Edint CEO Won Dong-il experienced blind spots in proctoring that relied only on PC cameras while taking online classes for a U.S. graduate program during COVID-19 in 2020. The following year, while at an in-house venture at Samsung Electronics, he set out in earnest to solve the problem.
Spinning off to start a business in May 2022 and setting out on an independent path, he said, "If you use a mobile camera, you can capture student behavior more accurately."
The service Edint provides is a vision artificial intelligence (AI)-based online and offline assessment solution. In online exams, a camera analyzes test-taker behavior via an application (app) installed on a smartphone and, after the test ends, provides instructors or lecturers with a report, like a black box, including whether cheating occurred. Offline, in corporate training settings, AI analyzes how much trainees are focusing and quantifies the training's effectiveness.
Won said, "You can analyze a test-taker's behavior with an easily accessible smartphone camera without bulky cameras," adding, "A key feature is that we secured general applicability and stability without going through a user-specific fine-tuning process."
Experience at Samsung Electronics became a major asset. Won worked in the wireless division when he was at Samsung Electronics. It was when the Galaxy S series was taking shape. Thanks to experience in smartphone design and services, after founding the company he secured general applicability and stability, receiving a commendation for venture start-up promotion from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and holding 24 patents. The market also recognized the potential, with 850 million won in seed investment raised to date, and in Apr. he was selected to join the national delegation of the Republic of Korea at the Dubai AI Week exhibition.
About 10% of in-house ventures at Samsung Electronics spin off into startups. It is a result of recognized technological prowess, but there were challenges. Won said, "My salary went down, and I left a relatively stable company for the instability of running a business." He added, "Even so, through the business I wanted more people to benefit from AI with our service," noting, "Now, I've also developed an ego as a manager."
Edint's service is already being used in Korea. After its launch in May 2022, 15 universities in the North Chungcheong region formally adopted it. It is also used in corporate exam training programs at corporations such as CJ and SK. Test takers or trainees may not welcome it, but the error rate has been reduced and reports are quality-checked by experts to improve quality.
He emphasized that a strategy focusing on solutions that improve industrial efficiency, rather than the technology itself, is the key to the competitiveness of corporations and services. Won noted, "AI only has meaning when applied at a level customers can actually use," adding, "Rather than a one-of-a-kind AI technology, a useful solution from the customer's perspective is important."
Edint is targeting not only Korea but also overseas markets such as the United States and Vietnam. Because it is a technology that analyzes behavior, there is no language barrier. In the online exam market worth 4.6 trillion won, the company sees a large area it can capture.
Won said emphatically, "Our goal is to become the No. 1 mobile-based, unmanned proctoring company in the online assessment market." He continued, "We want to attach our solution to online learning and education, which will become the mainstream, to enhance the reliability of assessments," adding, "We will create an environment where people anywhere in the world are assessed fairly and equally and have opportunities to learn."