These films are then used in consumer applications including food and healthcare packaging.

"There are a number of potential consumer applications as well as high-end ones," he said.

But the company says consumer applications are expected to follow once there is a base of people using the technology for business.

They also develop commercial and general consumer applications in these areas.

Since the end of the cold war, increasingly powerful computer products have begun showing up first in consumer applications.

In particular, the group wanted the technology to be scalable from inexpensive consumer applications to professional standards.

But for consumer applications at least, he said, the idea has flaws.

By contrast, the Japanese focused on components needed in consumer applications.

It is only relatively recently that companies like Microsoft have begun to think about computer vision for consumer applications.

Thus such systems rarely have been used in consumer applications due to its high price and complexity.