Spectral Imaging with Ben Niehaus – SpexAI Co-CEO

Links: 

• https://www.mrjose.eu
• https://www.spexai.com
• Purple Scientific

The guest on this episode of the Cannabis Podcast is Ben Niehaus co-founder of SpexAI which focuses on using spectral imaging to improve the cannabis cultivation process. We met Ben while he was testing a prototype device that can use spectral imaging to very accurately determine the active ingredient content of cannabis or detect diseases before they are visible to the human eye, and in a completely non-invasive way without disturbing the plants.

The SpexAI system is based on hardware that consists of an advanced and patented spectral camera and is named Hugin. The name comes from Norse mythology, where Hugin is one of the two ravens of the god Odin. Odin is represented at SpexAI by a device that processes and evaluates the data collected by Hugin. Thus, as in Norse mythology, Hugin collects information and returns to Odin to report to him what is happening, not in the world of humans, but in the plants he is observing.

We recorded the interview in 2024 at the GreenTech fair in Amsterdam and you will learn, among other things:

• How spectral imaging works
• What Hugin and Odin can track and evaluate and with what accuracy
• What is the difference between SpexAI and desktop sensors for cannabinoid analysis
• The benefits of spectral analysis in large-scale cultivation
• Practical deployment of the system in research institutions and commercial cultivation facilities around the world.