One of the measures that could be employed to help combat the spread of coronavirus is the installation of a new “Fever Detection COVID19 Screening System” to grocery stores, hospitals, and other essential locations. However, it remains to be seen if this type of mass screening solution could be implemented in the US, or if it would actually help the situation if it was.
One of the major issues with the coronavirus outbreak is actually knowing who has been affected before they come into contact with others. Knowing this early enough might help to ensure the spread is limited and one Texas-based company is now offering a machine learning-powered solution to help with the problem. Essentially, it could be installed in public places and every person who passes by the camera screened for abnormal body temperatures.
The Fever Detection program is another option for users of Athena Security’s camera system, a gun-detection system that can detect firearms through people’s clothes. Athena reasons that, because a high-temperature is an early symptom of COVID-19, its fever-detecting technology should be utilized to help fight the ongoing pandemic. The system uses Athena Security’s infrared-thermal cameras to analyze people’s temperatures. When installed, artificial intelligence performs the analysis by shooting infrared beams from its cameras towards the eyes of people nearby. “We take the temperature of the eyes because that’s the closest point to the core of the person’s body temperature,” Athena Security co-founder, Christopher Ciabarra, told Motherboard. When the system detects a temperature higher than the threshold, it sends an alert to the account owner, and then the person can make the decision to self-isolate themselves.
Fever Detection Systems Vs Privacy
The use of fever-detecting systems has curtailed the spread of coronavirus to significant effect in China, but could the United States do the same? Athena Security’s cameras use machine learning to read faces and while it doesn’t create profiles on the people it reads, widespread adoption could be levied to push for more robust domestic surveillance. While other nations have used similar tactics to help fight the pandemic, many of them also had social services systems in place to ensure people don't need to leave their homes. For example, South Korea has government check-ins and delivery services so that people never have to venture outside. If Athena’s system were put in place today in the US, it would tell account owners that somebody had a fever, but do little for the overall situation. The system doesn’t get people tested, nor does it pay for those tests and so while people would know they have a fever, they wouldn't know they had coronavirus.
The development and usage of surveillance technology to fight the spread of coronavirus is important and increasingly seems like the best weapon. However, it is equally important these advancements are used in tandem with social programs to keep people safe from the virus, and the economic issues that arise from it. One without the other is only likely to help deal with part of the coronavirus problem.
Source: Motherboard