nir-vana innovation network

The SME is a spin-off of one of the main Galician universities, after several years developing R&D&i in facial analysis, from its most theoretical stage until the achievement of a minimum viable product. The company was created in 2016 after consolidating its business model by participating in Galician accelerators for small businesses.

The company follows a B2B model and its innovative feature is a video stream audience measurement software package that estimates the demographic profile (sex and age) of the person or people exposed to a visual stimulus, as well as their degree of attention and the emotion awakened on them.

Based on this main product, it also carries out turnkey projects with a high component of innovation and always related to the monitoring of people in various scenarios applying artificial vision and machine learning. Up to this date, the SME has commercialized R&D&i developments in the following market segments:

- Digital signage (Digital Signage -DS- or Digital Out of Home -DOOH):
The company's software combines AI (artificial intelligence) with video cameras to measure the impact of advertising campaigns carried out using digital signage and allows the content of the digital signage screens to be adapted to the viewers who are watching the advertising at all times.

- Neuromarketing:
The software measures the emotion that a certain visual stimulus arouses over the duration of the stimulus by analyzing facial expressions (commercials, previews, political messages, etc.).

- Video surveillance (COVID-19):
The software uses video surveillance cameras to measure the capacity of an establishment, detect people in motion, crossings through designated areas, waiting time in queues and, currently due to COVID-19, use of a mask and respect the distance of security.

- Biometric identification and automatic reading of documents: The software reads the fields of an identity document (DNI and Passport) shown to a camera or in an image, including the photograph, and compares it with the facial image of the person who carries it to authenticate their identity. In addition, it checks if the wearer's facial image corresponds to a living sample and is not another photograph using its own proof-of-life algorithm.

The SME's products are always software packages for the operating system that the customer wishes. Its turnkey projects are usually related with the analysis and interpretation of the video stream to offer the information of interest to the client.

As it is a software package, it is distributed through the internet and through license packages, each associated with a measurement point (10, 50, 100, 500, etc.).

Although the company has some foreign clients (USA, Brazil, Chile), its main objective is to strengthen its international presence and needs of cooperation in the search of clients/partners outside Spain. The team has a lot of technical experience but needs business and commercial development, so they are interested in contacting companies and/or people with experience in opening a business abroad and in the sectors where its software fits (mentioned above). Therefore, the SME is open to licensing agreements. The company seeks for long-term partnerships that can help them expand their business. As for preferred countries, the company is looking for any that has room for business expansion, preferably UE countries, USA and Latin America.

Advantages & innovations

Some of the SME's advantages are the following: - R&D&i is imprinted in the DNA of the company. All software products developed have a high component of technological innovation. This is an advantage for those companies that integrate the company's service into their own products or services. - 4 years of increasing sales and continuous improvement. - its customer service: the company focuses its efforts on customer service, always being available to its customers and to their inquiries. - Ability to adapt to new customer requirements. - As the company's expertise are computer vision and automatic learning (machine learning), the SME can easily address problems in sectors that need to interpret scenes in which people appear.

Stage of development

Already on the market

Partner sought

The business is in search of licensing agreements with partners that have experience and / or a business in the world of digital signage and retail. Some example of possible partners may be: - Video surveillance companies - Companies that have hardware (cameras, screens etc.) in public spaces such as shopping malls - Digital signage companies with capacity to incorporate the company's software with their own hardware (screens, cameras etc.) - Marketing/advertising companies that are interested in neuromarketing - Manufacturers of hardware that have the capacity to incorporate the company's software The partner must know the needs of the end customer (retail, restaurants, private companies etc.) and know if the audience measurement solves any type of problem. His/her role would be the achievement of clients who have a need for audience measurement license packages and the capture of new needs that can be solved by the team and translate into a high return on investment.