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It’s a novelty: With the modern Wildhauser chairlift, the AI now controls the exit from the chairlift.
The skier loses a stick while getting out, the skier gets stuck while leaving the chair lift and falls over. The new surveillance at the mountain station of one of the chair lifts in Wildhaus is intended for precisely such moments.
Legend:
SRF reporter Mario Torriani puts it to the test on the chairlift in Wildhaus. The system detects a fall and stops.
SRF
The images from the monitoring sensors are evaluated by artificial intelligence. The chairlift will then stop automatically.
There are four former ETH graduates who developed this technology for “stopping things when someone falls over” in a start-up. “We offer a system that guarantees security,” says co-founder Tobias Stegemann.
It is intended to provide additional security – especially for small children.
Light grids and swing doors – it is a sophisticated system with the latest technology that has been tested and programmed in various ski areas. So that the fine-tuning is now correct and the lift also stops if a ski pole is lost when getting out.
“Attention – leave the area”
The lift doesn’t just stop automatically. If people are standing in the exit area, a voice triggered by the surveillance system warns: “Attention – please leave the area.” This is to prevent people from being hit by a chair or preventing other people from getting out.
Legend:
Two “SOS” columns monitor the exit area with cameras and detect whether someone has fallen or lost a ski pole.
SRF
Each mountain railway has to decide for itself whether AI will replace the employee at the chairlift, says Tobias Stegemann.
Human or AI
For the technical manager of the Wildhaus mountain railways, Patrik Jahn, it is clear: he does not want to replace the employees at the lift. “It should provide additional security – especially for small children,” he says about the new technology.
The employees at the elevator will still need it. Also to help guests get up or bring back the lost stick.
Legend:
The 6-seater Oberdorf-Freienalp chairlift was rebuilt in 2020 for 12 million francs. The hill station is now monitored by AI.
Keystone/Gian Ehrenzeller
So far there is this AI-based monitoring at a lift in Austria and in Wildhaus. “The next step will be night operations,” says Tobias Stegemann. The recordings currently only work in daylight and in winter on snowy ground. Summer operation is also a development goal for the AI researchers.