Museum of London Selects Vicon

The Museum of London has awarded Vicon a contract for camera, digitial recording, and video.
“CCTV has always played a major role in protecting our exhibits as well as assisting us in creating a safe environment for our visitors and staff,” said Steven Cox, the Museum’s Head of Security. “Our previous analogue CCTV system was installed many years ago and clearly needed to be updated to take advantage of the latest digital technology. It made sense to see if we could single source the CCTV hardware to ensure full compatibility of all the component parts.”

Vicon Press Release

Over 120 Vicon dome cameras, which are a mix of Vicon’s VC-600 and Surveyor models, have been installed at the Museum’s three sites. The compact and impact resistant VC-600 domes are used internally whilst weatherproof Surveyor domes are tasked to observe any external activity.

TSA Passes on Puffer, Prefers Passive Millimeter Wave and SPO-7

The U.S. Transportation Security Administration last month decided to pull the 94 “Puffer” screeners out 37 U.S. airports in favor of full-body imaging machines manufactured by Smiths Detection. Ninety-four of the 113 machines puffer screeners purchased have been in placed since 2004 at a cost of $160,000 per machine. But performance issues with the first installations kept 20 other units in storage.
On other technology fronts, the TSA Blog reported favorable testing of the Passive millimeter Wave SPO-7 X-Ray machines, 14 of which are currently operating at Logan Airport in Boston. The agency thinks that the new technology may “steal the show”  from Behavior Detection.
The TSA describes the key difference in the technolgies that are being used in different parts of the airport.

The name “Passive MMW” may imply that this technology operates in the exact same way as the stationary Whole Body MMW machines at the checkpoint. This is definitely not the case. Both technologies are non-invasive and completely safe, but other than that, the only similarity is that both systems make use of millimeter waves in one way or another. To be clear, Whole Body MMW machines bounce harmless millimeter waves off of your body to generate a metallic image. Passive MMW on the other hand receives energy generated by an individual and the objects that they are carrying on their person. This energy can be detected by an appropriate receiver and can be used to detect anomalies.

HID Global Launches Asia-Pacific APAC Fargo Distributor Center

HID opens distribution center in Hong Kong to speed shipments of standard printer and accessory products in the region. The Center opened in April

“The Asia-Pacific region is one of our most valued markets,” said Craig Sandness, managing director, APAC, for HID Global. “The APAC Fargo Distribution Center is a significant step towards providing more localized services to our customers in Asia-Pacific. It is in the interests of both HID Global and our customers to keep pursuing localization in all our service aspects, including the sustainable development of our distribution centers with a view to faster, more diversified, cost-effective and reliable delivery of HID’s products, and ultimately, greater customer satisfaction.”

Security’s Return on Investment Webcast

The pressure is on. CEOs everywhere are scrutinizing corporate security budgets. They want managers to trim costs, justify expenses, and find new opportunities to contribute to the bottom line. Find out how to meet these challenges and more. Join our experts for a complimentary 60-minute webinar.
This is an archived event presented at no cost as a courtesy of Protection One.

Optelecom-NKF Reports 10% Increase in IP Revenue

Optelecom, the Germantown, Md.-based company posted a 10% increase in video over IP-related revenue of $2.9 million in the first quarter of 2009. Dave Patterson, who was named president of the company in March 2009, described the company’s position as one of the few that has a depth combining video over fiber as well as IP. Patterson, who had previously served as president and CEO of Siemens Government Services, sees this depth as key to the company’s growth from a strong foundation in fiber to a future leading the industry in innovative IP-based products.
“There are certain areas where we are truly leading innovation”, says Patterson, “such as our Siqura product line in which traffic monitoring capabilities for highway departments are a leading application of innovative technology.” Siqura solutions are deployed at highway departments, airports, seaports, casinos, public transport authorities, hospitals, city centers, shopping centers, and corporate, military, and government campuses. “We are seeing a lot of activity based on laws passed in Europe regarding tunnel safety”’ says Patterson, “and we anticipate that a lot of the same to be required in U.S. markets as we go forward.”
Patterson’s background in process optimization has led him to espouse a customer-centric philosophy he believes important in the current economy. Patterson says the company is hearing a lot of emphasis on IP-based technology from customer surveys and from their sales organization, “our focus there is to ensure we have all of what customers need and want in that regard—covering the technology landscape, but the economic landscape as well.”
“One goes horizontally and the other is vertical,” says Patterson describing the field of customer needs. “We want to ensure that—in our technology development road map and in our master schedule—we are building the product families and variations that meet our customer’s requirements in both technology and price point.”
“With our strong foundation in fiber-based solutions, we can support our customers anywhere on that continuum with a migration capability that enables them to minimize the overall total cost over time,” says Patterson, “and that is very important. We have the technologies in the company that can help current customers using fiber technologies to squeeze more capability out of their fiber systems and infrastructure as well as help those who are now ready to make the move to IP and H.264.”
“Everyone in the industry has the challenge of matching customers’ needs and interests with the funding that is needed to implement those projects. Just as we have to make our choices and investment decisions in promoting our products and services. End customers have to make similar decisions in where they make their investments”, says Patterson. “To me, it’s all about people, processes, and technology—and how effectively a company can focus those three elements on customer needs.”
Optelecom-NKF, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPTC) manufacturer of Siqura advanced video surveillance solutions, provides a full range of cameras, video servers/codecs, network video recorders, fiber transmission equipment, video content analysis applications, and video management software based on an open technology platform. The Company’s European corporate offices are located in Gouda, The Netherlands. Optelecom-NKF has sales offices or support covering Latin America, France, Spain, the UK, Germany, Italy, Dubai, and Singapore.

