In order to limit the impact of the coronavirus, we need fast and effective ways of testing people for infection. Athena Security believes its Fever Detection System can do just that.
As Fast Company reports, Athena's system relies on cameras, artificial intelligence, and a very precise thermometer to detect individuals who are potentially infected with COVID-19. The Fever Detection System achieves this by looking for elevated temperatures while ignoring other non-human hot objects such as a hot drink being carried or a cell phone being used.
The benefits of such a system are clear. It's very fast, non-contact, and can assess a large crowd of people, or a stream of people throughout a day autonomously. The limits of the system are 1,000 temperature reads per hour. Athena says its temperature sensor is accurate to 0.4 degrees Celsius and automatically calibrates itself to the ambient temperature of the area being monitored. The system is also capable of taking the temperature of multiple people at once and detects heat from 12 different areas of the body.
For the system to work, it requires two infrared thermal with visual cameras, a processing box, router, and a medical grade thermometer. Once running, it can detect a person with an elevated temperature and quickly trigger a real-time video feed of their movements to a designated individual such as a security guard or administrator. An alarm can also be triggered and web or mobile notifications setup.
Athena's camera system is already in use by the US Air Force for detecting people carrying guns, but this new coronavirus-focused alternative is expected to be popular in airports and hospitals. The company is already thought to have a few airports and Fortine 500 companies signed up to use the system, but won't say who they are. Retail locations are also a potential customer.
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