A group of scientists in South Korea has developed the world’s first completely autonomous prison guard. Far from being a glorified Roomba, the robo-guard was “designed to study human behavior, the robot is able to detect abnormal prisoner activity and report back to its controllers.” Click through for the video.

The robot guard was developed by the Asian Forum of Corrections (AFC) as an alternative to outdated, flesh-and-bone prison wardens. Although the robot itself did not come cheap, the annual cost (about $200 billion) of keeping roughly 10 million people behind bars globally is starting to add up. The hope is that the high initial costs will pay off over the long term. Furthermore, the robot has a distinct advantage over its human counterparts,

[R]obots are immune to many of the dangers their human counterparts are; bribes, injury, sickness and death. Most importantly, they don’t draw a weekly paycheck to keep them happy.

That’s not all though, the robo-guards are also loaded with advanced technology specifically designed to make its job easier.

Equipped with 3D cameras and software designed to study human behavior, the robot is able to detect abnormal prisoner activity and report back to its controllers.

By using the 3D depth camera, it will detect every detail of actions happening inside through a window. So, when there is an unusual behaviour, it’s going to analyse it and report the problem to the control system. Therefore, correctional officers will run and arrive at the scene in time.

An officer can also use the robot’s two way wireless system to communicate with a prisoner without having to leave the control room.

Although the robot has been designed to function completely autonomously, if the need arises an iPad will allow for manual control.

The robot is currently undergoing its first field trial and if successful could prove to be the beginning of a global trend in prisons towards automation.

[Source: BuzzFeed, Extreme Tech, Singularity Blog]