(Yicai Global) Feb. 6 -- Beijing has begun trialing an artificial intelligence-powered system that scans people in busy public places for abnormal body temperatures, helping to quickly detect potential infections and greatly reduce the workload on healthcare staff.

Developed by Alibaba-invested AI unicorn Megvii, creator of the widely used facial recognition software Face++, the system saw first use in a government service hall and various subway stations in the city's western Haidian district, The Paper reported yesterday. The area, known as China's Silicon Valley, is where many of the country's top universities are clustered and was particularly hard-hit by the SARS coronavirus epidemic of 2002 to 2003.

An infrared camera zeroes in on and alerts health workers to people with fever from over three meters away, with a margin of error of about 0.3°C, the report said. It can even work through face masks.

The device allows just one employee at a subway station to efficiently detect fevers and passengers need not queue for scanning, per the report. 

Beijing-based Megvii is filing for an initial public offering in Hong Kong that seeks to raise USD1 billion, China Money Network reported in September, citing Bloomberg. 

The company had revenues of CNY1.42 billion (USD199 million) in 2018 and CNY313.15 million (USD44 million) in 2017 in compound annual growth of more than four and a half times, per documents the firm filed with the Hong Kong stock exchange in August, the report added.

Editor: Ben Armour