04 March 2015
From tackling retail crime to being able to collect and securely store evidence with a mobile app, University of South Australia’s students are using these innovative ideas to secure funding of $50,000 each for two cutting-edge start-up business projects.
University of South Australia (UniSA) Information Technology students Jordan Green and Emily Rich are pleased to have received the five-figure sum towards their start-up business named Jemsoft, thanks to the Venture Catalyst program. Venture Catalyst is delivered in partnership between the State Government and UniSA, designed to help UniSA students and recent graduates turn their business ideas into reality.
"Jemsoft's product is a patented intelligent security solution incorporating hardware and software component for high risk retail locations. The system is a small unit that uses real-time analysis of customers approaching a store to mitigate the risk of armed hold-ups.” Emily says.
“It works by making an evaluation on whether or not the individual approaching represents a threat using proprietary algorithms utilising computer vision. If so, the doors are locked until the visual cues that represent a threat are removed. As the system does not store data it does not impose privacy concerns.”
“The main point of difference in comparison to existing solutions is that our solution stops the door from opening before the offender enters the premises, without inhibiting the customer's retail experience,” Jordan says.
UniSA student Tung Tran, who works as a Senior Constable with South Australia Police has also been successful in securing the funding through the development of mobile device app called myEvidence. The app, which is currently designed for android devices, will revolutionise the collection of digital evidence for investigations and keep it stored through a secure cloud platform or on police held servers.
Tung designed the app with the aim of increasing the efficiency of investigations, from the crime scene to the court room.
“We hope to start running field trials soon with South Australian police and have interest from the Australian Federal Police. The app could also serve other important government bodies such as child protection services, fisheries and workcover as well as private sectors such as bank investigations and auditing.” Tung says.
