As schools open gyms and other facilities to their surrounding communities, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things safety systems are drawing attention as a way to fill the gap in oversight during nights and weekends. With residents using facilities at hours when no staff are present, school security is expanding beyond access control aimed at keeping outsiders out to cover accidents, fires, intrusions, water leaks and electrical equipment management.
S-1 said on the 25th that it has been running a pilot of its school safety solution at three schools since last month, as part of a gym-opening program by the Gunpo-Uiwang Office of Education.
The move responds to the heavier management burden schools face as the government expands access to school facilities to promote community sports. S-1’s school safety solution combines facility operation and safety management functions with existing security infrastructure such as AI cameras that detect school violence and facial recognition readers. Its main components are an unmanned gym management system that controls entry, opening and closing, lighting and air conditioning; an intelligent school safety package that detects dangerous situations during open hours; and Bluescan, an IoT solution that detects abnormal signals from water leaks and electrical and firefighting equipment.
The unmanned gym management system is distinctive in that it bundles a security system controlling entry and opening and closing with a facilities system controlling lighting and air conditioning. A middle school in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, has adopted the system and now operates its gym on weekends and in early morning hours without separate management staff. Gym lighting and heating and cooling equipment switch on only during open hours from 9 a.m. to noon, and shut off automatically once all users have left. As closing time approaches, a voice announcement notifies users that the session is ending, and the doors lock after confirming that no one remains and that conditions are safe. If an intrusion is detected after closing, it triggers monitoring and emergency dispatch.
“On weekends there is no staff on duty, so opening the gym was a burden every time,” the official in charge of facilities at the school said. “Now everything from unlocking the doors to controlling the lighting happens on its own according to the schedule we entered, so we can run it safely without staff.”
The intelligent school safety package uses AI to detect seven types of abnormal situations in real time, tailored to the school environment: signs of fire, entry into hazardous areas, movement outside designated zones, loitering outside school hours, intrusion over walls and gates, school violence and smoking. The Gunpo-Uiwang Office of Education plans to review expanding the system to other schools in its jurisdiction based on the pilot results.
With Bluescan, IoT sensors attached to school generators and electrical rooms detect abnormal signs such as water leaks and fires in real time and automatically send alerts to the person in charge, enabling immediate response.
