Lifeguards at a Canterbury pool now have an extra helper with a new AI system employed to help identify when people might be drowning.
The tool used cameras to detect body shapes in the water at Selwyn Aquatic Centre and notified lifeguards if something was not right.
“It’s essentially a second pair of eyes,” said lifeguard Dexton Green.
“We basically get a map of the pool, it shows us wherean incident is and we’re prompted to go and check it.”
Selwyn District Council head of sport and recreation James Richmond said the system ran off normal CCTV cameras.
“It’s analysing some of the behaviour and if the system sees something that is not quite right, it triggers an alert to a lifeguard’s watch.”
It follows a review at the pool two years which concluded that it was sometimes difficult for the lifeguards to identify when someone might be drowning underwater.
“We started looking at what other systems could be available to help lifeguards identify incidents and respond,” Richmond said.
Privacy has been a major consideration, he added.
“It’s something we’ve spent a lot of time looking at, so the system doesn’t see people per se. It sees shapes and movements.”
The AI could pick up things that were less obvious to the naked eye.
Green said the system was particularly useful when there was a glare on the water.
“There are areas in the pool that do have that glare and, when it’s sunny it’s more difficult to see, so that’s where it mainly helps us.”
He said lifeguards were already seeing the benefits of the installation.
“At the end of the day, it’s here to help us, and anything that helps us, we’re going to take on board.”
The system was installed just before Christmas and was believed to be the first in New Zealand, with councils across the country taking notice.
In the last decade, there have been nine drownings at public pools in New Zealand.
Water Safety NZ spokesperson Gavin Walker said he would love other pools to explore options to improve safety but he stressed the technology was only part of the solution.
“AI cameras, they don’t do away with lifeguards and they certainly don’t do away with parents’ responsibilities to be in there with their kids and the rest of us to be safe around pools. But it’s certainly another layer of protection, particularly when pools are busy and lifeguards’ attention is elsewhere.”
