Massachusetts company uses AI to fight crime, catch shoplifters in seconds – Boston 25 News

WHITMAN, Massachusetts — Shoplifting is affecting prices at many stores. Now, one company is using artificial intelligence (AI) to help store owners catch thieves in the act.

“My family started the company in 1998 when we purchased Regal Marketplace,” said George Vemis, general manager of Regal Marketplace.

Vemis said his Whitman store is a one-stop shop with food, groceries, beer, wine and liquor. But it's also a hotspot for thieves.

Vemis said $100 worth of stolen goods could cost the store $500 to break even.

“We have recently been plagued by some professional shoplifters who have what are like sewn-in pockets in their jackets where they can quickly put something and hide it very well,” Vemis said.

He said he came across Veesion on Instagram, a France-based company that uses artificial intelligence to detect shoplifters in real time.

Benoît Koenig, sales director at Veesion, said one device was connected to a store's surveillance camera system.

Using his laptop, he showed Boston 25 what the algorithm sees alongside the original video stream. He said the algorithm relies on different building blocks working together to recognize each gesture.

Koenig said the technology works with certain hand gestures, such as grabbing a bottle from the shelf and hiding it in your jacket pocket. He said the store owner should receive a phone notification within 10 seconds.

Vemis said he has had the technology connected to his store's cameras for nearly five months now, and it has already helped him catch shoplifters in the act.

“Since the facility has been in the program, it's probably been about four, which is really good,” Vemis said. “You know, about 15,000 square feet of retail space. There could be 30 or 40 customers in here at once. And with 60 cameras, your eyes can't be everywhere all the time.”

Although he said that the technology does not achieve 100 percent accuracy, he prefers to play it safe.

“We get quite a few false alarms because people take their phone out of their pocket or put it in their pocket. But we like that because it allows us to see what's going on in the store,” Vemis said.

Koenig said the technology costs several hundred dollars a month, depending on the size of the store. Vemis pays $200 to $400 a month, which he said is much cheaper than hiring a security guard.

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