| Various vertical markets such as retail, airports, and transportation have benefited from video analytics |
Video analytics systems have progressed far beyond the theoretical and are now being used effectively in a range of applications. Let’s look at some of the real-world scenarios that have taken advantage of the latest video analytics systems.
Video analytics aren’t just for security. For a traffic application, Agent Vi provides business intelligence on the average speed of vehicles, vehicle sizes, etc. One Agent Vi customer, a large U.S. metropolitan area, has hundreds of cameras along the highways, used for incident monitoring and detection. The user gets automated alerts when people stop on the side of the road, when traffic becomes congested, etc.
In the last year or so, Ipsotek has deployed video analytics technology into large projects with many hundreds of cameras that are using advanced video analytics. In these deployments, Ipsotek has trained and supported its integrator partners in the use of unique tools that are designed to make the deployment fast and simple, repeatable and risk-free.
Monitoring pedestrian exit lanes at airports is a good example where video analytics by Ipsotek provide a higher, more reliable level of security with significant cost savings and a strong ROI. Ipsotek’s video analytics technology has been successfully deployed for exit lane monitoring to overcome the challenges of:
- Identifying backtrack incidents amid extreme levels of crowding without missing any breaches of security.
- Maintaining stringent airport security regulations and low levels of false alerts.
One solution is a system of advanced behavioural analytics controlling automatic doors to prevent attempted backtracking and to capture video images of the incident. The solution also sends alerts to a control room and a public address system to engage transgressors. The system provides a low false alarm rate with reliable high detection rate, therefore enabling the availability of guards previously used to manually police the lanes to perform other duties.
Other vertical markets are also using video analytics. Logistics company Marine Container Services leverages HD video surveillance cameras and intelligent analytics from ioimage by DVTEL to detect potential threats at its 130,000-square-foot warehouse and six surrounding acres. The system provides intelligent video event detection and analysis capabilities to provide 24/7 remote monitoring based on real-time detection and response. Users define detection parameters and, once a threat is detected, a central station is notified and an operator manages a real-time response, using PTZ cameras to verify the situation. The system helps to protect the nearly $5 million in goods stored at the Marine Container Services headquarters, where vehicles are continuously entering and exiting the facility.
Beyond security, smart |
Also beyond security, smart thermal cameras from SightLogix can be used to determine if there is a leak at a refinery, or if transformers are overheating at a power station, or to monitor storage tank levels. Other applications include the volume of traffic in a road or across a bridge, or to determine if a car is driving the wrong way.
A deployment at a large port exemplifies the ROI from SightLogix’ long-range and accurate thermal video analytics. The port originally planned 80 megapixel cameras mounted 300 feet apart. However, several problems arose when the project went out for bid. For one, much of the perimeter was in the dark, making megapixel cameras ineffective for intrusion detection, leaving gaps in the perimeter with no coverage. The design was also over budget; 80 cameras meant installing 80 poles, along with wiring and trenching costs to bring network and power.
By selecting SightLogix long-range, thermal SightSensor video analytic cameras, the port reduced the number of cameras for the deployment from 80 to 20, while extending coverage over the entire perimeter, eliminating all gaps in coverage. Instead of 80 megapixel cameras, 20 Thermal SightSensors were placed 500 meters apart, providing 24 hours of automated detection, day and night, with no gaps in coverage.
As a result, the port was able to reduce their overall project costs – cameras and infrastructure – by 40 percent while gaining an accurate, reliable security system.
Retail is another environment where video analytics can shine. Retailer Best Buy deployed a shopping behaviour analysis tool in stores in the United States and the United Kingdom to optimise operations and improve customers’ shopping experience. The Retail Traffic Analysis by Verint application uses standard video surveillance cameras to analyse recorded and live shoppers’ movement within the store and show dwelling time, directional analysis and people count.
Within hours of one installation, store managers were actively working with the solution and modifying product placement. They could gather information about how many people stood for how long in front of items and compare those metrics with POS data to see if the sales rate was proportionate to the interest shown by the shoppers. The system also indicates where the store’s hot spots and dead areas are, enabling Best Buy to merchandise appropriately. Thanks to the Retail Traffic Analytics application, a pilot store was able to increase sales by 9 percent during a difficult sales period.
The Retail Traffic Analytics application enables Best Buy to better measure and monitor their conversion rate in a store or department. Management could then compare results across the brand, share best practices and take corrective measures if conversion rates decreased. The company decided to roll out the shopper counting technology to all of its superstores in the United States and its newly-launched UK operations. [Source: PlanetRetail article on “The Next Generation of Shopping Behavior Analysis,” posted at Verint’s web site.]