CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — As threats to school safety continue, one company may have the solution.
The solution could soon be tested in Chattanooga schools.
The surveillance technology, Volt artificial intelligence (AI), provides live footage from inside the school.
Charles Anderson, a parent of two children who attend Hamilton County Schools, discovered the security platform after an incident at East Hamilton Middle School.
“There was a gun incident at East Hamilton Middle School. A gun was found in a child’s locker. Nothing happened. The gun was located and disposed of,” Anderson said Tuesday. “We have a roughly 3,800 camera system, but we are not monitoring all 3,800 cameras throughout the school. No one views the camera footage until something happens and it is also used for archival purposes.”
Anderson said the Volt AI will provide “true situational awareness” for both staff and police if they need to enter school grounds.
The technology can track where a person goes if they see something suspicious, like a gun.
Even if humans don’t notice a threat, AI can track it and alert authorities and emergency personnel.
“Think of it as an artificial intelligence brain connected to lots of eyes, and those eyes are cameras, right? Specifically, we overlay the cameras onto a live 3D model of your facility,” said Egor Olteanu, founder and CEO of Volt AI.
Olteanu says the company hopes to save as much money as possible with the technology.
“Now, any movement of a potential threat – be it a person, a vehicle or an object – can be tracked from one camera to another without the operator having to do anything. When an alert is received, it pops up on the screen, and as it moves between different cameras, the screen moves automatically to provide real-time information,” Olteanu said.
Anderson presented the idea to Hamilton County School Board members at a meeting last week.
During the meeting, one member in particular expressed satisfaction with the security platform.
“Wow, this is cutting edge technology,” said Jody Shaffer, school board member for School District 7. “As a parent whose children attend the school where the weapon was found, it’s very important to me that my children are safe, and we’re looking at anything we can do to enhance safety measures.”
Schaffer said if Volt AI receives approval as a vendor from the state, it will be able to pilot the program at both East Hamilton Middle School and High School.
