Conshohocken‑based ZeroEyes uses AI to detect weapons and prevent violence nationwide | Made in Pa.

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. (WPVI) -- A Pennsylvania-founded security technology company is using artificial intelligence to spot potential threats before they unfold, monitoring live camera feeds in real time to detect weapons and alert authorities within seconds.

ZeroEyes, launched in 2018 by a team of military veterans, analyzes existing surveillance cameras in schools, transit systems, city buildings and other public spaces across more than 40 states.

Inside the company's operations center, technicians review automated alerts generated by the software.

"He's going to look at the box, determine if something is a gun or no gun," a technician explained while demonstrating the system.

When an alert appears, human verification happens almost instantly.

"This is in real time. The time between getting something and the alert showing up on the screen is probably about a second," said Rob Huberty, the company's chief operating officer and cofounder.

Huberty said the idea for ZeroEyes emerged after he and several fellow Navy SEALs watched footage from the 2018 Parkland school shooting.

"The shooter had his gun out in front of a camera, and we looked at it, and we said, 'How come nobody saw the gun? Is anybody looking at these cameras?'" he said.

The mission became personal for the founders.

"It started off with schools, like, my wife is a teacher. I have young kids. Our whole team did," one team member said.

Huberty added that he grew up in Connecticut, where his middle school was later renamed Sandy Hook Elementary School.

"This is a problem that we wanted to solve the entire time," he said.

Huberty said it took one to two years to develop the technology. Since then, the system has flagged more than 1,000 incidents nationwide, with alerts passed quickly to clients and law enforcement, leading to several dozen arrests.

ZeroEyes now operates in 46 states, including helping local clients such as Temple University Police.

"We are the first university in the state to adopt this technology," the department said.

Nearly all alert verification staff are former military or law enforcement. The company runs two operations centers - one in Pennsylvania and one in Hawaii - to ensure round-the-clock monitoring.

"I mean, this is our home. So this is where we started," a team member said. "Doing this from our home, doing it to make people feel safer. And it's like a guardian kind of thing that's really meaningful."