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HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Security cameras have become valuable tools to identify threats of violence, and new technology gives those cameras the ability to detect guns.
More importantly, these gun-detecting security cameras could potentially stop an intruder before a shot is fired.
According to reporter David Louie, security cameras are ubiquitous to alert First Responders of gun violence and other threats.
With the help of artificial intelligence, security cameras that are able to detect guns could prevent a mass-casualty event. According to Omnilert Ceo David Fraser, the shift in thinking about what emergency mass-notification was and what it could be has resulted in the creation of this new, life-saving technology.
Omnilert’s gun-detecting technology is claimed to be an industry “first” with the utilization of AI and existing camera networks in a large-scale setting.
Louie explains that these security cameras would first flag the gun in orange as suspicious activity, and immediately goes to “red alert” in seconds.
“It basically can make a high-resolution determination of whether this is a real threat or not,” Fraser said.
After notifying a security officer, a still image provides up-to-date evidence of the gun activity and the suspect. At that point, a decision can be made as to whether dispatch First Responders or dismiss the camera footage as a first alarm.
While low lighting or an impaired field of vision could affect AI’s ability to detect a threat, the technology is showing promise of providing an early warning before shots are fired.
“Over time and as we continue to collect video, as we better train some of these algorithms and models to best detect those images or object, I think it’s only going to get better,” Mike Leone, a senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group, said.
The makers of these gun-detecting cameras say college campuses is a key market for their technology.
