Hanwha Techwin Introduces Face Mask Detection Application To Support The Businesses Reopening During COVID-19

Coinciding with the recent launch of the Occupancy Monitoring application designed to help implement social distancing rules, Hanwha Techwin has also introduced a Face Mask Detection application which will further help businesses operate in a COVID-19 affected world. Wearing a mask is believed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and has already been adopted as a safety measure in many workplaces.

However, the availability of the Face Mask Detection application could not come at a better time with the World Health Organization (WHO) now recommending the use of face masks wherever social distancing is difficult. The UK government is also making it compulsory to wear a face covering when visiting or working within healthcare facilities and when using public transport.

Innovative video analytics

An Alarm Out feature can also be used to turn on a device such as a warning beacon

The UK is not alone in introducing regulations to ensure the wearing of face coverings. In Germany, for example, it is necessary to do so when on public transport and while shopping, and in Spain everyone older than six, has to wear masks in indoor public spaces and outdoors when it is not easy for people to keep more than two meters apart.

The Face Mask Detection application developed by Hanwha Techwin’s technology partner, a2 Technology, runs on open-platform Wisenet X Series cameras and uses innovative video analytics to detect if a person entering an area is not wearing a mask. This will trigger the playing of a customizable audio message such as ‘please wear a face mask’.

Fixed lens cameras

The audio message is generated via an audio support feature built into Wisenet X cameras, negating the need for a PC or a separate audio storage device to be installed nearby. A short cable is all that is required to connect a speaker to the camera. An Alarm Out feature can also be used to turn on a device such as a warning beacon.

The application, which simultaneously detects and analyses up to 4 people and can detect people at a distance up to 5 meters from a camera, is not affected by glasses, hats or scarfs, is also able to detect if a mask is not being correctly worn. A digital zoom-in function, which is designed to be used with fixed lens cameras, assists installers to configure the application so that it focuses on a specific region of a camera’s field of view if it is considered to be too wide.

Edge-based solution

The Face Mask Detection application can be ordered pre-loaded on selected Wisenet X models as an out-of-the-box solution. These are:

• XNB-6000/MSK Network box camera
• XNO-6080/MSK Network IR bullet camera
• XND-6010/MSK Network dome camera
• XNV-6011/MSK Vandal-resistant network dome camera

As is the case with all Wisenet X Series cameras, these models are equipped with SD/SDHC/SDXC memory slots, enabling images associated with incidents of people not wearing masks or not wearing them correctly, to be stored locally. There is also the option for the images to be stored on an FTP server.

Video Management Software

We fully understand our responsibilities in terms of offering solutions which are fit for purpose"

A web-based interface enables users to receive alerts via a desktop PC. The application has also been integrated with the Wisenet WAVE 4.0 Video Management Software (VMS) platform which, with its ‘Layout-as-an-Action’ feature, enables a predefined screen layout to be automatically opened when an event occurs. This makes it even easier for operators to verify there has been an infringement of mask wearing rules.

“The Face Mask Detection application is an excellent example of how video surveillance technology is able to help people safely go about their every-day business,” said Uri Guterman, Head of Product & Marketing for Hanwha Techwin Europe.

Occupancy Monitoring applications

“With lives sadly at stake, we fully understand our responsibilities in terms of offering solutions which are fit for purpose, such as the Face Mask Detection and Occupancy Monitoring applications."

"Over the coming weeks we will therefore continue to work in-house and with hand-picked technology partners to develop additional practical solutions which will robustly assist offices, factories, hospitals, art galleries and museums, places of worship, transport facilities and many other types of businesses and organizations, to safely open their doors to the public.”