A Japanese security firm has developed a system using artificial intelligence to detect thefts of cash contributions from shrines' donation boxes and notify parishioners of incidents in real time.
Nagoya-based Trinity Inc. hopes the new system, to be launched this summer, will help catch thieves red-handed at shrines, which are open 24 hours a day and often left unstaffed for long periods of time.
Many visitors to Japan's shrines leave cash offerings inside offertory boxes typically installed in front of the shrine's main building.