Computer Vision News - July 2016

We hear about many algorithms that they save lives. If this is often true (and we at RSIP Vision know it well), it is even truer for the Computer-Aided Drowning Detection application developed by Poseidon . Making use of sophisticated state-of-the-art computer vision and aquatic image processing, Poseidon triggers lifesaving alarms and enables rescue of otherwise hopeless swimmers. This was more than enough for us to decide to talk to Poseidon’s CEO Thierry Bœglin and ask him to tell us more about how his application saves lives in swimming pools all over the world. Bœglin sounded more than happy to answer our questions: drowning is still a taboo subject in many places and even in the media. But regardless of whether people talk about it or not, drowning is a very serious problem, even in swimming pools which are under the surveillance of professional lifeguards, since even the most experienced and better trained among them cannot see everything. Anglo-Saxon countries request a meticulous visual scan of the pool. Other European countries where pools belong to the public administration offer a permanent surveillance; when this surveillance goes wrong, public officers might be considered responsible for the accident. Other countries look for the persons who could be blamed for the mishap and they incur the payment of damages and compensation. The most frequent misconception about drowning regards its sounds: unlike television series which display a great agitation of arms and cries for help, real drowning is a very silent and unnoticed process . When a person encounters serious difficulties, be it for lack of swimming kills, fatigue, an epileptic fit or a heart attack (to name only the most frequent occurrences), two different things might happen: either drowning persons try to beat the water with their hands, breathing deep to stay on the surface, or when force are not enough to do that, they will drown in silence in a matter of 5 to 10 seconds, ending their helpless descent at the bottom of the pool without any chance to request any assistance. “ It would be too easy to straightaway blame the negligence of lifeguards for the accident ” 12 Computer Vision News Application Poseidon Thierry Bœglin, CEO of Poseidon Application