The new face of CCTV surveillance
These days, a massive amount of CCTV footage is being recorded, but never watched or reviewed, due to lack of resources. As a result, events and activities are missed, and suspicious behaviour is not noticed in time to prevent incidents such as shoplifting and internal theft.
To address this challenge, some retailers are turning to video analytics or intelligent video to automatically analyse captured footage.
Facial recognition technology is the very latest weapon available as part of a security manager’s armoury to find, match and monitor known criminals or suspicious individuals.
Atul Rajput, business development manager for retail at IP surveillance specialist Axis Communications, said: “There have been huge advancements in both facial recognition analytics and in network camera technology, which is ultimately the source that the analytics have to work from.
“In particular HDTV cameras offer higher resolution video and enhanced clarity and sharpness, that complements the accuracy of facial recognition solutions making identification even simpler and more accurate.”
Today’s facial recognition technology can enable security managers to perform a variety of tasks such as:
– search for specific individuals in large volumes of video footage
– match photographs against digital databases of photos or facial images
– extract faces in real-time from CCTV and match against a watch list of known shoplifters
– timestamp when individuals are detected between known camera locations to provide highly accurate information on people flows, such as average queue times
Atul continues: “Compared with other biometric systems, facial recognition technology has distinct advantages. Facial images can be captured from a distance without touching or interacting with the person being identified.
“The technology also has the potential to be used in applications that extend beyond in-store security and loss prevention. Retailers can also leverage the technology to improve customer service by identifying loyal customers as they enter the store and tailoring their shopping experience to a customer’s specific needs and requirements.”
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