Shanghai Spinoff Touting $30 AI-based Camera And Processor With Built-In Analytics Capabilities

August 20, 2019 by Dave Haynes

A Shanghai spin-off company called HuskyLens is running a successful Kickstarter campaign for what is described as an easy-to-use AI-driven $30 USD camera that has built-in tech like face pattern and objection detection.

The camera/sensor could, in theory, be used by companies wanting to offer base-level video analytics capabilities (though I assume there is all kinds of supporting software needed).

“HuskyLens is designed to be smart,” says the company. “Built-in algorithms allow HuskyLens to learn new objects, faces, and colors through a single click.”

The company says the sensor – a board with a camera and a small color display – can detect faces at 30 frames per second, and works with devices using Arduino, Raspberry Pi, LattePanda, or micro:bit processing.

I don’t think camera/sensor costs are that big a deal anymore for the companies the digital signage community would know for video analytics. But this might be interesting for some special purpose applications, like experiential, where the full capabilities of AdMobilize, Quividi, VSBLTY or Kandu would be overkill. Like a fighter jet when you need a paper airplane.

HuskyLens comes out of a company primarily doing robotics, so I doubt the people in Shanghai are thinking much about advertising and market audience insights.

One wild card to consider here: It’s coming out of China, so I dunno where the data might end up, even if images are purportedly captured, analyzed and then discarded.

Here is the Kickstarter pitch video. The company already has 3X of its funding goal.

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