A common question that we get is “what is Theft AI?” Essentially, it is a security system that can watch the surrounding areas near your SeaPod and identify unknown boats or objects that are approaching your home. Similar to a neighborhood watch program on land, the Theft AI will keep an eye on your surroundings and let you know if something suspicious is happening.
The Theft AI system will utilize some of the cameras that we are already mounting on the SeaPod for things like the Lifeguard AI and other monitoring systems. It will work by building a registry of vessels that it recognizes. Of course, your boat will be recognized, the USV delivery drones will be recognized, as well as other boats in the area that frequently pass by your SeaPod. These vessels won’t trigger the system since they will be in the registry of known boats.
In the event that a boat is approaching your SeaPod and the Theft AI system is unable to identify the vessel and deems it as a threat, then the SeaPod will automatically lock its doors and sound an alarm within the home to let you know that someone is approaching. If you are away from your SeaPod, then you can get a notification sent to your smartphone to keep you updated.
If that boat that approaches is someone that is not a threat, then you can let the system know and it will put it into the registry of known vessels. It can read the registration numbers which are usually displayed on the bow of boats. If the boat is something smaller like a rowboat or a kayak, then the system will simply learn the characteristics of the boat and people in it and will use that as a reference in the future. Since this is artificial intelligence, the system will learn the local boats and improve over time.
This technology isn’t just limited to the SeaPod. In the future, we will have the ability to install these cameras and technology on other types of vessels. For example, if you live on a catamaran, a houseboat, or even if you just have a home with a dock that is directly on the water then this technology can work in a similar way to keep you safe. Millions of people use camera-enabled doorbells on land and we wanted to take that concept to the next level to keep everyone who is living on the water safe.
As always, if you have expertise or knowledge in AI technology, camera technology, or engineering and you would like to help us develop this technology then feel free to reach out on our Contribute page on the Ocean Builders website. If you want to take a look at some of the other projects that we are working on then you can browse through them on the Participate Now page and submit an application for anything that you would like to pitch in on.
