Soon Dubai’s police force will have a new recruit patrolling the streets: a self-driving car that acts a mobile surveillance unit. The vehicle is about the size of a child’s toy electric buggy and is equipped with 360-degree cameras that “scan for wanted criminals and undesirables†– presumably using facial recognition technology.
Dubai Police signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Singapore-based OTSAW Digital to deploy the new autonomous outdoor security robots, named O-R3, as part of the Smart Dubai initiative.
OTSAW says Dubai will be the first city in the world to use the O-R3 for everyday patrols, noting that the robot is not intended to replace human police officers, but to “fulfill low-level order enforcement tasks.†As well as all-seeing cameras, the O-R3 can charge itself automatically, and comes equipped with an onboard drone to follow individuals to places where it can’t drive.