- The following is content from the press release -
(headquartered in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; Yoshinori Koike, CEO; hereinafter "Codomon") will begin offering a photo service called "Sensei Photo" that utilizes childcare AI* from May 22, 2025. This will enable childcare workers and other facility staff to accurately and hassle-free categorize children's photos by class and by child.
Until now, sorting of photos has been done manually and visually, placing a heavy burden on childcare workers. As a result, staff members at childcare and educational facilities can have more time to spend with their children and have more peace of mind.
*"Childcare AI" is a system that reduces the workload of childcare workers and parents by introducing artificial intelligence (AI) technology into childcare settings to better support the growth and safety of children. Click here for Codomon's concept and approach to "Childcare AI" ((https://www.codmon.com/hoiku-ai/?utm_source=pressrelease&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=hoiku-ai)
*Sensei Photo is one of the functions of CoDMON, an ICT service for childcare and educational facilities, and therefore requires the installation of CoDMON for use. The use of "Sensei Photo" is free of charge.
Background of Sensei Photo
Codomon offers CoDMON, a business support system for childcare and educational facilities, and has previously developed a service that makes it easy to share and sell photos taken at facilities to parents through the Codomon application. There is a high demand for sharing photos taken at facilities with parents, and communicating how children are doing during childcare hours is an extremely important initiative for strengthening cooperation with parents.
On the other hand, taking photos in parallel with childcare duties, organizing and sorting them, and distributing and selling them to parents has become a major burden for the staff, contributing to the workload at the site.
To solve these issues, Codomon will launch a new photo service, "Sensei Photo," which utilizes childcare AI. This service will utilize AI-based facial recognition technology to streamline operations from taking photos to sharing and selling them.
Overview of "Sensei Photo
With the introduction of "Sensei Photo," the following new functions will be available
- Facial recognition that requires no prior registration and supports growth
- Automatic photo sorting by class
- Ability to visualize the bias in the number of pictures taken by each child.
- Automatic photo upload
1) Facial recognition that requires no pre-registration and supports growth
In conventional face recognition, a photograph of each child is registered in advance, and recognition is possible by comparing the child's face with that photograph. In contrast, "Sensei Photo" automatically detects children's faces from the photos taken daily by employees of childcare and educational facilities, and registers each child's face data, enabling face recognition without prior registration of face photos.
When registering new children's face data, the AI matches it with all children's face data already registered. This AI-based judgment prevents duplicate registration of the same child's face data and enables more accurate identification of children.
Another major feature of the system is that even if children's facial features change as they grow, errors in facial recognition are unlikely to occur. We have also responded to user feedback that "it is unexpectedly time-consuming to load children's photos for face recognition" and "the accuracy of face recognition is not very high.
(2) Automatic photo sorting by class
Facial recognition can be used to automatically sort photos by class or by child. This eliminates the need for manual or visual sorting that has been done in the past. We have responded to the comments of users who have said, "I have to change the camera for each class and be creative," and "It was very difficult to sort photos at events for different age groups.
(iii) Function to visualize the bias in the number of pictures taken for each child.
AI facial recognition can automatically count the number of photos for each child. When showing a list of photos to parents, if the number of photos is uneven, parents may say, "There are not enough photos of my child! If the number of photos is unbalanced, parents may say, "There are not enough photos of my child! Therefore, in order to maintain the fairness of the photos, it has been necessary to manually count the number of photos for each child. We have responded to users' comments such as "I have to count hundreds of pictures by writing many 'correct' characters" and "When I noticed that one child's picture was low, I hurriedly increased the number of pictures taken.
④Automatic photo upload
Using a dedicated application downloaded to a smartphone, photos taken with the smartphone are automatically uploaded to the Codomon management screen. This prevents omissions of photos and makes it easy to distribute photos for sharing purposes. This is in response to users' comments such as, "It is difficult to import a large number of photos to Codomon," and "It is troublesome to prepare a cable to connect the smartphone to the computer and import the photos manually.
Future development envisioned for services for parents as well.
We will continue to listen to the opinions of facilities that have used "SENSEI PHOTO" and combine their feedback with Codomon's knowledge in order to gradually improve the service and further reduce the workload. In addition, we will continue to develop an environment in which parents can view and purchase photos of their children more easily than ever before. Specifically, we are working to improve the experience of viewing and purchasing photos on the app for parents by utilizing AI-based facial recognition functions to enable smoother operations. We will continue to take on the challenge of improving the environment surrounding children with the power of technology.
Codomon Corporation Company Profile
◆Location: 10F Gotanda JP Building, 8-4-13 Nishi-Gotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo
◆Capital: 68.25 million yen
Representative: Yoshinori Koike, Representative Director
◆Established: November 2018
◆Business activities: Operation of ICT service "Codomon" for childcare and educational facilities, operation of photo sales service, settlement agency service, recruitment support business, preschool child recruitment support business, operation of EC site "Codomon Store" for childcare facilities, online training business
