A photo taken through thick glass shows passengers, center, wearing face masks as a precautionary measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus as they receive quarantine tracking wrist bands at Hong Kong’s international airport, March 19, 2020. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)
HONG KONG - A homegrown smart fever-screening system has been employed at Hong Kong’s major border control points to detect feverish travelers, as the city struggles to ward off imported coronavirus cases.
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So far, 16 kits have been put into use at Hong Kong International Airport and six other checkpoints. Some government buildings have also recently installed the system.
The new system can detect as many as 100 passers-by within 10 meters at the same time, a significant improvement from the previous system, which had a range of only about 3 meters, researchers said
The new system will enable officials to identify feverish visitors with one screen, unlike the previous system, which used two separate screens — one for thermal, and another for visual. It will send an alert to officers when someone with a fever is detected.
With the use of the latest "visual closure" technology, the new system can also accurately detect the temperature of visitors wearing masks or other items covering their bodies, said Richard So Hau-yue, the engineering professor at HKUST who led the research.
The new system can detect as many as 100 passers-by within 10 meters at the same time, a significant improvement from the previous system, which had a range of only about 3 meters, researchers said.
The system integrates artificial intelligence, real-time tracking and big data analysis into thermal imaging for fever screening.
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The project, first launched in 2018, was jointly developed by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
