Santa in the fireplace

I Spy Santa

Dec. 17, 2020
AI vision technology has been revamped to spot jolly old St. Nick as he comes down the chimney.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision company Kepler Vision has created an algorithm to detect when Santa has visited your house. 

Originally built to monitor the movements of older people at night, the company’s Night Nurse human activity recognition software has now been programmed to identify when Santa Claus emerges from the fireplace, helping users to pinpoint the exact moment of St. Nick’s visit.

The Night Nurse software follows the movements of patients in care homes, immediately alerting staff to falls or when a patient is struggling to get out of bed. By retraining its AI algorithm using images of fireplaces, Kepler Vision can now identify when someone is delivering gifts with the same level of medical device accuracy.

“This year we wanted to do something that would highlight just how versatile computer vision and human activity recognition technology can be, in addition to putting a smile on people’s faces at the end of what has been an extremely tough year for most people,” said Dr. Harro Stokman, CEO of Kepler Vision, in a press release.

The software is able to recognize people in various attire (like bearded men in red-and-white outfits) and positions (like dispersing presents under a tree and stuffing stockings).

Kepler also added the ability to recognize fireplaces to its software by adding a set of images that included manually outlined fireplaces to its series of training images, allowing its AI to identify fireplaces in new images.

About the Author

Marie McBurnett | Senior Editor, Machine Design

Marie McBurnett is senior editor for Machine Design, covering robotics, 3D printing and design software.

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