This new AI-powered tool is already making pools much safer for swimmers, giving property owners peace of mind for one of their biggest liabilities.
Elite Amenity Management is pioneering the next generation of pool safety tech by partnering with LifeguardEye. The revolutionary technology uses computer vision and AI analysis to track swimmers in a pool, alerting staff when a swimmer has been underwater for an unsafe amount of time. Elite Amenity Management has partnered with LifeguardEye to give the tech a field-test at River Place and Silver Towers in Manhattan as part of a pilot program aimed at showing how the technology will radically improve pool safety. We spoke with the teams from Elite and LifeguardEye to get a preview of this revolutionary piece of safety technology.
The dangers of swimming
While pools are one of the most desirable amenities for residents, especially those with families, the statistics around water safety are grim: not only is drowning the leading cause of death for children five years old and younger, it’s the 2nd largest cause of death globally for people of all ages.
“In today’s tech-driven landscape, we knew we needed a solution to take water safety to the next level across the 100+ aquatic facilities we manage,” says Andrew Meditz, Co-Founder of Elite Amenity Management.
The traditional lifeguarding system, where a human watches swimmers and jumps into action when they see that someone is in trouble, is prone to human error. Even the best lifeguards have to make decisions about which swimmers to watch, and the consequences of making a bad guess can be catastrophic.
“When I spoke with lifeguards, they told me that it’s often the strongest swimmers who drown,” says Mark Finas, Founder & CEO of LifeguardEye, who explains that, often, the best swimmers don’t ask for help until it’s too late. “That’s why, from the beginning, our idea was to understand the behavior of people in the water.”
How AI can help
That’s where artificial intelligence can help. LifeguardEye doesn’t replace lifeguards; rather, it keeps track of every swimmer in a pool using cameras mounted above the water and an advanced analytical system that updates ten times per second.
“We created a neural network which understands the behavior of every person in the water, which understands the position of every swimmer,” explains Finas.
If someone has been under the water for more than fifteen seconds the system triggers an alert on a wearable device (Finas describes these as “a small smartphone without games”) which provides a grid coordinate in the pool. The lifeguard or other staff member then looks at that place in the pool to see if the swimmer needs assistance.
One major advantage of LifeguardEye is that, because of its advanced modeling, there are almost no false positives. This was one of the main features that convinced Elite to work with LifeguardEye in the first place.
“The last thing that we want is for somebody to be getting an alert constantly,” says Meditz. “Because then, they’re never going to take it seriously. They’ll ignore it.”
Case study: River Place and Silver Towers
Elite chose this Manhattan condo as the pilot location for LifeguardEye because the indoor pool is home to a range of users, allowing the company to stress test the system.
“In terms of the pool usage, we see all walks of life,” says Jeremy Traverso, General Manager at Elite, who oversees operations at River Place and Silver Towers. “The early morning crowd are your nine-to-fives business executives, after that you’ll have swim lessons with as many as twenty kids, and then you have your really dedicated swimmers who do 75 laps a day.”
After installing the overhead cameras and on-site server, Elite trained its staff to use the system and watched the results. Traverso says that, while his staff was initially skeptical of the tech, they soon realized that it was just another tool that helped them do their job.
“It allows them to be a little more comfortable in their role,” he says, “knowing that there’s something else making sure they’re doing the job properly.”
Before long, the staff was competing with the system, trying to “beat” it by predicting when it would push an alert. Rather than make the lifeguards less attentive, it gave them an additional incentive to pay attention.
The business advantage
Elite can install LifeguardEye at any pool facility. Not only does the system provide an additional line of defense when it comes to preventing drowning, but it also helps property owners track their staff’s activities over time.
“We initially considered cameras solely for pool surveillance,” says Meditz. “Then we realized they also give us insight into where our managers are and how our lifeguards are performing. It ultimately helps us deliver better customer service.”
While LifeguardEye doesn’t replace human lifeguards, it can serve as a cost-effective means of providing a backup system for pool safety in facilities that can’t afford a lifeguard. Having a front desk attendant or gym trainer wear the LifeguardEye device means that, even without a lifeguard on duty, a member of the staff will be alerted to any potential drowning in the pool.
Pools in New York City are required to have a lifeguard on duty, but local regulations vary across the country. Elite’s other major market, South Florida, does not require a lifeguard, making LifeguardEye an attractive option for operators looking to make their facilities safer.
“Is it something that will necessarily be replacing people?” asks Meditz. “No, it’s about making our facilities safer than ever and giving us better data to help us be a better company.”
Adopting LifeguardEye is just part of Elite’s dedication to innovating the luxury amenities space. To learn more about this revolutionary tech, visit Elite’s website.