The Risk of Excessively Complex Vape Detectors

The Risk of excessively complex vape detectors: In February of this year, a high school in Greenwood, Arkansas encountered a highly alarming situation. A false gunshot detection, leading to the lockdown of the high school and an immediate response from the Greenwood Police Department. At 11 A.M., the Greenwood Police Department said in a statement on Facebook, “To make a brief first post, everything is fine at the high school. Posting details next.” 

Upon their arrival, the police department concluded that the false gunshot notification came from a device mounted in the school’s bathrooms. The primary function of this device is to notify school officials of vaping incidents. The device originated from a competitor of FlySense®, which unfortunately, has a history of making unwarranted claims regarding its product’s capabilities. Once notified of the potential threat, school administrators followed standard procedures, including implementing a lockdown. 

“We appreciate the quick response by the Greenwood Police Department and our school security team to keep our staff and students safe. All classes have resumed normal schedules at this time.” said Greenwood High School in a statement. 

At Soter Technologies, we are proud to be honest and considerate, and we stand behind the technology and capability of our devices. Our biggest priority is to deliver exactly what we guarantee, and that is to play a role in keeping institutions vape-free. Some aspects cannot be measured by sensors, as a sound could potentially be misinterpreted. For example, in this situation, the slamming of a door is what triggered the “gunshot detection” on this particular device. 

When it comes to the safety and well-being of students and staff, it is critical that a device does what it is intended to do. Our intentions with developing the world’s first vape detector, FlySense®, is to detect vaping, educate administrators and staff via notifications or alerts, and deter students from participating in bullying incidents. Unfortunately, as more companies develop vape detection devices, the more false claims become evident.