Box now supports new cognitive services from Microsoft Azure

At BoxWorks 2017 last year, Box first previewed Box Skills, its framework for applying machine learning technologies, such as computer vision and video indexing, to content stored in Box. Box announced support for machine learning services from Microsoft, IBM and Google. Last week, Box announced that Box Skills now supports the following updated Azure Cognitive Services which Microsoft announced at Build developer conference in May.

• Improved OCR in Computer Vision: Using the improved OCR engine now available through Computer Vision, part of Azure Cognitive Services, any image-based Box Skill will now be able to better identify text within images, improving accuracy and speed of image-based workflows, such as digital asset management.
• Expanded object detection in Computer Vision: Computer Vision is now able to detect dozens more objects within images, making it easier to apply rich metadata to images in Box. Now, when images are uploaded to Box and any image-based skill is applied, including Box’s Image Intelligence Skill, Computer Vision will return even richer results to apply to the file in Box.
• New speech services for audio analysis: Microsoft Azure announced several speech-related technologies such as the ability to define a set of vocabulary to recognize things like industry-specific terms.

“Content is the next great untapped resource of insights and innovation in the enterprise,” said Jeetu Patel, Chief Product Officer, Box. “Box Skills brings ground-breaking machine learning to enterprise content for the first time and will enable organizations to reimagine and digitize business processes on Box. We’re about to enter the next major frontier of computing with AI and it will completely change how we work together and collaborate on content.”

Box is also expanding the availability of Box Skills to additional customers starting this month, with several customers added each week.