How we used three AI models in Taranaki Business Showcase
AI comes in many shapes, most of them are only entertainment, but some can be real game changers for businesses. Learn how we applied useful AI to collect business contacts during and after the event.
AI Interactive Kiosk? Oh! That will be fun to have!
So we built it! A kiosk whose purpose was to collect business card information in an efficient and memorable way by creating a WOW! moment to those that decided to "give it a try" using simple business tools: One Webcam, One screen and Three different AIs.
Our webcam was live waiting for someone to put their business card in front of it. When that happened, then our first AI (gemini-3.1-flash-lite) would receive a shot and read the card to distinguish: name, email, company, address and industry, among other details.
Card information being scanned in real time with a regular webcam
Once the card was detected and first details were confirmed, the captured image would now be sent to two new AIs: to `gemini-3.5-flash` to give a second deeper read to the card and get all details confirmed and extended; and to `gemini-3-pro-image-preview` to re-stage the card into a trade-matched interior aligned with the cards' brand details and industry. Note that our logo was embedded as watermark, AI was not needed for that trick!
Final result: information understood, card in a contextualized background, ready to send via email.
Surprised visitors were very keen to receive the output to their emails, and a single click did the job: Send an email to their address captured by the kiosk, with the original shot and the restaged one, closing the whole loop within a minute.
Sample of business cards scanned and the staged results
How did it go?
Really well! During the event we scanned 35 cards and digitalized their contact details on the spot. And whilst I was busy with spectators, my 8-year-old helpers collected a card from all the other stands, which I personally scanned via our kiosk the day after at record speed, we now have 85 new quality local leads that can learn more from us.
When curiosity kicked in, we found out that it also worked with products, magazines and Ooshies!
Is AI relevant for your business?
As always, it depends. If you rush me: there's likely a handful of good use cases for each business, and thousands others that will be a distraction. In this simple example we used three different AIs because they served well to the particular task we intended, but most other AI models would have been a wrong choice.
Whereas the title of this post focuses on how we used AI, the important bit is to realize that the barrier to materialize your ideas has dropped. Two years ago it would have been impossible to build such a tool, secure and production-ready, in a couple of days. With a regular webcam we could recognize an arbitrary object, read a stranger's business card, re-stage it under a studio light, in a branded context or in front of Mount Taranaki, watermarked with our logo and sent to them on the spot.
If you have an idea that was impossible a few years ago, and it still sounds impossible today, come for a coffee and we'll work together to get rid of the im.
