Dubai Police use smart helmets to screen for coronavirus

Dubai police officials are using smart helmets fitted with an infra-red camera and other Artificial Intelligence technologies to detect high body temperature of public transport users amid the coronavirus outbreak in the Gulf country, according to a media report on Tuesday.

The smart helmets equipped with infrared temperature detectors take a few seconds to accurately scan people's temperature. The helmets are also equipped with face recognition technology and car number reading technology, the Khaleej Times reported.

The UAE is the first country in the region to use this technology.

Deputy Chief of Police and Public Security Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim praised the Dubai Police for using the smart helmet as part of modern technologies in securing the transport sector, the paper said.

Brigadier General Obaid Al Hathboor, Director of Transportation Security Department, Dubai Police, said that smart helmets scan the temperature of public transport users and measure the audience temperature with high efficiency, in addition to the presence of artificial intelligence technologies such as face recognition technology and car number reading technology.

"This step is in line with the administration's strategy to secure the transportation security sector in accordance with the best international standards and practices to counter the spread of coronavirus," he said.

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention on Monday announced 398 new cases of coronavirus, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 4,521. So far 25 people have died due to the virus in the country.