Smart Cameras Blog

Links from David Fletcher’s blog:

In Salt Lake city, their new Advanced Management Traffic System (ATMS) in 2000:

the ATMS provides instrumentation on 70 miles (112 km) of area freeways. The system includes closed circuit TV (CCTV) camera coverage every 3,300 ft (1,000 m), traffic monitoring systems that entail embedded loop detectors and microloops approximately every 2,640 ft (800 m), 31 variable message signs (VMS) located on the freeway, four weigh-in-motion stations on the I-15 corridor, seven roadway weather information stations (RWIS), and a fully redundant, self-healing fiber optic backbone communications system. (Link from Jan 2000)

Commonly referred to as the largest single highway construction contract in U.S. history, the ATMS equipment within the area’s infrastructure costs about $70 million (US). “It should be noted that only a small portion of this amount was within the reconstruction area of I-15 itself,” said Mike Holling, vice president of TransCore, UDOT’s ATMS systems manager. ” Funded by a combination of state and federal funds, the total cost of the I-15 reconstruction plan is $1.318 billion. Seven public agencies provided funding for the CommuterLink project. These agencies include: UDOT; Salt Lake City; Salt Lake County; the Federal Highway Administration; Utah Transit Authority; Wasatch Front Regional Council; and the Department of Public Safety. Built for a cost of $80 million, of which nearly 25% was federal aid funds, the TOC functions 18 hours a day, 7-days a week with two operators on duty.

Several years later the system is described as (note the cost savings!):

A recent advanced transportation management system (ATMS) evaluation identified the benefits that Utah’s Salt Lake Valley system is providing. The study quantified the value that each individual ATMS component provides based on delay, safety and emissions. These individual components included: ramp meter, CCTV, variable message signs (VMS), incident management teams (IMT) and traffic-signal coordination. In the Salt Lake Valley, there are over 900 traffic signals. The system communicates via fiber optics to more than 600 traffic signals, communicating through the three regional transportation operation centers (TOCs). The fiber system cost over $51 million to install, almost half the entire ATMS system costs. The estimated annual ATMS benefit is $179 million. The traffic-signal coordination effort accounts for 87% of the system-wide social benefit. (Link)

Fletcher also mentions the San Antonio system (live data) it comprises of:

The TransGuide system has expanded to include over 140 cameras, 150 Dynamic Message Signs, 150 Lane Control signal Systems, and over 1000 traffic sensors. The communication network is comprised of a fiber optic cable network stretching over 100 miles with over 120 fiber network communication cabinets. (Link)

rshah Traffic Congestion

Aimetis :: AIRA Home:

Another firm selling smart cameras. This one is from Canada. It does have nice page on the limitations of conventional video monitoring:

No matter how highly trained or how dedicated a human observer, it is impossible to provide full attention to more than one or two things at a time; and even then, only for a few minutes at a time. A Harvard University study concluded that humans are surprisingly unaware of the details of their environment, and often do not detect large changes to objects or scenes (‘change blindness’). Furthermore, without attention, humans may not even perceive objects (‘inattentional blindness’). The Harvard experiment results showed that 50% of people counting the passes made between two basketball teams will not notice a gorilla walk into the middle of the viewing area, beat its chest, and walk out. In another study, military experiments demonstrated that after 12 minutes of continuous viewing of 2 or more sequencing monitors, an operator will miss up to 45% of all scene activity. After approximately 22 minutes, an operator will miss up to 95% of scene activity. The conclusion is clear – humans do not reliably detect security threats, whether watching live video or reviewing archived data, resulting in false conclusions that nothing occurred when, in fact, something did (referred to as ‘false negatives’).

rshah Vendors

Johns Hopkins Gazette:

John Hopkins is using smart cameras. The system is designed and operated by iXP Corp. It is not clear what software they are using. I am also curious how effective it is. The story recites the familiar promise of smart cameras:

Using computer-driven cameras, the “smart CCTV” system quickly recognizes potential problems, from a student who has fallen and needs assistance to someone trying to break into a locked building. Real-time images of people who may be causing problems appear on computer monitors, framed with a yellow rectangle to alert system operators. The operators then determine whether to dispatch a nearby security officer to the scene.

The system can be programmed to look for as many as 16 behavior patterns and to assign them a priority score for operator follow-up, depending on factors such as the time of day when the behavior occurs. In addition to its “smart” capability, the system is monitored like conventional security camera systems, with operators checking what is happening in each camera’s field of view on a rotating basis. The feeds from each camera are recorded and, if needed for later analysis or for use as evidence, can be preserved.

The first cameras have been operational since late March. There are currently 24 in service, with a total of

32 anticipated to be up and running within a few weeks.

rshah Applications

From IHT, a story about using radiation sensors and cameras together:

The man carrying the hidden radioactive material passed among airline passengers at Sheremetyevo Airport on an afternoon this year. His briefcase holding the contraband was indistinguishable from anyone else’s carry-on. Then, as he approached the check-in counter, lights flashed and an alarm sounded. A mounted video camera captured the man’s image. Guards seized the briefcase and took it to a lead-lined booth for inspection.

