g4S International issue 4: 2010 41

CCTVs electronic tripwire

Gavin Greenwood reports on CCTVs remarkable ability to screen out the normal and highlight the unusual
Perceptions about the usefulness or otherwise of closed circuit television surveillance some based on misconceptions about its role are being challenged. A new level of intelligence is being achieved as conventional CCTV networks are increasingly linked to powerful computer-based video content analysis (VCA) systems that offer real-time and actionable imagery to national and commercial security specialists. Its an area in which G4S Technology is playing a significant role. VCA is not a new concept. Rather, it demonstrates the inherent tendency of evolving technology to mismatch theoretical abilities and potential with practical operational applications. The first wave of VCA systems failed to impress many national and commercial end-users due to often over-optimistic claims from the numerous and often small companies eager to get their particular product to market. A period of reassessment, consolidation and a deeper knowledge of what technology can provide within complex physical, legal and social environments has allowed far more useful and reliable second generation VCA systems to emerge. What it does The core premise of VCA is to enable personnel monitoring CCTV networks to be presented with images of events that require immediate attention, maximising their efficiency by reducing the amount of unproductive time spent scanning banks of often inactive screens. The means of achieving this deceptively simple requirement involves some of the most complex mathematical formulae and algorithms ever developed. In short, what VCA is attempting to do is to link a

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semi-autonomous brain to the eyes provided by CCTV cameras. Present-day VCA operational functions concentrate on areas of surveillance and monitoring that enhance existing CCTV networks. Earlier attempts at linking cameras with computers were hampered by a number of technical difficulties, notably the use of analogue systems that were unable to offer the speed and flexibility of the evolving digital networks. Digitised imagery can be manipulated in almost limitless ways, dependent on the skill and imagination of the software developer, available computing power and cost. Current operational VCA systems work by analysing the contrast between a known fixed background a doorway, a fence, a section of road or car park and any movement detected against this backdrop. A further refinement feeds perspective into the VCA database in order to define targets of interest such as a person and eliminate those of no interest such as a fox or other animal. Once calibrated and the area of interest defined, VCA will (theoretically) issue an alert only when unexpected movement is detected in the designated area. The skill is setting the parameters for a VCA network so as to eliminate as many sources of false positives shadows, tree branches, birds as possible and to focus instead on events that are out of the ordinary. VCAs most practical application at present is to serve as a modern form of electronic tripwire able to alert an observer in real time to a potential security or safety problem in a defined physical area as well as record events for subsequent analysis and interpretation. The operational function has created the greatest interest, expectations and controversy. The principal concern, mainly outside the security industry, is that VCA will somehow reduce the role of human judgement and interpretation in surveillance and monitoring and lead to autonomous decision-making and even action by equipment linked to computers. Concerns within the security industry, on the other hand, centre on the impact of VCA on manning levels and future employment prospects at all organisational levels. Insights from Symmetry G4Ss involvement in VCA offers some interesting insights into how the present technical capabilities of such systems are being employed, while a wider

industry perspective points to the implications over the medium term. G4Ss Symmetry range of high performance network cameras offer a VCA capability in a number of specific roles that can be integrated into a customised solution. The VCA package provides clients with dedicated live monitoring of areas of key security interest, such as entrances, exits and perimeters and events, including the movement of vehicles and people, missing or unattended objects, and patterns of potentially suspicious behaviour. Digitised recorded material, unlike analogue, is also readily and quickly accessed for a range of functions, such as people counting. VCAs ability to screen out the normal and highlight the unusual enables those tasked with monitoring CCTV networks to be more effectively deployed in responding to a security incident. This capability enables an individual to monitor more screens than a non-VCA linked network, which is widely acknowledged to place a high level of sensory stress on staff. Studies have estimated that an individuals ability to process and react to events appearing on a bank of live screens begins to quickly deteriorate after less than 30 minutes. Because VCA is based on producing alerts in response to dynamic events, the working environment is more stimulating for staff with the attendant gains in morale, continuity and reduction in absences. Similar gains apply to mobile security officers who, rather than follow fixed patrol patterns, can be directed by actual incidents or the inevitable false positives produced by the system. The random nature of the latter may disturb orderly security protocols, but their unpredictable pattern may actually better serve clients than a more structured patrol regime. what it does not Hundreds of high-technology companies are now working on ways of converting the digital imagery produced by the worlds countless millions of CCTV cameras into commercial products that can be marketed as enhancing security and reducing costs. If left as a purely technical challenge there is no doubt fully integrated systems would evolve that autonomously identify suspicious or aberrant behaviour and, without any human intervention, respond to events within the parameters of its programme.

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VCAs ability to screen out the normal and highlight the unusual enables those tasked with monitoring CCTV networks to be more effectively deployed in responding to a security incident.

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Video analytics becomes accessible

G4S Technology has launched a range of leading edge, high performance network cameras which not only offer the latest compression technology but also provide a new level of intelligence never seen before. The complete Symmetry range of network cameras, launched in October, comes with onboard intelligent video content analytics (VCAs). These features allow intelligent analysis of motion in application areas including intrusion detection, vehicle monitoring, abandoned object detection, people counting and loitering detection. Up until now, this technology has been limited to military and airport applications due to the high cost of implementation. Now, G4S Technology have not only brought it into the mainstream, but also made it an affordable option. The intelligent analytics features can be used with the Symmetry security management system, linking into triggers within the command and control function. This capability can activate alarms and initiate predetermined security level changes, creating a seamless enhanced security solution across any site. G4S Technology has created a family of four network cameras to suit all applications including pan/tilt/zoom, indoor and outdoor cameras. The external models are manufactured from polycarbonate, creating a vandal proof exterior ideal for outdoor security requirements.

While this result is likely to be tested on the battlefield as weapons and armed logistics platforms are deployed with embedded artificial intelligence systems rather than remote human operators, it is extremely unlikely such systems will be permitted to operate in most societies, given legal and moral constraints against enabling machines to directly intervene against a human being without other human mediation. ... what it may do Instead, the use of VCA is set to increase as an adjunct and enabler of existing manned and monitored security systems, supported by incremental technical improvements, increased reliability and wider functionality. Examples of systems currently under development include the use of stereoscopic cameras linked to VCA software that rapidly scan crowded and chaotic environments, such as busy shopping areas or airports, and alert monitoring staff to behaviour that does not

correspond to the norm. Such programmes could also be tailored to include face or motion recognition data on targeted individuals such as terrorist suspects, banned football supporters or people under curfew. Although such applications are unlikely to be used directly by commercial security companies, there will be an inevitable transfer of similar functions to privately-operated VCA-based systems, further fuelling the debate on how assets and individuals are best protected when technological advances are increasingly at variance with legal and ethical mores, established hundreds of years ago.

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