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Auto-Stickers – Everything You Want to Know

Why Auto-Stickers?

Auto-Stickers are a way to map old damage onto new vehicle inspections.

The method helps differentiate existing damage from pre-existing damage.

Auto-Stickers means not having to label known damage over and over!

In a digital inspection, photos and video are typically taken to capture vehicle condition. The problem is, photo and video don’t always show damage every time a new inspection is taken. The employee doing the inspection might take a bad shot – cut-off, bad angle, blurry… or something temporary might “hide” the damage. For example a reflection from a strong sun, mud or snow.

This makes it difficult to know whether a damage is new – or has changed – from photo to photo.

Auto-Stickers solves this problem.

Auto-Stickers act like a real, physical “sticker” – but in the digital world. This gives the best of both the physical and digital tracking methods.

In combination with other features, Auto-Stickers can be used to let you know when damage is “introduced” to a vehicle. For example, in DAMAGE iD, Auto-Stickers can trigger an email alert to be sent when new damage is found.

Where did Auto-Stickers come from?

Auto-Stickers are part of DAMAGE iD inspection software platform from DAMAGE iD, LLC. DAMAGE iD, LLC is a software company with headquarters in Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA.

Physical stickers in use: This vehicle has been marked with small, round stickers on all spots where damage has been found.

Auto-Stickers were originally called “Carry-Forward”. Conceived in 2018 as a feature of the AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning for DAMAGE iD. The feature was developed between October 2023 and April 2024 by Charlie Dalsass and Chandrahas Boorela, engineers from DAMAGE iD.

The idea for the name , “Auto-Stickers”, came from a long-time client, Carl’s Van Rental. Carl’s use a physical process of marking damage with stickers marked with an “X”. Because Carl’s process was very similar to the digital process DAMAGE iD had in the works by 2023, and the name “stuck”.

Physical stickers in use: The stickers can be removed without doing damage to the paint or trim. Customers can see the stickers and be assured the damage is already known prior to rental.

Trademarked and branded, the first version of Auto-Stickers was introduced in 2024 International Car Rental show, Las Vegas.

How Auto-Stickers improve fleet maintenance.

Auto-Stickers can be used to:

  • Identify only new damage, so that customers can be assured they will not be blamed.
  • Tell whether damage has gotten worse.
  • Identify fixed damage and allow it to be confirmed as fixed.
  • Help “catch” any new damages your employees may have missed.

This can lead to improved quality of fleet, more satisfied customers, and accurate understanding of cosmetic damage across and entire fleet.

This also works for delivery and DSP customers who want to identify which driver damage came from.

How do Auto-Stickers work?

The following example describes how Auto-Stickers are used to track and find new damage.

October 1 – first photo is taken, no damage deteted.
October 3 – second photo taken. New damage found. An Auto-Sticker is created.
October 5 – third photo taken. Auto-Sticker is passed to this photo – no need to mark it manually a second time.
October 7 – damage is marked fixed. Auto-Sticker is removed.

The sequence can be seen in the illustration below.

Note that:

  • Photos are taken from slightly different different angles, lighting – but from same general viewpoint.
  • Damage may not be seen in all photos.
  • Red circle indicates new damage. Yellow indicates pre-existing damage.

Summary

We are excited about the AutoStickers launch. We believe this will add benefits to your inspection process and improve the quality of your fleet. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions or comments!

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🏛️ 2023 American Car Rental Association (ACRA), Washington DC

Arlington, Virginia, October 23, 2023

DAMAGE ID attended the ACRA trade association “bootcamp” on October 23-25, 2023. It was an exciting and intense 3 days, filled with networking and advocacy for interests of the car rental industry via ACRAPAC, the political action committee, associated with ACRA.

ACRA represents 98% of America’s car rental industry, and is comprised of 300+ car rental companies including larger brands such as Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar and Enterprise. In addition, there were many smaller companies in attendance such as Edge Rental from New York and AMPM Rental from Los Angelos.

