UK police are using a semi-automatedvideo analysis systemto slash the
time needed to review video footage to isolate suspected criminal
behaviour.
The system, developed with police at
Birmingham University and sold by Sycron, cuts the time needed
to review a 24-hour tape to 40 minutes.
Peter Morriss, scientific support manager at
Humberside Police, which has been deeply involved in the
project, said the proliferation of CCTV meant police had a vast
amount of data to review in any investigation. "Normally we have to
review video footage pretty much in real time, so any help we can
get is valuable," he said.
Mike Wilks, CEO of Sycron, said, "If all police surveillance
footage was analysed manually, we estimate it would cost nearly
£1.25bn a year."
He said most other automated reviewing systems rely on image
compression for speed. "Sycron uses an algorithm that analyses
changes in pixels from elements such as time, place, height,
ambient light, width, proximity and direction of travel as
parameters to identify suspicious activity," Wilks said.
"This makes searches faster and also leaves the original images
untouched. We can also configure it to raise an alarm if a
suspicious or pre-defined event happens in real time."
The system is installed at 48 UK police forces, the
FBI, and the US Airforce has just bought it to monitor activity
at 50 airbases, Wilks said. Sycron is now also being offered to
commercial users.