Jalpaiguri :

Remember Jaws, the 1975 Hollywood thriller on a giant man-eating great white shark that struck terror on fictional resort town Amity Island? In beaches across Australia, the Steven Spielberg reel horror is real with the country recording the largest number of unprovoked shark encounters with humans after the United States.

Now several Australian beaches have deployed a technology co-developed by a technologist from north Bengal that uses artificial intelligence to seek out sharks based on aerial footage from drones and warn swimmers to get out of the water quickly.

Dubbed as Shark Spotter, the software uses an algorithm capable of using video footage streamed from drones to detect sharks and alert swimmers. “The Shark Spotter is the world’s first, non-destructive technology able to detect sharks and other potential threats using real-time aerial video imagery. The new algorithm is 90% accurate in distinguishing sharks from other marine life. Human spotters from fixedwing aircraft or helicopter have accuracy of 12%-18%,” said Nabin Sharma, a lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney, who along with Michael Blumenstein developed the software that is making waves Down Under.

Shark Spotter has been deployed in 11 beaches in north New South Wales such as Byron Bay, Ballina, where shark attack was a major problem. And they have already saved lives. Shark attack reports from these beaches have declined significantly, prompting authorities in beach towns in the US and Europe to also consider the technology.

The Shark Spotter technology has won in three major categories (Research & Development Project of the year, Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning Innovation of the year and Community Service Markets) in the Australia Information Industry Association, iAward 2018, New South Wales.

Sharma did his schooling in Holy Child School, Jalpaiguri, before graduating from Ananda Chandra College in the town. He then did Master of Computer Application (MCA) and Bachelor of Science from Siliguri Institute of Technology, before doing his PhD from the School of ICT, Griffith University. He is currently a lecturer with the School of Software, University of Technology Sydney (UTS).

Of more than 500 known shark species, 26 have been involved in unprovoked attacks on humans. Of these, Australia has 22 shark species. Australia records an average 1.5 deaths per year from shark .

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City News> Kolkata News / by Pinak Priya Bhattacharya / TNN / June 24th, 2018