Surf lifesaving among other industries using AI cameras to help save lives
Emerging technology using artificial intelligence is helping to save lives across multiple industries including surf lifesaving, the health sector and in shopping centres.
Surf lifesavers at South Australian beaches are using emerging video technology that incorporates AI to help monitor swimmers.
Similarly, shopping centres and aged-care homes – among other industries – are applying the new technology to ensure public safety.
Video Management Systems assist in gaining a deeper insight into patterns of behaviour and awareness, as well as advanced health and safety solutions.
Smart cameras at popular beaches are one of the potential applications of AI and are assisting surf lifesavers to monitor and keep the public safe.
SA is the first state to trial these cameras. Over the past year, Surf Life Saving South Australia – in partnership with camera developer Axis Communications – has established a network of cameras to provide its State Operations Centre at West Beach Adelaide with real-time data that identifies risks, threats and incidents to mobilise patrols and other resources.
Axis core technologies director Mats Thulin said the advancing technology could make a huge difference to surf lifesaving.
“We are able to assist an operator or, in this case, a lifesaver with the technology to follow and track people … in this case, it’s an efficiency gain where you’re able to cover a much wider area with just one camera,” Mr Thulin said.
“There have been a number of incidents where it’s always difficult to say what would have happened if not (for the camera), but according to the lifesavers (the cameras) have proven to be a tremendous help both in efficiency – they are able to cover much wider areas – and also to detect things that could have been missed otherwise.”
The cameras are based at Henley, Glenelg, Moana, Goolwa and Port Elliot beaches, which were all labelled by SLSSA as “high risk”.
SLSSA lifesaving and emergency operations manager Sean Faulkner said due to the organisation being reliant on volunteers, having “remote eyes” significantly informed how they would respond to a crisis situation and improved situational awareness.
There have been numerous events where the Axis camera network was critical to a successful outcome, including a five-person rescue at Goolwa, during which lifesavers were able to remotely monitor and advise other responders that further help was required.
An advancement that is still in development is adding a biometric analysis solution that can count the number of people in the water and instantly alert authorities should someone not return to the surface after a wave passes.
Mr Faulkner said SLSSA was pushing for this advancement, as well as further sophistication to identify certain behaviours.
“We want to … take a step beyond just simple headcount functionality to actually being able to recognise behaviour patterns. It might not trigger an immediate alarm, but it might trigger an alert so that we can then focus our attention on that,” he said.
Axis and one of its partners, Milestone Systems, also invested in Project Safe-Guard, where similar AI technology was rolled out in several retail centres to detect anomalous behaviour in areas recognised as potential “hot spots” for attempting self-harm. This behaviour can include entering certain areas outside of normal hours, moving in unusual ways or hiding.
By adding AI-powered devices, data analytics and automated alerts to a central system to detect when someone is acting “suspiciously”, the cameras successfully assisted in preventing as many as 14 people from self-harming.
Nine shopping centres under a Queensland Investment Corporation initiative use the technology in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and the ACT.
Along with potential self-harm, security breaches and misuse of property are also proactively monitored by the cameras.
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