A trailer and camera, parked on the side of Argyll Street, are part of a three-week University of Alberta research project that will capture high-resolution images through windshields.
The technology, developed by Australian company Acusensus, then uses artificial intelligence to compare the images with millions of others in an attempt to detect drivers using mobile phones.
“Millions of positives and millions of negatives (are in the system). But as said earlier, the system is always learning. So we’re constantly feeding and retraining additional information into the system so it can get smarter,” explained Tony Parrino with Acusensus.
“If the phone is visible on the person’s body, it will count as a distracted driving incident.”
Acusensus claims that after law enforcement began using the system in Australia, road traffic deaths fell. The Edmonton study is funded in part by a police grant.
“The work will help us better understand what policies should be implemented in the future. Enforcement is potentially a tool we can use,” said Karim El-Basyouny, Urban Traffic Safety Research at the U of A.
Regarding privacy issues, Parrino said any images showing faces would not be used in the study.
An Acusensus distracted driving detection system in Edmonton on September 13, 2022 (CTV News Edmonton).
With files from David Ewasuk of CTV News Edmonton
