Q. What exactly is iSentry?
iSentry is an automated video analysis system. It uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to learn the normal behavioural patterns of people and objects observed by a video camera. When a person or object displays activity that does not fit the model of normal behaviour, the system highlights it as unusual.
iSentry tracks every moving object in the camera’s view. It uses the size, shape, speed and direction of motion of each object to build a model of expected behaviour. When an object moves in an unexpected manner, iSentry identifies the behaviour as unusual and raises an alert.
iSentry is designed to perform at night, day and in poor weather conditions. Flashing lights do not distract iSentry, even in low lighting it can track its targets accurately. iSentry also excels in outdoor environments. iSentry’s vision is not affected by clouds, shadows or light changes and even learns the normal behaviour of the wind blowing in the trees and ignores it. Regular traffic, whether vehicular or pedestrian, is learned over time and will not raise an alert.
Q. Why do I need iSentry, my system is already intelligent it has VMD?
The unique ability of the iSentry system is it’s aptitude to self-learn in any given environment, detecting unusual activity and ignoring normal activity, it does not require programming or rules to detect effectively. This makes the system far superior to Video Motion Detection (VMD) systems, particularly in busy environments. In busy environments, iSentry is able to filter out around 95% of the “normal” motion observed and only react to the remaining 5% of unusual activity. VMD is in general triggered purely by movement and cannot discriminate between normal and unusual behaviour, thus potentially raising false alerts and causing operators to potentially ignore it.
Q. Can I archive video recorded from iSentry?
Yes. The iSentry system records all video at high quality. However, as iSentry can discriminate between normal and unusual activity, it can apply different compression levels to archived video. After a few days, iSentry will ‘reduce’ the uninteresting archived video by storing it at a lower resolution. Video of unusual activity remains archived at the high resolution which means that 95% of the video can be reduced to 10% of its original size. iSentry can achieve video archiving durations over 10 times longer than any conventional Video Motion Detection system.
Yes. The iSentry system records all video at high quality. However, as iSentry can discriminate between normal and unusual activity, it can apply different compression levels to archived video. After a few days, iSentry will ‘reduce’ the uninteresting archived video by storing it at a lower resolution. Video of unusual activity remains archived at the high resolution which means that 95% of the video can be reduced to 10% of its original size. iSentry can achieve video archiving durations over 10 times longer than any conventional Video Motion Detection system.
Q. Is iSentry difficult to install?
iSentry can integrate with existing CCTV infrastructure or as a standalone surveillance system. Video feeds come directly from analogue cameras or IP feeds in MPEG-4 format from existing DVR units if required. The self-learning begins immediately the system is turned on and needs virtually no user input before a normal environment is learnt. Speed of learning is dependent on the volume of activity but in most cases iSentry can begin alerting on abnormal behaviour within one 30 minutes.
iSentry can integrate with existing CCTV infrastructure or as a standalone surveillance system. Video feeds come directly from analogue cameras or IP feeds in MPEG-4 format from existing DVR units if required. The self-learning begins immediately the system is turned on and needs virtually no user input before a normal environment is learnt. Speed of learning is dependent on the volume of activity but in most cases iSentry can begin alerting on abnormal behaviour within one 30 minutes.
Q. What are the components that make-up iSentry?
The iSentry system consists of 2 main parts: the iSentry Camera Unit and the iSentry Monitoring Station. In normal use, these 2 parts operate on different computers in different locations, however, they can both operate on the one computer, if processing resources are sufficient.
An iSentry Camera Unit receives the video footage. It contains an analogue capture card for hardware-encoding of MPEG4 videos and the iSentry Camera Unit software (the server application). It receives the video feed from 4 to 16 video cameras. The software processes the video image, tracks the objects in the video footage, learns their behaviour and determines if the behaviour is abnormal. If the behaviour is abnormal, the iSentry Camera Unit sends a message over the network to the appropriate iSentry Monitoring Stations. Users do not have any direct interface with this unit.
They can be located anywhere and need not be near the Monitoring Station as long as they are connected to the same network.
A Camera Unit will continue to record and learn even if there are no connected Monitoring Stations.
An iSentry Monitoring Station is the central computer of an iSentry network. A Monitoring Station can be flexibly connected to one or more iSentry Camera Units. All user interfacing with the iSentry system is done through the Monitoring Station.
The Monitoring Station has 2 main purposes. Firstly, it allows the user to observe the video recorded by any of the iSentry Camera Units, whether as alerts or just playback. Secondly, it allows the user to change the settings of any iSentry Camera Unit connected to the Monitoring Station.
A typical iSentry installation at a site might consist of one rack of 5 iSentry Camera Units and one iSentry monitor station. Other Monitoring Stations may be connected remotely via a network as required.
Q. How much potential uninteresting video can iSentry save my operators from watching?
Where a site has many cameras it is commonly accepted the operators are unable to effectively manage the large amount of video information. iSentry acts as a first line filter and stores 95% of the uninteresting video. It then schedules viewing of the remaining 5% which are generally alerts and incidents so that one operator can watch all the important activity effectively on one screen. Additionally, iSentry can hold lists of alert videos while operators are away from their desk and can offload monitoring responsibilities from one operator to another.
Where a site has many cameras it is commonly accepted the operators are unable to effectively manage the large amount of video information. iSentry acts as a first line filter and stores 95% of the uninteresting video. It then schedules viewing of the remaining 5% which are generally alerts and incidents so that one operator can watch all the important activity effectively on one screen. Additionally, iSentry can hold lists of alert videos while operators are away from their desk and can offload monitoring responsibilities from one operator to another.
Q. Can iSentry control my PTZ cameras?
When iSentry detects unusual behaviour, it autonomously controls a PTZ camera to zoom in on the target and track its moves through the scene. The system is able to obtain high quality images because the PTZ camera uses optical zoom to monitor the target. Only iSentry can autonomously command a PTZ camera to target unusual behaviour.
When iSentry detects unusual behaviour, it autonomously controls a PTZ camera to zoom in on the target and track its moves through the scene. The system is able to obtain high quality images because the PTZ camera uses optical zoom to monitor the target. Only iSentry can autonomously command a PTZ camera to target unusual behaviour.
Q. What compression format is used in iSentry?
iSentry uses the H.264 (MPEG-4 Part 10, or AVC for Advanced Video Coding)format for storing its video. This format is 50% more efficient than the MPEG-4 Visual standard and a colossal 80% more efficient than the MJPEG format. H.264 delivers reduced bandwidth and storage requirements, saving resources to deliver better video frame rates & resolution. In addition the savings on resources makes iSentry ideal for use in conjunction with WiFi/Wireless IP infrastructures.
The H.264 format meets many international standards including:
· European High Definition TV broadcasting
· NATO and US Department of Defence video applications
· High Definition DVDs (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats)
· Mobile TV broadcasting
· Internet video
· Videoconferencing