Indian robot Mitra made in China steals the show at IT event
An Indian robot made in China, which could recognise people by their nationalities and guide customers in a bank, captivated Chinese manufacturers at an IT event held in port city of Dalian.
The robot helps identify people at the airports and other places through nationalities or ethnic backgrounds and recommends hotel, restaurants and places of interests.
Beijing: An Indian robot made in China, which could recognise people by their nationalities and guide customers in a bank, on Wednesday captivated Chinese manufacturers at an IT event held in the southern port city of Dalian.
The five-feet Robot Mitra which was designed in Bengaluru but manufactured in the Chinese city of Shenzhen was presented as a model of merger of India’s software prowess with China’s hardware, Gagan Sabharwal, senior director, Global Trade Development, NASSCOM told PTI.
Mitra is a perfect example of how Indian software and China’s hardware can be merged, Sabharwal said, adding that the agreement helps to bring the small and medium-sized enterprises and startups of both the countries to launch into Internet of Things (IOT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), he said.
Its inventors could not bring it to the first India-China Dalian Internet of Things (IoT) Conference which was well attended by top Chinese and Indian manufacturing firms as the airlines did not allow its heavy batteries to be transported.
Instead it was introduced through a presentation which drew considerable attention, Sabharwal said.
The robot helps identify people at the airports and other places through nationalities or ethnic backgrounds and recommends hotel, restaurants and places of interests.
Mitra has been deployed at Canara Bank in Bengaluru to guide customers in banking operations.
NASSCOM plans to take it to a major IT event in Japan next month to highlight its operational utility at the airports, Sabharwal said.
During the event, NASSCOM and Dalian local government signed an agreement to further strengthen software and IT communication and cooperation amid opportunities brought about by the global digital revolution. PTI
source : https://tinyurl.com/yd5ajmy9
4 ways AI could make airports more tolerable
Is it possible that a combination of computer vision and AI could make airports more tolerable?
Above: People waiting in queue at arrival immigration of Singapore’s Changi Airport.
Image Credit: joyfull / Shutterstock
Implementing these technologies won’t build larger airports or reduce the number of passengers, but it could offer a unique solution to airport wait times.
The impact of AI on our lives is going to be profound in coming years, and the same is true of computer vision. When you combine the two technologies, you get a real recipe for improving the airport experience.
A lot of the issues we see with air travel today are a direct result of our inability to compute all the potential combinations and permutations. We have multiple security stops at airports because we believe that every step makes us safer. But it’s not necessarily true that the more checks and balances we add, the more likely we are to catch the bad guys. The problem isn’t the number of steps in a security check — it’s human error.
AI has the ability to process information at a staggering rate and to correlate data that even the most intuitive TSA agent might not see.
The airport experience is going to change dramatically over the next decade. Every step of the journey will be affected — from security to queuing to baggage claim. Here are four ways we will likely see AI and computer vision transform air travel in the future.
1. Predictable flight delays
We spend a large portion of our time in airports waiting on delayed flights. Anything from bad weather to a mechanical issue can hold a plane up for hours. When you use big data and machine learning to approach the problem, you have the ability to replace on-the-spot analysis with highly correlative pattern analysis to better prepare the airport for setbacks. This would allow airlines to route delayed passengers dynamically before they even made it to the airport.
Maintaining and analyzing maintenance logs with supervised learning could also protect airlines from sudden failures. This technology could flag planes that are in need of maintenance and dynamically reallocate aircraft accordingly.
2. Automated security checks
Human TSA agents will never be better at performing security checks than a supervised learning algorithm would be. If machines can look at your passport photo and take a picture of you, they can access your social graph (linked to your ID of course), which could remove many unnecessary human checks. Some of this would not even require a complex AI solution.
3. Fewer unnecessary bag searches
Have you ever had to wait in the security queue behind that person with two handbags full of every possible 50ml liquid you can think of? Even worse, each false alarm increases the likelihood a security agent will overlook actual threats later on.
Computers can photograph, analyze, and identify items in a bag much faster than a human can, without even opening the bag. This is a classic use-case for a supervised learning algorithm. After collecting substantial training data, AI could identify which objects need to be checked in more detail.
If we then added a clustering algorithm that could flag any passengers who fell into “orange” or “red” zones, those passengers could be autonomously routed for a more detailed search. The technology could even assess an individual’s social media activity and use mass attribution to identify potential threats. Some of the things this technology would consider might include:
- Did the individual make a lot of phone calls to countries on a watch list?
- Do they take an extreme position on religion?
- Who have they been photographed with?
- Do they have no social footprint in comparison to the average person?
People who are likely to do bad things are a statistical anomaly. This means they’re easy to spot using statistical evaluation.
4. Streamlined screening processes
We’ve already created advanced camera technology that can see your heat signature from a distance. So what’s the point of having you queue up, take off your shoes, and walk through an old metal detector?
Background thermal imaging cameras can analyze passengers walking or running through the airport. When you couple this technology with facial recognition and the data we have from points one and two, we could easily flag individuals carrying banned items before they even reach the coffee shop.
Friendlier skies
Whether you are focusing on deterrence or apprehension, the simplest solution is to remove human error from the equation. As we implement available technologies and benefit from new advancements, we will likely build a more pleasant future for airport patrons.
Sachin Dev Duggal is the CEO, Engineer.ai an autonomous software development and cloud ops company.
