Latin America. The occurrence of open-air shootings in the center of a city and the risk of an attack on a shopping center by people who visited the place previously are some of the challenges faced by medium and large cities. As new technologies are developed, solutions emerge that effectively impact cities, allowing them to solve security situations and even prevent the commission of crimes and vandalism.
Fortunately, various sectors are increasingly understanding and applying the importance of these developments focused on video security and the way in which it is articulated with analytics to provide robust solutions adapted to specific needs.
To show a part of the wide range of technological possibilities that can already be applied in cities to solve current problems, Axis presents 5 developments that will allow:
Facial recognition
In the near future, when an assailant wanted by the police gets on a bus, his face can be captured by the cameras, and the authorities will be informed in the moment. Train and metro stations will be able to make, at certain points of circulation, a permanent round in search of sex criminals or suspected of practicing the illegal trade, based on the photos registered in the database. With the same technology, stadiums can automatically block the entry of fans involved in episodes of violence. Adding these efforts in different parts of the city, the police will have a wide set of data to act intelligently and without prejudice.
Panic button
Some cities already have a button installed on poles or totems to report emergencies to the police. But the so-called "panic button" may be more than that. It is true that it is useful to avoid acts of vandalism and other crimes, especially having an operator in the control center viewing everything live through a video camera, with a Google map on the screen showing the exact point of the event. But this intercom also has the potential to bring the citizen's communication closer to the public power and function as a true router for access to various services. It can tell the citizen where the nearest ATM is and even provide tourist information, such as the walking path to a museum.
Gunshot detection
It looks like science fiction. But there is a technology that can detect the sound of a gunshot in the middle of a busy avenue, a beginning of tumult in a bus terminal, or when the window of a store or banking agency breaks. Companies like Sound Intelligence use Axis cameras with tiny microphones to capture the standard of ambient sound in open and closed locations. After discovering what the normal noise is there, the technology detects sound alterations, both in the case of a discussion in a public place (in which the voices are raised little by little) and in the case of glass breakage and shots (which generate a sudden alteration in the pattern). As analytics is intelligent, it does not confuse, for example, shooting with fireworks, which reduces false alarms.
Audible alerts
Not all cities face the same problems. Some have areas with seasonal risk of landslide. Others, near dams, may be surprised by an accident. There are riverside communities that live attentively at the height of the water, and there are many other examples. In these cases, early warning is critical to saving lives and reducing financial losses. In reality, early audible alert can inhibit drug use on the streets, disperse young people practicing illicit acts in public squares, and deter vandals before they finish squeezing the spray against a monument. In a few years, it will be more common to find cities equipped with digital and long-range audible alert systems, both for pre-recorded and live messages, even directly from the responsible's cell phone.
Drone monitoring
Imagine picking up your child from school and perceiving a drone flying over the block and yard. Walking into a condo without understanding what that team is doing up there. Watching a football match being interrupted by the accidental landing of a spy of less than 1kg. These situations are worrying not only because of the invasion of privacy, but also because of the possible use of the drone as a tool to support kidnappings, attacks, capture of confidential information and generation of intelligence against police actions. After all, no one wants to see a chain full of prisoners receiving cell phones from heaven. In the future, the circulation of drones in cities will not be messy. The technologies already available, such as from the company Dedrone, allow a camera to be used to detect the presence of a drone and, even more importantly, instantly assign the exact point from which it is being controlled.
By Paulo Santos, Enterprise Solutions Manager at Axis Communications.
Contact: [email protected]
