Gibraltar Technologies (GT), a digital solutions company with offices in the Middle East, today announced the launch of Wai-Eye, an AI powered mobile app designed to equip schools to meet the new COVID-19 health and safety protocols set by KHDA and Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK), with other authorities in the region likely to follow suit. This innovation leverages the school’s existing CCTV infrastructure to capture, analyze and generate real-time data that will help maintain control over operations including Entry, Pick-up and school visit procedures, Screening and contact tracing, Hygiene, Physical distancing arrangements and School transportation.
Commenting on the motivations behind what triggered the development of Wai-Eye, prominent Emirati philanthropist, Head of Board at GT and Chairman of Al Otaiba Group of Companies Ahmed Khalaf Al Otaiba said, “The Founding Father of our country, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, was the first to prioritize education because he strongly believed it was an important catalyst to building a modern nation. Following in his path, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has continued to support education development projects. And now, during this crisis, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan stressed the importance of ensuring the continuity of education as a national duty. This technological innovation is our way of supporting the UAE government’s education drive and helping schools reopen responsibly.”
Over and above the basics of accurately monitoring mask usage, physical distancing and space occupancy, GT’s R&D Lab, the creators of this plug-and-play App, have also integrated facial recognition to facilitate automated school attendance, contactless door access, secure child pick up and contact tracing.
Talking about the technology, Khadeer Peer Shariff, CEO & Executive Director of GT, said, “Getting future ready is at the heart of our vision. Over the last 2 years our R&D Labs have been testing out various technology-enabled solutions. We were already ahead of the curve in AI technology so when this unprecedented situation presented itself, we were able to respond quickly with a comprehensive tailor-made, cost-effective and easy to deploy solution.”
Customizable to the needs of the school, Wai-Eye can be set up to generate Compliance and Monitoring reports. Although primarily designed for the use of school authorities and support staff, administrators can also choose to offer access to parents to get alerts on authorized child pick up and estimated time of arrival of school bus via GPS tracking.
“In a bid to improve the accuracy of operations like contact tracing, mask detection and occupancy management, schools are currently on the look out for automated data driven solutions. This is where Wai-Eye comes in. We have already started working with school leaders and administrators to help implement their Readiness Plans in time to welcome children back to a safer environment in September,” enthused Shariff.