Customer profile
The story of Storsjöodjuret (the Great Lake Sea Monster) is more than 400 years old, with sightings dating back to 1635. The legend tells of two trolls boiling a kettle on the shores of Lake Storsjön, a 300-foot deep lake in Jämtland, central Sweden. Suddenly, a strange black serpent-like creature with a cat-like head jumped out of the kettle and into the water. Today there are some 200 documented witness reports from more than 500 people who have seen Storsjöodjuret. Descriptions of the monster vary from 14 metres in length with humps and a small head to 3 metres in length with short thick feet, a large head and round eyes. In recent years there have been several serious investigations into Storsjöodjuret, but to date, nothing conclusive has been found.
Technologies used
Results
- Immediate alerts of potential Great Lake Monster activity
- Immediate alerts of camera tampering
- Minimal false alarms in all weather conditions
Summary
Aimetis Symphony™ video management and analytic software is running on underwater and surface cameras around Lake Storsjön in an attempt to document video proof of the existence of Storsjöodjuret (The Great Lake Sea Monster).
Business challenge
Various CCTV cameras from ACTi, IQeye, FLIR and VGA are in use for the study |
With several reported sightings, but no documented proof of the existence of Storsjöodjuret, the Local Municipality of Bergs Community along with Company Association in Svenstavik had a dream to conclusively demonstrate that Storsjöodjuret was in fact, a reality. Their idea was to install cameras underwater and at the surface of the lake to catch any suspicious activity. However, reviewing the constant stream of video would be a daunting task and there was still the chance that something could be missed. The municipality and company association wanted an intelligent video system that would only alert them to potential monster activity. Additionally, the solution needed to be flexible and easy to maintain.
Solution
Because monster surveillance was required both above and below the water, the analytics needed to be highly reliable and accurate, so that natural elements of the environment like light reflecting from the water, seagulls, and waves would be ignored. Aimetis Symphony™, a combined video management and analytics software platform, was selected for a number of reasons. First, Aimetis Symphony was proven to have the lowest rate of false alarms, particularly in outdoor environments, and was also being successfully used by one of the members of the business association, Curt Johnsson, owner of the local ICA Supermarket. Additionally, the software was selected because it is extremely versatile, with an open architecture that meant it could be deployed on a range of different manufacturer cameras that were best suited to the application.
With the help of UTS, a Swedish system integration company and Aimetis Certified Partner, Aimetis Symphony™ was installed on underwater VGA cameras, a surface-level FLIR thermal vision camera to catch the monster through fog, snow, rain and in total darkness, as well as a number of other cameras looking in all directions. There is also a camera dedicated to observing the other cameras to ensure the monster tracking operation is not compromised.
The images from the cameras are streamed live to a website so that the public can monitor any monster activity. Additionally, when Aimetis Symphony™ detects potential Storsjöodjuret movements, it sends an automatic email containing a photo to members of the municipality and the association so that the activity can be immediately verified.
