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Biometrics and body temperature scanning technology for schools rolls out, DHS S&T announces survey

CyberLink, Princeton Identity and OneScreen announce solutions, Remark system deployed
Categories Access Control  |  Biometrics News  |  Schools
Biometrics and body temperature scanning technology for schools rolls out, DHS S&T announces survey
 

New software, modules and scanners for biometric identification and body temperature checks have been launched by CyberLink, Princeton Identity and OneScreen, respectively, to help society reopen amidst the lingering threat of COVID-19. Each company mentions workplaces and schools as customers their technology is designed for, and schools are exploring different technologies to enable safe reopening. Now everyone is convinced about how well they will work, however.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is looking into the question with a “COVID-19 temperature screening technology survey.”

CyberLink introduces FaceMe Health

CyberLink has introduced the new FaceMe Health solution to provide biometric identity verification, mask detection, and body temperature detection to help schools, retailers, hospitality operators, hospitals, airports and more prevent the spread of COVID-19.

FaceMe Health automates the above checks, and detects if masks are worn properly, providing what CyberLink says is cost-effective, non-intrusive and efficient health screening. Even with masked faces of any demographic, FaceMe Health provides 95 percent identity authentication accuracy, according to the announcement. The software is capable of running on entry-level personal computers with 8th generation Intel Core i3 or higher processors, enhancing its affordability and flexibility.

“COVID-19 has altered how we live and work, with mask wearing becoming perhaps the new common denominator experience shared by all as an effective means to prevent the spread of the virus,” states Dr. Jau Huang, CEO of CyberLink. “With our expertise in artificial intelligence, we have pooled our resources to create FaceMe Health to help businesses and other organizations plan their reopening strategy with a more efficient means to conduct health screening and contactless authentication – for both now and post-pandemic.”

FaceMe Health supports USB webcams and thermal cameras or IP cameras equipped with thermal sensors.

CyberLink added body temperature screening capabilities to the FaceMe SDK in July.

Princeton Identity launches module for return to work and school

Temperature sensors have been added to the biometric scanners in the IOM Access200 product family from Princeton Identity to add touchless body temperature checks to access control systems.

Access to a building can be automatically granted or denied based on biometric identification and temperature readings with the temperature module added to the Princeton Identity reader. The company’s patented iris recognition technology also identifies people wearing masks and goggles.

“Dating back to outbreaks like SARS, MERS, and now COVID-19, there is a pent-up demand for effective detection of potentially infected individuals, typically through the presence of fever, that drove us to expand our touchless solution,” comments Bobby Varma, CEO of Princeton Identity, in the press release. “As people return to work or school across various segments, we see the need to offer a touchless temperature screen to our family of products.”

The temperature module has been incorporated with the company’s Access200 software.

Princeton Identity announced intentions to expand its face and iris biometrics product portfolio to support post-secondary school reopening earlier in the year.

OneScreen scanner features on-device AI from Qualcomm

A touchless body temperature and biometric facial recognition scanner with on-device has been launched by OneScreen to support reopening schools, commercial spaces and public areas.

The new GoSafe scanner is built with a Qualcomm MSM8953 SoC and Qualcomm AI engine to ensure high performance and security, the company says. GoSafe performs scans in less than a second, and integrates with access control systems for automatic doors. The solution also includes mask detection, ID card scanning, and centralized management for multiple scanners, the data they collect, and attendance tracking.

OneScreen is also offering free and unlimited assistance and training from live agents with GoSafe.

“We take our product quality responsibilities very seriously because we know how much our customers expect from us,” comments OneScreen CEO Sufian Munir. “That means more than just protecting the privacy and security of personal data, it means always looking for ways to improve their lives in the real world. We’ve sought ways to simplify collaboration and education. With GoSafe, we are working to simplify the process of bringing people back together safely.”

GoSafe can be mounted to a wall, or deployed to a desktop or vertical stand. The solution has already been deployed to city buildings in Jersey City.

Las Vegas school selects Remark Holdings

A body temperature scanning system from Remark Holdings is being deployed to a private K-12 school in Las Vegas to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Vox Recode reports in an article that also explores the privacy implications of handling the personal health data of minors.

Meadows School plans to scan students as they enter school buildings, hold them back for ten minutes for re-scanning if they show an elevated temperature, and then send them home if they do not pass the second check.

Remark has supplied temperature scanning technology, along with facial recognition technology that can perform attendance tracking, to more than 100 schools in China, Recode writes.

The article also notes solutions being offered based on computer vision or wearables for social distancing checks, including Avigilon and Actuate in the former camp.  Actuate Co-founder and CTO tells the publication that close to a thousand schools are interested in its technology.

PreciTaste, an AI company supplying the food industry, has added temperature checking to its kiosks and trained an algorithm to detect masks, without collecting any personally identifying information.

A device called the BioButton is being offered on a voluntary basis by Oakland University in Michigan, after the school was forced to walk back a prior policy making it mandatory. The device tracks vital signs for early COVID-19 detection. Apps for symptom reporting are also being offered at some universities.

How effective these tools will be at curbing the spread of the virus remains a subject of speculation, but some privacy advocates are concerned about what they see as a lack of transparency in their rollout.

DHS launches temperature screening survey

The Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) at DHS has published a request for information seeking information on companies making and selling “technologies for non-invasive febrile temperature screening” to help first responders in their COVID-19 response.

S&T’s National Urban Security Technology Laboratory (NUSTL) will conduct a market study following the survey’s conclusion, as part of its System Assessment and Validation for Emergency Responders (SAVER) program. To be considered all technologies will have to meet the technical specifications identified by the National Institute of Health in its recent ‘Comparison of 3 Infrared Thermal Detection Systems and Self-Report for Mass Fever Screening’ study.

The survey asks for a brief description of the temperature screening technology, whether it can discriminate between two points varying in temperature by 0.2 degrees Celsius, if it has an effective range of two meters or greater, if it works in under a second and requires a blackbody reference object. NUSTL also asks about accessories, system cost, and where temperature is measured on the subject.

“Temperature screening technologies are one of several tools in our arsenal that can help reduce the spread of COVID-19,” states NUSTL Senior Technologist Bhargav Patel. “While screening for mass fevers may not be a panacea for getting back to ‘normal’ given the reported asymptomatic case rates, it becomes even more important to explore and use every possible tool that we have at our disposal.”

“NUSTL is committed to providing our stakeholders with actionable scientific data and strong technology options as they continue to stand up and implement their response plans,” adds NUSTL Director Alice Hong.

Responses and product submissions for the market study are requested by August 31, 2020.

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