SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — "If we save one human life, everything will have been worth it," said Sam Alaimo, a former Navy Seal and co-founder of ZeroEyes.
ZeroEyes uses artificial intelligence to detect close to 200 different firearms before anyone posing a threat might even get the chance to fire a shot.
"We do it to save lives," Alaimo told 7 Action News Thursday.
Combining its gun detection technology to existing surveillance cameras at schools or workplaces, ZeroEyes is able to detect firearms as soon as they become visible.
Military veterans, familiar with operating calmly in highly stressful situations, monitor the systems around the clock, analyze any images detected and notify their clients and first responders.
Unlike a lot of video monitoring services, analysts for ZeroEyes are not flooded with countless camera feeds. Instead, their analysts sit in front of a blank screen that only displays images when their technology, embedded in the surveillance camera systems, detects a firearm.
And, in less than five seconds, Alaimo said their human analyst is able to verify whether the highlighted image is actually a firearm to avoid a false positive. If the image is an actual firearm, the analyst immediately sends an alert to their clients and first responders. The alert includes the visual image and location of the subject.
"We never stream live feeds," Alaimo said. "We can't store personal data. There's no privacy concern. There's no ethical concern. We just get that image when our algorithm says, 'Here's a gun. Do with it what you will.' And then we enact our protocols so that our client can enact their security protocols before a shot is even fired."
ZeroEyes is currently being used in schools in 18 states, including Michigan at Oxford High School, where administrators are said to be evaluating using the technology service beyond their free pilot program with the company.
"Since 1970, there have been nearly 1,650 school shootings with no signs of slowing down," said Mike Lahiff, CEO and co-founder of ZeroEyes. "No child should ever have to experience the horror of such an incident. We are proud to partner with the Oxford district and the state of Michigan to protect its students. We encourage all Michigan residents to ask your legislator to fund AI weapon detection technology."
More information on ZeroEyes can be found on its website.