New Technology Promises Airport Screening of Bags with Laptops and Liquids Inside
New Technology Promises Airport Screening of Bags with Laptops and Liquids Inside
Photo: Shutterstock.com
The day when travelers do not need to remove their laptops and bottles of shampoo from their carry-on bags has gotten a step closer this week, thanks to a new technology that has been approved for testing by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Analogic Corporation’s ConneCT system uses computed tomography technology and 3D imaging to give security officers at airport security checkpoints a 360-degree view of each bag, so they can more easily see through clutter and locate prohibited items.
The goal is to allow passengers to keep their personal electronic devices and bottles of liquids in their bags and speed up the screening process.
According to president and CEO of Analogic Fred Parks, the motivation behind the technology is to keep “the traveling public moving through airports faster and safer than ever before.”
ConneCT’s first customer, American Airlines, which came on board in June, demonstrated the system at Phoenix Sky Harbour International. It also has been in testing in the U.K. A similar system also was tested at London’s Luton Airport.
Liquids were banned completely from aircraft in August 2006 over fears that terrorists would take down a plane by mixing liquids while they were on board. But small bottles of liquid, carried in a bag that can be removed from the carry-on, were small quantities were determined to be safe.
Still, the removal of liquids and laptops from carry-on bags continues to slow down the screening process, especially when passengers do it incorrectly and have to be pulled side.
The TSA did improve on overall airport security satisfaction in 2017 according to a survey by Travel Leaders Group. That survey showed that overall airport security satisfaction hit 67.5% this year, up from 63.6% last year, while the percentage of travelers dissatisfied with airport screening dropped from 17% to 14.9%.
Part of the improvement may be due to both the increased number of TSA staff and airline investments in more modern screening equipment that allows faster and more efficient processing of passengers at check-in.
source : https://tinyurl.com/y934veuk
Possible Solution for Long Airport Lines
Possible Solution for Long Airport Lines
Balancing line speed and security at the airport is essential to ensuring safe, reliable travel. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is working with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to evaluate new identity verification technology that will reduce the time it takes for travelers to pass through security.
In June, TSA began conducting a series of proof-of-concept tests for new biometric fingerprint technology with assistance from S&T’s Biometrics Technology Engine and Apex Screening at Speed program.
According to newswise.com, the touch-free scanners, developed by Advanced Optical Systems, Inc., allow a traveler’s fingerprints to serve as their boarding pass and identity document. “A biometric process can actually be faster than scanning tickets and can identify travelers automatically with few errors,” S&T Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency Program Manager, Arun Vemury, explained. “However, performance depends dramatically on the choice of technology and process.”
Proof-of-concept testing is taking place at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and Denver International Airport. These locations were chosen based on the expertise of local TSA teams, diverse passenger demographics, and the ability to integrate the technology without negatively impacting airport operations.
Vemury and his team are evaluating the biometric fingerprint technology’s usability, looking at whether the non-contact scanner is intuitive for the average traveler. The team then compares data with observations of traditional contact sensors and notes any discrepancies.
As with many types of technology, use errors are often the biggest source of failure, so getting the design right is critical. “Failure to acquire biometrics can be a major source of error for biometric systems, especially those serving hurried travelers who may not understand how to present their biometrics properly,” Vemury noted.
The new non-contact fingerprint scanners are one of the latest innovations to come from TSA’s Innovation Task Force, which is responsible for identifying new technologies to improve screening operations. S&T’s new Biometric Technology Engine is charged with establishing an enduring core biometric capability and ensuring the re-use of biometric tools, methods.
source : https://tinyurl.com/ybs2ocq8
Changi Airport Terminal 4 to open in October 2017
Changi Airport Group (CAG)
has announced that the new Terminal 4 (T4) facility at Changi Airport in Singapore is scheduled to commence operations on October 31, 2017. This follows the recent successful conclusion of major trials, with a small number of checks and reviews to be completed in the final phase of the preparations.
To ensure a smooth transition of flight operations from the existing terminals, the operations of the nine T4 airlines – the AirAsia Group (four airlines), Cathay Pacific Airways, Cebu Pacific Air, Korean Air, Spring Airlines and Vietnam Airlines – will all be shifted to T4 in the space of a week.
The first arrival and departing flights at T4 will be operated by Cathay Pacific, flying to and from Hong Kong. Since October 2016, CAG has collaborated with its airport partners to prepare T4 for flight operations. This began with table-top exercises to develop the standard operating procedures, and later progressed to ground deployment exercises to familiarize staff with the new terminal and processes.
Volunteers from the airport community and members of the public were invited to role-play as passengers to test the critical airport systems and processes. These included the Fast And Seamless Travel (FAST) self-service options at check-in, bag drop, immigration and boarding, as well as security screening, baggage handling, flight information, ground transport, wayfinding, and transfer processes.
In recent weeks, CAG conducted trials involving selected commercial flights with airline partners at T4, which were essential to validate the interoperability and process integration of the airport and airline systems. Altogether, more than 100 trials have been conducted, involving over 1,500 volunteer participants and 2,500 airport staff.
Tan Lye Teck, executive vice president (airport management), CAG, said, “The past months have been a very crucial period for us as we conducted intensive tests and trials, not only to ensure that the systems work well, but also to understand how passengers navigate the new terminal, including interacting with initiatives such as FAST which may be less familiar to them.
“We have identified areas of improvement following those trials. Feedback gathered from trial participants has also been very useful to CAG and our partners in finetuning our systems and processes. We will take the next few weeks to complete the last set of trials as we prepare for the commencement of operations at T4.”
T4 will add a capacity of 16 million passengers per annum to Changi Airport, bringing the airport’s total annual handling capacity to 82 million passenger movements.
Written by Daniel Symonds
September 6, 2017
source : https://tinyurl.com/y7wvo9v9