Neal Analytics announces integration of its vision AI solutions with Microsoft Azure private MEC to serve retailers
Neal Analytics, a Fractal company, is proud to announce that its leading-edge StockView solution is now validated with Microsoft Azure private multi-access edge compute (MEC) to deliver video AI-powered use cases for retailers.
The combination of Neal Analytics solutions with Azure private MEC now enables the deployment of video AI solutions for operations with high performance private 4G or 5G connectivity, without disrupting existing corporate IT wired or Wi-Fi networks. By using Azure‘s capability at the edge to deliver the 5G networking and compute required for StockView, more diverse and difficult connectivity environments can now be covered with higher reliability, camera density and low latency real-time video analytics.
In addition, Neal Analytics solutions leverage services such as Azure Percept and Azure Cognitive Services like Azure Spatial Analysis. The need for Vision AI-based analytics at the edge is becoming more mainstream as companies want to increase their business-critical operation competitiveness and capabilities to all their physical locations.
Even conventional brick-and-mortar retailers have challenges extending and growing their capabilities in the vision space. Often, the infrastructure for extraction and storage of constant streaming video from a remote location to a central (or cloud) server is complex or cost prohibitive. So far, this has made many use cases at the edge economically – if not technically – impossible. StockView allows customers to automatically detect out-of-stock high-value items on their retail shelves to reduce loss sales, improve customer satisfaction, and optimize resupply routes.
“Vision AI is a fundamental category of modern connected applications with the power to begin solving the real-world operational challenge of doing more with less, in industries such as manufacturing, consumer packaged goods, and retail. Neal Analytics integration with Azure private MEC brings together innovative technology and services that make it extremely simple for retailers to deploy and manage these solutions on a global scale.“
— Shriraj Gaglani, VP Product Management, Microsoft Azure
