Combating coronavirus: RTA employs Artificial Intelligence in taxis to curb spread of Covid-19

Combating coronavirus: RTA employs Artificial Intelligence in taxis to curb spread of Covid-19

Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority announced that Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have been employed in taxis to monitor and verify the compliance with the preventive measures undertaken to limit the spread of the coronavirus.. "The technology can also report offences such as the failure to observe physical distancing, and the improper wearing of face masks, thanks to video analysis feature," said Ahmed Mahboub, Executive Director of Smart Services, Corporate Technology Support Services Sector, RTA.. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, such as computer vision and machine learning algorithms, proved very effective in detecting and reporting violations of preventive measures undertaken to fight the Coronavirus (Covid-19).. Such monitoring covers physical distancing and wearing of face masks onboard taxis, whether for passengers or drivers.. The introduction of the technology was on a trial base, and according to the deliverables, the technology will be generalised to all fleet vehicles," said Mahboub.. "The experiment highlighted the capability of AI technology in processing video files spanning 200 thousand hours a day.. It reduces the need for human intervention and saves much time and effort that would have otherwise been necessary to analyse these videos," he noted.. Explaining the functionality of onboard devices, Mahboub said,