Hanwha Techwin brings Face Mask Detection application to UK market

Wearing a mask is believed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and has already been adopted as a safety measure in many workplaces. The availability of the Face Mask Detection application could not come at a better time, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) now recommending the use of face masks wherever social distancing is difficult. For its part, the UK Government is also making it compulsory to wear a face covering when visiting or working within healthcare facilities and when using public transport.

The UK is not alone in introducing regulations to ensure the wearing of face coverings. In Germany, for example, it’s necessary to do so when on public transport and while shopping. In Spain, everyone older than six years of age has to wear masks in indoor public spaces and outdoors when it’s not easy for people to keep more than two metres apart.

The Face Mask Detection application developed by Hanwha Techwin’s technology partner a2 Technology runs on open-platform Wisenet X Series cameras and uses innovative video analytics to detect if a person entering an area is not wearing a mask. This will trigger the playing of a customisable audio message such as  ‘Please wear a face mask’.

The audio message is generated via an audio support feature built into Wisenet X cameras, negating the need for a PC or a separate audio storage device to be installed nearby. A short cable is all that’s required to connect a speaker to the camera.

An Alarm Out feature can also be used to turn on a device such as a warning beacon.

The application, which simultaneously detects and analyses up to four people and can detect people at a distance of up to five metres from a camera, is not affected by glasses, hats or scarfs and is also able to detect if a mask is not being correctly worn.

A digital zoom-in function, which is designed to be used with fixed lens cameras, assists installers to configure the application such that it focuses on a specific region of a camera’s field of view if it’s considered to be too wide.

Edge-based solution

The Face Mask Detection application can be ordered pre-loaded on selected Wisenet X models as an out-of-the-box solution. These are:

*XNB-6000/MSK Network box camera

*XNO-6080/MSK Network IR bullet camera

*XND-6010/MSK Network dome camera

*XNV-6011/MSK Vandal-resistant network dome camera

As is the case with all Wisenet X Series cameras, these models are equipped with SD/SDHC/SDXC memory slots, enabling images associated with incidents of people not wearing masks or not wearing them correctly to be stored locally. There is also the option for the images to be stored on an FTP server.

Easy to manage

A web-based interface enables end users to receive alerts via a desktop PC. The application has also been integrated with the Wisenet WAVE 4.0 Video Management Software platform which, with its ‘Layout-as-an-Action’ feature, enables a pre-defined screen layout to be automatically opened when an event occurs. This makes it even easier for operators to verify that there has been an infringement of mask-wearing rules.

“The Face Mask Detection application is an excellent example of how video surveillance technology is able to help people safely go about their everyday business,” said Uri Guterman, head of product and marketing for Hanwha Techwin Europe. “With lives sadly at stake, we fully understand our responsibilities in terms of offering solutions such as the Face Mask Detection and Occupancy Monitoring applications which are fit for purpose.”

He added: “Over the coming weeks, we will continue to work in-house and with hand-picked technology partners to develop additional practical solutions which will robustly assist staff operating in offices, factories, hospitals, art galleries and museums, places of worship, transport facilities and many other types of businesses and organisations such that they can safely open their doors to the public.”