How predictive biometrics systems are changing the mining industry for the better Alex Moss, CEO, Canaria Technologies
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ne of the most exciting outcomes of the mining sector implementing Industry 4.0 is that it opens the door to completely new species of technologies. Industry 4.0 is usually only associated with drones, blockchain and asset management, and where this is true, the most interesting part of this shift is simply the move towards consistent high-speed internet access. This allows emerging technologies in sectors not traditionally associated with mining to find new life-solving problems that have plagued the industry for decades. Technologies like Predictive Biometrics Systems.
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What are predictive biometrics systems?
How do predictive biometric systems work?
You have probably never read the term ‘predictive biometrics system’ before, which is understandable because even within its homestead of the medical sciences it is still relatively unknown. But what happens when we make the leap from being able to measure someone’s vital signs to being able to predict disruptions in the patterns of their vital signs data? What if it were possible to use these patterns to know that someone was at risk of a heart attack, 10 minutes before it happened?
In order to understand predictive biometrics systems, we first need to clarify what ‘biometric’ data is. Any data that is gathered about the way the human body functions can be described as biometric.
What if we could alert a user of their fatigue risk prior to an issue arising? 70% of all accidents in the heavy industries are caused by cognitive fatigue and in 2019, cognitive fatigue was cited as the underlying cause of 144 fatalities in Australia, where 43, or more than 30%, were machinery operators and drivers. Developing these self-learning systems which tailor themselves to every person’s individual biometric thresholds becomes a valid field of study and although this may all sound fantastical, not only do these technologies exist; they have been being quietly piloted and refined in the mining industry for past two years.
The best-known types are: • fingerprint and iris scans • electroencephalography (EEG) readings, taken using skullcaps in hospitals and research institutes • electrocardiogram (ECG) readings where pads are placed on the chest to measure electrical heart activity • pulse plethysmography (PPG) which measures oxygen levels in the blood taken from the wrist, finger or ear What makes biometric systems predictive is the ability to make the leap from recognising a pattern in data, to being able to predict the next step in that pattern. Predictive biometrics systems usually consist of a digital monitoring device (such as a miniature electronic vital signs monitor or core body temperature monitor), a processing device such as a smartphone (though highly advanced systems may feature some computing power on the monitors themselves), and a cloud data-transfer infrastructure connecting to a powerful
