LGU+ Protects Public Restroom Safety with AI-Based 'U+ Smart Radar'

LG Uplus announced that it has installed 'U+ Smart Radar' in public restrooms in Dongdaemun-gu and established a system that sends alerts to the police station in case of emergencies.

LG Uplus signed a business agreement with Dongdaemun-gu Office and started a project to install U+ Smart Radar in public restrooms within the district. The agreement ceremony held at the Dongdaemun-gu Office Planning Situation Room was attended by key officials including Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, and Choi Taek-jin, Vice President and Head of LG Uplus Enterprise Division.

At the business agreement ceremony, Choi Taek-jin, Head of LG Uplus Enterprise Division (right), and Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun District Office (left), are taking a commemorative photo. Photo by LG Uplus

Dongdaemun-gu, which is leading the creation of IoT-based smart public restrooms, decided to introduce U+ Smart Radar to enhance the safety of public restrooms that are vulnerable to crimes and safety accidents but difficult to monitor with CCTV due to privacy concerns, leaving them as blind spots in monitoring.

In particular, there have been many cases where people habitually press the emergency bell installed mandatorily in public restrooms and then leave, causing unnecessary emergency dispatches by the police. Even when police arrive on site, it has often been frustrating as it is difficult to track the person who pressed the emergency bell. Dongdaemun-gu Office expects that by sending alerts to the police in emergencies through U+ Smart Radar, unnecessary dispatches will be minimized and potential accidents that do not lead to reports can be identified in advance.

The AI-based spatial object monitoring platform U+ Smart Radar is a service that sends alarms in emergencies such as unauthorized intrusion or falls, securing the golden time and enabling initial response. It has the advantage of detecting human movements in detail even in blind spots or dark environments, which are weaknesses of existing CCTV, and since movements are simply expressed as pictograms rather than videos, personal information is protected and privacy concerns are alleviated.

The two parties comprehensively reviewed commercial areas, floating populations, and user age groups and decided to pilot U+ Smart Radar in two public restrooms within the district. The public restroom located near Cheongnyangni Post Office in a food alley was selected as a pilot site because it has many elderly users during the day, making it prone to falls and slips, and at night, there is a high possibility of crimes or long-term stays by intoxicated persons. The public restroom at Imun 1st Embankment on the Jungnangcheon trail was also deemed to require enhanced safety monitoring due to its dark and secluded environment at night.

The installed U+ Smart Radar detects long stays or collapses inside the restroom and notifies the Dongdaemun Police Station of the situation, allowing police officers to immediately dispatch and provide initial assistance to people who cannot report via the emergency bell.

After conducting a six-month pilot operation at the two public restrooms, the two parties plan to collect user and facility manager feedback and various opinions to consider full-scale introduction.

Choi Taek-jin, Head of LG Uplus Enterprise Division, said, "We are pleased that this collaboration will create public restrooms that Dongdaemun residents can use more safely and securely," adding, "We will continue to expand the distribution of U+ Smart Radar nationwide."

Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, said, "Safety is a matter of timing, and by integrating administration and smart technology, we will become a district that builds a leading social safety net capable of immediate response to emergencies beyond physical environment improvements such as emergency bell installations."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.