Intelligent Cameras - Embedded Analytics

At the recent IP-in-Action event in Oxford, I heard a speaker suggest that it wouldn’t be the use of the Internet Protocol that makes IP cameras take off but rather the additional benefits that IP enables.

This got me thinking about the other benefit of IP-enabling cameras: intelligence. There has been a lot of hype about cameras with intelligence and what they are capable of but what are the real world applications and benefits of intelligent IP cameras?

Cameras have had intelligence built-in for a number of years now, generally for signal conditioning and picture quality improvement. Examples include custom exposure areas and extreme white masking, enhancing image clarity at night and dealing with bright lights such as car headlamps. But it is only recently that intelligence has really started to extend the functional capabilities of cameras.

Using intelligence on the edge of the IP network reduces the continuous bandwidth needed to stream video, allows monitoring staff to be more effective and introduces event based recording - recording only those clips that are of interest.

Motion Detection
Video-based motion detection has been around in a usable form for the past few years. Early implementations simply compared sequential frames of video to detect the percentage pixel change in pre-determined areas of the image, triggering alarms when a pre-configured threshold was reached. More advanced techniques work on the DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) data of the video codec and look for changes in the frequencies between frames. This method can achieve better environmental noise filtering and prevent false alarms resulting from effects such as light level changes.

The latest methods take the analysis a stage further by filtering out more and more of the environmental noise across a series of 15 frames or so, removing the need to mask areas such as pedestal fans and moving water. Other motion within these areas can still be detected. The Sony SNC-CS50P has this ability.

Object Detection
As processing power continues to increase, object detection becomes possible. Automatic recognition of items such as left luggage, suspect packages and parked cars can be put to good use, especially in airports where concourses can be kept clear and safe. When linked into the wider security system, automatic size estimation and material analysis from the camera can help determine evacuation distances and blast patterns for potential explosives.

Inverse object detection can also be used to identify the removal of objects such as high value display goods and cars in secure parking. This again helps reduce the need for continual monitoring, increasing the overall effectiveness of the system.

Object Tracking
Tracking recognised objects takes the concept of object detection one stage further. Analysis of movement within a scene can be used to detect anomalies such as crowd surges and panic, motorway traffic problems and other unusual activity including movement patterns exhibited by car thieves.

Feeding back the object tracking variables to a PTZ unit can allow objects to be followed outside the normal bounds of a static camera further reducing the effort required by the monitoring staff.

License Plate Recognition
It won't be long before license plate recognition algorithms are embedded within intelligent cameras allowing a list of trigger number plates to be uploaded. The camera itself can then sit idle until a valid detection is made and the relevant authorities informed along with footage of the vehicle and its location.

Intelligence doesn't always need to involve image analysis. With an IP interface cameras can now perform much more complex operations such as emailing, SMS and FTP transfer of video clips and images. The latest firmware from Mobotix even allows their cameras to make and receive calls via IP Telephony.

Eventually all surveillance cameras will have a generic intelligence capability and we will be able to pick and mix the features to tailor the camera for each application and installation.

Ultimately camera intelligence makes security personnel more effective by automating the mundane tasks and allowing for a more proactive staff deployment.
Codestuff works closely with IP camera manufacturers to ensure that our customers are able to harness the benefits of all these new technologies and bring smart surveillance applications to market quicker and more efficiently.