Officials in the two countries hope the program, called Second Line of Defense, will complement security measures at former Soviet nuclear storage sites by providing a means to detect material that is already loose or that in the future makes it to the wrong side of the fences. Its principal tools are banks of sensors now visible at airports and borders in Russia near luggage inspection points. The United States has spent about $35 million on the program in Russia since 1998.

Nikolai Kravchenko, chief of Russia’s Service for Customs Control of Nuclear Materials and Radioactive Sources, said the sensors recorded 14,000 “hits” last year. Of those, about 200 involved cases of possible smuggling, including people who apparently had material but did not realize it. In some cases people carried money that had become irradiated, military collectors carried aviation dials and other lightly radioactive souvenirs and women wore radioactive jewelry.

rshah Uncategorized

From Welwyn & Hatfield Times Link:

A story following how ANPR technology is used:

A Hertfordshire police road intercept team was using an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) camera to stop law-breaking motorists on the A1000 by Hatfield House. And as the WHT chatted to sergeant Greg O’Toole in his team’s prototype ANPR vehicle, the state-of-the-art equipment suddenly alerted us to a motorist who was driving while disqualified. The incident illustrated perfectly the advantages of using the revolutionary cameras, according to Sgt O’Toole.”We would never normally have stopped that vehicle,” he said. “We get 20 to 30 incidents like that a day and around 100 a day in total.” Some of the information is low level but some is of great interest. We had a couple of chases last week.”

As the WHT reported on April 6 the innovative equipment works by checking the number plates of passing vehicles against police and DVLA databases and could soon be used on all police cars.The cross-checks also allow the team to see if there is a crime associated with a vehicle, according to Sgt O’Toole. “Fifty per cent of all arrests are for a priority crime offence like burglary, theft, robbery and drug offences.” In just three hours on the A1000 Sgt O’Toole’s team stopped 50 cars and four were towed away.

rshah ALPR

From SecurityInfoWatch.com:

Louisiana state Senator James David Cain is pushing for adoption of Senate Bill 24, which would help to control access to the common cold and sinus medications used in the illicit production of crystal meth. . . . The bill would also require that pharmacies use a surveillance camera pointed at the cold/sinus medications area to record fo 15 days. The bill gives an option around the camera footage, in which case the pharmacist would need to get ID from the buyer, have the person sign a form, and record the name of the consumer and their age and how much they purchased.

A similar bill recently passed in Hawaii legislature that would limit purchases to three packages and would require that cold medicines be kept in a position viewable by a pharmacist or sales clear, or a surveillance camera.

rshah Uncategorized

ActiveEye web site:

Active Alert™, our flagship product, is the only solution in the industry that can simultaneously track and classify multiple people, vehicles, and objects in normal crowd densities.

ActivEye’s founders have over 50 patents granted and pending, and have worked together as a team for seven years creating state-of-the-art CCTV products utilizing artificial intelligence and computer vision.

rshah Vendors

Public Eye blog covers the creation of Urban Eye, which is a European research project for studying the social implications of video surveillance. There are several reports available. For news coverage see DW-World Link

FYI – The excellent Public Eye blog is run by Peter Quintas who sells TrueSentry, an advanced network-based digital video surveillance system that provides intelligent threat detection and response tools.

rshah Vendors

ADT’s PR statement:

ADT Security Services Inc., a unit of Tyco Fire & Security, today announced it was awarded the contract to provide a video intrusion detection and reporting system at Boston’s Logan International Airport and other properties operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport). The system will help monitor Massport’s waterfront perimeter. The contract calls for the installation of sensor devices to detect perimeter movement, automated surveillance software from Atlanta-based VistaScape Security Systems, a wireless network and continuing system maintenance.

Work on the project will begin immediately. The system to be installed by ADT is capable of detecting intruders at night and during poor weather conditions. The detection devices will be integrated with VistaScape’s SiteIQ(TM) automated surveillance software, which will automatically trigger an audible alarm when violations of security rules, such as movement in restricted areas, are detected. The automated surveillance software provides full-time monitoring of incoming video signals, improving the performance of on-site security personnel and permitting them to extend their coverage to other areas of concern.The completed system will also feature a wireless network that can give Massport security staff firewalled, secure command and control capabilities through a wireless, Web-enabled remote management system.

Update from Times Argus:

Advanced tech is already a major element in Logan’s strategy. Last week, Massport finalized plans to install infrared cameras to keep watch day and night over the facility. The highly automated cameras will be directed by software provided by VistaScape Security Systems of Atlanta. They will be able to track intruders and relay their location instantly to hand-held computers carried by state troopers, said Dennis Treece, chief of corporate security at Massport.

rshah Vendors

From EPIC Spotlight on Surveillance:

Short article pointing out the role of federal grant money in funding surveillance technology in many cities. Not much new, but a good introduction to this issue.

rshah General