Safety with out Sacrificing Privateness: UniUni Monitoring Resolution

UniUni (official site) is a startup that tackles an issue that’s been largely ignored thus far: private security in areas which have been excluded from surveillance, like public restrooms or retail dressing rooms. Whether or not it’s violent acts, drug use, voyeurism by way of hidden cameras, and extra. These have been places historically tough to video-monitor for apparent privateness causes. UniUni calls these locations “technological blind spots”.

Notice that there’s a courier/delivery company with the same name, nevertheless it’s a completely completely different enterprise.

This startup believes it has the know-how that may lastly reply this problem, because of a mixture of {hardware} and software program. The {hardware} presents itself within the type of a small monitoring field, which you’ll be able to maintain in your hand.

Sometimes, it will be put in on the ceiling of every particular person bathroom seat, however fret not, there’s no digital camera inside. As an alternative, there’s a lidar gadget that acts extra like a radar, because it perceives depth as a substitute of colours. Similar to a radar, it may let you know there’s somebody (or one thing) however there’s no video or images that voyeurs would need.

We’ve seen this sort of “radar” know-how earlier than, and we all know it really works for presence-detection purposes. Nonetheless, UniUni takes the know-how to the subsequent degree by including a layer of A.I (Synthetic Intelligence) on prime of the uncooked information.

The corporate claims it may sense irregular conditions corresponding to violence, drug use, or individuals putting hidden cameras in restrooms. If it really works as marketed, that will be a private security game-changer as it is extremely onerous to observe so many places with out severe automation.

Totally different locations would possibly expertise completely different challenges. For instance, Korea had a hidden digital camera challenge lately, however different international locations would possibly expertise excessive drug utilization or bodily assaults in these places.

Hidden cameras are far more costly to seek out and take away than stopping their set up within the first place, when potential. There are additionally instances the place individuals may expertise a fall or faint, during which UniUni’s product may alert personnel to assist.

Past private security, the corporate factors out that it’s also potential to enhance amenities upkeep as properly by estimating when the bathroom paper must be modified, how typically the cleanup ought to be achieved, and so on.

Sometimes, this might be deployed in comparatively giant buildings, and the constructing proprietor or their safety personnel would get the notification and entry to the information by way of a dashboard. All of the software program runs as a SaaS (service page) and by way of an area wi-fi community, which makes this very straightforward to put in. The monitoring gadget prices about $350 and the SaaS service is about $100 per 30 days.

Up to now, this has been deployed to about 30 websites in Korea, and UniUni is looking for to promote it within the USA. The European Union can also be a fascinating market, however the firm continues to be going via paperwork proper now.

UniUni’s monitoring resolution could be very attention-grabbing because it overcomes a number of the apparent points with video surveillance in this sort of location. On the similar time, it does present a number of the similar benefits as video surveillance, with out affecting privateness as a lot.