Featured articles related to control measures under the COVID-19 outbreak

With the novel coronavirus continuing to impact the countless lives of people across the world, it is imperative to maintain social distancing to curb the spread of the disease whilst making preparations to ensure businesses can continue to operate. As we make our transition into the ‘New Normal,’ NEC seeks to resolve social issues utilizing its solutions and technologies. Introduced below are the top articles accessed between February and July 2020 that take this paradigm shift into perspective.

New Congestion Estimation System Based On the “Crowd Behavior Analysis Technology”

There is a growing need to address various social issues by applying image recognition technologies in surveillance cameras, thereby contributing to the realization of a safer and more secure society.
In this paper we will introduce a crowd behavior analysis technology that utilizes NEC’s image recognition technology, and as a specific example of its implementation, a new congestion estimation system based on this technology.

Wireless Networking Technology for Real-time Remote Control of Factory Equipment: Wireless ExpEther

NEC has developed the “wireless ExpEther”, a networking technology that allows remote computers to perform real-time centralized control in the wireless environments of I/O devices such as sensors, actuators and displays at production sites. The production sites of factories are a harsh environment for wireless remote control because radio waves are often reflected or attenuated by metallic objects, which leads potentially to communication losses (en-route packet losses). Even in such environments the technology discussed below ensures stable wireless network connection between computers and I/O devices by means of “rateless coding.” This technology is capable of transmitting control signals and data between devices correctly and its development is expected to enable implementations of new functions based on merging industrial equipment and IT devices.

Case Study of Data-driven City Management in Cities Abroad

The concept of adopting corporate management techniques for city management is starting to gain momentum. To ensure better, more enriched lives for citizens, we must constantly invest in innovation to increase efficiency on a sustainable basis. Trials are underway to effectively utilize existing data to enhance city management. NEC is harnessing its technologies and solutions in initiatives to realize sustainable city management in several European cities. This paper provides a summary of NEC's Cloud City Operation Center (CCOC) as a solution to achieve the aforementioned objective, and presents use cases demonstrating how this solution is being adopted in cities abroad that are striving to become smart cities.

Case Study: Influenza Pandemic Countermeasures Utilizing Infrared Thermography

As a result of the SARS epidemic of 2003, infrared thermography systems are now in use at airports, seaports and harbors all over the world as a means to quickly detect persons who are displaying symptoms of fever. In 2009, the H1N1 influenza that occurred initially in Mexico, exerted a key influence on developments and private companies as well as airport operators are all showing a keen interest in infrared thermography systems. However, there still remain some issues in the use of infrared thermography systems for fever detection (e.g. body surface temperatures are easily influenced by ambient temperatures and the system thereby tends to yield inconsistent results). This paper discusses the developmental trends of infrared thermography products and describes efforts aimed at improvements in their utilization technologies for further increasing the accuracy of detecting persons exhibiting fever symptoms.