Nothing ruins a potential fashion coup quite like realizing all too late that you just spent this month's rent on something that's fake as s**t. What customers and companies alike need is access to technology that could easily detect fakes, thus avoiding the anguish of a misleading purchase. Enter New York-based startup Entrupy, whose "on-demand authentication system" is getting some serious attention fromBloomberg and beyond.
Entrupy's handheld microscope camera (used in tandem with a smartphone app) is capable of magnifying objects 260 times, meaning potentially naming features that the mere human eye might miss are made more visible. "Today everything is done by humans," Vidyuth Srinivasan toldBloomberg. "For businesses that are growing, that's not a scalable solution."
To remedy this, Srinivasan kicked off the Entrupy journey back in 2012 with NYU researchers Ashlesh Sharma and Lakshminarayanan Subramanian. After getting a touch of help from Facebook A.I. research director Yann LeCun, the Entrupy team found that computers could potentially find makeshift genomes in luxury goods, thus bringing their vision closer to reality. Entrupy now boasts an authentication accuracy of as high as 98 percent on certain brands.
Entrupy works for a variety of handbag brands including Balenciaga, Burberry, Fendi, Chanel, Gucci, Goyard, and more. According to Srinivasan, however, the Entrupy team is currently looking into putting its tech to work on additional items. "We've already tested it on auto parts, phones, chargers, headphones, jackets, shoes, even crude oil," Srinivasan said.
To put Entrupy to use, simple place the device on any potentially fake item with the Entrupy app pulled up on your chosen iOS device. After following the on-screen prompts, Entrupy's A.I. will analyze for authenticity using algorithms to give you real-time answers. Currently, the device is available for lease starting at $299. Monthly plans start at $99.
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