A darker channel
Deeper water cutting out through the surf reflects less light, so a rip often reads as a darker lane running away from the beach.
How it works
From a public camera to a warning in your hand.
RipCo does not need new cameras or new hardware. It reads feeds that already watch the water, identifies rip currents with computer vision, and shows them as a clear visual warning. Here is the whole pipeline.
The detection pipeline
Step 01
It uses existing public cameras.
RipCo connects to public beach camera feeds that are already watching the water. There is no new hardware to install, no drones and nothing for you to set up. If a beach has a public camera, RipCo can work with it.
Step 02
AI computer vision identifies rips.
The model analyses the feed frame by frame, looking for the visual signature of a rip: a darker channel cutting out through the surf, a gap in the breaking waves, and foam or sediment streaming away from shore.
Step 03
You get a clear visual warning.
When a likely rip is found, it is outlined in red on the live view with a confidence percentage, so you can see where it is and how sure the model is, then act on it before you get in the water.
The visual signature
What the model looks for.
A rip leaves a readable trace on the surface. These are the three features the model weighs frame by frame, and they are the same ones lifeguards are trained to read.
A gap in the breaking waves
Waves break on the sandbanks either side of a rip but not in the channel itself, leaving a calmer-looking gap in the line of white water.
Foam and sediment moving out
Foam, sand and debris streaming away from shore show the direction the water is pulling, which is what separates a rip from a still patch.
Detection runs at Manly Beach and is rolling out to more Australian beaches. Every other beach on RipCo is conditions only.
What it is, and what it is not
An aid, not a guarantee.
A confidence percentage is a reading, not a promise. No model is perfect, and RipCo is built to be honest about that.
It can miss a rip
Detection depends on what the camera can see. Light, angle, weather and distance all affect it, so a rip can be present without being detected.
Conditions change quickly
Rips form and shift in minutes. A calmer-looking stretch of water can become a rip, and the smoothest gap between the waves is often where one is running.
The flags come first
Whatever RipCo shows, swim between the red and yellow flags and follow the lifeguards. They are reading the water in person, and they always have the final word.
See it on your beach.
RipCo is coming to the App Store, starting at Manly Beach. Early access opens before launch.
Whatever RipCo shows, swim between the red and yellow flags and follow the lifeguards.