Leading Orthodontics Startup

Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision

The intersection of healthcare, dentistry, and orthodontics with technology has revolutionized to the personal wellness industry. The direct-to-consumer orthodontics industry has been particularly transformed thanks to a convergence of digital advancements. Teledentistry uses electronic information, imaging, and communication technologies to provide and support dental care delivery, diagnosis, consultation, and treatment.

Challenge

A leading consumer-facing orthodontics disruptor needed to harness technology to deliver exciting, delightful experiences to engage and convert potential customers.

Kopius* was engaged to design and develop a pilot marketing experience that would help potential customers to envision their smile after receiving treatment. Kopius’ experience in digital retail experiences made the firm uniquely positioned to address this business need.

Solution

Kopius designed and built a mobile application that allows customers to See Their New Selfie to anticipate what was possible through teledentistry. The experience included options to share their future selfie to expand the brand’s reach.

The services to deliver this highly personalized and technology-driven experience included web application design and development, and computer vision with artificial intelligence application development. Technologies included Amazon Web Services (AWS) Lambda, API Gateway, and S3.

Results

The pilot informed the startup’s digital roadmap and received high marks from test users.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

PrecisionHawk

Cloud Enablement

PrecisionHawk is a commercial drone and data company, dedicated to empowering enterprises with actionable intelligence about their physical assets. PrecisionHawk applies artificial intelligence (AI) to its drone footage to create aerial data. PrecisionHawk serves the agriculture industry, and in fact its name comes from the name “wine hawk” because its first drones chased pest birds from vineyards.

Challenge

PrecisionHawk needed to improve its data architecture to further optimize its AI and client results. While PrecisionHawk has an industry-leading team of internal technologists, the specific challenge with its data structure required specialized skills.

Solution

Kopius* was engaged to analyze PrecisionHawk’s data architecture and make recommendations for improvement, and then implement those recommendations.

After a discovery process, Kopius proposed an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Data Pipeline as a web service that would reliably process and move data between different AWS compute and storage services, as well as on-premises data sources, at specified intervals. We then moved on-premise ETL (extract, transform, and load) processes to an AWS Data Pipeline. The solution uses the AWS cloud for data processing and transformation in a data pipeline.

Results

The solution helped PrecisionHawk to easily create complex data processing workloads that are fault-tolerant, repeatable, and highly available. It allows resource availability, managing inter-task dependencies, retrying transient failures or timeouts in individual tasks, or creating a failure notification system. Using the cloud, it also allows the client to move and process data that was previously locked up in on-premises data silos.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

B2B Healthcare Data and Research Company

Digital Brand and Website Development

The healthcare industry is in a transformative period, with leading organizations gaining a competitive edge through M&A activity and technology investments. Each merger is accompanied by a fast-paced initiative to align brands, communicate competitive advantages, and increase market share.

Challenge

A large non-profit healthcare system had purchased a next-generation B2B data and research company, which needed its digital identity to be updated and aligned to its new ownership’s brand. Due to the complexity of the services and organizational structure, it was critical to get the message and strategy right.

The client also did not have a website to reflect its new organization and present its story to the market.

The Solution

Kopius* was chosen to deliver a brand guideline and messaging strategy. The scope of services included a visual brand guideline, web interface designs, a messaging strategy, a content calendar, and supporting collateral templates. Kopius was also tasked with the design and development of a new corporate website.

Kopius started with brand and identity exercises that would inform the visual design for the acquired business unit. Partnering with the in-house marketing and communications teams ensured that the visual concepts were in harmony with the values and goals established for the company.

Those exercises resulted in mood boards that became the foundation for decisions regarding the visual identity and digital style guide.

The design team then provided design concepts that were translated into specific deliverables, managed by our internal project managers to ensure maximum efficiency and quality output with minimal pressure on the client’s internal teams.

As the mood boards and design concepts took shape, the Kopius design team collected brand requirements into a style guide. The style guide included logo treatments, color palettes, font treatments, design requirements for web pages and collateral, presentation templates, and guidance for the tone of voice and communication.

Simultaneously, Kopius designed, developed, launched, and populated a new SEO-friendly corporate website, built using a flexible content management system so the client could manage updates and take ownership of content as it evolved. The website emphasized partnership opportunities and was up and running on the day of the business’s launch at a large health conference, which the business sponsored.

Results

The refreshed brand communicates professional capabilities, tells the B2B business’s story, and breaks its complex solutions into easy-to-understand concepts. The client was empowered to establish itself in the market and quickly get busy growing its market share.

