In China, the security industry has become the biggest sector utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Leading Chinese security company,
Zeno Technology-Videopark, discusses with a&s about how the company transformed when it faced with this new ecosystem challenge, created by AI.
Due to China’s high development in AI technology, especially face recognition, IT network infrastructure and cloud computing, Chinese security companies have been experiencing rapid growth in the previous 10 years. The key for their growth mostly been reliant on the local market demand in smart cities, AI technology and whether the companies are able to find the right partners, in order to deliver unique solutions tailored to different projects and needs.
Jun Luo, Director and VP of Zeno Technology-Videopark said, “The security
Jun Luo, Director and VP,
Zeno Technology-Videopark
industry has changed a lot in the past 10 years. Especially, since 2016 , many big companies have been looking for strategic transformation due to the demand for some key technologies, especially AI and IoT. Zeno Technology-Videopark, as a leading intelligent video surveillance equipment supplier, was listed on the OTC market of China's new third board in 2016 and in the third year of a&s’ Security 50 ranking – ranked the 36th in 2017 and the 35th in 2018. This demonstrates our overall strength in certain market segments and proves we’ve kept up-to-date with technological trends. We now are a leading provider of intelligent IoT products and industry service solutions, focusing on video.”
How the company managed the transformation challenges
The industry finds itself in a transition period, with security solutions offered changing from the traditional high-definition digital security to the current end-to-end products and solutions based on artificial intelligence. However, when it comes to using AI for actual markets, some main issues had to be dealt with, such as how to meet the project demand in different scenarios of the real environments.
Luo said, “We found out that it is nearly impossible to utilize general AI solutions and products for all kinds of environments. For example, AI technology used for city surveillance definitely doesn’t work for education. The applications of AI are very fragmented and personalized, which means some products and solutions of AI don’t fit one entire application sector, but they have to fall into some sub-sectors. Because of this, it is very important for us to stay focused on our strengths and also find more technological partners in the ecosystem to grow together.”
“In China, our solutions are widely used for banking, industrial parks, smart electricity, and education, intelligent transportation, smart cities, and chain stores. As the AI market is fragmented, we found many opportunities to work with many small-to-medium-sized companies.”
“We concentrate on developing six technologies, including face intelligence analysis algorithms, behavioral intelligence analysis algorithms, license plate intelligent analysis algorithms, perimeter intelligence analysis algorithms, video image quality diagnosis intelligent algorithms, and IP intelligent video platform software, and closely work with other AI companies to provide the best solutions in AI and IoT for users.”
This means that security companies, like Zeno Technology-Videopark, are entering a new market, which is broader than the traditional security one, but definitely more complicated. It relies on the collaboration with multiple companies to form the best total solution that will be most suitable for end users.
Hardware still plays a crucial role
What is the value of being a video surveillance company in the AI-related applications and markets? In the AI era, algorithms and computing power from different companies tend to be quite similar. However, when it comes to the reality of usability, the hardware and domain know-how for the installation environment is still very important in order to complete the total solution.
“Hardware manufacturing capability is still our main strength. What we can offer are still relatively comprehensive, because we have been in the market for 10 years and always look for new technology innovation. AI companies also need to rely on the companies like ours to provide hardware bundling with their AI algorithm. So more often than not, most sides can benefit from partnerships between each other.”
“With all that being said, we have a small-sized camera with artificial intelligence and it is placed in the supermarket. If you place it at a height that is above the customers, then it is possible to see the overall traffic in the store for people counting, and therefore abnormal behavior like, loitering, gathering, or running is easily spotted. However, if you want to see the inventory, you need to place the camera on the shelf. For any specific purpose in the retail store, you have to understand what kinds of cameras you would like to choose and its installation location too. That is why using AI in a specific vertical also contains many different competencies, from hardware, software, and installation service companies.”
Utilizing their own experience to demonstrate unique capabilities
Companies, like Zeno Technology-Videopark, has demonstrated its capability in unique software development, hardware manufacturing and R&D design with its own experience in the Chinese market, and it has gradually achieved a lot of success in foreign markets. AI-related products and solutions are what the company is focusing on and the company is willing to seek out more partners from all over the world.