Amazon uses Partpic's Computer Vision Technology in its iOS App

Amazon updates its online shopping app in iOS with computer vision technology. The new technology, as of now lets you search specific nuts and bolts that are hard to find in online stores. The ‘Part finder’ feature is now included in Amazon’s iOS app, and it is the camera-and-screw icon beside the search bar.

Part finder uses the AI capabilities of the iOS camera to measure the depth and width of the object and leaves the other aspects of identification to you. The Part finder provides users with instructions to help the camera scan the object correctly. The process requires the user to place the object on a white surface next to a penny, without touching it. The instructions explain how to correctly tilt the phone in order to measure the part. The white surface on the camera’s viewfinder is a display of crosshairs and a circle. The tilting continues until the circle is lined-up at the center of the crosshairs.

Amazon’s app then scans the object to suggest items that near-matched it. The search can be made easier and precise by providing value for a few more parameters like the screw-head style, drive type etc.

The feature can currently identify 100 types of fasteners, which represents thousands of parts, if not millions, says Amazon. There is no word on the feature’s release in Android yet. The new technology was built by Partpic, a visual recognition technology company, which was acquired by Amazon in 2016.