White Paper: Video on the move
This paper looks at the growing importance of live video as an information source and examines the characteristics and advantages of mobile video before highlighting some real life applications.
This White Paper was written by Vemotion staff and previously only available as a download from the Vemotion website
Visual images form a fundamental part of human understanding. The old saying that ‘a picture’s worth a thousand words’ certainly still holds true as the world becomes more graphic, more visual and more immediate. Indeed, if you think about scenes such as Tahrir Square or a detailed technical operational process such as a surgical operation, humans can quickly understand a situation and react much more appropriately and quickly when visualisation is involved.
The original visualisation technology was the simple picture. Whether a drawing on a cave wall or a miniature oil painting of a prospective wife, it was only the arrival of film in the late 1800’s that first opened up the potential of motion pictures. The innovation of synchronised sound and the first live broadcast in the 1920’s was another major defining moment. Refinements to the technology have accelerated ever since with video becoming a mainstream capability with the first low cost camcorders and now digital technology that has largely eliminated bulky and complex tape-based media within consumer markets.
But the technical side around the capture of video is only half the story. The emergence of the internet allowed companies and even individuals to broadcast images to the world at a relatively low cost. Today, almost half the planet has a mobile device capable of taking images while a quarter can record TV quality video and transmit it around the globe in just a few seconds. In fact, every day over 100,000 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube and the number is still growing.
For all the ‘edutainment’ aspects of video, the number one application of video is still as an aid to security. The millions of CCTV cameras watching shops, car parks, warehouses, airports and other locations form a network of static viewpoints for the organisations charged with protecting people and property. However, unlike the internet which is highly connected – these “islands” of CCTV are the fiefdoms of many disparate groups that rarely interconnect. Although Hollywood blockbuster movies would have us believe that skilled operators can seamlessly move from camera to camera, or zoom in from orbiting satellites, the reality is that most video is static and unconnected.
Video has remained mostly static due to the limitations of technology. Although we regularly see “live” images from major sporting events, the cost of filming, compressing, sending via satellite and then broadcasting these images is expensive. The costs of the technology and transmission pipelines are measured in thousands of pounds per minute and beyond the justification of all but the largest profit-making broadcaster. But the evolution of computer technology has now placed massive amounts of computing power, coupled with digital audio and video capture technology, into the hands of the consumer. The smartphone, tablet and low cost digital CCTV camera, coupled with the internet, has removed many of the technical barriers. However, there still needs to be a fundamental understanding of how mobile video can be used to solve previously complex, time-consuming or expensive problems before mobile video can truly change the world.
The characteristics of mobile video
It is critical to understand the building blocks of how we can use video, audio and other elements of data that can accompany these processes. Video is normally used to allow either a human or machine to identify a person, object, action or combination of all of the above. The quality of the video, frame rate, audio capability or whether the scene requires colour images depends on the underlying requirement. High definition video might be ideal for capturing a football match but such definition is not needed just to be able to see if a person has walked into a warehouse or if a car has driven down a section of road. Similarly, 24 frames a second of video may be required to watch a game of tennis but is overkill if the goal is to identify a number plate of a car as it waits by an automated barrier for admittance into a car park. Both high definition and high frame rate are necessary for certain functions, but they are also expensive in bandwidth and data – so why pay for something you don’t need?
Alongside quality, the distribution of the video is important. Sending data across any network, whether that’s an email or real-time video feeds, has an associated cost. With modern analytics and sensors, video may only need to be transmitted when there is motion or a scene change. Does video need to go to just one person or machine interpreter, or should it be broadcast to many? For example, a team of security guards on patrol around a large industrial site may need access to cameras in the event of an alarm sounding. The video in this context should be available on a portable device like a smartphone or tablet on demand.
Should the video and audio be retained for later analysis or as evidence? If so, how should the video be stored and does it need an additional data element such as a time code to validate its source. All these variables are then made more interesting when we add in the aspect of camera mobility. Our modern society is highly dispersed and mobile. The UK alone has over 30 million motor vehicles and the freedom of movement and expression allow people to congregate, and express themselves almost anywhere. Whether that is at a rural rock concert or demonstration moving through the streets of Westminster, mobility makes the decision making process for people charged with security and public safety much more complex.
Visualisation of a scene is critical in the area of security but it was the Armed Forces that first truly understood and quantified some of the essential elements which are often described as an OODA loop (observe, orient, decide, and act). Although attributed to military planners, the notion also forms part of other decision making processes such as PDCA (plan–do–check–act) often found in management courses.
Video can help meet the fundamental challenges of OODA loops or a PDCA cycle as it delivers a lot of information with context to both decision makers and action takers. For example, a report of a “crowd gathering outside a pub” to a police control room could mean a coach party from the local Women’s Institute, or two rival gangs of inebriated youths about to fight. A video image sent to the police control centre would quickly allow for an appropriate tactical decision.
