Nova Scotia hospital turning to AI to improve security – Halifax [Video]

A Nova Scotia hospital is turning to artificial intelligence to improve security at the facility as part of a larger effort to tackle rising violence in health-care settings.

The AI-powered device is part of a new pilot project at Colchester East Hants Health Centre’s emergency department in Truro, N.S., and looks like a metal detector at the front door.

“(The censors) detect the characteristics of metals and then those characteristics run through an AI sensor,” said Peter Evans, CEO of Xtract One Technologies, which built the system.

“And through that AI sensor, we can then determine, ‘This is a knife, this is a gun, this is a cellphone, this is a laptop, this is jewelry, (etc.).”

Evans adds that the technology means weapons can be identified quickly without a pat down required.

“In general, the average person has the experience of just walking right in and not having to go …