Zensors Turns Cameras Into Smart Sensors

Impact: We developed rapidly deployable sensors using existing cameras

By tapping into facilities’ existing “CCTV” cameras, we demonstrated that sophisticated sensing could be instantly and flexibly deployed with minimal or no added infrastructure cost.

In one system installed at the Pittsburgh International Airport in 2019, we use existing cameras as powerful general-purpose sensors to provide wait time estimates for the security line, which benefits almost 10M PIT travelers per year.

We were early to demonstrate and apply general-purpose AI-camera sensing with Zensors.

This work led to...

A spin-off company, Zensors, which applies Visual AI agents to better understand spaces and scenes in a variety of industries.
Dozens of system deployments, some of which are user-facing. In addition to the security line at PIT, these sensors are currently deployed at other large facilities, international airports and NJ Transit rail stations.

Supported by: National Science Foundation (#IIS-1149709), later by venture capital.

Timing: This research started around 2015, with the paper Zensors.

Related work:

Researchers: Chris Harrison, Jeff Bigham and team

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Zensors Turns Cameras Into Smart Sensors

In one application installed at the Pittsburgh International Airport in 2019, Zensors use existing cameras as powerful general-purpose sensors to provide wait time estimates for the security line, which benefits almost 10M PIT travelers per year.