Eric Eaton discusses Cognitive Video Analytics

Behavioral Recognition Systems, Inc. will be demonstrating its AISight Cognitive Video Analytics software at the 2009 ASIS Seminar and Exhibits in Anaheim. Eric Eaton, the chief technology officer of BRS Labs recently sat down with us to discuss the technology behind this award-winning product and the impact it will have on the industry.

Moran: You have said that your company’s approach to video analytics represented a “fundamental change in the industry away from rules-based systems to a cognitive approach”, could you expand on that?
Eaton: We believe that the cognitive approach opens the possibilities of how video analytics is being used today. One of the problems with analytics has been understanding the context of a scene. If the analytic was monitoring a particular camera, defining rules for that camera can be cumbersome because the computer can’t distinguish normal from abnormal activities. AISight being able to do so is the fundamental change.

Moran: What are the key advantages of cognitive video analysis?
Eaton: The AISight uses a three-stage reasoning process of observe, learn, and respond. The observation stage is used to develop hypothetical concepts, or “hypocepts” in that second phase.  This is the learning stage in which hypocepts create a context of the area. The final stage is the respond, in which these learned hypocepts are compared to fresh observations.
It is in comparing these observations against the hypocepts that a spectrum of interpretations ranging from purple which is normal for the scene through blue, and green for substantially abnormal observations. Red is green is the final spectrum that indicates events that have never been seen.

Moran: How long does it take to develop the hypocepts for a particular situation?
Eaton: The baseline set is usually completed in 3-4 days. Over the next 4-6 weeks the algorithms will get progressively tighter.

Moran: Are there instances where a rules-based analytic is more appropriate?
Eaton: There are applications where a rules-based system is more appropriate because it is simpler and more effective. In a situation where you always have traffic moving from left to right and what you need is essentially the answer to a yes or no question—is anything moving the wrong way?—then a rule-based system is the appropriate solution.
Moran: In terms of training the workforce, how prepared are end-users to take full advantage of these systems?
Eaton: The output of the system is very straight forward. When AISight determines behavior is in a certain color band it is e-mailed or stored. Monitors receive a picture of the scene for review and are able to click a 5-second video clip. So there isn’t a high level of sophistication required to understand the output of the system.  It’s easy to determine from the still and video what unusual activity has prompted the alert.
Moran: What factors are driving the adoption rate of cognitive technology?
Eaton: Cognitive video analytics is still early adopter technology. Our market penetration is primarily with forward-looking companies and those that are attracted to the technology due to specific threats in their environment. We have installations in maritime environments, classified facilities, restricted areas, municipal building, and hotels. Some of these have changed their security protocols based on what they have learned about their environment by using cognitive video analytics.

Moran: Will this technology grow beyond clients with enterprise-class architecture?
Eaton: AISight was designed to scale. Its main benefit is in applying it to large networks without having to program every camera so the technology lends itself to large applications. The business aspect is important as well. Large clients want to work with favored integrators and contractors to deploy a system of this complexity and sophistication. We understand this and are forming relationships with integrators so that the product can move through traditional channels into the market.

Moran: What hurdles are you dealing with in cognitive video analytics?
Eaton: Computer vision as an academic study, machine learning as academic study; we continue to need refinement and improvement in that area. There is a lot of great research going on in colleges and universities around the world. That knowledge is helping and it will be translated into products that will be developed by companies like BRS Labs and others.
Moran: At what point does this become more of an issue of training systems rather than people, and speak to the issue of where you see us in the convergence of physical/IT security?
Eaton: Low tech solutions to physical security have traditionally been considered to be guards, gates, and guns. IT security developed apart from this. But sophisticated technology is creating a convergence. Oftentimes IT is at the table and they have a great understanding of servers and software and how to integrate these things. But they may not understand as much about video streams or integrating systems that combine those streams and other data.
There is a demand for training of IT professionals. And as well for physical security personnel who want to have a better understanding of these systems. We’re seeing a lot of that training being done by integrators. We’re seeing a new class of experts that are good at streaming video, server configuration, and physical security considerations. This new class of experts is really a profession that we see continuing for at least several years.
I’ve seen physical security professionals that are moving into IT and loving it. And I see IT people moving more toward security and developing their awareness of those considerations.
I think it is slower with IT because there is already a demand for IT to do other things. They seem to be hesitant to specialize in a particular area because they may not feel that they would be as marketable.
This creates an opportunity a lot of physical security professionals to get involved in technology where their expertise is really needed.  And a lot of them are taking this opportunity.

