AI Visual Lab Walkthrough: From Mobile Photos to Saved Coin Records

What is the AI Visual Lab?

AI Visual Lab is our guided, cross-device workspace for getting great coin reads without juggling cables or email attachments. You launch the lab on desktop, scan a QR code with your phone, and we watch that secure upload session in real time. The moment both sides arrive, we prefill the lab with your images and wait for you to hit Analyze.

How the flow works

1) Start the session from desktop, shoot from your phone

Click the camera icon in the search bar to spin up a new upload session. We generate a QR code, normalize the upload URL for LAN or cloud, and listen for uploads with server-sent events (with a polling fallback if needed). When uploads land, the lab opens automatically so you can stay heads-up on your phone.

• Secure session IDs prevent mix-ups between users or tabs.
• Live status badges keep you aware of timeouts or expired links.
• We reset the lab when a new session completes so one coin's details never overwrite another.

2) Guided capture for obverse and reverse

Inside the lab, two upload slots walk you through the most important framing habits: even light, rim fully visible, and a steady, parallel lens. We do not analyze until both sides are present, and the UI keeps you centered with a scan animation that mirrors the tips on screen.

3) AI Visual Lab prepares the readout

When you tap Analyze, we clear any stale state, set both images side by side, and run the AI without forcing a guess. You see a confidence meter, the detected coin name, and any text the model extracts from the fields. The goal is to give you a transparent read, not a black box.

4) Review, trust-but-verify, and save

AI suggestions never replace your judgment. You pick the mint mark and grade, and when market data exists we prefill value and purchase price so you can keep or override it. Quantity, cert number, purchase date, and notes stay unlocked until you complete the two-step checklist that confirms mint and grade first, then value and details.

Pro tips for crisp AI reads

• Use soft daylight or a diffused lamp; skip flash and glossy desks to avoid glare.
• Keep the camera parallel to the coin and fill 60-80% of the frame so rims stay visible.
• Retake from the lab at any time; the reset prompt clears the state without touching your collection.
• If you are mobile-first, always use the QR hand-off so we can stream status back to desktop instantly.
• Capture both sides even for modern coins; reverses often confirm variety and mint mark placement.

Why this matters for collectors

AI Visual Lab removes the friction between taking photos and keeping a defensible record. The result is faster intake, fewer typos, and a repeatable capture standard you can trust across your collection. Use it as an assistant, not an oracle, and you will get the speed of AI with the accuracy of your own eye.