Charlie partner and software engineer from DAMAGE iD in front front of the US Capitol building, before meeting with senators.

The first day included “inside” industry learning, via panel discussions, held at the Westin in Arlington. Panel presentations included:

  • Fleet management
  • Legal Issues for Car Rental Industry
  • Third Party Fleet Services
  • Insurance Procurement
  • Damage Recovery and Fleet Financing
  • Electric Vehicle Transition

Charlie Dalsass, partner and software engineer from DAMAGE iD, presented on the panel on damage recovery. Mr. Dalsass emphasized the importance of digital “baseline” photo and video capture as a way to improve profitability when collecting for damage. Mr. Dalsass also discussed the state of DAMAGE iD’s AI-based damage detection as well as the advances and challenges in that area.

Day 2 and 3, were held at capitol hill in DC, meeting with senators and congress members to advocate for issues relevant to the car rental industry. Topics included:

  • Politics and Policy “Full Expensing” (Tax)
  • 2023 FAA Bill and Airport Electrification
  • Vehicle Data access
  • Federal Cyber Security and Law enforcement issues
  • EV Perspectives

At the reception on Tuesday, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) gave speeches supporting the car rental industry.

Charlie with Ian from Empire Rent-a-Car (New York, New York)

Carlos, Gregg, Charlie and Al in front of capitol building offices.

Mike DeLorenzo, NP Franchise Group, in front of Sen Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) office
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) speaking about the importance of the car rental service industry and tourism.
Congressional reception at Sonoma Restaurant

The event was a great way to meet and work closely with customers, as well as learn about the political process. DAMAGE iD hopes to attend again in 2024… until then!

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DAMAGE iD (Rocking) the 2022 International Car Rental Show in VEGAS (Day 2)

Main entrance to International Car Rental Show (ICRS) 2022
Exhibit Hall and DAMAGEiD booth at ICRS 2022 in Hotel Paris, Las Vegas
Kudos to DAMAGEiD team
Time-lapse of DAMAGEiD team interaction with customers
Have to take a break and relax under sun and over pool!!
Proud team of DAMAGEiD
The Chandelier : Crystal-ensconced bar at the Cosmopolitan offers distinctive bars spanning 3 floors & a modern vibe.
Fun time !!!
Fun and memorable business dinner at STK Steakhouse, The Cosmopolitan, Vegas
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DAMAGE iD at the 2022 International Car Rental Show in VEGAS (Day 1)

DAMAGE iD team is headed to the 2022 international car show in Las Vegas! Will be staying at the Paris hotel right on the strip.

We’re off! At Logan, Boston, we took Spirit Airlines. They are bare-bones but I really like them. Great price. I actually appreciate that they aren’t constantly trying to sell you “extras”. The fleet are small Airbus 319s.
Preparing for the demo at the trade show. Chandrahas making some last-minute changes to our new “contactless customer inspection”.
Arrived in Las Vegas!
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DAMAGE iD Automatic Damage Detection Demo

This demonstration was first presented at the 2021 International Car Rental Show in Las Vegas, August 16-17, 2021.

This demonstration shows the capabilities now available with the recent DAMAGE iD, ProofTec Partner(ship) on AI Damage Detection. These capabilities include automatic or AI-based damage detection.

Demo Format

ProofTec integration with DAMAGE iD.

We started the demo wiping the car with a cloth, removing any “damage” or “scratches”.

Next, we asked the audience to mark the damage on the model using a special chalk marker that gave the appearance of a scratch.

Audience member draws a scratch on the model vehicle.

Next, we performed a “walk-around” on the vehicle using the DAMAGE iD mobile application (Android version was used for the demo, but IOS/Apple is supported as well), taking pictures of each position.

To make it easy to take different shots of each position, we used an motorized, rotating “lazy susan” .

