By Linn Storäng
Video surveillance cameras have gone beyond the role of forensic monitors. As IoT devices, we now regard them as sensors, and through analytics applications they have evolved into powerful generators of essential insights. Modern network cameras can process data in real-time, identifying patterns, tracking behaviours and providing actionable data.
High quality network video data allows Axis users to see more and do more with the hardware they already use for surveillance. Many Axis end-users have shared their customer stories with us over the years, describing a clear picture of both the versatility of Axis hardware and the ingenuity of our partners.
Monitoring for compliance
Generating powerful insights does not need a huge network of cameras – sometimes one is enough. In the UK, the Whitehill & Bordon Regeneration Company (WBRC) faced a development problem. On the edge of a new warehouse site, planning restrictions mandated that the use of one road junction be carefully controlled, and that the warehouse tenant could prove it. WBRC tasked Axis partner NW Security Group with developing a solution.
Though the site’s layout provided limited options for placement, and the busy road ample opportunities for false positives, the team was able to use a single AXIS P1465-LE Bullet Camera to gather the data it needed. NW Security created a clever solution to detect car behaviour and used on-camera analytics from OCR expert NVA Video Analytics to detect vehicle type, read number plates, and output traffic statistics for archiving.
WBRC’s solution proves the value of efficiency: if there is a problem that needs to be solved, it needn’t be over complicated or over engineered. The right camera in the right place is all it takes. Read more about WBRC’s clever solution here.
Industrial safety insights
The unique abilities of cameras lend themselves to generating insights that aren’t otherwise easy to achieve, and they do not always require complex analytics. For IAAPS’ marine propulsion research lab, the AXIS Q1961-TE Thermal Camera proved a straightforward tool to detect methanol fires. Methanol is an essential component in tomorrow’s renewable fuels, but it can burn with a clear flame. If undetected, such fires can burn out of control quickly.
Supplied and supported by Axis partner PC1, the Q1961-TE was up and running within 30 minutes and immediately improved the lab’s safety. Rugged enough to withstand the high ambient temperatures of the testing environment, IAAPS quickly came to regard the thermal camera as a scientific instrument and use it to gather metadata insights for its tests. Read more about this intriguing use of Axis technology in IAAPS’ lab environment.
Transforming smart city capabilities
Gathering insights does not always mean installing new equipment, and neither does it mean doing everything at once. The IoT-TICKET platform, from Finnish software expert and Axis partner Wapice, is designed to turn Internet of Things data into insights for its customers – and when a smart city client happened to have a network of Axis cameras already installed for security, Wapice discovered that their image quality and flexibility made them an ideal data source for AI machine vision tools.
Beginning with a few cameras used for traffic monitoring, the platform quickly grew to offer insights to departments around the city, expanding to more pre-installed cameras to assist with urban maintenance, footfall, people movement and more. By pulling pure data points from camera sensors and anonymising data in-camera if required, Wapice can use IoT-TICKET to improve citizen safety without privacy implications.
For more insights, Axis sat down with Wapice to learn more about the ins and outs of the project.
Linking security to real-world activities
Surveillance may be the ultimate insight, but by lining up video insights with external data it’s possible to learn much more about a situation. Take the PKO cooperative, part of Finland’s S-Group chain: Axis partner Hällström Security has supplied the retailer with a series of Axis camera deployments to bring its geographically separated stores into one surveillance network. Now, PKO and its parent group intend to do more.
For example, S-Group is developing a system which will allow operatives to automatically pull archive footage based on receipt numbers in the case of disputes with cashiers. The company is enthusiastic about the possibility of learning more from its centrally-linked camera network. The key, for PKO, is consistency – by working with a single manufacturer and a limited selection of cameras, it can build solutions which generate reliable insights wherever they might be deployed.
Discover how Axis transformed PKO’s remote security management here.
Versatility in modern surveillance technology
Stories like these serve to highlight just a few of the things that Axis users have done to take advantage of the versatility of our hardware and software solutions. Axis is committed to innovating for a smarter, safer world. It offers end users the opportunity to build the security and surveillance solution that works for them using the flexibility and power of the open AXIS Camera Application Platform (ACAP) along with the guidance and expertise of our technology integration partners.
