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IronYun, the creator of the Vaidio™ AI vision platform, is, like many companies these days, a virtual company. Headquartered in the US, with offices around the world, most meetings are virtual, and most communication is done over a screen. Even with most employees working from home, crime can still hit home: one of our team recently had their catalytic converter stolen from their 2009 model Prius.
The car was parked on the street, just a few feet away from their bedroom window. The crime followed a growingly familiar pattern: at 2am on a cold, foggy night, thieves jacked up the car and within two minutes sawed the converter off. The next morning, our team member awoke to find debris, to call for a tow, and to spend the morning processing the $2,500 repair.
Catalytic converters reduce pollution by converting engine gases into non-toxic emissions or water vapor. Located on the underside of cars, converters contain precious metals. Stolen converters can be easily sold for up to $300 each. They can be removed in two minutes or less with a saw or a wrench. 2000s model Priuses, along with SUVs and trucks that sit higher off the ground, are popular targets, and converter theft is rising across the nation.
If we were to install a Vaidio system at our employee’s home, we could leverage our existing AI-enabled “crouch and fall” analytic to identify someone going under their parked car. The system could be set up to trigger an alert and a spot light, along with a video recording. Vaidio “anti-catalytic converter theft" could be a highly effective deterrent. Certainly, it could contribute to a sounder sleep for those still homebound. It could mean one less thing for us to worry about, and one more thing we could let Vaidio AI worry about for us.