The website is the foundation of the company’s digital marketing strategy and supports communication, lead generation, and sales engagement efforts.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

Nestlé Purina

Virtual Reality Application

As a global leader in pet food manufacturing, Nestlé Purina has several factories located throughout the globe.

Sales staff are required to stay on top of the latest manufacturing innovations that Nestlé Purina deploys to ensure they can properly communicate the value proposition that only Nestlé Purina can deliver on.

Challenge

Nestle Purina historically relied on factory tours and in-person training to educate its sales team. Factory tours for the sales staff require significant advanced planning and the allocation of factory staff for explanation and safety. Additionally, factory visits require costly travel.

The client needed to find a better way to educate its sales team and needed to reduce the hard and soft costs associated with its training program.

The Solution

Kopius* was engaged by Nestlé Purina to design and build a mobile virtual reality application, enabling sales staff to experience virtual tours of factories, immersing them in the environment with 360-degree views, and taking them step-by-step through the manufacturing process.

The process began with user research, UX design, and information architecture. The design team addressed personas of different user types and explored the key moments in the training process to identify key moments and interactions to recreate in the experience.

Next, the engineering team partnered with the design team to execute the concept, developing a virtual reality application.

Results

By using virtual reality, Kopius helped Nestlé Purina train its staff on the latest manufacturing processes at scale, at a lower cost, and with more efficiency.

Nestlé Purina was able to asynchronously train employees, maintain the manufacturing staff’s focus on production, and dramatically save on time and travel costs.

Employees who used the VR training reported higher engagement, and higher retention of material, making the case that the VR training was both cheaper and more effective.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

Fortune 500 Insurance Company

Cloud Enablement and Machine Learning

Insurance companies rely on extensive historical data to predict and manage risk and establish rates. Historical data is becoming less reliable as insurance companies face simultaneous challenges of escalating climate change risks and shifting industry regulations.

Challenge

A prominent insurance company approached Kopius* seeking a way to better predict and plan for weather disasters. Doing so would help improve its risk models and allow more accurate premiums for policyholders. Given the unpredictable nature of many weather events, a solution that gave real-time information about whether a weather event had occurred or was about to occur was important.

The Solution

Kopius was engaged to develop a pilot solution using cloud-based machine learning and IoT devices to identify weather events and notify the client in real-time. We trained the machines to recognize sounds picked up by IoT devices at weather ground stations, using 10,000 audio seed files.

Results

With our algorithms and AI process, we could train the machines to recognize 12 unique types of weather events, including metrics tracking the severity of the events.

The pilot included placing 500 devices with machine learning modes at strategically selected locations nationwide. The input from the devices was found to be 85% accurate in the initial pilot. The pilot informed future strategies for the insurance company and contributed to the technology development roadmap.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

Healthcare Startup

Website Design and Development

This healthcare technology startup was established in 2020 and has an ambitious goal of transforming the healthcare industry by accelerating technological, clinical, and operational advances.

The company was preparing to launch at a major healthcare industry event, and needed to declare itself as an important brand in the industry’s tech sector. It is imperative for a technology brand to have a top-notch digital presence.

Challenge

The timing between the company forming and this industry event was tight. This client had to quickly develop its key message and brand platform while designing and developing its website.

The Solution

Kopius* was engaged to design and build the website, working closely with the marketing and branding teams to craft a user experience and content strategy that told the company’s story and delivered an excellent user experience.

Thanks to the firm’s background in healthcare combined with its industry-leading staff of designers and developers, Kopius was able to move quickly. The effort began with low- and high-fidelity wireframes, and included a digital style guide that addressed voice principles, color palettes, typography, photography, and digital styling elements.

The website was published and bug-free in time for the event and the company’s launch. Technologies used include WordPress, Gutenberg blocks, CI/CD pipeline for code, and Docker with build scripts.

Results

The website design showed brand maturity and leadership, and the site structure attracted partners and customers to the client’s powerful message about transforming healthcare with technology.

Our client used press momentum and marquee sponsorship of the large health conference to drive traffic to the website, and to capture interest from prospective customers and industry contacts.

In the first 4 weeks, the website had 3,879 Sessions and 9,445 page views.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

Wood Products & Building Materials Manufacturer

Internet of Things and Data Visualization

This Fortune 500 North American manufacturer and distributor of wood products and building materials enjoys recognition as on of the world’s most respected companies. The company is a leader in its industry, which includes businesses operating with processes that are sometimes more than 100 years old.

Challenge

This client was operating a door manufacturing facility that relied completely on manual processes and functions. While there are benefits to this hands-on approach, there was no way for management to know when machines were idle in the factory, or if the factory is achieving manufacturing goals.

