"Smile, you are counted." The RATP has installed since Wednesday a detection system for mask wearers who pass several video surveillance cameras at the Châtelet-Les Halles metro station.
Still in the calibration phase this Friday, the device will be used, from May 11 and for three months, to measure in real time the rate of adoption of facial protection in this central station and therefore rich in lessons.
"An electronic dashboard will inform us, day after day, of the evolution of the rate of wearing of the mask in the spaces concerned and thus ensure the safety of all in transport in the context of deconfinement", explains the RATP. As a reminder, wearing a mask is compulsory for users of public transport from Monday
Reinforcement of artificial intelligence
Châtelet-Les Halles, a giant station at the heart of the RATP's artificial intelligence laboratory, already had the first 6 HD cameras necessary to quantify masked passengers at regular intervals.
They are scattered in well-lit places, such as corridors or escalators, where the transport authority has informed travelers of the experiment.
The subcontractor, the start-up DatakaLab, only had to plug its six boxes into a control room. They contain a powerful processor with an algorithm that continuously analyzes the video stream and counts the carriers.
“Our software detects different points of the face in real time and the artificial intelligence compares them with a model it knows which is maskless. This then gives a score of 0 to 1 on the extent of the coverage of the face, ”explains Xavier Fischer, boss of the Parisian start-up.
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"All the detection takes place in the machine and only generates data sets and statistical averages that do not allow us to trace a group of people," demines the young entrepreneur, anticipating the criticisms of privacy.
A priori compliance with legislation
As a guarantor of respect for personal data, of which the identification of an individual is a part, the National Commission for Data Protection (Cnil) "has been informed by way of indication, but notably European legislation does not impose any authorization prerequisite for this device because we do not store images or data ”specifies the RATP.
This same technology is already used with two large white boxes on markets in Cannes. The tool was used by the town hall to launch a mask distribution campaign and awareness-raising operations.
In the Paris metro, the system could also lead to preventive actions but in no case, according to the RATP, to a campaign for the verbalization of offenders.
The experiment will gain momentum by calling on six additional cameras by August, also at Châtelet-Les-Halles. Detection software will also soon be able to measure respect for social distancing, another major problem in public transport.