The minute anyone steps onto the campus of Heritage High School in Leesburg, Virginia, a camera spots them.
More than 60 cameras keep watch outside the school, in the hallways, in stairwells, at the cafeteria and in the library.
But with so many images projected on screens at the same time, incidents are often noticed after the fact.
Now, software developed by Bethesda-based VOLT AI is helping Heritage High, and other county high schools, get real-time notifications on everything from medical emergencies to hallway fights. It can also spot the worst-case scenario: a school shooting.
“So what the AI package allows us to do is to have a set of eyes on every camera all the time, and it doesn’t get tired, and it doesn’t get distracted, and it doesn’t have to go and do anything else other than watch these screens. And that’s just, it’s priceless for us to be able to protect our staff and our students,” said Dan Adams, spokesperson for LCPS.
But more than just watching, the AI software is analyzing the scene and providing real-time alerts.
VOLT AI’s CEO Dmitry Sokolowski was working at YouTube in 2018 when a woman opened fire on campus there. As a father of three, school security became the focus of his company.
“Our software takes that video and in real-time tries to understand what’s happening in the environment and identify if there are any potential risks, you know, that are unfolding,” Sokolowski said.
In one demonstration video from Volt AI, students are seen fighting outside a school. The software pinpointed their location and notified the school principal to investigate. Another video shows how it spots someone having a medical emergency in an empty hallway. Medics arrived to help the person after the system sent an alert to school officials.
“There’s always a human being at the center of all the decision making. This isn’t taking over it’s just another tool in the toolbox, but it’s a tool we are really happy to have,” Adams said.
VOLT AI could also be a critical tool in responding to armed intruders at schools. After identifying the threat, the software tracks the suspect.
“So, as soon as we identify a person of interest, a suspect who has a weapon — even if the weapon is hidden after that — our system will continue tracking them, giving law enforcment a real-time location of where the supsect is,” Sokolowski said.
And on any serious incident a VOLT AI specialist, a person in a master control room, verifies what the software is flagging.
Both school officials and VOLT AI emphasized the system tracks behaviors, not people.
Both school officials and VOLT AI emphasized the system tracks behaviors, not people.
“It’s looking for, you know, the loitering in places where maybe there’s problems. It’s looking for fighting. It’s looking for those types of activity, you know, not people.
Heritage High piloted the system last school year. Now, the county is extending the program to every high school.
“It’s giving the notification to those who might need it sooner rather than later, which, you know, time saves lives,” teacher and father Jason Robley told News4.
Loudoun County is the first school district in the region to have a contract with VOLT AI. Several other schools districts are considering pilot projects.
