In 2013 there were 26 school shootings were reported In the US that number rose to 82 a decade later. America has a problem with school shootings, we can agree on that. The cause—and solution—of the issue, on the other hand, is where things start to fall apart. It has become one of the most polarizing topics for a very polarized country. Solutions range from much stricter gun enforcement and stronger investments in mental health to locking doors and arming teachers.
The dramatic rise in cases has created a cottage industry of tech startups hoping to tackle the problem. There’s ZeroEyes, which uses artificial intelligence imaging tracked by law enforcement, panic alert system Centegix, and scanner maker Evolv Technology, among others. Studies conducted by research institutions such as Johns Hopkins however, their effectiveness has been questioned.
Cover, a new startup from Archer and Figure AI founder Brett Adcock, believes it has cracked the code. At its core, the company’s approach isn’t all that different from existing methods like metal detectors and scanners, as it monitors a school’s entrance. A pair of the objects seen above are mounted on a door, scanning passers-by.
Cover says what makes it stand out is the underlying technology it uses, which is exclusively licensed from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). In fact, the startup is based in Pasadena, California, as several employees at nearby JPL facilities have joined.
Adcock compares the underlying technology to full-body scanners that supplement metal detectors at many airports. “Our system is very similar to this, but it’s 10 times more powerful and accurate,” he told TechCrunch. “So we can basically scan very long distances. Ten to 15 feet away, we can scan someone, instead of letting them sit here for a few seconds in a row.”
The comparison with TSA scanners, however, shows what could well prove to be a significant barrier to widespread adoption of the technology. The issue has been a minefield of pushback for privacy advocates because of their ability to effectively see under clothing. In 2019, the TSA announced it would require full-body scanners add a layer of privacy protection. Such concerns will likely be exacerbated by the fact that technology will largely sweep minors into a school setting.
Adcock explains that the system will be monitored by artificial intelligence rather than humans, and will only search for a “limited” number of weapons, including guns, knives and explosives. “That’s all we’ll be looking for,” he said. “We are not going to display uncompressed files outside the system. We won’t have anywhere to store them, we won’t need them. We simply use an embedded neural network to search for weapons. There won’t be [issue with] how do we protect people’s faces, because we won’t record it or store it.”
Once a threat is detected, a cropped image of the object will be made available to management.
What participation in this system will ultimately look like, and what alternatives there will be, depends on which schools and districts choose to implement the technology. The system will identify potential hazards based on factors such as size, shape and material. The latter, for example, will help you tell the difference between a gun and a spray gun.
“People shouldn’t be bringing guns to school at this level of safety risk,” Adcock said. “I would say if people are bringing in a spray gun, we’d really like to track it down. Now, I think we will really be able to detect the difference between a spray gun and one [hand]weapon, because metal and water are very different. I think the image is going to be very helpful here to figure out if it’s a false positive.”
Like Figure AI, Cover has been started by Adcock, who has so far put about $2 million into the young startup.
