Smart videoprotection: AI helps keep us safe

 Milipol2017

It is no longer humanly possible for security professionals to keep track of the video streams from thousands of CCTV cameras. Thales solutions use artificial intelligence to detect unusual situations, alert operators and efficiently analyse thousands of hours of recorded video.

Today, CCTV cameras are everywhere. In trains and buses, at airports and sensitive sites, in government buildings and in the streets, they play a crucial role in keeping us safe. But operators are faced with a real problem: while cameras avoid the need to physically deploy security staff in every area of an international airport, for example, it is no longer humanly possible to monitor the video feeds from the thousands of cameras needed to protect such a large and complex site.

There's a lot at stake. Operators not only need to maximise the return on their considerable investments, but also, crucially, they need to respond quickly and effectively when an incident takes place.
 

Algorithms to the rescue

Building on its know-how in video content analysis and artificial intelligence, Thales has developed smart videoprotection solutions that are capable of extracting the maximum amount of actionable information from the petabytes of data generated by these cameras around the clock. These scalable solutions integrate seamlessly with every part of the video chain, from the networks of cameras to the associated data analysis and storage systems.

Using sophisticated algorithms, Thales solutions can recognise faces, silhouettes, vehicle license plates and all kinds of objects, and automatically track them from one camera to the next. They can be tailored to any number of different situations and tasks, such as detecting vehicles travelling in the wrong direction, or people entering restricted areas at certain times of the day.
 

Artificial intelligence: recognising the unusual

Thales has gone even further by incorporating AI techniques that take videoprotection to a whole new dimension. These smart videoprotection solutions can now learn to detect unusual situations on their own, constantly improving their performance based on experience, comparisons with normal situations and the reaction of operators.
 

Smart videoprotection delivers considerable time savings for operators and a new level of efficiency in their two primary tasks:
 

Real-time surveillance Post-incident investigation
  • Alert operators when any unusual situation is detected (anti-social behaviour, physical violence, theft, unattended items, crowd formation, etc.)
  • Detect and automatically track people, vehicles or objects of interest
  • Report on operational performance (leaks, smoke, passenger counts, regular cycle surveillance, etc.)
  • Run advanced searches, massively reducing the time it takes to locate incidents from thousands of hours of recorded video
  • Automatically log movements of people or vehicles in recorded footage
  • Correlate events with external data (weather, road traffic, phone records, databases, etc.)

The central role of humans

Artificial intelligence automatically tags camera feeds with meta-information, so that the video content can be analysed and exploited directly by software using advanced digital processing techniques. But human operators are always at the centre of the process. An intuitive, proactive interface provides them with increasingly precise and relevant information, but the human operators themselves ultimately make the decisions on how to respond. By giving them clear and accurate information, the technology enables operators to focus on the more difficult cases. They can make full use of their know-how, their knowledge of the types of situations and behaviours to monitor, and their ability to interpret situations and respond quickly when necessary. But the days when they spent most of their time glued to dozens of video screens at the same time are over!

Smart videoprotection
Wherever crowds gather, safety is a priority. Thales provides highly capable solutions to manage large movements of people and keep them safe.

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