Soon, ‘Smart’ CCTV Will Detect Passengers Not Wearing Masks, Unattended Bags & More

By
Zhi Hao
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Automation is not a speculated possibility in the future.

It is the future.

After all, we’re now living in a time when human eyes are no longer needed for stuff such as unattended bags and mask-less vigilantes.

Instead, all we need is a ‘smart’ CCTV, that will do all the work for us.

Soon, ‘Smart’ CCTV Will Detect Passengers Not Wearing Masks, Unattended Bags & More

Developed by SBS Transit and French firm Thales, the video analytics system is said to be capable of detecting unattended luggage as well as mask-less commuters…

On an automatic basis.

In addition, it will be able to identify unexpected crowds at a faster pace, through the gauging of commuter density.

“How does that work?” you ponder.

Well, the system will apparently be able to collect data of usual crowd levels at different times of the day.

Thus when a larger crowd comes into place, station staff will be alerted promptly.

This could certainly come into use in the event of a mishap, which would normally draw large crowds. Think Stompers and aspiring filmmakers.

Also, the system is being adapted to identify commuters with mobility issues. Faster assistance could become an aspect in the near future.

However, SBS Transit senior vice-president Jeffrey Sim has clarified that the system is not a replacer.

Rather, it’s more of an enabler, in the sense that it will ease the need for human patrols, and quicken identification and assistance procedures.

When Will It Be Incorporated?

If things progress smoothly, the system should be incorporated at five MRT interchange stations as early as later this year. The five stations are:

  • Outram Park
  • Chinatown
  • Dhoby Ghaut
  • Little India
  • Serangoon

It could also be used at interchange stations along Downtown Line by 2022.

Having been in development over the last one and a half years, the project cost was supposedly covered by SBS Transit in full.

Technology

Slowly but surely, technology is taking over human processes.

Though to be fair, technology is faster in a sense.

Just last year (2020), the Ministry of Manpower and the Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP) and advisory, broking and solutions firm Willis Towers Watson conducted a study analysing several HR roles and the impact technology would have on them.

Interestingly, it was found that some of these roles might be at risk of being replaced by technology, with 24 out of the 27 roles eventually being impacted by technology at various levels in the next three to five years.

At the risk of being completely replaced and the most severely affected are eight of the studied HR roles, which are lower-level positions in the talent management, performance and rewards, as well as organisation development areas.

These roles are actually administrative in nature and can easily be taken over and automated by robotic process automation, machine learning and social robotics, fields that have seen advancement.

However, spaces have opened up for new roles as well.

Highly specialised roles such as an HR data analyst will be created with the advancement of automation and technology, with people analytics being a key skill across all HR roles instead of a specialised position in the long term, stated the report.

So, although certain positions may be lost in the future, new ones will not escape us.

>But in order to step into new shoes, it’s imperative that we keep upskilling ourselves, and to keep bettering ourselves.

As Bruce Lee once said: “Be like water, my friend.”

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Zhi Hao
Email: [email protected]