Video analysis
But video is more powerful when it can be examined for data which is then cross checked to help in a rapid decision making process. For example, a guard at a gatehouse might need to identify if a vehicle is allowed access to a car park based on a licence plate number. Having to check the number plate against a lengthy list is a time consuming process, especially if the volume of traffic peaks. Video can be used to quickly generate data that can be automatically correlated.
Again, mobility can both aid and make the decision making process more complex. So let’s take the example of the crowd outside the pub again. It’s great if there is only one pub in the town, but setting up a monitoring station at every venue in a mid-sized town is probably not cost effective and unnecessary. The ideal solution would be a mobile vehicle with video capability that could either tour an area or be dispatched to hotspots as needed. With images fed back to a control room, the requirement can be assessed and resources deployed accordingly and much more efficiently.
Low bandwidth yet powerful
However, it is not just mobile applications that can benefit from mobile video. In some areas, video can be of great assistance when the underlying fixed infrastructure for traditional CCTV capture and transmission is just not available or not physically possible. For example a remote mining camp, a rural weather station, on a maritime platform or new construction project within a greenbelt location. In these instances, forms of wireless transportation for video become critical.
As a company, Vemotion understands the capture, delivery and distribution of video across low bandwidth transport layers across a wide range of mobile and fixed location cases. The software and hardware elements are designed to be as flexible as possible to allow organisations to solve operational challenges and mitigate limitations.
The underlying premise is to be able to capture video from an appropriate source, encode it in a format suited to the readily available transport layer and then distribute it to the people or systems that can use the video to make critical decisions. Like the OODA loop example, these workflows need to be flexible enough to meet different challenges and Vemotion has already delivered its technology to meet a wide variety of different scenarios.
Mobile monitoring
A great example of how mobile video can address public order concerns and allow the Police to react quickly is Vemotion’s support to Leeds City Council in police operations at football matches. Vemotion‘s video compression and transmission equipment has been installed in mobile CCTV vans that can be deployed to critical areas or known “hot spots”. The system uses the 3G network to provide real-time images to Police Control Rooms (ACRs) as well as to the control room within the local football stadium.
The benefit is more tactical awareness for the teams overseeing large events, such as football matches, with the ability to remain mobile. In addition, the vans can reposition to other venues or be dispatched to mobile incidents such as protest marches or impromptu gatherings such as rural pop and rock concerts. The same technology from Vemotion has also been used in other mobile situations such as escorting the Olympic flame across the UK and even ‘clearing the route‘ in front of the riders on the Tour de France.
Remote location surveillance
Much of the planet is still not connected to the fibre optic networks that transport super-fast internet traffic and traditional video feeds. Although satellite has allowed us to connect distant outposts across the world, the costs are still high. However, the demands for communication have, in many parts of the world, been met through 3G and now 4G voice and data networks.
However, these relatively low bandwidth transport mediums are not well designed for video. The challenge is to create video formats that use the available bandwidth in the most efficient fashion. Vemotion has helped the UK Environment Agency to implement video feeds across 3G networks to monitor water levels in remote locations across Britain. The system takes snap shots at regular intervals but can deliver a live feed “on command” to a control room to help with flood management and reduce the risk of flooding.
Although a different requirement, Vemotion’s technology has also helped councils and local authorities create temporary monitoring zones to detect illegal activities such as refuse dumping (fly-tipping) on quiet country lanes to poaching. The same requirements for video delivered over low bandwidth 3G networks with some element of mobility has solved many challenging although seemingly disparate problems.
Covert surveillance
CCTV in general has a great deterrent effect. Many studies have shown that well implemented and clearly visible CCTV helps to reduce crime within an area.
However, catching the perpetrators of crime and building a case to secure prosecution is often most effective when the criminals are unaware that surveillance is taking place. The ability to quickly deploy video surveillance without having to provide
anything other than just basic power or in some cases just a large battery is a requirement for many covert video operations. One Vemotion customer has the added challenge of protecting goods in transit as they move across countries and through international borders. The hijacking of goods vehicles is still rampant and Vemotion’s technology has been deployed both to help catch organised hijackers and to detect when drivers try to fake an incident and collude with criminals. The ability to transmit video using 3G from highly concealable video cameras complete with GPS location data makes these types of covert video platforms vital in loss prevention and criminal investigations.
Although just three examples, each shows how Vemotion is helping real world organisations use mobile video to solve problems. The possibilities are almost limitless. Vemotion’s technology has been used in projects on every continent and, in some instances, combines widely different technologies such as 2G & 3G mobile networks, Wi-Fi, solar power, satellite technology and even traditional dial up modems to take advantage of PSTN. Certain projects have required encryption and ultra-secure two factor authentication systems to help restrict access to content.
With a design philosophy and project teams that are well versed in both the technical and practical application of video, Vemotion today has both public and private sector customers across the globe that are benefiting from its technology. As organisations continue to strive to solve problems, reduce costs and improve the safety of people and places – mobile video will continue to play an important role.
reproduced from Vemotion website 30 Jan 2018