Swimming centres are beginning to use artificial intelligence to help prevent drownings. The new technology uses cameras to detect unusual movements in the pool and then send a smart watch alert to lifeguards on duty. The system has just been installed at public pool in Brisbane.
Category
đź“ş
TVTranscript
00:00The City of Logan on the south side of Brisbane has installed this system which is a link
00:08site system made by a company called LinkSite and cameras are installed around the swimming
00:14pool and as someone goes into the swimming pool they're monitored by the cameras.
00:19No private information is stored but the cameras are watching behaviour of people as they're
00:24in the water.
00:25So when that behaviour exhibits warning signs a lifeguard's given an alert.
00:31So the system's using an advanced or intelligence model that knows when someone's in difficulty
00:40and so it's really exciting for a lifeguard particularly in swimming pools because we
00:48know evidence shows us about eight people per year drown in commercial aquatic centres
00:54but there's about a couple of thousand people that are rescued each year in aquatic centres
00:59so having a system to alert lifeguards that someone's in difficulty is a fantastic advantage.
01:05Importantly though this system doesn't replace a lifeguard so a person's still needed.
01:10This is just an alerting system.
01:13So the benefit of this system is it's on 24 hours a day, it doesn't get tired, it doesn't
01:19need a break, it doesn't need a lunch break and it alerts lifeguards by alerting them
01:26with an app on their watch.
01:29So if one lifeguard fails to respond the alert goes to the next lifeguard and the next lifeguard
01:33until someone responds.
01:35So the system's built with about a 20 second from the time of an instance detected by the
01:41behaviour.
01:42It takes about 20 seconds for a lifeguard to get an alert and we're hoping that lifeguards
01:46can get to people within a few seconds after that and ultimately it means that swimmers
01:54are safer.
01:55About how many cameras are set up around the pool?
01:57It depends on the pool.
01:58So the pool that's been installed in, which is at Logan City, has about 16 cameras.
02:03There's about two or three pools there.
02:06So they're just standard surveillance cameras that are used.
02:11I'm surprised you say it takes 20 seconds.
02:13I know nothing about the tech but I assumed it would be quicker than that.
02:20It's important to get the balance between false alerts and genuine alerts.
02:24So that time can be changed depending on the dynamics of the situation but 20 seconds seems
02:31to be about the right time.
02:33So in real life use the lifeguards will be getting two or three alerts per day.
02:39They don't want to get 30 or 40 or 50 alerts per day because then they'll start going.
02:44It's just an annoyance and they won't actually respond to it.
02:47And can you give us a description about what activates the camera?
02:51It's not as if the camera can detect heart rates or anything like that.
02:54It's physical movements.
02:56So there is some smarts built into the system that allow the cameras to see underwater and
03:04see when people are moving, they're not moving, what their arms and legs are doing and there's
03:10a whole heap of criteria and question banks into that software that then says well if
03:15this person is not moving it sends a lifeguard an alert.
03:18A few other criteria are in there as well.
03:21Are there any cameras under the water?
03:22No, not in this system.
03:24Has it already been used in some other pools around Australia and how has it gone?
03:28Yeah, it has been installed in Sydney and Melbourne and it's working really well.
03:35It's supporting the lifeguards do their job and it's also important that a lifeguard,
03:41even if you've got a lifeguard on duty they may not be able to see everything in the pool.
03:45For example, reflection or they might be hidden parts of the pool they can't see.
03:51So in the pool you just had up on the screen you might have seen some reflection on the
03:54water.
03:55When we tested it today the lifeguard couldn't actually see the mannequin under the water
03:59but the system picked up there was a mannequin on the pool on the bottom so it gives some
04:04features that are better for a lifeguard and helps a lifeguard do their job.
04:09And so going into summer now what's your message to people wanting to have fun in water, be
04:13it private pools, public pools, beaches, rivers or dams?
04:16Everyone knows that if you're going to the beach swim between the flags but if you're
04:20not going to the beach and you are around water avoid alcohol because we know that one
04:24in five drownings involves drugs or alcohol.
04:27Never go alone because if you do get in trouble you won't have anyone to help you or raise
04:31the alarm.
04:32If you're in any sort of boating activity wear a life jacket and importantly learn how
04:36to resuscitate.