[Engineering Feature]
The Unblinking Eye
Smile for the camera. Intelligent video analysis can locate potential terrorists, detect suspicious objects, and even spot card cheats—all without a human operator.
ADVANCING TECHNOLOGY Cameras streaming IP video make it relatively easy to add analytic technology to a new or existing surveillance system, says Michael Godfrey, Visual Defence's chief technology officer. Since the raw data is in a digital format already, intelligent video analysis technology can be dropped into the system easily. "I can put my analytic server anywhere within the network," Godfrey says.
Thanks to faster and more powerful processors, it's now possible to build analytic capabilities directly into surveillance cameras. Lumenera, for example, has introduced a series of cameras that use Texas Instruments' DaVinci digital video technology to deliver advanced image processing, compression, and video analytics.
"The cameras themselves are getting more intelligent," Godfrey says. Also, many "smart" cameras now support downloadable analytics modules produced by third-party vendors. This lets system owners use a module designed for a particular task, such as body movement analysis or object tracking. "You're not tied with one specific type," Godfrey notes. Different modules can be distributed to various cameras across the system, wherever a particular capability is needed.
Whether it's camera-based or server-based, analytics has its limits despite these advances. Even the most sophisticated algorithms running on the most powerful processors can have trouble coping with busy, visually complex environments—the types of places authorities most want to monitor.
"If you put it into a urban area, like New York City, there's so much going on at once it's almost like it overloads the brain," Vining says. "But if you have a defined area to monitor, it can work very well." Even so, intelligent video analysis can still be tricked into registering false alerts.
"I might be standing outside the airport waiting for somebody to pick me up," Sarangan says. "It might look like I'm loitering, but I'm not doing anything wrong." Yet system users are generally willing to tolerate the occasional false positive as the price they must pay for not overlooking a possibly serious situation, notes Vining.
Network capacity is another concern. "If you're streaming [video] across the network, it's about 2 Mbytes/s," Sarangan says. That means a system with 100 cameras needs to move nearly 200 Mbytes every second. Since many large-footprint installations like mass transit systems can require thousands of cameras, network costs can quickly mount. "That's a lot of data to be streaming across a network," Sarangan says.
EXPANDING MARKET As intelligent video analysis becomes more widely available at ever lower price points, the technology is filtering down to a wide array of enterprises. "We have seen strong demand for the technology from specialty retailers, jewelry stores, and even supermarkets," says Jon Bolen, chief technology officer of Westec Interactive (Fig. 2).
Retailers can use intelligent video analysis to detect shoplifters. Casinos can tap the tools to spot cheaters. And, theme parks often turn to smart cameras to identify and locate lost children.
It could even be a powerful business tool. Stores can judge which floor displays are most popular with shoppers, while fast food restaurants can better assess their staffing needs by monitoring crowd sizes throughout the day.
Industry players believe most people are willing to give up a little privacy, at least in public, in return for enhanced security. Vining believes intelligent video analysis systems are destined to pop up in an ever growing number of public spaces.
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