Photo: GT

Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Face++ has developed a temperature screening tool that can help monitor human body temperature in crowded places and identify individuals who might have a fever using facial recognition technology.

The system is on a trial-run in some subway stations and government offices in Beijing’s Haidian district amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, the company said in a statement sent to the Global Times Wednesday.

The AI system includes an infrared camera, which enables temperature screening from a distance of over three meters with an identification error within 0.3-degree centigrade, as well as an intelligence terminal. Once it detects suspected febrile person, it raises an automatic alarm and quickly reports the position of the individual based on the company’s self-developed person re-identification facial recognition technology.

The system’s alarming bandwidth could report 15 persons per second, according to the statement. After further up-gradation, the AI solution will be able to scan crowds even if a person is donning masks and hats.

Face++ said the system is also designed for application in other public places such as train stations, bus stations, and airports in addition to subway stations, to improve traffic efficiency, reduce risks exposure to the novel coronavirus infection and protect employees.

Amid the onslaught of the new epidemic, AI emerged as much dependable technology in the nationwide fight against the virus in China.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed Wednesday that China should deploy more AI technology in products involving virus detection, auxiliary diagnosis, and temperature screening. The ministry said AI technology could accelerate the research of related drugs in virus gene sequencing, vaccine development, and protein screening.


Global Times