Amritsar lad develops software to monitor social distancing

Amritsar, May 31

As the government has started gradually reopening the Covid-19 lockdown, it will be a daunting task for the authorities to maintain the social distancing norms to check the spread of the disease.

At present, the police had little idea about vulnerable points, especially in the interiors of the city, where people give two hoots to the social distancing norms.

The software can keep a hawk eye on them round the clock either through drones or CCTV cameras. The system has capability to calculate the physical distance, as set, between two or more individuals and pass on information the police team at the surveillance centre. The police can then visit the location and issue a fine if they see people breaching the rules.

Amarjot (32), who has now moved to the US, did thorough research on this issue and zeroed in by developing a software that can be fitted in CCTV cameras or drones to view a larger area.

A camera-enabled drone equipped with this software can detect the movement of human with a range up to 5 km. Similarly, it can be helpful if a CCTV camera is connected to the system.

Amarjot, who is an expert in computer software technology and has set up his own software firm, Skylark Labs, in San Francisco, said, “The required distance could be fed into the software application before connecting it to CCTV cameras or drones. If it spots people defeating the distance norms, it can send an alert to the police. We offer this technique free of cost to the government to install in the whole state.”

His brother Paramjot Singh, who lives in the city, said the application can be connected to the police surveillance room through a login ID and password. While drones can cover a larger area, it will function in CCTVs generally installed in airports, malls, residential streets, shops and key locations of the city.

Explaining its functioning, Paramjot said markers will emerge on the monitor in ‘green’ and ‘red’ boxes that indicate the status of public movement in a particular market or any public place. “The group of people who have been maintaining the prescribed distancing would be spotted in ‘green boxes’ whereas the offenders would be indicated in ‘red boxes’. This prompt detection will help the police react,” he said.