A newly developed small, low-cost artificial intelligence (AI) enabled sensor may help save children or pets left alone in vehicles by triggering an alarm, scientists said on Monday.
The device combines radar technology with AI to detect unattended children or animals with 100-per-cent accuracy, according to the researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada.
The device, which is small enough to fit in the palm of a hand at just three centimetres in diameter, is designed to be attached to a vehicle’s rear-view mirror or mounted on the ceiling, they said.
The system works by sending out radar signals that are reflected back by people, animals and objects in the vehicle. The built-in AI then analyses the reflected signals.
“It addresses a serious, world-wide problem. The system is so affordable it could become standard equipment in all vehicles,” George Shaker, an engineering professor at Waterloo said in a statement.