Nokia Creates Automated Covid-19 Thermal Detection System

Nokia has joined the fight against the global Coronavirus pandemic, as key European countries contend with a surge in infections during a second wave of the disease.

Nokia is now offering a solution it has developed in-house for its factory in India, to customers worldwide.

The automated system uses a thermal camera and real-time video analytics to determine if a person has Covid-19 symptoms. It can even detect if a staff member complying with rules by wearing a mask.

Automated scrutiny

Nokia announced that its system “provides organisations with an automated, simple and scalable approach to identify Covid-19 symptoms and monitor mask compliance for facilities with thousands of people.”

The solution is essentially a combination of thermal cameras, centralised management, analytics, as well as cloud and private wireless technologies.

It removes the need to check and scrutinise staff at each workplace entry and exit.

Nokia therefore believes its automated, zero-touch system can ensure supply chain resilience and business continuity by keeping people safe, thanks to its ability to help spot potential Covid-19 infections in facilities with thousands of people.

It is calling the system the “Nokia Automated Analytics Solution for Access Control”, and said it is suited to “large environments with multiple accesses.”

The Nokia solution can also be customised by organisations with additional features, including predictive surveillance, machine maintenance and security threats.

The Finnish company said it is a proven technology, and it has been used in its factory in Chennai, India, for two months and has screened more than 200,000 people in that facility.

Thermal cameras

“Whether in factories, ports, offices, airports, schools, or outdoor screening centers, mission-critical networks and digital automation solutions play a leading role in ensuring supply resilience, business continuity, and workers’ safety in real-time,” explained Amit Shah, head of analytics and IoT for Nokia.

“Our Nokia Automated Analytics Solution brings centralised data, analytics, and an automation management system, allowing large organisations to make intelligent decisions to protect their people and facilities during and in a post-pandemic world, while respecting individual privacy,” said Shah.

Nokia said the system uses an open architecture and people’s faces can be blurred to ensure privacy.

The Nokia Automated Analytic Solution uses a thermal camera to capture video footage and takes individual temperature readings (accurate to +/- 0.3 degrees Celsius) for every person that enters the screening site.

The analytics engine processes the video clip to determine whether the individuals require additional screening, or are not complying with mask-wearing rules.

But Nokia is not the only firm doing this.

Amazon also uses thermal cameras to screen its staff as the enter and exit warehouses and other buildings.