Sony And Microsoft Collaboration
Sony said that it will embed Microsoft’s Azure artificial intelligence technology in the new smart vision sensor. Sony will also use Microsoft’s Azure IoT and perception service technology in related applications.
Sony Semiconductor Solutions is part of the Sony Group. The company released the new IMX500 sensor already, claiming to be the world’s first image sensor capable of analyzing and processing artificial intelligence images on logic chips.
Here is Sony and Microsoft Scope of Collaboration
According to Sony’s press release, Tokyo, Japan – Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation (“Sony”) and Microsoft Corporation (“Microsoft”) announced that they will work together to develop solutions for mutual customers to make AI-enabled smart cameras and video analytics systems more accessible and easy to deploy.
Through this collaboration, the two companies will embed Microsoft AzureAI capabilities into Sony’s smart vision sensor, the Sony IMX500, allowing it to extract useful information from images from smart cameras and other devices. Sony will also develop an intelligent camera management application (APP) powered by Azure‘s Internet of Things and Cognitive Services, which complements the IMX500 sensor and can expand the scope and capabilities of video analytics capabilities for enterprise customers.
Sony Inteligent Vision Sensor – Sony IMX500 And Sony IMX501 with Built-in AI Chip – Suggested For You.
The combination of these two solutions will bring together Sony’s leading imaging and sensing technologies, including Sony’s native high-speed edge AI processing capabilities, and Microsoft’s cloud technology and AI platform to unlock new video analytics opportunities for customers and partners across a variety of industries.
By combining Sony’s innovative imaging and sensing technologies with Microsoft’s leading cloud AI services, we will provide a powerful and convenient platform for the smart camera marketplace. Through this platform, we hope to support the innovative capabilities of our collaborators and contribute to addressing the challenges of various industries.
– Said, Representative CEO and President of Sony Semiconductor Solutions.
Video analytics and smart cameras can bring better business insight and results to enterprises in a variety of different business scenarios. Through this partnership, we will combine Microsoft’s trusted expertise in enterprise-grade AI and analytics solutions with Sony’s established leadership in the imaging sensor market to help our mutual customers and partners discover new opportunities.
– Said, Vice president and commercial chief marketing officer at Microsoft.
The rise of video analytics has allowed enterprise clients across a range of industries to identify new revenue opportunities through which to streamline operations and overcome new challenges. For example, retailers can use smart cameras to monitor when to replenish their shelves or better determine the optimal number of openings at the register based on the length of the queue.
Besides, manufacturers can use smart cameras to identify hazards in their manufacturing plants in real-time before an accident occurs. Traditionally, however, such applications have relied on collecting data from many smart cameras, which are often distributed in different locations, such as stores, warehouses, and logistics centers. The traditional approach is difficult to optimize the allocation of computing resources and can lead to increased costs or energy consumption.
To address these challenges, Sony and Microsoft will work together to streamline the path to computer vision solutions by implanting Microsoft’s AzureAI technology into Sony’s intelligent vision sensor, the IMX500, and allowing partners to embed their own AI models. This integration will make cameras smarter and more advanced, allowing them to be used in enterprise scenarios and allocate resources more efficiently between the edge and the cloud to increase efficiency and reduce costs and energy consumption.
Sony’s smart camera management application, powered by Azure, is targeted at independent software vendors (ISVs) specializing in computer vision and video analytics solutions, as well as smart camera original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) seeking to provide added value to their hardware.
The application is complementary to the IMX500 sensor and based on the IMX500, ISVs and OEMs can train AI models to customize video analytics and computer vision solutions for their respective customers and industries to meet the needs of enterprise customers. The application will streamline critical workflows, take reasonable security measures to protect data privacy and security, and allow ISVs to spend less time on routine processes, low-value integration and provisioning, and more time on creating unique solutions to meet the needs of their customers.
It will make it easier for enterprise customers to acquire, train, and deploy AI models for video analytics scenarios.
As part of this collaboration, Microsoft and Sony will also work together to foster joint innovation with partners and enterprise customers in the areas of computer vision and video analytics, as part of Microsoft’s AI and IoT in-house lab program. The lab works with Microsoft experts and solution providers such as Sony to provide access and facilities to build, develop, prototype, and test customer solutions. Later this year, Sony and Microsoft will formally launch a partnership for some of their customers, based at Microsoft’s Joint Innovation Center.
