Temperature scanning and biometric COVID-mitigation technology continues flooding into market

CloudMinds is rebranding and pivoting to temperature scanning, amid a busy period for biometrics and other technologies being applied to reducing the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Thales is expanding a trial of group temperature-scanning, Universal PropTech has a commercialization deal, Elo has added fever checks, while a collaboration between Philips, BioIntelliSense and the University of Colorado has won a $2.8 million grant to work on early COVID detection.

The American unit of robotics startup CloudMinds has changed its name to Wright Robotics to distance itself from its Entity Listed parent company, Thomson Reuters reports via KFGO.

The name change was spotted in documents dating back to August, and is accompanied by a new focus on temperature scanning and COVID-19 transmission prevention technologies.

CloudMinds was added to the U.S. Entity List in May, is backed by SoftBank, and has the majority of its workforce in China, according to the report. SoftBank also owns a stake in T-Mobile after its merger with Sprint, and Wright Robotics’ scanners are available through the T-Mobile IoT Marketplace.

The company’s Cloud Pepper robot, launched late last year, uses face biometrics to identify individuals.

The article also raises questions about the marketing of Wright Robotics’ scanners as being designed in California, and the company’s receipt of a loan under a federal U.S. pandemic aid program.

Thales trial shows potential temperature scanning of groups

A trial by NHS Scotland of temperature scanning with thermal imagers and artificial intelligence provided by Thales could enable governments to detect people with fevers among crowds, with the first phase of a feasibility study yielding promising results, according to a company announcement.

The system uses machine learning algorithms which use a basic temperature measurement to form a complete thermal image of each person’s face.

“It has been a really good experience working with the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital,” says Willie Alexander, technical director for Thales Optronics. “With their medical knowledge and our technical expertise, we want to ensure a solution that is fit for purpose, medically grounded and practical to use and maintain. It has been a fantastic demonstration of complementary skill sets brought together to fight a common cause. It’s as easy as setting up a webcam and firing up an app. We’re just using commercially available cameras — the real magic happens in the software.”

“Most existing solutions are based on industrial systems and they’re not designed for medical uses,” he continues. “They can only scan one face at a time, they’re less accurate, and they need to be calibrated and operated by specialist technicians. With our system, we can scan entire groups of people at the same time and focus on the parts of the face with the same temperature as an ear thermometer, which is the standard equipment for healthcare professionals. And the solution uses machine learning, so the more patients we work with the better the model gets.”

The first phase of testing was conducted on 100 people over a four-week period, and the trial will now be expanded for the second phase.

SustainCo partners with Delta-X Global Corp

SustainCo, which will soon be known as Universal PropTech, has reached a collaboration and commercialization agreement with Delta-X Global Corp to brings the former’s face biometrics and temperature scanning software to market.

The solution is called Delta-X Trust, and it enables facilities to monitor the flow of people entering and exiting buildings, while identifying people with elevated body temperatures to enable rapid responses. It also provides biometric identity and access management (IAM) capabilities.

On completion of the deal, Delta-X Trust will be offered to Delta-X Global’s customer portfolio, which includes thousands of properties, according to the announcement. The solution already provides biometric access control and real-time data tracking to customers in the manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality and education sectors.

Elo Access deploys temperature screening, plans facial recognition for kiosk app

Mask detection and automated temperature screening have been added to the Elo Access App in a new Premium tier for the company’s self-service kiosks, and Elo plans to add facial recognition.

The app was originally developed as a means of deploying and managing health questionnaires for access control, with the upgrades intended to simplify visitor management for a range of businesses.

The Elo app combines with Android devices and Elo’s Temperature Sensor Pro to provide an all-in-one solution that resellers can supply to businesses attempting to safely resume operation.

The facial recognition capability will grant access to individuals pre-authorized with Microsoft Outlook or Google Contacts uploads.

BioIntelliSense biometric wearable to be trialed for early COVID-19 detection

The U.S. Department of Defense has granted nearly $2.8 million in funding to Philips, BioIntelliSense and the University of Colorado to work on early COVID-19 detection with continuous tracking of biometrics and other health data.

The partners will trial the FDA-approved BioSticker with 2,500 people through the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC) award.

The BioSticker continuously monitors multiple health parameters including vital signs, physiological biometrics and symptomatic events, according to the announcement. It integrates with remote patient monitoring technology from Philips, which took a minority interest in BioIntelliSense earlier this year.

Philips has a close working relationship with DoD and Veterans Affairs.

“The medical-grade BioSticker wearable, combined with advanced diagnostic algorithms, may serve as the basis for identifying pre- and very early symptomatic COVID-19 cases, allow for earlier treatment for infected individuals, as well as reduce the spread of the virus to others,” says James Mault, MD, founder and CEO of BioIntelliSense.

Article Topics

access control  |  BioIntelliSense  |  biometrics  |  Elo  |  facial recognition  |  robots  |  temperature monitoring  |  Thales  |  wearables