We are pleased to introduce Dr. Priya Kansal, who is responsible for the research and development of VisualCortex, the visual function of LUDENS' Virtual Human Agent.

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Please tell us about yourself.

I work at Couger on the research and development of the visual functionality part of the virtual human agent, focusing on image recognition technology.

Specifically, I am responsible for recognizing the emotions, gender, age, and location of the people and their attention. These are incorporated into the virtual human agent, Rachel, for it to work. We call this product VisualCortex.

Could you explain on what is ‘VisualCortex’?

It's an interesting name, isn't it? Cortex is a word that means "cortex of the brain". Visual Cortex of the brain is responsible for processing the visual information, Similarly, Couger's Visual Cortex is responsible to process every image captured by camera, and pass this processed information to Rachel.

Why did you become interested in the AI industry?

After I completed my PhD in Behavioral Analytics, I came to Japan and was offered a full-time job in the AI industry. I learned that computer technology using AI has many uses and can be useful for many people. I was very interested in the social impact of the applications I create and was inclined to contribute to the development of AI-based applications that can benefit, not just certain companies or large corporations, but society as whole.

Please tell us your experience in coming to work for Couger.

When I was finishing my PhD, I was offered a job as a data scientist at an automotive company, but due to my husband’s relocation to Japan, I was unable to accept the offer. I then started to work for Couger after finding a job opening for them in LinkedIn. At the time, there were no other full-time computer vision AI Researcher/Engineer, and I was the first foreign female employee at Cougar. I was very apprehensive at first because of this, but all the employees made me feel very welcomed. They were all very easy to talk to, and I was able to blend in right away.

Mr. Ishii, in particular, was a big help because he was very knowledgeable and explained many things to me, and I could always ask him for advice. The best thing about Couger is that they let you do your work the way you want to do it.

Couger has also been very supportive, be it my personal needs like maternity or professional like my research interests.