▶ Interview
Lost Puppies, Now Found by AI
Joonho Lim CEO at Petnow, Inc. (Completed PhD at Department of Electronic Engineering in 1999)
AI, which has entered our lives, is contributing to the solution of social problems in addition to technical assistance. Joonho Lim, CEO of “Petnow,” a startup that won the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022 Innovation Award for its biometric recognition service for companion animals by using AI technology, is realizing the ideal coexistence of AI and humans.
If you use the Petnow app, the AI automatically takes a picture of each dog's nose print (鼻紋), unique as that of a human fingerprint. The recognition rate reaches 98.97%, which is receiving attention from companion animal policy officials as well as companion animal owners. What are the characteristics of Petnow's technology?
Petnow offers an AI-powered biometric service for companion animals. This service enables users to identify individuals anytime once they register nose prints, the wrinkle on their nose, into this app, similar to how humans record their identity through fingerprint registration. It is highly challenging to obtain a clear nose print of a dog in motion. Petnow made a breakthrough by increasing the biometric recognition rate to 98.97% via “auto-focusing” technology. Our auto-focusing technology obtained patent rights on the method, which consists of merely facing the user`s smartphone toward companion animals to acquire and register nose prints via AI. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) recognized our dominating and unrivaled recognition rates compared to other companies.
This technology allowed us to be awarded the Innovation Award at the CES last year, which only the first place in each sector can receive. At that time, the domestic companies that received the Innovation Award were Samsung, LG, and Petnow.
You received your PhD in Electronic Engineering from Seoul National University. I am curious about how the CEO who was investigating semiconductors in the laboratory developed an interest in companion animals.
Since the death of the companion dog I had during my childhood, I have not been able to raise any animal. I was struggling to accept the loss of that dog. However, when I encountered the biometrics boom four or five years ago, I realized that there a method to relieve users of worries about losing their companion animals could be developed. After discussing business ideas with acquaintances, I regained my confidence.
The animal registration system is in effect in South Korea, and an “embedded microchip” has been legalized.
Why the registration rate is so low?
Inserting something into a companion animal's body may arouse aversion. Some dog owners refuse to do it because the chips are bigger than expected. The size of the chip is greater than imagined, which prevents owners from accepting this program. The cost of around 100,000 won may be another discouragement. In countries with high awareness of animal rights protection, there is a strong backlash against this measure because companion animals are a member of each family. Each year, 130,000 or more animals are abandoned in South Korea. To prevent this tragedy, the government is implementing a microchip-embedded animal registration system, but the overall utilization rate is less than 20%.
Petnow has received considerable attention since the CES 2022 Innovation Award in the app category.
Which reaction was the most impressive?
Regardless of the award, our booth received much attention at CES 2022. This is because interest in and affection for companion animals led people to our booth. Petnow's biometrics service is online and uses non-contact biometrics, which is conveniently available anytime anywhere. Because this service is less aggressive than microchips, this technology may satisfy the needs of both dog owners and governments. This is because this app enables users to input various types of information, such as the identity of the owner and address change, in a few seconds. There were amazing opportunities to promote Petnow globally, such as the production of a documentary based on a proposal by the U.K. BBC, and being mentioned on the U.S. CBS The Drew Barrymore Show . Furthermore, we had opportunities to collaborate with Google and SK Telecom. The biggest achievement was to receive an investment of 5.3 billion won.
We wonder about the reactions of users when the Petnow app was released early this year.
Despite no promotion activities, around sixty thousand individuals joined the service, which we genuinely appreciate. Some people commented that “My puppy runs away when I point a smartphone at it,” or that the “AI does not recognize them when several dogs gather together.” Our task is to increase the recognition rate by even 0.01% when dogs are reluctant and lack AI learning data. Luckily, improvement in smartphone technology has naturally benefited our service. Whenever a smartphone is upgraded, the camera technology improves considerably, which is consistent with the direction of our technological development.
How would humans coexist with AI in the future from your viewpoint?
Just as smartphones have changed the world, AI will have a profound impact. Concerns that AI will take jobs from humans are a superficial idea. As humans become interested in more creative work, and AI takes on functional tasks in all realms of life, humans and AI will positively coexist as companion animals have done for so long. It is like Petnow's AI technology.