AI-driven biometrics and surveillance are redefining protection across Asia Pacific.
Across Asia Pacific, security is being rewritten. Dense cities, massive transport hubs and automated industries are pushing traditional systems to their limits. AI-powered biometrics and surveillance are stepping in to replace these legacy systems.
This shift was evident at SECON & eGISEC 2026 held in South Korea In March 2026. More than 400 companies from 19 countries converged to showcase how AI is reshaping both physical and digital defense.
The message was clear: in an AI-driven world, trust depends on securing everything — not just data and networks, but the physical spaces people move through every day.
From sound to intelligence
One of the most surprising breakthroughs is sound.
South Korea–based Deeply is turning everyday noise into actionable intelligence. Its ListenAI engine detects non-verbal acoustic events, screams, breaking glass, aggressive shouting, even abnormal machine noise — without relying on language.
That matters in APAC, where many languages and dialects coexist. By focusing on sound patterns instead of speech, Deeply sidesteps a major scalability problem.
“Our AI understands the characteristics of sound and tells security teams what’s happening so they can act fast,” said Kisun Kim, Senior Manager, Deeply.
The technology shines where cameras fall short: restrooms, changing rooms, parks, and other privacy-sensitive spaces. Here, the system listens out for distress, classifies events in real time, and triggers alerts that operators can verify and act on immediately.
It’s also moving into factories, where subtle shifts in machine noise can signal failures before they happen — minimizing downtime and improving safety.
Crucially, everything runs on edge servers. Audio stays local while only alerts and metadata are shared. The results are faster response times and stronger privacy compliance.
The bigger picture is clear. Across APAC, security is becoming multimodal, blending audio, video and data into a single operational view.
Singapore’s HTX is already testing sound AI in public spaces, pointing to a future where systems don’t just watch, they listen.
Redefining what AI can see
If Deeply is teaching machines to hear, Laon People is teaching them to understand what they see.
The South Korean company’s Odin AI platform uses a vision-language model (VLM) to interpret scenes in natural language — moving beyond traditional systems that rely on rigid training data.
“Rule-based systems generate too many false alarms,” said CEO Sukjoong Lee. “Our AI understands context and alerts only when there’s real danger.”
That shift is critical. Instead of simply detecting objects, Odin AI can describe situations, such as “a worker approaching an open pit”, and flag risks instantly.
It also handles the unexpected. As it understands context, it can respond to new scenarios without retraining. This is something legacy systems struggle to or cannot do.
Deployments are already underway across South Korea and Thailand, spanning border control, disaster monitoring and critical infrastructure.
In flood-prone regions of Thailand, Odin AI tracks water levels and issues early warnings. In high-security facilities, it detects intrusions and responds to natural language commands such as “alert me if someone climbs the fence.”
The payoffs are fewer false alarms, faster decisions and less strain on human operators.
And the scope is expanding. The same AI can analyze logs, detect anomalies and automate workflows to bridge physical surveillance and cybersecurity in a single system.
One security layer, not two
At SECON & eGISEC 2026, the dominant theme was the convergence of physical and digital security.
Vendors showcased platforms that unify video, audio, biometrics and network data. Cybersecurity firms such as MonitorApp highlighted AI-driven defenses against increasingly sophisticated cyber-physical attacks.
Governments are moving in the same direction. From India to Japan, from Singapore to South Korea, APAC authorities are ramping up AI-based threat detection, vulnerability scanning and ethical hacking programs to counter rising ransomware and hybrid attacks.
The old model of isolated sensors and rule-based alerts is fading fast. In its place are integrated, AI-driven ecosystems that can see, hear, authenticate, analyze, and predict in real time.
As smart cities expand and Industry 4.0 accelerates, organizations are building unified operations centers where digital and physical threats appear side by side for faster, smarter responses.
AI is no longer just spotting patterns. It’s interpreting context. And, in APAC, that shift is redefining what it means to stay secure with systems that don’t just monitor the world, but understand it — continuously learning, listening and watching to keep people and infrastructure safe.
