October, 2025 – ORTUS AI today announced the release of a brand-new module to the ORTUS AI VaS (Visual Analytics System) platform to be tested under a pilot at a popular Aquatic Splash Centre. The AI camera technology ensures monitoring, support, and a proactive safety system for the centre as well as for outdoor beaches between the swimming flags. This project is a first for New Zealand and will provide a complete safety solution by combining two different technologies.

ORTUS AI's new system for a major Aquatic Centre is designed to provide a truly proactive safety solution, focusing on the most critical situations: swimmers in distress and silent drownings. The platform aims to solve the problem of silent and hidden drownings by using a groundbreaking hybrid UWB-Acoustic approach. By integrating wearable sensors with CCTV and physiological data, the system can provide real-time, life-saving alerts. This initiative is a core component of the Whanganui District Council's vision to embrace cutting-edge AI technology for public safety and transforms traditional surveillance into proactive risk mitigation.

For above-water monitoring, the system uses an Ultra-Wideband (UWB) network to pinpoint a person's exact location with high precision.

This allows the ORTUS AI software to detect specific events, such as a child leaving a safe zone or a lifeguard lingering in one area, and send an immediate, real-time alert to the relevant staff member's smartwatch. The alert includes a digital map with the precise location of the incident, enabling a proactive and rapid response.

A future research and development project pilot is planned to address the complex challenge of underwater tracking.