By Sam Weitzman

With a historic heat wave currently gripping regions the world over, millions — if not billions — of people are headed for cooler water somewhere. But for those who cannot swim, and even some who do, cooling off can be dangerous. 

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control, more children ages 1–4 die from drowning than any other cause of death except birth defects. For children ages 1–14, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death after motor vehicle crashes. 

Whether you’re taking your family to the beach, a local community pool, or even a water park, vigilance is key.

The same is true if your water hole is in the backyard, which is why home pools are getting a safety upgrade thanks to the same technology that’s teaching cars and trucks to drive themselves.

Safe and Sound

A brief aside: nothing can or should replace physical barriers or adult supervision.

Even so, neither measure is a standalone, foolproof solution. Children and pets can easily climb over or squeeze through pool fences, and even the best parent or guardian can be distracted for a few precious minutes.

The COVID surge in work-from-home means that more adults are at home during the day, but so is an entirely virtual office full of demands. For millions of us, myself included, trying to supervise our kids while in the middle of an important call or meeting is the new normal.

Technology is fantastic at connecting us, but screens are even better at distracting us.

What’s needed to keep the entire family safe and sound in this environment is another layer of security that runs 24/7, and one which can alert us before a dangerous situation becomes a life-threatening event.

Deep Learning

Thankfully, such technology already exists. After all, we now use appliances that can see, hear, and even communicate with one another. When we are away, a motion detector can alert us to a stranger in our home or on our property.

However, what if we are not away, or if we need to know that a child who is supposed to be taking a nap upstairs has instead wandered outside and climbed the pool fence?

What happens if the family pooch has waded into the shallow part of the pool and is about to fall off into deeper water?

Though we use the term “dog paddle” to describe an instinctual way of swimming, the reality is that not all pets know how to swim.

The solution requires taking the technology that already exists inside the house outside the house —a  technology commonly known as “deep learning.”

This encompasses both artificial intelligence, which automates processes by “thinking” through a series of steps as a human being might do, and machine learning, where a computer learns a seemingly simple task from experience rather than innate programming.

Often, such tasks involve distinguishing between the normal and abnormal, or classifying different types of objects.

While motion detectors, for example, can detect weight, machine learning can learn to distinguish a child from an adult, and a pet from a feral animal, using all kinds of observations such as movement and shape.

Trust

As technologists, our challenge is to earn parents’ trust that these non-human eyes and ears are capable of looking out for their loved ones.

Again, nothing can replace adult supervision or effective physical barriers, but adults can be only a few feet away from a child and still find themselves distracted by any number of things, from phones to photo opportunities to kids simply being kids.

What happens is that we end up reacting when something goes awry, but by then, it may be too late.

(See how PoolScout’s AI monitors your pool 24/7, generating reliable alerts in real-time. Courtesy of PoolScout and Vimeo.)

I found myself in such a situation several years ago, when my wife and I took our two young sons to a community pool in our neighborhood.

While I was holding our youngest and my wife was snapping a photo of us, our older boy had sunk below the surface of the pool in which I was standing.

Thankfully, I turned around in time for this to be “just” a scare, but it also occurred to me how narrow the margin of error can be in such a case — even when you’re doing everything right. 

We have the technology to make that margin much wider. All we need to do is go to the deep end of the data pool.

About the Author

Sam Weitzman is the CEO and Founder of Deep Innovations and the creator of PoolScout.

They are focused on enabling the future of pool enjoyment with cutting-edge artificial intelligence and advanced video analytics to create a safer world around pools. 

PureTech Takes Platinum in 2021 ‘ASTORS’ for Best Maritime Perimeter Protection Solution

American Security Today’s Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards is the preeminent U.S. Homeland Security Awards Program, and now in its Seventh Year, continues to recognize industry leaders of Physical and Border Security, Cybersecurity, Emergency Preparedness – Management and Response, Law Enforcement, First Responders, as well as federal, state and municipal government agencies in the acknowledgment of their outstanding efforts to Keep our Nation Secure.

PureTech Systems (First of Six)

• Best Perimeter Protection Solution

• PureActiv

• PureTech Systems has been recognized with a record Six 2021 ‘ASTORS’ Awards for its PureActiv fully integrated automated outdoor wide-area and perimeter protection system, and was recently Nominated for Multiple Awards in the 2022 ‘ASTORS’.

• PureActiv integrates with a vast array of short- and long-range perimeter sensors such as radar, buried or on-fence fiber detection systems, and ground sensors either singularly or in a combination to provide just the right level of protection to cost-effectively meet the most secure perimeter requirements.

  And PureActiv delivers among the highest probability of detection with the lowest nuisance alarm rates for securing facilities, infrastructure, and borders.

(See a brief introduction to PureTech’s PureActiv automated outdoor wide-area and perimeter protection system in action. Courtesy of PureTech Systems and YouTube.)

PureTech Systems (Second of Six)

• Best Long Range Surveillance Solution

• PureActiv for Borders

• Controlling national borders is an important part of a nation’s security, and the ability to effectively monitor vast areas in varied weather conditions and terrain, while accurately identifying potential threats at great distances is a complicated scenario.

• The solution calls for knowledgeable personnel and accurate sensors that work together to quickly assess a situation and enable border agents to effectively intervene.

• Ideal for Border Security, the PureActiv Automated Perimeter Intrusion Detection System enables detection, and classification of intruders up to 6 miles away.

