ZeroEyes, a Montgomery County-based firm that created an AI-based gun detection video analytics platform, has announced that Temple University will deploy its technology to protect students and faculty against gun-related violence.
Temple is the first university within the Philadelphia region to adopt ZeroEyes’ solution, the company said in a press release Monday announcing the partnership.
ZeroEyes will be deployed on Temple’s 163-acre main campus in North Philadelphia, which accommodates approximately 30,000 students and faculty each year.
“Our students enjoy the opportunity to immerse themselves in the vibrant atmosphere and community that Philadelphia offers, and we are determined to ensure that they can do so safely,” Jennifer Griffin, vice president for public safety and chief of police at Temple University, said in a statement. “Our holistic approach to security at Temple includes our own police department, a 24/7 dispatch center, numerous security officers, and 1,500 security cameras. We are very excited about ZeroEyes’ ability to provide rapid detection and actionable intelligence about illegally brandished guns on our campus.”
ZeroEyes’ AI gun detection and intelligent situational awareness software layers onto existing digital security cameras, according to the company. If a gun is identified, images are instantly shared with the ZeroEyes Operations Center, which is staffed 24/7/365 by specially trained U.S. military and law enforcement veterans. The operations center is the industry’s only U.S.-based, fully in-house center.
If the threat is determined to be valid by the experts in the center, they will dispatch alerts and actionable intelligence — including a description, gun type and last known location — to local law enforcement and Temple staff as quickly as 3 to 5 seconds from detection, according to the release.
“We commend Temple University for being a trailblazer for safety here on the East Coast,” Mike Lahiff, CEO and co-founder of ZeroEyes, said in a statement, adding that the company looks forward to working closely with Temple “staff to make sure that students and faculty feel safe and are protected against gun-related violence.”
The solution, the company has previously said, “mitigates mass shootings and gun-related violence by reducing response times, providing actionable intelligence with images and delivering clarity among chaos — ultimately saving lives.”
ZeroEyes was founded by a group of former Navy SEALs and technologists and is based in Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County. The company’s patented solution is recognized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as a “promising anti-terrorism technology” and is the first video analytics technology to receive SAFETY Act DT&E Designation.
The platform is deployed across a variety of industries nationwide, including school districts, commercial property groups, shopping malls, places of worship, hospitals, military bases, manufacturing plants, casinos and Fortune 500 campuses. The ZeroEyes team also provides consulting, installation assistance and practice drills for active shooter events to enhance safety at schools, corporate and government facilities.
ZeroEyes used hundreds of thousands of proprietary images and videos to train its AI to be the most comprehensive and superior gun detection technology on the market, according to the company. The AI does not perform any facial recognition and does not receive, record, store or share any biometric data, videos or images.
Temple University is ranked among the top 45 public schools by U.S News & World Report. As a classified R1 institution, it not only focuses on teaching but also engages in pioneering research.
