AI to identify fake products from Japanese second-hand broker

Yukifumi Hayashi, manager of the NAka Ward development section of Komehyo Holdings Co., uses AI-based technology to examine whether a brand-name product was genuine on Aug. 31 in Nagoya's Nukekkunata Ward. Akira Nemoto NAGOYA - A second-hand broker of brand-name goods is using an Artificial Intelligence-based mechanism to remove fakes from the market.

Komehyo Holdings Co. which buys and sells used items, said the technology can identify imitations with a probability of 99 percent. With the help of AI, we will prevent fake products and prepare an environment where goods are sold and purchased far more safely, said Yuya Yamauchi, a Komehyo director responsible for the development of the authentification system.

Yukifumi Hayashi, manager of Komehyo's AI development section, demonstrated how the system works.

The first thing is to check the product model of the item to identify, Hayashi said.

A smartphone is used to photograph general images of the item in question. The pictures are selected on a computer, which uploads more than one candidate model selected from the company database.

Every year new brand-name products are released, Hayashi said. Although much time would be necessary for humans to learn and cover the immense number of items sold in the past, AI can quickly narrow down the candidate models. Details of the inspected item are then selected using a camera equipped microscope and the real images from camera are photographed in the AI system for comparison with those of the camera-equipped models inspected as candidates.

Minimal details on the microscope images can confirm if the examined product is genuine or fake.

In 1947 in the Osu district, Komehyo was started by Taiji Ishihara, a grandfather of the current Komehyo president, Takuji Ishihara, in Nagoya's Naka Ward.

It was originally a 16 square meter old clothing boutique.

In August 2020 the company began recognising using AI to evaluate bags, wallets and other fashion accessories for authentification.

It initially focused on Louis Vuitton products, the most popular items at Komehyo. The system now covers goods from five major brands, including Gucci, Chanel and Hermes.

The AI mechanism is used in 40 Komehyo stores throughout Japan, including outlets that exclusively purchase second hand articles.

Komehyo operates more than 60 used products stores in both the Philippines and three outlet locations overseas. The company is composed of 940 workers, which makes it the largest in India.

In 2017 the company posted 50.7 billion yen in consolidated sales for the business year ended in March 2021, with the projected sales expected to increase by up to 457 million.

Komehyo started developing the AI system in 2018, and even helped me to start designing the systems. It fed its AI-related database images of brand-name products selected from among 1.6 million articles amassed annually by Komehyo from among the hundreds of thousands of applications purchased by the public each year.

Previously accumulative data on illegal copies also proved helpful in the development process.

The completed system boasts an accuracy rate of 99 percent and can examine details invisible to the naked eye, according to Hayashi, an appraiser for 20 years.

While appraisers use loupes with 10 - to 20-time magnifications for close examinations, the images scanned by AI are shot with microscopes with magnifications of dozens to hundreds of times enabling a higher-definition data analysis.

The AI system will also improve customer service, officials of Komehyo said.

The company s sales representatives with lower examination skills can at times become so absorbed in checking the items that they fail to communicate with clients in front of them.

AI is also expected to become a useful tool in dealing with more sophisticated imitations.

A growing number of people are concerned about the authenticity of their new possessions are contacting us, said a publicity official of Komehyo.