Can you give me an overview of IEI Integration Corp and its mission?
IEI was established almost 30 years ago, initially focusing on innovations in IPC. Over time, we recognized the impact of AI, and by 2018, we began introducing AI-related products, starting with accelerators and expanding into software. While we remain a hardware company, we work closely with Intel, which is a leader in AI technology, even ahead of NVIDIA in some areas. Our goal is to incorporate AI into industrial and automation systems. Over the years, we have gained valuable experience, particularly in customer interactions and development. We realized that merely providing hardware was not enough, so we began to offer software solutions that assist integrators and application developers in leveraging AI for faster development of their applications. This includes providing underlying frameworks and example applications to guide them.
For example, we have created applications that focus on worker safety, such as ensuring workers wear helmets and jackets before starting their tasks. These example applications serve as references for our customers to follow. We have also made the software components open source, so customers can either build on them or use them directly, with our support. Our focus on AI for industrial and edge computing aims to make it a practical tool for real-world applications, moving beyond the need for extensive setup to enable direct interactions with customers. This shift requires more computing power, so we collaborate with global partners like Intel, NVIDIA, and others to deliver high-performance systems that accelerate AI inference and support large language models (LLMs). These solutions help customers develop systems more quickly and efficiently, ultimately boosting our sales and speeding up the design process.
Could you give us a real-life example of how LLM natural language interactions could be used in edge computing?
In the past, optical inspection systems required setting complex rules and manually writing code for decision-making. Even with visual tools to chain these rules together, it was still challenging for users to understand.
Now, with natural language processing, an operator can simply say, "If the worker is not wearing a helmet, please sound the alarm with a red flag."
This approach makes it easier for end customers to communicate their needs directly without needing programmers to intervene. As a result, system validation and design become faster, and the criteria can be adjusted frequently based on real-time situations. This simplifies the process for users in the field, making it more efficient and adaptable.
What is IEI Integration Corp's work with the medical sector?
IEI collaborates with hospitals in Taiwan and Japan to assist doctors in diagnosing diseases through AI-powered image analysis. For example, we help with training models to recognize brain and breast tumors and eye diseases using large datasets of medical images and X-rays. This training helps our system understand the patterns that medical professionals use to identify various conditions. While our system does not replace doctors, it supports them by speeding up their decision-making process, helping them make more informed choices. The system assists with diagnosis through AI inference but always leaves the final responsibility with the medical professional.
What are some of the most exciting and futuristic applications of advanced automation and computing that IEI Integration Corp has developed?
One of the most exciting technologies we have developed is iVEC, a virtualization platform for industrial PCs. It allows us to aggregate multiple workloads into a single machine while maintaining independent functionality for tasks like automation control and computer vision using AI. By leveraging the computing power of the GPU within the system, we can simplify management and offer remote access via a browser-based interface. This makes it easier to manage resources like CPU, memory, storage, and networking.
Currently, we are working with Tier 1 semiconductor manufacturers in Taiwan and Japan, helping them optimize power consumption and aggregate data for AI analysis, which is a game-changing application for industrial automation.
In which regions is IEI Integration Corp focusing its energy for business?
While we have had success in the European market, we are currently focusing more on the United States due to the rapid growth of newer technologies there. The U.S. market is particularly appealing because of its openness to integrating new technology and its strong economic environment.
In contrast, Europe is facing challenges such as energy issues and the ongoing war in Ukraine. However, we continue to support our customers in Europe, particularly in the industrial market, and aim to use our experience from the U.S. to help them implement AI and virtualized applications.