We did not manually mark the damage, but instead allowed the auto-detection (artificial intelligence module) to capture the damage automatically.

Within the app we can also circle the damage manually – to show both human and AI capabilities work, hand-in-hand.

The photos are then uploaded to the cloud.

Next, we log into the (web based) Review Portal and search by unit number to view the “Case”. The Case shows before and after photos in a pair.

Red flags show that damage has been found.

The flags appear in the Case List and also on the profile icon.

The following video shows the damage was successfully auto-detected.

Red circles appear, highlighting the damage and damage type.

Damage which is detected by AI is marked “AI Detected” next to the damage type.

Damages are automatically circled and labelled by the software. The “scratch” the customer created was also found, and labeled “AI-detected”.

The following video shows both the app (Android) and Review Portal software in action.

We had great fun in Vegas doing this demo and the feedback was really positive.

If you missed us at Vegas, please email us at demo@damageid.com for an in-person Zoom version of this demo.

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Day 2 (continued), 2021 International Car Rental Show, Las Vegas

These shops were at the bottom of our hotel elevator. This place is wild!
Up for the 7:30 AM breakfast. Food was delicious at the International Car Rental Show. Nice breakfast with coffee, bagels, fruit, yogurt parfait. Chandrahas manning the booth.
More demos with customers. A lot of interest in the new Proof Tec artificial intelligence feature.
More demos at the 12-2:00 session. This was the final session where the expo floor was open.
With some free time, and checked out of the hotel, we went to Old Las Vegas, a funky, quirky town with a massive overhead video screen and 1950’s style buildings.
This guy was amazing. He must have had some mechanical structure hidden in his pants to make it appear he was sitting like that for a long time. Lots of strange characters here, and tons of booze and pot smoke.
Oscars, “Beef, Booze, and Broads”. (I’m not kidding. View the sign close up to see).
The Rat Pack at the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino.
The overhead video covered the entire street. You could rent these acrobatic lines that would rappel you down the entire street.
After the old town we stopped in at Maggiano’s for a quiet drink and to catch up. Everwhere is so noisy, we really needed a break from all the music and sounds.
We met Fernando, I’ve never met him before, but a wonderful guy who I felt I’d known all my life. Friend of Paula and Jack’s from Sixt rental in South America.
Left at 7:30 from the restaurant, and right to airport for this beautiful skyline.
Watching the planes fuel before heading home on the red eye. Got home to Boston at 5:33 AM safe and sound!
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Day 1, 2021 International Car Rental Show, Las Vegas

Ready for Take Off at Logan Airport
Landing around 9:30 PM Las Vegas time.
On the way to the hotel. Las Vegas Raiders stadium.
Bellagio Fountain at night.
“Fountain of the Gods” near the hotel elevator.
Chandrahas and Charlie at the booth.
Paula had these embroidered hoodies made for us. No sleeves, hood and big DAMAGE iD at the back.
Entrance of Caesar’s Palace Hotel
Lobby
Lots of fancy stores. You don’t see a Lamborghini store in your average mall!
The pools are amazing here.
Entrance to the ICRS.
We were able to find a mass in the morning to attend. An beautiful “oasis” from the hedonism all around Las Vegas!
In the hotel room, preparing a rotating car for the AI demo.
Kids be like… “Does your hotel have a pool”.

View of the exposition room before opening

The booth – announcing the Proof Tech AI partnership
Love those hoodies!
Customers are coming non-stop to see the demo. Chandrahas doing demo after demo. Paula in the background.
This pool is AMAZING! Look at how many pools there are. And even though it reached 108 degrees, the water is quite cool and so nice to swim!
Got a few minutes to have a drink by the pool!
More demos and a piano player at the 4-5:30 session. The Car Rental Show offered drinks and delicious appetizers. Wonderful ambiance and great networking too!
Lovely dinner at the Capital Grille on Monday night. Walk back to the hotel. Soooo tired!
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Using Video to Digitally Record Vehicle Condition

At the 2019 Las Vegas International Car Show, we announced we would be adding video to the DAMAGE iD platform.

