5 Successful Applications of Smart Cameras
Intelligent cameras can provide a lot of valuable information.
Especially when the camera images are combined with information from other systems.
It is therefore not without reason that camera systems are increasingly being used to optimize business processes.
In this article, we give you five examples of the successful use of smart cameras. When Video Content Analysis (VCA), Intelligent Video Analysis (IVA) or just ‘a smart camera’ was introduced more than 10 years ago, we thought it would make many security systems obsolete.
By now, we all know the enthusiastic sales stories and demo videos, but we also know that expectations and reality – especially in the beginning – were quite different from each other.
Nevertheless, the number of applications of smart cameras is increasing enormously.
Today, many IP security cameras have VCA on board as standard.
In addition, modern intelligent cameras have faster processors, which makes them function even better.
In many cases, the analysis already takes place in the camera, which means that separate heavy servers to analyze the images centrally are unnecessary.
Thanks to these developments, intelligent cameras are now widely and successfully applied.
Below are five successful examples.
1. People counting at stores or service points
All kinds of separate, expensive systems are available for accurate counting of people.
But did you know that you can also use (your existing) security cameras for this?
Stores or at certain service points regularly use cameras to count people.
Thanks to this information from the camera system, a retailer then knows what the busiest and quietest times of the day are.
He / she can then adjust the store occupancy or, for example, the security.
And if it is found that someone has been standing at a scaffolding for more than x period of time, the camera system notifies the staff.
The system also provides insight into where in a room people are during the day.
This can be done, for example, by heat mapping, but also by setting certain detection areas in the camera, such as the area in front of the information desk.
The intelligent system offers complete trend reports that can be set up entirely according to your wishes.
2. Queue detection at ATMs or cash registers
Waiting times at ATMs or cash registers are undesirable and generally reduce customer satisfaction.
Banks and retail companies need management information in order to optimize processes if necessary.
A smart camera system can not only count how many people are in the queue, but also record how long each person has been in line or when someone leaves the queue.
And if people are waiting longer than 2 minutes or the queue is longer than a certain number of people, the system can send a notification.
In combination with data from the ATM or cash register itself, processes can be improved if necessary.
3. Forensic Analysis
With VCA software, it is also possible to quickly analyze camera images after an incident.
For example, it is possible to select on specific properties, such as color in a certain area.
For example, when there is a description of a perpetrator wearing a red coat.
Only the events in a certain period that meet this property (red color in a certain area) are then quickly displayed.
Such analyses are not carried out in the cameras themselves, but centrally by a dedicated server.
4. Outdoor security without human intervention
To optimally secure your building, it is important to detect a burglary attempt as early as possible.
Wherever possible, outside.
Surveillance cameras equipped with intelligent software automatically detect when someone enters a certain area and can also automatically generate actions ranging from a notification to a specific action directed against the intruder.
As a result, human intervention via a control room, for example, is no longer necessary.
Although VCA software can even take into account weather conditions such as snow, in specific cases it may be necessary to additionally use other techniques, such as thermal cameras.
5. Wander detection in healthcare
In (long-term) healthcare, there is an increasing need for technical tools that improve the care process.
Security cameras monitor when a resident starts to wander or is no longer in their bed.
Cameras can also provide remote care during times when hands at the bedside are scarce.
The idea that a system is constantly vigilant without nocturnal disturbance by a caregiver doing his/her rounds gives many elderly people a pleasant feeling.
This is despite the ‘invasion of privacy’.
Of course, the system must be properly protected against external intrusion.
Conditions for success
The application of intelligent cameras remains a job for specialists.
In order to get the most out of a system with smart cameras, it is important that it works reliably and accurately.
To do this, the system must be carefully set up by specialists, taking into account numerous factors.
Mactwin advises to do a Proof of Concept in advance, so that initially unforeseen circumstances are also included in the final set-up.
So, in addition to security applications, intelligent cameras can provide a wealth of useful information.
In many cases, you don’t even have to purchase a separate system for this, but you can use the existing camera system!
By combining information from the camera system with so-called ‘events’ from other systems, you have important information with which you can optimize not only your security, but your entire business process.