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NEC Corporation has utilized its video analysis and generative AI to develop a technology that provides advice for improving worker performance by identifying differences between model actions and actual movements. This newly developed technology enables the automatic display of appropriate advice for improving everything from precision tasks using one’s hands and fingers to tasks requiring the use of the entire body. Using this technology, workers can master tasks without supervision at worksites in manufacturing, logistics, construction, and various other industries.
In recent years, the shortage of mentors arising from the aging of skilled workers has made passing down skills a challenge. Moreover, there is growing concern regarding the decline of work quality as a result of the increasing cost of supervised training and the inability to provide workers with sufficient training due to the rise of high-mix low-volume production and the diversity and mobility of workers.
This technology enables self-education for a wide variety of tasks by having AI provide advice instead of an instructor. To realize this, NEC developed a video analysis technology to identify subtle differences in movements when compared to model actions and a technology to generate appropriate advice to match the model action by generative AI based on the differences.
The video analysis technology for detecting subtle differences in movement compares the model actions with actual movement and matches the sections where the same operation is performed. At that time, it is possible to merge images by capturing not only the movement of people, but also interactions such as grasping and holding objects. This enables subtle differences in the motions of workers that were previously undetectable to be detected with a high degree of accuracy, even for video footage of differing lengths.
The technology that generates advice provides segments of video footage in which differences have been detected as well as skeletal information such as hip and knee movement and the shape of the hands and fingers to a Vision and Language Model (VLM*), this enables the exact working posture and actions within the video requiring improvement to be accurately pinpointed and specific textual advice to be generated. Since the textual advice is displayed together with relevant segments of the video footage, workers can master tasks such as the meticulous assembly, boxing, and transport of goods without supervision in various industry settings, thereby contributing to significant reductions in training costs.
Going forward, NEC will continue with product development and verification of this new technology, aiming to launch services within FY2026.
Note:
(*)Vision and Language Model (VLM): A type of AI model combining visual information, such as images, with natural language (textual information) for analysis. VLM is used for the generation of image captions, image-based question-answering, multimodal searches, and more.
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