The concept of Artificial Intelligence was born in 1936 when famous mathematician Alan Turing proposed the concept of a universal machine that could perform any computation that a human could. Over the next couple of decades, researchers began to develop computer programs to perform tasks that required human intelligence. Following those developments, the late 80s to early 90s were spent developing the first machine-learning algorithms, which allowed computers to learn from data and improve their performance over time.
From this, big data analytics was born, and with the massive volume of data spread across the web researchers were able to develop deep learning algorithms modelled on the structure of the human brain. These algorithms have revolutionized the field of AI, allowing computers to recognize patterns and make decisions that were previously only possible for humans. While ChatGPT is most heavily mentioned in the headlines today, there are also industry-specialized AIs that possess a far greater range of capabilities.
One such company making headwinds with their proprietary AI technology is our partner, Nextech3D.ai and today we’ll be diving into their recent breakthroughs in generative AI for 3D modelling, construction, resolution enhancement and conversion from 2D reference photos.
Nextech’s all-star management team (pictured below), lead by CEO Evan Gappelberg, has had the fortitude to transition its core focus from the augmented reality solutions it built in the past, to include the underlying technology that drives their product suite - generative artificial intelligence. As such, the firm recently rebranded from Nextech AR Solutions to Nextech3D.AI, in a nod to their core AR offering, but with a focus on their future within the AI space - in fact, in a recent interview, Evan went as far to say that Nextech is actually hiring a Chief AI Officer to aid in their efforts through this continued push into the artificial intelligence arena.
Before diving further into Nextech’s innovative (and patented) AI offering, we must take a deeper look into this new, and often misunderstood industry - ‘AI’ is often used as a catch-all term for more than a couple of vastly transformative, yet technologically different areas. In Nextech’s case, two of the main technologies of focus are artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), which they have and continue to develop in order to drive their innovations within the 3D imaging and augmented reality (AR) spaces.
To further understand how AI and ML are different from one another, one can understand AI as the idea that a machine can mimic human intelligence whereas ML aims to teach a machine how to perform a task, identify a pattern, and gradually improve. Nextech’s proprietary advances in these technological areas have allowed them to create easier-to-use, quicker and better AR and 3D products (such as the core suite below) and secure multiple triple-A clients such as Amazon, P&G, Target and Kohl’s!
Panning to Nextech’s specific products, they’ve been successful in leveraging their overlapping AI and ML developments to create a suite that is unparalleled in its Web3 domain and it's all because they hinge on allowing users to build out 3D and AR models using a variety of objects and textures using a no-code interface. Below is a stellar example of their automated 3D model creation platform, Aritize3D in action!
While this is already a fantastic platform, Nextech’s recent patent filings show that they are looking to constantly innovate, and improve their technology in a manageable and commercially viable format - as such, their strategy has hinged on supporting and defending their advances by turning them into marketable IP.
Nextech’s Expansive Portfolio of IP
As Nextech has continued to expand the capabilities of their product suite, the company was able to successfully secure a patent for their 3D model generation technology. The technology allows for the composition of 3D models from deformable parts through the use of AI, granting users the ability to build, add texture and take apart their model’s pieces with a no-code, drag-and-drop interface that enables rapid customization and repurposing. (Read more here) In addition to their granted patent, Nextech has also recently filed a provisional patent named “Generative AI for 3D Model Creation from 2D Photos using Stable Diffusion with Deformable Template Conditioning”. This technology allows users to rapidly create models or parts of models from photographs of the objects they wish to recreate without the need for external image manipulation software. This patent works in tandem with and builds upon the previously mentioned filing for creating complex 3D models by parts. While the revolutionary AI technology supporting these inventions will place the company in a near-perfect position within the 3D modelling for the e-commerce space. (Read more here)
Last, Nextech recently achieved a major generative AI breakthrough in 3D model texture creation, as the company can now recreate high-quality 4K textures at scale from just a small 250px X 250px reference photo in seconds. When compared to the hours of manual labour the process used to take, this breakthrough represents a 720-fold increase in production speed. During testing, the technology was able to expand a 250x191 pixel patch more than 160 times into a 4K image in just 40.5 seconds. Previously, the reference image used often contained small patches of patterns and textures, making it difficult for artists to recreate them in a high-quality manner. Additionally, the company plans to file a patent sometime this year on this breakthrough technology. (Read more here)
To conclude, Nextech had a huge start to the year, completely rebranding their firm and launching their event solutions technology, NES, which they believe to be the first-to-market provider in the $50B global events industry; what even further sets them apart from the rest is the immense value they bring to the market by being one of the few firms that are actually prepared for the forecasted hypergrowth (pictured below) and adoption of these new technologies; they’ve been using their generative AI tech to create a deep reference and synthetic model library that is ready to cater to this demand. From an investor’s point of view, they possess all the keys necessary to actually carry their wide-encompassing vision through and continue creating shareholder value through the rest of 2023; they have the management team, cash position and, unlike many others, are actually generating revenue in the millions of dollars. For investors looking to get into this name currently offered at a vast discount to its highs, Nextech3D.ai is tri-listed and can be traded under the following tickers: CSE:NTAR, OTC:NEXCF, or FSE:EP2.