• Once PureActiv automatically identifies an intruder, the system can automatically track them and quickly provide accurate intruder location on a GIS map to the end-user.

(The MVSS platform utilizes PureTech Systems’ PureActiv software as its central command and control, providing AI enhanced video detection and classification, user interface display, and sensor collaboration logic for the surveillance suite. The suite consists of visible and thermal cameras, laser illuminators and range finders mounted on telescoping masts located in the back of commercial pickup trucks. Courtesy of Fox 5, PureTech Systems, and YouTube.)

PureTech Systems (Third of Six)

• Best Maritime Perimeter Protection Solution

• PureActiv

• Our nation and the world depend on the safe and efficient shipment of goods around the globe. 

• Threats to seaports and the resultant potential loss of lives and economic losses due to service interruptions make it imperative that seaports throughout the world are properly protected from terrorist and safety-related events. 

• PureTech’s PureActiv wide area and perimeter protection solutions help Port Authorities improve the safety and security of seaports with a tangible return on investment, and automates the protection of land and water-side perimeters to help ensure the safety and security of personnel and critical assets. 

• By detecting intrusion events at the perimeter before they result in more catastrophic events, loss of life, and operational downtime, port authorities, and law enforcement can intervene to deescalate situations and quickly return to normal operations. 

• The PureActiv system provides detection, alerting, and proactive deterring of potential safety and security events, which helps protect lives, cargo, and critical assets. 

PureTech Systems (Fourth of Six)

• Best Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence

• PureActiv

• PureActiv AI Auto-verify Analytics eliminates 95% of nuisance alarms from radar, fence sensors, and motion video analytics.

• With expertise from 16 years of real-world deployments and cutting-edge innovation, PureTech Systems patented Video Analytics are AI Deep Learning, and Geospatially boosted, to provide among the highest probability of detection, and lowest nuisance alarm rates for electronically securing perimeters around facilities, infrastructures, and borders. 

(See how PureActiv’s deep-learning trained automated perimeter protection system includes intrusion detection, auto-verification, PTZ Auto-follow, and invoking non-lethal acoustic deterrents. Our enhanced capabilities detect, geolocate, classify and track intrusions, alerting only on verified threats ensuring near-zero nuisance alarms with market-leading detection rates. Courttesy of PureTech Systems and YouTube.)

PureTech Systems (Fifth of Six)

• Best Video Analytics Solution

• PureActiv

• Key benefits of PureActiv AI Deep Learning Geospatial Video Analytics include:

  • Automatically detects, classifies, geolocates, tracks and alarms only on Objects of Interest.

  • Technology backed up by 13 patents and over 16 years of innovation and field training data.

• • Lower total cost of ownership when considering infrastructure cost and maintenance,

  • Effective in the most challenging of outdoor conditions.

  • Uses Convolutional, Neural Network Deep Learning, and Geo-spatial data for high fidelity classification.

  • Longest detection ranges in the industry (over 5 miles)- requires fewer cameras.

  • Higher accuracy – Industry-leading Probability of Detection and low Nuisance Alarm Rate.

  • Simplified configurations support rapid deployment.

  • Image Stabilization.

• • Autonomous PTZ camera lock-on-target tracking enhances situational awareness.

  • Object geo-location on map enhances situational awareness.

  • Combines with other detection sensors (radar, fence, ground, etc.) for most demanding applications such as nuclear power plants.

• • Seamless integration with market-leading VMS systems including Genetec,  Milestone, PureActiv AlertView, and others.

  • Easily scales to fit your needs today and tomorrow.

  • Camera agnostic- deploys on edge devices and/or servers.

PureTech Systems (Sixth of Six)

• Best Mobile Tech Solution

• PureActiv Rapid Deploy Virtual Perimeter

• Scalable to small and large perimeters, the new Rapid Deploy Virtual Perimeter Unit (RDVPU) provides a temporary or permanent virtual perimeter protection system that requires very little deployment time.

• The smart and effective protection system uses a wireless connection to transmit alarms and video to a co-located or remote command and control center and is enhanced with the use of radar, a pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera, and optional loud hailers and light deterrents.

• The RDVPU is equipped with PureTech’s patented AI and geospatially boosted video analytics, PureActiv, which provides among the highest probability of detection while maintaining near-zero nuisance alarms.

• Additionally, the RDVPU is solar-powered, needing little to no backup fuel, thus providing an environmentally friendly protection system that does not require ground penetration and has no impact on local wildlife.

(PureTech’s PureActiv Rapid-Deploy Autonomous Perimeter Surveillance System (R-DAPSS) enables airports, borders, military bases, seaports, transit agencies, and utilities to quickly deploy a temporary or permanent high fidelity virtual perimeter system at substantially less cost and time than a hard-wired solution. The PureActiv R-DAPSS provides the same best-in-class level of perimeter intrusion detection, auto-verification, and automated deterrence as a hard-wired solution. Security and facility managers can secure their perimeters quickly without planning and executing a large construction project. Courtesy of PureTech Systems and YouTube.)

• *PureTech Systems was recognized with Multiple Awards Wins in the 2020 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program, and also won a Platinum ‘ASTORS’ Award in the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program.

The Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards highlight the most cutting-edge and forward-thinking security solutions coming onto the market today, to ensure our readers have the information they need to stay ahead of the competition and keep our Nation safe – one facility, street, and city at a time.

Learn More…

Safety, Safety, Safety – Summer Heat Safety Tips for Kids, Families & Pets