科技部新聞稿
防疫最前線臺灣與印度海外科研中心
攜手創造合作新契機
日期：109年5月11日
發稿單位：科教發展及國際合作司
聯絡人：鄭慧娟研究員
電話：02-2737-7472
Email：hccheng1@nstc.gov.tw
研究單位：國立中正大學臺灣印度人工智慧科技創新研究中心
聯絡人：黃士銘 研發長
電話：05-272-0411#16000
Email：smhuang@mis.ccu.edu.tw
科技部推展各項新南向計畫措施，補助國內大專院校赴新南向目標國和當地機構共同設置「科學研究與技術創新中心」，自2017年至今，已經在南亞和東南亞9國設立12個海外科研中心。國立中正大學在2018年接受補助於印度與印度理工學院羅巴爾 (Indian Institute of Technology Ropar)共同創建「臺灣印度人工智慧科技創新研究中心」。在全球迎戰新冠肺炎疫情之際，臺印海外科研中心密切促成產官學合作，以中正大學所研發的 『智慧防疫系統』為基礎，該系統具有三大特色，包含自動體溫感測、人臉辨識及接觸史社群分析，而系統技術基礎即源自臺灣與印度師生共同研發的最新人工智慧(AI)技術，並實際落實於校園實施，有效追蹤控管校內人員的安全。
自動體溫感測技術，除了採用最新的熱感應相機 (Thermal Camera)外，亦優化了量測體溫軟體系統的準確性，不僅可以減少校內每一個點協助量測的人力，更確保了政府所規定的社交距離。另外，人臉辨識系統針對了東方面孔進行深度神經網路優化，加上中正大學師生共同優化軟體處理方式，從而克服因人數眾多導致效能緩慢的問題，有效提高人臉辨識的準確率至90%以上；此系統特色包含高辨識率、高效能，由於資料庫不上網，改用終端人工智慧的技術 (Edge AI Technology)，更具有高隱私特色。彙整上述體溫與人員在各體溫量測站的資訊，「智慧防疫系統」即針對相關人員的接觸史進行社群分析，得以快速並精準地瞭解人員間的接觸歷程；而本系統的優點是區域人員即使沒有帶手機，也能有效記錄其位置與接觸史。
綜合以上三大優點，『智慧防疫系統』已為臺灣與印度跨國學術合作建立了良好的合作契機，且確實造福臺印兩校師生與相關人員，盼望未來雙邊合作能擴及更多層面，例如公共場域的防疫安全控管等民生重大議題。
值得一提，國立中正大學大學社會責任團隊透過製作竹醋液教具，協助印度南亞竹基金會製作竹醋液等相關製品，包含防疫用之竹醋液乾洗手。利用臺灣孟宗竹全新配方調製的天然「竹醋酒精乾洗手液」，收集竹材碳化過程中的高溫氣體，經冷凝、靜置及蒸餾所得液體，產生獨特天然的竹醋液，其質地溫和含獨家配方PH值、乾爽舒適，相當方便使用者噴灑使用，此亦為臺印雙邊合作的良好典範。
Press Release
May 11, 2020
The Collaborative Effort of Taiwan and India’s Science and Technology Innovation Center on Epidemic Prevention
To align with the New Southbound policy, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has been providing funding for academic institutions in Taiwan and their counterparts in South and Southeast Asian countries to establish “Science and Technology Innovation Centers (STICs).” Since 2017, 12 STICs have been set up in 9 countries.
In 2018, MOST subsidized National Chung Cheng University (CCU) and the Institute of Technology Ropar (IIT Ropar) to establish the Taiwan-India Joint Research Center on Artificial Intelligence in India. Soon after the pandemic broke out, the two institutions began cooperating on a new proposal for frontline pandemic prevention. CCU developed a “Smart Pandemic Prevention System” with three major features: automatic body temperature sensing, facial recognition, and contact history analysis. Jointly developed by professors and students in Taiwan and India, the system adopts the latest artificial intelligence technology, and has been implemented on campuses to effectively track footprint and ensure the safety measures.
In addition to employing the latest thermal camera technology, the system’s automatic sensing technology uses optimized software to accurately measure body temperature. This feature not only reduces the manpower required to measure people’s temperatures at each checkpoint on campus, but also reduces the risk of violating government regulations of social distancing.
The facial recognition system, which has been optimized to allow deep neural networks to recognize distinct facial features in Asia, has now effectively achieved facial recognition accuracy of over 90%. Due to the large number of users, the system performed relatively slow at first. Nonetheless, the issue was resolved by the joint effort of professors and students of CCU optimizing the software’s processing method and employing parallel facial recognition based on the number of processor cores. At present, this system being used on campus, displays a high recognition rate and ensures a high level of privacy. To address privacy concerns, the system uses Edge AI technology rather than putting the database online.
With the combination of the database assembled using the aforementioned technologies, the smart pandemic prevention system is capable of conducting community analyses of the school personnel’s contact history. Such a system could quickly and accurately determine the contact history of everyone who enters the university. In comparison, the advantage of university’s smart system is that even if the individuals do not carry mobile phones, it can still effectively record their locations and contact history.
Combining the above advantages, this smart pandemic prevention system has provided a good opportunity for innovative cooperation between Taiwanese and Indian academic institutions, which has benefited the faculty and students of the two universities. In the future, it is hoped that this cooperative model can be extended to other subject areas, including the prevention and control of pandemics in public areas.
In addition to the smart pandemic prevention system, the National Chung Cheng University CSR team has successfully invented bamboo vinegar products. The team assisted the India-based South Asia Bamboo Foundation in making bamboo vinegar and related products, including bamboo vinegar hand sanitizer used to stop the spread of disease. The natural bamboo vinegar hand sanitizer is manufactured using Taiwan moso bamboo by collecting high-temperature gas during its carbonization. The liquid obtained by condensation, standing, and distillation produces a distinctive natural smell. The sanitizer’s ingredients are gentle, leaving the skin feeling pleasantly soft and dry. This is yet another good example of Taiwan-India collaboration.
