Bosch has released new Intelligent Video Analysis software.
IVA 3.5 builds on the features of earlier versions with further detection possibilities including new colour filtering capabilities that allow object colour or even a combination of colours to be set as a detection criterion. This is embodied in a ‘colour histogram’ function that allows object colour or colours, saturation and precision to be set as monitoring criteria. A typical application could be to detect a specific coloured vehicle.
The filter set has also been extended with new features such as line crossing alerts and object trajectories and specification filtering. Triggers can be set to transmit alerts if, for example, objects cross a pre-defined line or multiple lines, or change speed (running), shape (crouching) or aspect ratio (falling). The makers add that IVA 3.5 provides support for far infrared (FIR) thermal cameras which require different settings to standard colour cameras.
Forensic search
Content analysis information, in the form of metadata, is generated and stored with the video images. The recorded metadata, comprising simple text strings describing specific image details, is much smaller and easier to search through than the recorded video, according to the firm. The optional IVA Forensic Search licence enables users to set up search queries that scan through this recorded metadata and point them to video of interest in a matter of seconds, it is claimed. Searches which may take days or even weeks when done manually can be completed within seconds by searching the metadata with smart search facilities similar to those provided by an Internet search engine.
The IVA Forensic Search function also allows extra detection criteria to be set after the live video has been recorded. For example, even if the live system had not been configured for ‘idle object’ detection, it is possible to configure it to detect such events later during a forensic search of the recorded video.
Configuring the system is with a new and intuitive wizard-based task manager. Task wizards guide the operator, step-by-step, through the process of creating “alarm rules” for each monitored camera. A new intuitive ‘Object Sampling’ configuration option allows the user to capture all relevant object data such as size, speed, and colour in a selected live scene with a single mouse click on the object of choice. This information is then used as monitoring criteria for tracking similar objects.
With their processing power, IP network cameras and encoders are capable of far more than simple video transmission. Taking advantage of this extra processing power, IVA embeds intelligence at the edge (ie in the encoders and cameras themselves). This simplifies the IP Video architecture, avoiding the single point of failure that can occur in traditional centrally-served VCA architectures. With this approach, ‘events’ are generated at the camera site and only video footage of interest (eg abnormal events) is transmitted to the control center. This reduces traffic on the network. It also reduces human intervention and boosts ‘guard-assisted surveillance’ by relieving operators of the need to continuously watch the monitor screens, resulting in fewer errors and more reliable alarm handling.
