Boston-based startup Neurala today launched its Brain Builder platform, a software-as-a-service platform that helps streamline the creation of customized vision artificial intelligence systems. The all-in-one tool for data tagging, training, deployment and analysis provides efficiency and accessibility for AI beginners and experts, the company said.

“While investments in AI have increased exponentially in recent years, a staggering 91% of organizations still face significant barriers to adoption, including a lack of IT infrastructure and a shortage of AI experts,” said Dr. Massimiliano Versace, CEO and co-founder of Neurala. “These challenges are compounded by the fact that every company has their own unique data, use cases, workflows and problems they wish to solve, which demand customized – and resultantly complex – AI solutions.”

“Brain Builder is breaking down those barriers to entry,” Dr. Versace continued. “Now, anyone – AI expert or otherwise – can build a custom vision AI solution by using a single platform that guides the process from development to deployment. In turn, any organization with a vision AI problem – across verticals such as drones, robotics smart devices, manufacturing and more – can reap the benefits of AI without breaking the bank or requiring a PhD.”

Evolution of AI toolkit

Brain Builder is the latest version of Neurala’s existing tools for vision AI development. Last year, the company launched its Brain Builder data annotation tool, which enables fast and accurate creation of data for DNN training. With the new version, users can upload images to Brain Builder, leverage the platform’s annotation tool to tag data, and the platform will train as they tag. “With the simple click of a button, users then deploy their brain, either in the cloud or on the edge,” the company said. In addition, the customized AI solution can evolve with a company’s changing needs.

Going beyond traditional approaches in deep learning, Brain Builder leverages Neurala’s Lifelong-DNN (L-DNN) technology. L-DNN lets the AI learn more quickly, at the edge, and iteratively over time, Neurala said. “This further simplified custom AI creation, as L-DNN significantly reduces the amount of data and training time required, and enables ongoing improvement of AI even after it’s been deployed.”

The company said groups that use Brain Builder can see a significant return on investment, in the form of cost reductions of more than 25%, and time savings as much as 99% compared to the process of using more traditional deep learning approaches or other tools.

About Neurala

Founded in 2006, Neurala’s research team invented L-DNN technology, which reduces the data requirements for AI model development and enables continuous learning in the cloud or on the edge. Now, with customers in the drone, robotics, smart device, industrial inspection and AI professional services verticals, Neurala’s technology has been deployed on 30 million devices globally. The company has raised more than $15 million in funding, most recently a $14 million Series A round in January 2017.