COVID-19: IISER develops low-cost ‘crowd and mask’ monitoring system

NEW DELHI: Researchers at the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal have developed a low-cost ‘crowd and mask’ monitoring system to ensure COVID-19 protocols are maintained.

The system employs a high-definition camera that is attached to a microchip computer which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to monitor crowd movement.

IISER, in a statement, said: “Wearing masks is among the primary precautions adopted to prevent COVID-19 spread along with social distancing. With the Institute commencing the process of bringing students back to campus in phases, this AI-powered system will help to maintain a minimum of three feet of social distancing.””

“If the camera detects that the social distancing and mask norms were not being followed, the device starts alerting the crowd with a pre-recorded message,” the institute added.

According to the institute, the system was deployed at the IISER campus back in October 2020 and was continuously fine-tuned ever since. The innovators are planning to open source the complete system along with a how-to-use tutorial, IISER said.

Researchers who developed the system are P.B. Sujit, associate professor, department of electrical engineering and computer science; Mitradip Bhattacharjee and Santanu Talukdar, assistant professors, department of electrical engineering and computer science, and Venkateshwar Rao, assistant professor, department of chemical engineering.

Kasi Viswanath, a dual-degree student at IISER, developed this AI-enabled device that replicates manual policing to ensure the COVID-19 prevention norms are being followed.

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