On May 3, 2019 we launched major version 3.0 for Android, which includes support for video! (The iPad/iPhone version was released on May 22, 2019).

What are the benefits of video?

  • Tough spots to photograph. For certain vehicle areas, such as interiors, tires, trunk area, roof, it can be difficult to capture with a few photos. Rather, a (video) “sweep” is preferred.
  • Capture more. For example multiple items, multiple regions, underside of vehicle) using video. Video is alot like taking many pictures in sequence.
  • Shiny surfaces. Ability to capture small dents and dings within a reflected, shiny surface. By altering the direction of the camera slightly, light will reflect off the surface, revealing surface damage within the contours of the reflection.
  • Stronger evidence. Video is more difficult to tamper and modify than photographs. Video provides even stronger evidence for proving damage.
  • Multiple focus points. Video allows you to focus on deep, or 3D objects, while changing focus throughout. This can capture damage better than static photos.

How does Video work in DAMAGE iD?

The simple interface of DAMAGE iD stays almost exactly the same.

However, you will now see a red button beneath the camera shutter button. (See below).

Find a shiny, new, red button beneath the normal camera shutter button.

After clicking the red button, the camera will start recording video, and a clock timer will start.

DAMAGE iD video recording this hot vehicle! Be sure to move the device to capture the surface details.

DAMAGE iD also records AUDIO with the VIDEO. This means you can use your finger to point out damage, while explaining what you see.

Click “STOP” when done. Note that there is a 10-second limit on each of the videos.*

*Why did we decide to limit videos to 10 seconds? We wanted to keep upload sizes small. We also want to keep the walk-around focused on a position for later comparison. (If a rental agent takes a 3 minute video, it becomes really difficult to find damage or compare 2 videos.) Plus, if you take 24, 10 second, videos per case, that gives FOUR MINUTES OF VIDEO PER CASE.

Click the icon to review the movie or photo. This works the same as the previous version.

Once the video has been uploaded, visit the “Backend” to compare your videos and photos.

The following video shows how video clips will appear in the Backend.

FAQ

Question: Does video mean I will pay more for my DAMAGE iD Account?
Answer: No, video is offered as part of your DAMAGE iD account – entirely free for existing users. (We don’t charge by storage space used)

Question: What quality video is used?
Answer: We choose the best quality available on the device

Question: Is any compression or resizing performed on the video?
Answer: No, we do not compress or resize the video

Question: How are videos stored?
Answer: We use MP4 format. Videos are stored in the Cloud, just like the photos.

Question: Do you apply a timestamp to the video, as with photos?
Answer: No, at this time we are not applying the red timestamp to the videos. We are considering this in a future, release, however.

Question: Will uploads take longer than with photos?
Answer: Generally, yes uploads are larger than photos and will take longer than with photos. However, we’ve modified the uploading to start faster to accommodate this.

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DAMAGE iD Received Fabulous Feedback at ICRS Vegas

DAMAGEiD at the International Car Rental Show in Las Vegas

Current customers and fresh interest visited our DAMAGE iD booth during the International Car Rental Show in Vegas March 27-29.  Perhaps this high interest was due to the panel on which DAMAGE ID was featured regarding “Damage assessment techniques”.   Along with Ian K. from Empire Rent a Car in Brooklyn, Paula Vercollone, Verc Car Rental in SouthShore of Mass., presented the financial benefits of using common technology to report the condition of the rental both before and after the transaction with a side by side comparison, date and time-stamped.

Car Rental customers are learning the customer service benefit of protecting the customer from unwarranted charges for previous damage. It’s a win/win situation.  Customers and rental agents feel confident when reporting the amount of gas in the vehicle on the return. If a customer “forgets”, the photos don’t lie.