Female entrepreneur’s 3D imaging innovation revolutionizes security
Alisa Givertz, founder of Liquid360 and winner of the 2024 Next-Gen Womens Entrepreneurship Award sponsored by the Luzzatto Group at the Jerusalem Post Women Leaders Summit on March 27, says that the idea for creating her start-up came about when her youngest child, then five years old, disappeared from the New York hotel room where she and her family were staying.
“You imagine that security works perfectly, just like in the movies,” she says. “So did I.” Givertz saw the array of cameras in the hotel and assumed that the hotel security officer would be able to locate her daughter immediately. Yet, the officer could not spot her daughter on the vast wall of screens that presented the views of cameras throughout the hotel. Giwertz gave up on the video feed and searched the hotel floor by floor until she finally located her.
This episode provided her with the impetus to found Liquid360, which presents security personnel with a real-life three-dimensional picture using existing security cameras. “With Liquid360, the picture literally changes,” says Givertz, a materials engineer who was born in Toronto and made aliyah seven years ago. “Instead of a matrix view, Liquid 360 uses existing security equipment to enable a real-life picture that is immediately understandable. The operator can understand, and the field guard can see through walls, around corners, and even through floors of a multi-story building for a total tactical advantage.”
Eran Jedwab, co-founder and CTO, who has worked in the security field, both in the IDF and as a civilian, and who created the security system for the largest maximum security terrorist prison in Israel, spent several years in the United States and noticed that security cameras were not being used in a proactive, preventive fashion. “We saw all those active shooter events, and there were cameras all around, but those cameras were not delivering security, because security is about preventing the damages. Those cameras were a great tool for after-the-fact-analysis, but the camera cannot protect anyone.”
When security teams attempt to understand a row of video screens standing independently, they need to understand where the events are taking place within the location they are protecting, which is very difficult. By contrast, when viewing a screen that displays camera feeds within one cohesive picture using Liquid360, they have a better understanding of what is taking place and how and where security staff or first responders can be deployed.
Givertz explains that the camera views presented by Liquid360 provide context to the user and enable a much faster response when viewing the scene on a tablet. “We gamify security. Everybody plays video games and knows how to see the whole playing field or focus on one little area. With Liquid360, you can do the same thing. You can maneuver from floor to floor in a multi-story building, you can maneuver from outside to inside, and the gestures and everything on the screen are the same as if you were using any other device. We marry the map, the geographic, and the visual. By putting the videos playing where they actually are in the model that we create, you’re creating a new plane for analysis. But more importantly, you’re actually presenting to the viewer something that their brain has evolved to understand.”
Givertz presents an example of how the Liquid360 system can be used effectively. “Imagine if a fire alarm is pulled,” she says. “Instead of pulling paper plans out of the fire closet and laying them down on the hood of the fire chief’s truck, now you pull out a tablet, and you can see everything that’s happening inside in real-time. Whether those are people on your staff or first responders coming to the scene who don’t know the site at all, this will be incredibly impactful. You don’t have to figure out the north side and the west side and the east side. It’s to your right and to your left. You have a shared language.”
Liquid360 integrates with existing systems, including radar, analytics, facial recognition, license plate recognition, drones, body cams, access control, fire alarm systems, and video. “When you look now at this one cohesive picture and this one contextual picture, you truly have an understanding of what’s happening and where it’s happening,” she says.
Another advantage presented by Liquid360 is the shorter period of training required for security staff to master the technology, which is much more user-friendly and engaging than standard monitoring of security video.
Liquid360 is currently being tested in various pilot projects, including the Jerusalem Municipality, the Israel Security Agency (Shabak), and the IDF’s Directorate of Defense, Research, & Development (Mafat), and is also being used in the United States.
A market worth $140 billion
Givertz says that the physical security market is valued at approximately $140 billion annually. While a sizable percentage of that is spent on human resources, worldwide business losses due to physical security failures are estimated at $1 trillion annually and $250 billion in the United States, indicating a significant market for the product.
Givertz speaks with an evangelist’s fervor about Liquid360 and its significance. “We believe that in a few years, all security will look like Liquid360 because it’s just so much easier to use and so much more intuitive. I’m really excited about what we’re doing. I wake up every morning ready to go,” she says with a smile.
Dr. Esther Luzzatto, CEO of the Luzzatto Group, and Tamar Luzzatto, head of Business Development, and Marketing at the Luzzatto Group, said, “Although the competition was fierce and included excellent candidates, Aliza was chosen because she presented a coherent vision for improving personal security – a goal that is gaining even more validity and importance in the complex times we are experiencing. We wish Aliza a great deal of success and look forward to seeing what she will do next.”
