Hanwha Techwin has introduced a Face Mask Detection application.
Wearing a mask is believed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and has already been adopted as a safety measure in workplaces. The World Health Organisation (WHO) now recommends use of face masks wherever social distancing is difficult. The UK government is also making it compulsory to wear a face covering when visiting or working within healthcare facilities and on public transport.
The Face Mask Detection application developed by Hanwha Techwin’s technology partner, a2 Technology, runs on open-platform Wisenet X Series cameras and uses video analytics to detect if a person entering an area is not wearing a mask. This will trigger the playing of a customisable audio message such as ‘please wear a face mask’. The audio message is generated via an audio support feature built into Wisenet X cameras, negating the need for a PC or a separate audio storage device to be installed nearby. A short cable is all that is required to connect a speaker to the camera.
An ‘Alarm Out’ feature can also be used to turn on a device such as a warning beacon.
The application simultaneously detects and analyses up to four people and can detect people at a distance up to five metres from a camera. It’s not affected by glasses, hats or scarfs, and is able to detect if a mask is not being correctly worn, the developers add.
A digital zoom-in function, which is designed to be used with fixed lens cameras, assists installers to configure the application so that it focuses on a specific region of a camera’s field of view if it is considered to be too wide. The application can be ordered pre-loaded on selected Wisenet X models. These are:
– XNB-6000/MSK Network box camera
– XNO-6080/MSK Network IR bullet camera
– XND-6010/MSK Network dome camera; and
– XNV-6011/MSK Vandal-resistant network dome.
As with all Wisenet X cameras, these models come with SD/SDHC/SDXC memory slots, enabling images associated with incidents of people not wearing masks or not wearing them correctly, to be stored locally. There is also the option for the images to be stored on a FTP server.
A web-based interface enables users to receive alerts via a desktop PC. The application has also been integrated with the Wisenet WAVE 4.0 Video Management Software (VMS) platform which, with its ‘Layout-as-an-Action’ feature, enables a pre-defined screen layout to be automatically opened when an event occurs. Operators can verify there has been an infringement of mask wearing rules.
An Occupancy Monitoring application was also launched recently, for keeping social distancing rules.
Uri Guterman, Head of Product & Marketing for Hanwha Techwin Europe, said: “The Face Mask Detection application is an excellent example of how video surveillance technology is able to help people safely go about their every-day business.
“With lives sadly at stake, we fully understand our responsibilities in terms of offering solutions which are fit for purpose, such as the Face Mask Detection and Occupancy Monitoring applications. Over the coming weeks we will therefore continue to work in-house and with hand-picked technology partners to develop additional practical solutions which will robustly assist offices, factories, hospitals, art galleries and museums, places of worship, transport facilities and many other types of businesses and organisations, to safely open their doors to the public.”
Visit www.hanwha-security.eu.
