NEC Develops 90% Accurate Land Mine Detection Tech

NEC Corp. said it has developed artificial intelligence (AI) technology that is capable of predicting where land mines are most likely buried with about 90% accuracy, Mainichi Japan reported.

Photo Insert: NEC used open data on landscapes and military facilities provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as reports from local residents in successfully predicting where land mines in certain zones were buried.

The technology could lead to more efficient removal of land mines and reduce the number of yearly deaths from the underground explosives, and the Japanese company said it aims to provide AI landmine prediction services to governments and international organizations by March 2024.

In an experiment conducted between April and October last year in conflict zones around Asia, NEC used open data on landscapes and military facilities provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as reports from local residents in successfully predicting where land mines in certain zones were buried, NEC said.

Using the technology, the time needed in narrowing 800 sites down to probable land mine burial sites can be shortened to a few hours from several years. Although it is still necessary to manually confirm the land mine burial zones, the company said the technology can hasten the removal process.

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