New technology called FluSense can detect coughing and crowd size in real time and directly monitor flu-like illnesses. FluSense’s creators say this technology could be used to forecast seasonal flu and other viral respiratory outbreaks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

UMass Amherst Assistant Professor of Computer Science Tauhidur Rahman is one of the researchers who created FluSense. Rhaman spoke with Carrie Saldo about how the portable device leverages machine learning to inform the public health response to flu epidemics.