Just as Albuquerque sets its sights on employing noise cameras around the city, a company based in the Duke City says that its own AI-backed smart microphone technology is ready for deployment.
Erik Strobert is the CEO of Perspective Components Inc., a security technology company based in Albuquerque. It's been developing a product called NoiseVu. The artificial intelligence commercial security technology uses microphones to detect abnormal noises like gunshots, car accidents or "verbal aggression," Strobert said.
NoiseVu is in its "early adopter phase" and Strobert said Perspective Components is ready to take on new customers and start deploying NoiseVu. He's showcasing the technology at the International Security Conference East this week and is currently holding site visits, carrying out data analysis and interviewing potential customers in other New Mexico cities.
"We've only commercialized this outside Albuquerque for the past couple of weeks, but we've already picked up a lot of traction. We just want to keep going from here," said Strobert who added that Perspective Components isn't actively raising money. All of the money behind NoiseVu has come through bootstrapping and generated revenue.
As the Perspective Components' first customer for the technology, the city has supported the development of NoiseVu "since its ideation phase," Strobert said.
Albuquerque has spent about $90,000 on NoiseVu, said Brian Osterloh, the director of the City's Department of Technology and Innovation. This money has gone toward an initial proof of concept for the technology, including tests at the City's Pino Yards, which is a "proving ground" for innovative technologies, he said.
Some of the money has also paid for the installation of NoiseVu smart microphones in the City's Civic Plaza garage Downtown. Strobert said the Civic Plaza garage microphones are still in development and are not yet actively deployed.
The cost to install one of NoiseVu's smart microphones is $1,000 for two years of service.
Tom Pino, the project manager for the City of Albuquerque's Smart City Initiative, sees "lot's of potential" for NoiseVu.
"We start with an idea, do an initial proof of concept, move it out to a pilot project and then we have other ideas about how to improve it using cameras and other technology," he said. "So I think there are lots more opportunities between Perspective Components and the City."
And the City's hopes for NoiseVu match Strobert's own.
"Within a year we'd like to have the majority of urban centers in Albuquerque covered within a year," Strobert said. "We'd also like to expand into multiple other metropolitan areas throughout the Southwest and West Coast."
NoiseVu runs on a software-based AI system, Strobert said. This means that Perspective Components can do software updates that allow the actual hardware of the microphones to be tailored to specific customers' needs he said.
The AI technology sends audio clips from events that the microphone picks up, instant alerts and exact locations of events when they happen. It includes these details in a live user dashboard.
Osterloh said that the City of Albuquerque's interest in Perspective Components and the NoiseVu technology isn't just for its own uses.
"This is a local company that's really working hard and I think working very smart and effectively to bring a product to market," he said. "It can be an economic development opportunity. So we have interest on multiple levels."
