ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Swimmers may find something lurking in the depths of a few North American pools this summer. With ogling robotic eyes, this underwater "creature" - part of an artificial intelligence system that includes a centralized computer, a poolside workstation, and a collection of submerged and above-water cameras - searches for swimmers in distress. Known as Poseidon, the network has already made a lifesaving assist: After detecting an unconscious body on the floor of a community pool in Ancenis, France, it paged the pool's lifeguards. Within 16 seconds, the victim was rescued and resuscitated.
Developed in 1999 by Vision IQ/Poseidon Technologies of Boulogne, France, the system - which costs between $70,000 and $150,000 - now operates in 15 public pools throughout England, France, and the Netherlands. The company recently crossed the Atlantic to set Poseidon up in Sarasota, Florida; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Toronto.
Able to function efficiently in varying light conditions, Poseidon could be a breakthrough in computer-vision applications. The system's computers differentiate objects from light by sensing volume, using algorithms that programmers spent five years writing. A parallel process takes pool-floor texture into account: A prone, motionless swimmer obscures the texture; light and shadows don't. Poseidon reconstructs the pool scene in 3-D and analyzes multiple camera images of each shape it detects. If a particular mass under surveillance begins to sink, Poseidon adds it to a pre-alert list; if it remains immobile on the pool floor for more than five seconds, the system notifies the lifeguards and poolside workstation. Poseidon typically sends about one false alarm every two days.
"The industry has not been able to achieve this kind of performance before in the real world," says Gerard Medioni, associate director of the University of Southern California's Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems. "It opens up a whole new era for computer vision."
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