eConnect’s Version 11 platform, to be formally unveiled Wednesday at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, gives operators quick access to multiple years of data from all business segments of a property, not just surveillance.
Version 11 introduces two key capabilities: an artificial intelligence assistant named Ace and the wonder of “semantic search,” which allows users to interact conversationally with their data. They can ask plain-language requests and get answers and analysis based on the data available to them.
“It’s crazy, it’s actually so exciting,” eConnect co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Travis Whidden said. “We deployed this at one casino, an early adopter, and (Ace) is diving in, explaining to the user how it got the data. It’s showing what they want.”
eConnect, founded in 2009, specializes in facial-recognition software and data analytics, starting with casinos and later expanding into arenas and stadiums. It has more than 325 clients worldwide.
“Casinos have been our world, because we’re heavily tied into their surveillance environments. We’ve written an integration in every video system that was there,” Whidden said.
Version 11 works with any Content Management System (CMAS), just as eConnect’s AI-powered facial-recognition system works with an operator’s existing cameras and software.
Over the past 16 years, many clients have allowed eConnect to access gaming and other operational data, Whidden said, and eConnect has built an abstract database housed by the company. Adopters of Version 11 use Ace to access the database.
“The general manager of a casino cares about how he can make more business, and he can have a conversation with (Ace), with real data backing his discussion,” he said.
A food and beverage director could ask Ace which menu item is the most popular at each outlet and compare the performance of each operation. A security director might ask to see which employees hand out the most cash-register discounts. A gaming director might want to identify the most valuable players on the floor right now and where to find them, while a financial executive might ask for a list of cash transactions just under the AML reporting minimum.
“We have access to every single bit of data from all these years of collecting,” Whidden said. “With so many integrations, we can provide an entire overview for (any authorized person) within the casino and I think it’s only going to get better.”
Ace is based on the operator’s premises, so any interaction between it and the eConnect database is confidential, he said.
“A lot of properties don’t want their private data leaving their facility. That’s why we have the on-prem hardware that allows them to keep it all private,” he added. Access to information also can be compartmentalized, so a food-and-beverage executive could not access gaming floor transactions, for example.
Whidden said security was a major factor in the development of Ace, so data is read-only, with no mutating allowed. “That doesn’t mean that’s going to be that way forever. We just need to make sure we have proper controls and protections to allow mutation,” he added.
When such controls are in place, Ace might be allowed to perform data cleanup or, for example, link multiple vehicles to the people who have access to them.
eConnect will formally debut Version 11 with a daylong celebration featuring live demonstrations and other attractions Wednesday in conjunction with G2E. Registered guests may visit the company’s VIP Technology Innovation Lounge from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. that day.
The lounge will be in Grand Lux Café in the Palazzo tower of the Venetian Resort. Live demonstrations of Version 11 are planned for 9:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. A brunch and networking session will run from 8 to 11 a.m. in the lounge, with a complimentary gourmet lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Registration for the lunch is required and space is limited. A VIP mixer from 2 to 5 p.m. will offer cocktails and appetizers in a more casual atmosphere.
