A 21st Century Code AdamBy Evan Schuman | Posted 09-06-2006
With a system being piloted today by CVS and other large retail chains, a lost or abducted child has a lot more protection than from a mere Code Adam.
Code Adam, introduced in the mid-'90s, is a widely used retail program that shuts doors when there is a report of a missing child. But under the new system, a network of dozens of video cameras feeds a constant flow of digital data to security.
When a parent reports a missing child, the system canwithin a few minuteslocate the video of when the parent and the child were last together and then show footage of exactly where the child went and with whom, even showing where the child is at that moment, assuming the child has not left the store. If the child had left, it would show when and could even track the child to the parking lot, possibly capturing a license plate and footage of a car.
The systemwhich is being tested, evaluated or considered by CVS, the Home Depot, JCPenney, Babies "R" Us, Macy's and Bloomingdales, among othersis from an MIT artificial intelligence research spin-off called Intellivid, based in nearby Cambridge, Mass.
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