When the project started, output was falling short of production goals by as much as 40%.

The client needed insight into machine operations so it could better manage and predict output and optimize facility performance to better achieve production goals.

The Solution

Kopius* was engaged to design and develop a digital solution that would collect, organize, and visualize operations data for facility operators.

The solution was achieved by implementing IoT sensors on three manufacturing machines. We then used Microsoft Azure to pull data from the controller of a fourth machine.

Additionally, we designed and developed a web application with a Power BI Dashboard to pulled the data from Microsoft Azure. We conducted user interviews and research to validate the reports and visualizations that would be most meaningful to the facility management team.

Results

Gathering real-time data from these manufacturing machines allowed management to measure real-time product output. The visibility to production allowed increased output and higher revenue.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

Innovation Lab

Voice Assistant

At Kopius*, we help enterprise customers understand and apply next-generation technologies in a smart and innovative way to advance business goals. We often experiment with these technologies within our own business, testing and tweaking how we design, develop, and deploy innovation. It often begins by identifying a simple challenge.

Challenge

Tracking down operational information within a company can be difficult. Whether an employee has questions about benefits, healthcare, or IT-related issues, they often spend valuable time searching through handbooks, emails, and websites to find answers.

Solution

Our innovation lab scoped this issue and created the Kopius Bot.

The Kopius Bot is a voice-activated chatbot that uses Amazon Alexa to answer common employee questions and handle requests related to the company.

The Kopius Bot was built on top of the core framework of Amazon Web Service Machine Learning using the Lex engine. After adding functionality and integration points to this framework, the Kopius Bot is bundled into an Alexa private skill and deployed to employees using Alexa for Business.

Results

The Kopius Bot eliminates the hassle of unnecessary maintenance tasks by providing employees instant access to information from anywhere using Alexa. Employees can now devote their time and energy to tasks that matter. Operational information, such as employee benefits, shipping information, and expense reimbursements are handled with Kopius Bot. Tasks that took up internal overhead can also be addressed, such as resolving IT requests or ordering routine office supplies and equipment.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

Innovation Lab

Voice & Chat with Natural Language Processing

Challenge

After conducting research and interviews with our clients in healthcare, we identified an opportunity to address an operational bottleneck resulting from patient confusion around treatment and appointment information.

In healthcare settings, patients are often responsible for managing their own care plan. This can include being accountable for understanding their health or diagnosis, navigating healthcare systems to identify specialists, and scheduling their own care. Because of the variables and their novice understanding of the healthcare system, time is lost to scheduling errors and misunderstandings about process and providers.

The Solution

Our innovation lab had previously experimented with voice and chat frameworks for other client projects. We decided to use those frameworks as the foundation for a voice and chat enabled personal assistant that could use artificial intelligence to support patients as they navigate their care.

The goals were to provide patients with a personalized experience, providing assistance specific to their care throughout the full lifecycle of an appointment. Features included driving directions, reminders, custom Q&A, and follow–up information.

We extended our voice and chat framework with a domain-specific natural language processor and symptom diagnosis engine.

Results

The proof of concept proved effective in supporting patients quickly. The framework was tested to carry out diagnoses on 520 unique patients. Based on keyboard inputs, the engine took an average of 41 seconds to give an accurate result. Voice inputs also resulted in an impressive 53-second average time to a correct answer.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.

FORTUNE 100 TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY

Unified Data Governance

Our client is a people-focused technology and telecommunications brand that offers a spectrum of services to a variety of industries and markets. Technology is at the heart of competitiveness for this organization.

Because of the varied services and markets, leadership must understand complex KPI data pulled from disparate sources. Decisions must be informed, confident, and efficient.

Challenge

Our client struggled to achieve a holistic view of the business across its initiatives. It was difficult to drive portfolio-wide decisions based on program data. Detailed project-based data was in disparate systems and decision makers couldn’t surface the data in a consumable way.

These challenges were holding the business back from achieving its potential.

The Solution

Kopius* was engaged to understand the data ecosystem within the client’s business and to recommend a strategy for data governance and reporting. Following those recommendations, Kopius was asked to implement the governance structure.

Working with the client, we were able to implement a data governance process that addressed intake, drove initiative priority scoring, provided synthesized results, and delivered guidance on the overall portfolio execution approach.

This resulted in a consolidated portfolio view of both in-flight work as well as upcoming “horizon” work in which the team would invest.

Results

In addition to bringing consistency to the reported project detail, the cross-functional leadership team could now leverage data insights to provide decision support across sensitivity analysis of expected outcomes based on optional paths forward.

*Kopius performed this work under its previously known business name, Valence.