Avacam’s monitoring system analyzes ground movements in real time with millimeter-level precision. A crucial innovation as millions of Italians prepare to travel to the mountains for the Christmas and New Year holidays, in a country with over 635,000 recorded landslides.
An Italian technology capable of anticipating slope movements with millimeter-level precision is revolutionizing the way we monitor the country’s most fragile areas. It is called Avacam, a system that uses cutting-edge devices and trains artificial intelligence to transform real-time images of a hillside into actionable prevention data, providing early warnings for movements that the human eye cannot perceive.
Its arrival comes at a pivotal time. According to data from ISPRA (Italy’s National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), Italy has over 635,000 recorded landslides, the highest number in Europe, and nearly 10% of the national territory falls within high-hazard areas. More than 1.28 million people live permanently in at-risk zones, and in 2023 alone more than 190 significant events affected infrastructure, homes, and transportation routes. A structural vulnerability further compounded by the rise in extreme weather events and the climatic instability of the past two years.
The issue becomes even more relevant as the holidays approach. Federalberghi (the Italian hotel and tourism federation) estimates that more than 18 million Italians will travel between Christmas and New Year’s, with a substantial share heading to mountain destinations. Busier roads, crowded ski resorts, and high-altitude communities hosting thousands of visitors: a context in which slope safety becomes an absolute priority.
Avacam was created to address this need. The system consists of an ultra-high-resolution industrial optical unit, the GEO T8, designed to withstand extreme weather conditions and to be installed even at high altitude in just a few minutes, and advanced software that leverages digital image correlation algorithms. The photos captured by the device are automatically processed by AI, which can detect even imperceptible variations on the monitored surface. The result is continuous, accurate remote monitoring, supported by displacement maps, time series, advanced automated reports, and immediate alerts.
This technology has already been used in testing, among other cases, to monitor an unstable slope in Clauzetto, in the province of Pordenone, Italy, where in just a few hours Avacam processed a set of 300 images, identifying ground variations before they became evident. A concrete example of how prevention can be achieved through constant, scientific observation of the territory.
Damiano Bauce, engineer and founder of the project, says: “The mountain is constantly speaking. For years, we could only listen after an event had already occurred. With Avacam, we can finally intervene beforehand. Our technology makes imperceptible movements visibleand provides authorities with an immediate and reliable tool to protect people and infrastructure. It is a fundamental step forward for the safety of Italy’s territories”.
The next milestone in this journey will be Avacam’s presentation at CES in Las Vegas in January, the world’s largest event dedicated to innovation. An achievement that brings Italian engineering onto an international stage and paves the way for new applications of this technology in all those countries that, like Italy, live with fragile territory. Avacam shows that prevention is possible, and that listening to the mountain today can truly save lives.