Some Japanese Stores Are Using A.I Tech To Stop Shoplifters Before They Start Stealing

Imagine a world where humans co-exist with robots.

The example above may not be the best but we may not even need to complete day-to-day activities such as washing up and getting dressed ourselves.

While this isn’t totally a reality yet, I believe it will happen one day at the rate we’re advancing technologically.

During a conversation with my friend last year, he mentioned something that stuck with me till today – banks sponsor movies with which they test the mass market’s reaction to a certain occurrence.

For instance, the introduction of robots in Will Smith’s I, Robot slowly led to everyone becoming more accepting of smart technology. In fact, despite its mixed reviews, certain aspects of the popular movie is now a reality.

From underground tunnels to an autonomous car and the replacement of certain workers with robots even, the I,Robot director’s predictions came true.

Having taken a short course on robotics in school, I think it’s pretty fascinating how technology can be used to wire robots to follow your commands seamlessly.

The incorporation of technology in daily lives may not always be a negative experience.

Think about it.

Human-Robot interactions have more pros than cons. The tray return machine in local food courts has done a great job in getting people to return their trays thanks to its novelty which incites curiosity, and reduces the distance between lazy customers and tray return stations. This in turn saves time for the employees and increases the turnover rate of the food court.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is the wiring of machines to possess the same level of intelligence as humans, so they can work and think like one.

This technology has successfully infiltrated our lives in the form of “Siri”, “Alexa” and “Google Home”, all of which are virtual assistants designed to make our lives easier.

Call any customer service hotline and more often than not, you’ll find yourself talking to a robot that sounds exactly like a human. This is known as an Automated Voice Response System which saves time of workers.

In fact, in a live demonstration by Google, the Google Assistant successfully called a hair salon employee with no trace of robot at all. It sounded completely human-like with the accurate pauses and “mmhmm” so much so that the employee on the line assumed she was talking to a human. Check out the video here if you haven’t and be ready to be mindblown.

This raises many questions but I think it’s amazing how far we’ve come as a society.

And remember how I,Robot is the future of the world?

There’s another movie that might just have showcased the future: Minority Report.

Shoplifters are becoming a thing of the past

A startup in Japan has invented Vaak Eye, a software capable of analyzing customers in a shop when connected with a surveillance camera.

From the clothes you wear to your every movement and products taken, Vaak Eye can identify potential shoplifters way before they hide the stolen items.

Told ya it’s Minority Report, yah?

Subsequently, the data gathered by the software is used to determine a person’s rate of suspicion before notifying a worker through a smartphone application to intervene. View the video below from Vaak Eye to find out how it works.

Thanks to Vaak Eye, a shoplifter has been caught in Japan, Yokohama.

They should consider entering Singapore and give this poor guy a break.

But of course, we’re all wondering: what if it gets the info wrong?

Machine learning is great, but an error here could cause a lot of embarrassment for the innocent.

For that…we’ll actually have to ask Tom Cruise, because let’s face it: with new technology always comes a period of errors.