TrailGuard™ AI, the latest version of RESOLVE’s anti-poaching system uses Intel-powered artificial intelligence (AI) technology to detect poachers before they can kill wildlife.
TrailGuard AI in the NewsMedia Coverage on TrailGuard AI and a RESOLVE – Intel Partnership to Save Endangered Wildlife from PoachingPoaching is decimating wildlife populations across Africa. An elephant is killed every 15 minutes for its ivory, lion populations have declined by 40% in the last two decades, and over 100,000 wildebeest are killed in the Serengeti alone. It has become evident that to stop the poaching epidemic, affordable technologies are urgently required to help law enforcement prevent poaching before it occurs.To address this need, RESOLVE’s Biodiversity and Wildlife Solutions program created TrailGuard™, an innovative, cryptic, end-to-end, camera-based, anti-poaching system for national parks to detect intruders and arrest poachers before they kill wildlife. In 2018, an early version of TrailGuard enabled 30 poacher arrests and the seizure of over 1000 kg of bushmeat at a reserve in East Africa.TrailGuard AI – RESOLVE and Intel Team Up to Use Advanced Artificial Intelligence to Stop PoachersFollowing this initial success, RESOLVE partnered with Intel Corporation to create TrailGuard AI, the newest and most advanced version of the TrailGuard™ anti-poaching system, which is now powered by Intel technology and features advanced AI technology. TrailGuard AI uses Intel® Movidius® Vision Processing Units (VPUs) for image processing, and runs deep neural network algorithms to detect humans inside the camera. If humans are detected among any of the motion-activated images captured by the camera, it triggers electronic alerts to park personnel – via GSM, long range radio, or satellite – so they can mobilize rangers before poachers can do harm.On January 3rd 2019, RESOLVE and Intel announced their collaboration and officially launched TrailGuard AI. Watch the video below to learn more about the TrailGuard AI technology and how it will be used to protect endangered wildlife.TrailGuard AI Media CoverageFollowing the launch in January and a follow-up demonstration at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, TrailGuard AI received significant media coverage and was featured in over 180 articles worldwide, across over 10 different languages. Several major US news outlets have covered TrailGuard AI in online articles; including CNN touted the technology as one of the "Coolest Gadgets for 2019", Smithsonian Magazine, and PBS NOVA who also produced the following video on TrailGuard AI.Tech reporters were excited to learn about this new innovation for conservation, and TrailGuard was featured on several technology-focused websites including Digital Trends LIVE, Gizmodo, Inverse, VentureBeat, Engadget, and The Verge. In addition to the media coverage in the United States, TrailGuard AI was also featured by international news outlets in Australia, China, India, France, Korea, Russia, Tanzania, the United Kingdom, and many others. TrailGuard AI also made waves on social media – a video produced by ATTN garnered over 550,000 views on Facebook and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Instagram post about the technology received over 186,000 likes.In July, Inmarsat, the leading global satellite communications provider, officially announced their partnership with RESOLVE. This partnership enables the TrailGuard AI anti-poaching system to operate in the most remote environments for wildlife conservation, where cell connectivity is lacking, through the use of Inmarsat satellite modems and low-cost data transmission plans. Following Inmarsat’s press release, this story has been covered by numerous news outlets worldwide, including Verdict, ZDNet, Africanews, Land Mobile, iTWire, and SAMENA council.In September, TrailGuard AI was announced as a finalist for the 2019 Design for Innovation Awards for Social Good by FastCompany, and was the only technology to address non-human species. The 10 finalists were chosen from over 4,300 entries. September also saw TrailGuard AI featured by Al Jazeera in an article focused on anti-poaching technology, and a detailed piece on the technology was also published in the October 2019 edition of SMT007 Magazine.Cover Image by Intel/RESOLVEEric Dinerstein and Sanjiv FernandoRESOLVEApril 17, 2019; Updated October 7, 2019
At RESOLVE, we’re here to tackle the toughest global challenges. The ones nobody else wants to touch. Where people are in conflict and planet problems are stuck. We’re here to unstick them. It’s not easy. It takes grit and ingenuity. And finding and working with the right partners. But we’re not called RESOLVE for nothing.
