for working on the cancer detection product. “I think the round of funding demonstrated that we were onto something really valuable,” says Natarajan. Research and innovation in the field of computer vision and AI is scaling new heights. Thanks to the power of deep learning, machines have reached a stage where they can actually see like a human.Computer vision is by far the most frontier and potentially most revolutionary technology in computer science. This is the future we’re heading towards; where machines can see, where doctors will have tireless eyes to diagnose diseases, the presence of smarter and safer cars on our roads, and explore unseen frontiers with the help from machines.
Snapshot : AIndra Systems
Founders: Adarsh Natarajan, Abhishek Mishra and Ritabrata Bhaumik
City: Gurgaon
Funding: Received funding from Villgro, a social enterprise incubator
Business Profile: AIndra Systems is an artificial intelligence and computer vision startup, which is focused on creating impactful products in order to change the way we solve inherent problems. It uses AI, computer vision, visual identification and recognition systems and deep learning in the fields of cancer detection, tele medicine, facial recognition, textile, retail, insurance and identity and fraud management.