Moran: Is the security industry evolving to open systems and away from proprietary and, if so, where are we today in that curve?
Eaton: A lot of good things have been happening just in the last 12 months. Historically proprietary was even used as a sales feature. If you wanted to be sure no one ever got a copy of your video then having a format that others couldn’t interpret was helpful in that.
That value of that argument is losing quickly as security systems become more sophisticated and one vendor does not have a complete solution. Instead you have integrators that have put together several “best of breed” offerings and so interoperability becomes key.
I think the market is recognizing this and end-users are beginning to demand more interoperability and open standards. There are several movements in that area that are encouraging.
There is a lot of innovation going on in security. Necessity is the mother of invention and the type of threat we face in the world today; the individual or small unit, the terrorist threat is going to have to be met with a wide degree of innovation and ways of stopping that threat. That means a lot of vendors are going to have to work together because you need that innovation to ultimately subvert these threats.
Buying a system that is closed and won’t talk to anybody else will paint you in a corner and keep you from getting to the innovative technology that you need to protect your environment.
To ASIS members I would say continue to insist on open standards. I see a lot of great trends in that area I see RFPs being written with interoperability requirements. So keep pushing. The vendors are listening, the integrators are listening. I have recently seen a case in which an end-user selected one product over another because of interoperability. I applaud that and I think it is what is necessary for the industry to evolve in the next 5-10 years.

BRS Labs
2100 West Loop South, 9th Floor
Houston, TX 77027
Phone: 713-590-5163

2009 ASIS International Seminar and Exhibit: Booth 601

Smiths Detection Launches Microscopic ID system

Smiths Detection has launched a revolutionary product ID system that embeds  microscopic markers the width of a human hair in products such as merchandise, documents, food, and apparel. The markers can be identified using Smith Detection’s IdentifyIR and IlluminatIR instruments.
The company partnered with ARmark Authentication Technologies on the IntelliMark system which is intended to intellectual and brand-owner rights.

Smiths Detection

Brad Mueller, Vice President and General Manager of Commercial Safety and Security, Smiths Detection, said: “The clear advantage of IntelliMark is the ability to create multiple levels of covert security that can be tailored to the individual end user’s needs. Our intelligent marker solution enables literally any company to add a sophisticated layer of brand protection to every type of product.”

HID Named Outstanding Technology Organization by Smart Card Alliance

Smart Card Alliance Presents 2009 Outstanding Smart Card Achievement Awards

Outstanding Technology Organization: HID Global

HID Global earned the award through its partnership with Dell on the Dell  Latitude E-Family Laptops, which include embedded contactless smart card readers that read/write to HID iCLASS® cards and other ISO/industry standard contactless smart cards. This integration of the first multi-technology contactless smart card reader into select Latitude E-Family laptops allows end-users to benefit from the enhanced security of multi-factor authentication and the convenience of using one card for logical and physical access control.

Tampa Bay Downs Installation of Axis Video Encoders Outpaces State Regulations

Tampa Bay Downs selected AXIS Q7406 Video Encoder Blades and AXIS Q7900 Racks for 60 of the track’s existing analog cameras in The Silks Poker Room, which features daily poker
tournaments on 30 tables. New Regulations in Florida require video recording in at least 4CIF resolution (704X480 pixels NTSC). The AXIS Q4706 can deliver multiple, individually configurable video streams in all resolutions up to D1 (720X480 NTSC).

AXIS Encoders Allow Casino to Exceed State Requirements at Minimal Cost

According to John Vacha, director of Information Technologies for Tampa Bay Downs, “Prior to the implementation, we had been using DVRs in conjunction with our analog cameras. The system offered only moderate resolution and had limited upgrading flexibility. In the event that a DVR went down, the poker tables in the affected area had to be closed until the DVR was repaired or replaced.”

Vacha added, “We installed the new system in 24 hours without impacting our existing infrastructure. The Axis video encoders more than quadrupled the prior recording resolution to a D1 resolution of 720×480, which exceeds the 4CIF state requirements. In addition to offering a competitive price and superior functionality, Axis video encoders can be installed separate from the server used for recording video so they can be expanded at different times and rates. In addition, if a channel goes down now, we can simply replace the card in a matter of minutes since they are hot-swappable.”

FLIR Systems Revenue up 15% 1Q 2009

FLIR Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR) announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009.
Revenue was $272.0 million, up 15% compared to first quarter 2008 revenue
of $236.9 million. Operating income in the quarter was $83.4 million, up
51% from $55.1 million in the first quarter of 2008. First quarter 2009
net income was $54.3 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, compared with net
income of $36.5 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, in the first quarter a
year ago. Cash provided by operations during the quarter was $74.3
million.

FLIR Systems Announces First Quarter 2009 Financial Results

“We are very pleased with our performance in the first quarter. We recorded solid revenue growth, excellent earnings growth, and the highest gross margin and operating margin in the Company’s history,” noted Earl Lewis, President and CEO. “We achieved this performance through solid execution in a difficult economy, as all three divisions improved gross margins and operating margins compared with the prior year.