Bosch
Intelligent Video Analysis Software
Bosch Security Systems is introducing the newest release of its powerful
Intelligent Video Analysis (IVA) software. IVA 3.5 builds on the features
of earlier versions with further enhanced 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 powerful 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). In addition, IVA 3.5 provides support
for far infrared (FIR) thermal cameras which require different settings
to standard colour cameras.
One of the great strengths of the Bosch IVA system is its powerful forensic
search capabilities. 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. The optional
IVA Forensic Search license enables users to easily set up search queries
that scan through this recorded metadata and point them to video of interest
in a matter of seconds. Searches which may take days or even weeks when
done manually can be completed within seconds just 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 has been made even simpler with a new easy-to-use
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. Especially helpful is a new intuitive ‘Object Sampling’
configuration option which 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 in the future.
With their advanced processing power, modern IP network cameras and encoders
and cameras are capable of far more than simple video transmission. Taking
advantage of this extra processing power, IVA embeds intelligence at the
edge (i.e. in the encoders and cameras themselves). This greatly simplifies
the IP Video architecture, avoiding the single point of failure that can
occur in traditional centrally-served VCA architectures.
Moreover, with this approach, ‘events’ are generated at the
camera site and only video footage of interest (e.g. abnormal events)
is transmitted to the control center. This greatly 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.
Bosch has pioneered this ‘intelligence at the edge’ or ‘smart
cameras’ approach in its IP network video products and solutions.
IVA 3.5 is embedded into all the latest Bosch cameras and encoders, and
a license is all that is required to activate its functionality.
Users with licenses for earlier versions of Bosch’s Intelligent Video
Analysis software (IVMD 2.0 or IVA 3.0) automatically receive a free upgrade
to IVA 3.5 when they update the firmware on their Bosch IP network video
products.
Web: http://www.boschsecurity.com
