AI Lifeguard System Prevents Drowning
With the weather getting warmer it’s time to start thinking about going to the beach. Whether you are planning an exotic holiday or just spending a day at the ocean, there are so many wonderful things to do like swimming, surfing, and building castles in the sand.
One thing that you must consider is beach safety, and that doesn’t mean just lathering up with sunscreen. Does the beach have lifeguards on duty? What is the lifeguard to bather ratio? All of these are really important but now there is a new AI water management system that can help prevent drownings, reported CTech.
Developed four years ago by the Israeli startup Sightbit, the system consists of a management platform that analyzes video feed from waterfront cameras to detect and alert risks and hazards, according to the company’s website. The data is analyzed by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms in real time and can be used to help save lives.
Preventing Drownings
Drowning is a huge problem worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) there are an estimated 236,000 drownings a year. In fact, drowning is the third leading cause of accidental deaths around the world.
“The World Health Organization considers drowning to be a curable plague because drownings can and should be prevented. Adding to these facts the growing shortage of lifeguards and the lengthy periods proper lifeguard training requires, it is eminent that there is a great need for SightBit’s product,” Adam Bismut, SightBit’s founder and first CEO, told CTech.
The startup was founded after Bismut witnessed someone drowning at the Dead Sea, despite efforts to save the man, and thought it could have been prevented, according to CTech. That’s when he began working on Sightbit, a drowning prevention system that can spot dangers and sound alerts before the time it takes for lifeguards to be able to spot trouble.
“SightBit’s system covers eight times wider ranges, thus revolutionizing the best practices of lifeguarding services and assisting in making lifeguards’ jobs more efficient and more effective,” he said.
What exactly is Sightbit?
The Sightbit system has two key components, reported NoCamels. The first is using the data from the video feeds to read the water conditions. The AI is able to analyze wave movements and detect any risky areas for swimmers, and anyone on the water.
“Most drownings are actually because of water conditions, like the waves and the rip currents,” Bismut told NoCamels.
The second part detects people and objects that are near or in the water and can differentiate between children and adults and between types of watercraft like jet skis or boats. Each category has separate safety concerns. A child cannot safely enter deep water as an adult.
The system analyzes all the data of the video feeds and then presents the information on a dashboard that is accessible to lifeguards on devices like screens, smartphones, and smartwatches. When a risky activity is detected, the system immediately sends a notification to the nearest lifeguard.
Sightbit is in use in the US, Canada, Australia, Israel, UAE, and Brazil, in public beaches, private clubs, and resorts. In Israel, it is used in the beaches of Tel Aviv and Ashdod as well as by the Israel Electric Corporation to prevent people from getting too close to hydroelectric pumps.
There is also a waiting list of countries who want to use Sightbit on beaches and other waterways. “We believe that every beach around the world can be safe,” says Bismut. “Our focus today is to save lives.”
