OCULAR TECHNOLOGIES REVIEW: Winners of Best Demo at AI Expo Africa
4TH QUARTER 2019
Ocular Technologies’ founder & CEO, Pommie Lutchman, was thrilled to scoop the award for ‘Best Product Demo’ at the recent AI Expo Africa trade show and conference, as well as being named as runner-up for the show’s ‘Best Stand’ title. “The Ocular team and I spent a considerable amount of time planning , deliberating and collaborating as a lead-up to this event, so to be received the way we were is remarkably rewarding!”
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A SOUTH African specialist customer engagement and digital experience solutions provider, Ocular joined forces with power AI player and partner company IBM at the 2019 event. IBM was ranked as the Worldwide Market Share Leader in Artificial Intelligence by IDC for the third consecutive year i October 2019. “We wanted to prove to visitors that AI is the new UI – the new user interface – using exciting multiple media such as text, social media, messaging platforms, ‘NAO’, our singing and dancing robot, and Amazon’s Alexa on our stand,” says Lutchman. The company also showcased South Africa’s firs pizza bot (powered by IBM Watson), which was extremely well received by AI community members, honoured guests and students alike. “Delegates’ reactions to the Ocular stand were amazing. NAO was a real draw-card for us, and Alexa played a big role in keeping visitors’ attention. Feedback received by Ocular was that there is a profound local interest in cognitive computing, and in predictive- and prescriptive analytics and natural language understanding (NLU) in particular.” According to Lutchman, Ocular’s main objective at AI Expo Africa was to gain exposure within the African AI space, highlight its position at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), and forge face-to-face relationships with delegates and visitors. “Ocular shares AI Media Group’s broader vision to create an AI-powered future for Africa, informing people on what
to expect as we embrace 4IR across the continent, for social and economic benefit. AI Expo Africa is indeed the larges business-focused AI and data science B2B trade event and conference in Africa, and Ocular recognised that, here, we could promote our solutions pre-, during, and post-event in Synapse magazine and within the AI Community group. “A real stand-out moment for us was when telecommunications Minister, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams – who pledged her support for AI Expo Africa 2020 and wider industry via the 4IR Fund at the event – showed immense interest in our offerings and especially in NAO. We wer also pleased to have featured in the SABC’S media coverage of the event, which showed Ocular Technologies and NAO juxtaposed to Minister Ndabeni-Abrahams, Amazon Web Services and the Robo World Cup. “Ocular Technologies has had a presence at many conference and expos, but this was the first time that w experienced this level of support and commitment to our brand from the organisers, with ongoing assistance to ensure that we gained the maximum benefit “From providing advice on our delegate bag inserts and co-ordinating our marketing content, as well as constant communication, the organisers played a major role in helping Ocular ensure that our efforts at the show stood out in th minds of the delegates, cementing our engagement in the minds of all who attended, and illuminating our presence in the AI Community.” ai
