Estate Living Magazine Invest SA - Issue 41 May 2019 | Page 50

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something, say something”, must be promoted, so that any security
risks can be swiftly identified. Residents must work with security
teams to keep criminal activity out of the estate, and developers
need to remember that even the best security technology cannot
ensure safety if the estate is poorly managed.’
your property,’ says Deep Sentinel CEO David Selinger. ‘Equipped
with cutting-edge AI technology, LiveSentinel guards jump into
action to confront intruders and alert authorities when suspicious
activity is detected.’ The system also reduces costs by using AI to
intelligently cut down on the number of call-outs, identifying and
dismissing things like trees blowing in the wind, or neighbours
driving past your front driveway.
As Derek Lategan, MD of Excellerate Service, pointed out in a
recent media statement, the level of security at a residential estate
depends on a mix of factors – and while outstanding systems could
be undermined by the personnel manning and utilising the systems,
those same security teams can only work within the limitations of the
technology they have to work with … and both rely on the sensible
behaviour of the residents!
‘It’s important to remember that no residential estate is perfect
from a security perspective,’ Lategan says. ‘Residents still bear a
responsibility; it’s vital that they guard against complacency. Living
in an estate with a perimeter fence doesn’t negate the need to
lock your door and set your alarm at night. The old saying, “See
Sunflower Labs’ new drone surveillance system – another CES
highlight – underlines how useful AI can be in supporting residential
estate security management on the ground and in the air. Their
system uses three pieces of tech to help security teams keep your
property secure: the Bee, the Hive and a constellation of Sunflowers.
The Bee is a camera-equipped drone, which recharges at a control
centre (that’s the Hive), which in turn connects via Wi-Fi to a set of
garden lights (those would be the Sunflowers), which have built-in
motion and vibration sensors that use AI to distinguish between
people, pets and cars. If the system detects suspicious activity, the
Hive sends an alert to the security team, who can deploy the Bee to
see what’s going on, and respond appropriately. (The Bee could,
technically, play its part automatically, but drone laws and privacy
concerns prohibit that.)
Again, the strength of the system lies in a human security team
being supported or augmented by artificial intelligence. AI, then, is
increasingly being positioned as an essential tool for estate security.
And just like you wouldn’t send a security guard out on patrol
without a torch and a walkie-talkie, the technology is now reaching
a point where you wouldn’t send one out without AI support either.
Mark van Dijk