VERSES expands autonomous drone governance infrastructure

VANCOUVER — VERSES AI Inc., a cognitive computing company specializing in the next generation of artificial intelligence, announced the completion of its Urban Air Mobility (UAM) demonstrations in Milan, Italy.

As part of Flying Forward 2020 (FF2020), a European Commission-funded special research and innovation project developing Urban Air Mobility infrastructure, and in collaboration with the Center for Advanced Technologies in Health and Well-being of the San Raffaele Hospital (OSR) which is the technological research unit that coordinates the activities of the FF2020 living lab in Milan, VERSES successfully deployed multiple autonomous drones to deliver medicines in the campus and monitor their perimeter against intruders. Utilizing VERSES’ real time mobility portal, powered by the company’s operating system for AI, KOSM, hospital staff were able to autonomously deliver medicines across campus, and monitor against trespassers on premises.

OSR’s demonstrators aim to include an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) prototype in the hospital’s critical infrastructure for delivery, security, and maintenance, providing video in support of surveillance and other services located at the hospital. During the demonstrations, the mandated security officers and maintenance appointees can request the drone service to monitor critical areas, while pharmacists can send airlifted medicines to patients in peripheral areas of the campus. These operations are in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and guard the privacy of users. As a result, the system will enable remote human configuration of the most effective system to improve 1) the efficiency and timeliness of health services, 2) expedite maintenance interventions, and 3) accelerate detection of physical intrusions, thus acting as a deterrent to malicious attacks.

San Raffaele Hospital showcased how drone services can be safely integrated in a hospital environment to conduct autonomous operations for delivering valuable resources and maintaining physical safety on premises.

“This was an exciting project for VERSES, and we appreciate the collaboration with OSR on deploying autonomous drone management for the hospital,” said Gabriel René, Founder and CEO of VERSES. “This marks the 3rd of five major demonstrations across European cities before the commercialization phase which aims to fulfill the long term vision of the European Commission to enable a 21st Century Urban Air Mobility infrastructure across all of Europe. These autonomous drone activities demonstrate the unique capabilities of KOSM as the basis for this infrastructure.”

VERSES will continue working with autonomous drone flights operating Beyond the Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) through Flying Forward 2020, a collaborative research project comprised of 12 global multidisciplinary partners focused on developing a new Urban Air Mobility ecosystem within the geospatial data infrastructure of cities throughout the European Union.