Blippar Introduces Automotive Recognition using Computer Vision & Artificial Intelligence

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - May 25, 2017) - Blippar, the technology company building the world's first augmented reality browser through Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision, today announced the first AI technology for consumers to recognize cars across the entire US market. Automotive recognition signifies Blippar's expansion into a new vertical, giving consumers an unprecedented and comprehensive AR experience that can be simply unlocked every time people come across a car -- in a magazine, on the streets or in a video.

Blippar's automotive recognition has over 97.7% accuracy in recognizing vehicles, making it the highest in the industry¹. Car recognition works for every car built between 2000-2017, including all 6,000 types of cars at make-model-year level in US market. The detail and granularity at which the technology can recognize the make, model and year of each car is unparalleled not only from a technology standpoint, but is beyond what most humans can identify by sight.

Technology & Experience
Blippar has built recognition using artificial intelligence (more specifically, deep learning and computer vision). The company created a system that layers information in an innovative matrix structure and brings more detailed and tailored knowledge to users -- Blippar has built generic horizontal recognition across most things in the world, which is continuously expanding and improving and is now diving deep into specific verticals, with cars being one of the first since launching facial recognition in December 2016. The vertical layer gives a greater detail and further options for the category, in this case the make, model and year of a particular car. This mimics the way in which the human mind develops, from identifying a car as an infant to identifying makes, models, and years as we mature.

Augmented reality experiences are activated when the user blipps ("scans") a vehicle -- the recognition happens within a fraction of a second and recognizes vehicles in any condition, including from sketches. Once a car is recognized using its deeply learned computer vision algorithms, Blippar displays an organic augmented visual layer, that adapts based on the specific vehicle's data. From there, it shows users the make, model and year of the car, as well as average customer star rating, price and a 360 degree view inside the car. Consumers have access to additional information -- from trusted online resources for automotive information and imagery -- such as expert reviews, styles, specifications and related cars, creating a thorough and detailed experience. Content experiences can also be further detailed and customized in a branded campaign.

Video: Blippar Introduces Automotive Recognition using Computer Vision & Augmented Reality

"Blippar's automotive recognition launch marks the transition into a new arena of experiences that provide invaluable information and insights for a variety of verticals. I am very proud of what we have achieved in terms of recognition accuracy for make, model and year for both new and old cars," said Ambarish Mitra, CEO & Co-Founder of Blippar. "We started with cars, as it is a big part of people's lives and this technology offers immediate value to consumers whether they are looking to buy a new car and want to jump in the driver's seat and get a 360 degree view inside it or unlock more details about that model or to simply satisfy their curiosity about the cars in front of them and read the expert reviews. This is where the power of an augmented reality browser lies."

Automotive recognition is available on the Blippar app on iOS + Android from today, and will continue to roll out additional capabilities and experiences in the near future. The consumer auto recognition experience is currently available for the U.S. market on the Blippar app, however the Blippar Car Recognition API is available globally for other companies to license and integrate into their own applications and/or products.

About Blippar
Blippar is a technology company that specializes in augmented reality (AR), computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI). Blippar's consumer product is the Blippar app, which is the first augmented reality browser, bridging the gap between digital and real-world experiences using AI and AR. The app allows users to 'blipp' (scan) real-world items they are curious about -- from objects to buildings, animals and people -- to unlock useful and entertaining content. The content experiences are either drawn from its proprietary knowledge graph or are augmented reality experiences. Blippar's AR technology has been used by world-leading brands such as PepsiCo, Porsche, Nestle, L'Oréal, GSK, General Mills and Procter & Gamble to create exciting and award-winning experiences which deepen consumer engagement. Blippar also offers enterprise solutions including Blippar's Computer Vision API and AR self-service creation tools, the Blippbuilder Suite. These are licensed to agencies and developers to create rich AR experiences at scale, including those with no coding skills. Blippar was named 9th most disruptive company in the world by CNBC in 2016. To learn more, visit blippar.com.

¹ The accuracy level has been calculated using a paper published by CUHK that we found to be the best published car recognition model before Blippar car recognition was released.