SSENSE and Element AI Partner to Release a Rich Collection of E-Commerce Images to Advance AI Research

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SSENSE, a pioneering fashion platform with global reach known for its directional retail mix and original content; and Element AI, an artificial intelligence company that turns cutting-edge research into scalable solutions that make businesses safer, stronger, and more agile; are announcing the release of FashionGen, a rich collection of hundreds of thousands of proprietary images from the SSENSE e-commerce platform for this year’s European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV) taking place in Munich, Germany. They will jointly sponsor a $2,000 CAN grand prize image generation challenge that utilizes the collection of e-commerce images photographed in the SSENSE in-house studio. Element AI scientists will manage the challenge which is a great opportunity for the academic and research communities to work with a well-labeled and detailed archive to better understand how artificial intelligence can positively influence the future of fashion. Interested parties should register to participate at www.fashion-gen.com to gain access to the challenge and collection of e-commerce images. Approved participants will be granted permissions within 24 hours of registration and the collection of e-commerce images are exclusively for non-commercial, research purposes only.

“Fashion is in the midst of a technological revolution and Machine Learning is key to unlocking a new universe of possibilities”

The ECCV is a biennial research conference, alternating with ICCV (International Conference on Computer Vision). It is one of the preeminent gatherings to discuss and imagine the possibilities in computer vision. The event will be taking place in Munich, Germany from September 8^th through September 14^thwith our dedicated workshop being held on September 14^th. The deadline to submit for the ECCV challenge is July 31^st. For questions, please email fashion-gen@elementai.com

The availability of large-scale datasets such as ImageNet and the use of deep learning methodology to learn a hierarchy of visual features have been critical to the advancement and recent progress in many research and industrial applications of artificial intelligence. By making this collection of e-commerce images available to the research community, the goal is to facilitate more breakthroughs and continue the benefit derived through open access to quality data.

"AI has the potential to power distinctive customer experiences across our online and physical touch points. A key pillar of the AI strategy at SSENSE is finding and interacting with the right set of partners such as Element AI,” said Vincent Ho-Tin-Noe, Vice President of Product Management for SSENSE. “We are very excited to support fundamental AI research by opening a collection of labeled images consisting of the latest clothing, bags, shoes and accessories to the scientific community. We look forward to seeing the breakthroughs in AI research that this collection will enable.”

“Fashion is in the midst of a technological revolution and Machine Learning is key to unlocking a new universe of possibilities,” said Element AI CEO Jean François Gagné. “New technologies are within reach and are now closer to reality thanks to the comprehensive collection of e-commerce images SSENSE is releasing and Element AI’s ability to layer our advanced computer vision and machine learning abilities over the data. ECCV is the right conference to launch and see what’s possible within the Open Machine Learning community.”

About SSENSE

SSENSE is a Montréal-based fashion platform with global reach. Founded in 2003, SSENSE is pacing the vanguard of directional retail with its mix of luxury, streetwear, and avant-garde labels. Currently serving 136 countries, generating an average of 53 million monthly page views, and achieving high double digit annual growth since its inception, its field of focus has grown beyond that of a typical e-commerce entity as it explores the nexus of content, commerce, and culture. SSENSE is a member of the AI-powered Supply Chains Supercluster (SCALE.AI), a business-led consortium building intelligent supply chains through artificial intelligence and robotics sponsored by the Government of Canada. More than just a retailer, SSENSE is becoming a cultural protagonist in its own right.

About Element AI

Element AI advances cutting-edge research and turns it into scalable solutions that make your business safer, stronger, and more agile. Element AI is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec with offices in Toronto, London, Singapore and Seoul and is funded by leading investors including BDC Capital, Data Collective, Fidelity Investments Canada, Hanwha Investment, Intel Capital, Microsoft Ventures, National Bank, NVIDIA GPU Ventures, Real Ventures, and Tencent. http://www.elementai.com