Nokia has launched an MX Grid application to boost industrial tracking. Visual Position and Object Detection (VPOD) traces industrial assets using locally deployed AI algorithms to analyse real time camera feeds.

VPOD is designed for complex industrial environments where it is often difficult to equip machinery and tools with active tags and challenging for people to wear and maintain those units. By using a real-time video data feed, VPOD eliminates the need to equip assets and people with powered devices, improving situational awareness.

VPOD provides another source of industrial contextual awareness data, which is made available through APIs. VPOD’s real-time output will also be used by Nokia MX Workmate, a GenAI LLM based worker assistant, to enrich the contextual information it provides to workers. The solution’s AI based object, anomaly detection, and workers’ pose estimation, enables VPOD to detect a fallen worker. The information from the fall and the precise coordinate can then be leveraged by MX Workmate, to assist in organising the response and rescue activities to improve worker safety.

Nokia VPOD complements other Nokia Tracking and Positioning solutions such as Bluetooth based HAIP, and third-party tracking and positioning solutions running on MXIE, such as HERE HD GNSS or Nordic ID. All video data is processed in real-time and image content analysed within the customer’s closed network, ensuring compliance with privacy and security regulations.

Facial recognition software is not used within the Nokia VPOD solution.

Stephan Litjens, Vice President of Enterprise Solutions at Nokia, said: “Real-time tracking and positioning technologies play a critical role in enhancing situational awareness, needed for powering an array of intelligent applications ranging from worker safety to improved asset utilisation. Nokia Visual Position and Object Detection running on MX Grid is the first solution to make this possible at scale through patented algorithms and full lifecycle management, enabling the solution to be updated as new capabilities emerge. Privacy and security are key concerns for customers and with data confined and processed at the MX Grid micro and MXIE edge, Visual Position and Object Detection also ensures data privacy can be always maintained.”