Groundbreaking Kiwi AI Tech To Fight Vaping In Schools, Public Spaces
A US investor-backed Auckland company, MACSO, is using artificial intelligence to detect and measure air impurities arising from vaping and cigarette smoke. In trials the technology has already been proven to reduce illicit vaping in one New Zealand middle school.
MACSO is partnering
with US-based Piera Systems, who has developed a family of
‘intelligent particle sensors’ and is providing the
hardware to fit MACSO’s AI model to measure air quality.
Raj Seelam, Piera’s VP of Marketing and Customer Success,
says Piera is the world’s only low-cost centre that has
scalable sensors to detect particle
data.
“As a purpose-driven AI
company, dedicated to bringing the positive impact of
artificial intelligence to the world, we are proud to be
working with Piera on the mission to make schools vape and
smoke-free to enable the next generation to study in a safe
and healthy environment,” MACSO founder Saba Samiei
says.
“We looked at existing
solutions, such as fire alarms or other vape detection
sensors. We realised, fire alarms can’t detect vape
particles - other sensors showed that they could be fooled
if someone sprayed deodorant. We also noticed some
approaches such as audio or video which are expensive and
breach student’s privacy and are at high risk of getting
hacked. So, we developed a model that can differentiate
between what is deodorant, what is smoke, and what is vape.
Applying this model to Piera aerosol sensors on the edge
means the solution is cost effective and protects
everyone’s privacy,” says
Samiei.
Despite vaping being unlawful
for anyone under 18, Samiei says vaping has been an issue in
schools, particularly in bathrooms. The number of New
Zealanders aged 15-17 who vaped daily nearly quadrupled from
under two percent in 2018-19 to seven percent in 2021-22,
according to data from the New Zealand Health Survey. But
younger children are vaping daily, as vapes are easy to
acquire and get addicted to, affecting all
students.
MACSO piloted a device in a
bathroom at Cambridge Middle School a few months ago. Within
two weeks the bathroom became vape free. Students realised
they would be caught using vape
products.
“Cambridge Middle School
was delighted that the vaping activity ceased. Student Voice
confirmed that students felt safer using the bathrooms,”
Assistant Principal Natalie Marsh
says.
Piera's Seelam, says some
students use body spray in toilets to mask vape smoke, but
that won’t work with MACSO’s
model.
“MACSO’s AI model is so
good that it can distinguish between vape, smoke and body
spray. Its model really takes it to the next level because
the accuracy of the detection really goes up. Vaping has a
unique signature, and MACSO models are looking for these
signatures in the air; that’s how we detect
it.
“What we are doing now is bringing MACSOs model to market and deploying it. The first deployment will happen in New Zealand but we’re talking to schools here in the United States and customers in the United Kingdom,” Seelam says.