Exclusive: A holistic approach to video management

August 16, 2021

FEATURED

Pieter van de Looveren, Bosch Building Technologies assesses the future of video management systems.

The increased adoption of emerging technologies such as big data analysis, cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) changes the perspective of video management solutions. In today’s market, video management should do more for businesses than security alone.

The ability to interpret video data directly at the source enables us to understand the context of various scenes, consolidate data of multiple sources and convert data into business insights that support data-driven solutions. Considering that we only use up to 10% of captured data, we leave massive information untapped.

Making good and efficient use of the rich and versatile data generated by video systems enables us to convert data into insights that help improve safety, increase efficiency, reduce operational costs and predict unforeseen or future situations.

At Bosch, we have fully committed ourselves to an AIoT strategy; by AIoT, we specifically mean the networking of physical products and the deployment of AI. With AI, our goal is to enable clients to understand events at an ever-deeper level and predict them in the future – the keyword being predictive – so they can act proactively. In a broad sense, video management encompasses software that enables data conversion, consolidation and augmentation, recording devices, cloud storage and intelligent cameras.

We firmly believe every video security or video management solution will always offer AI at the edge. This philosophy supports the pre-processing of data to substantially reduce network strain and enhance the overall robustness and flexibility of a system. Because of this principle, all network cameras from Bosch are equipped with built-in AI as a standard since 2016.

Nevertheless, different applications require different configurations – that’s why we offer a combination of edge, server and cloud-based solutions to accommodate both green and brownfield installations. Often we are confronted with brownfield installations that require flexibility due to the legacy systems already in place. We strive to keep sustainability in mind in the planning stages.

Depending on the existing installation, it makes sense for manufacturers to offer a flexible concept that allows customers to pick and choose multiple video management components such as alarm monitoring, video analytics and more that are added at the edge, near the edge or in the cloud. Existing cameras, for example, can be enriched with so called gateway devices offering built-in AI or cloud AI to convert video data into insights. Capturing the vast amount of raw data and funnelling it into a platform that transforms it into intelligence is essential. This transformation is key to enabling both automated and human decisions.

As AI technologies continue to grow, applications are quickly evolving, with exciting advances powering new abilities every day. This understanding leads to additional software solutions that help consolidate data from multiple sensors. Consequently, video management software primarily focused on security will increasingly offer plug-ins for data management.

Bosch solutions

Software like Intelligent Insights from Bosch aggregates and visualises metadata of one or multiple cameras in intuitive widgets that help increase overall situational awareness. With Intelligent Insights, users, for example, can anticipate potentially dangerous situations in maintaining social distance between people and ensuring the maximum number of people in any one area isn’t exceeded.

Intelligent Insights can be used as a standalone solution to enhance third party video management solutions or can be combined with our data-driven video management system, BVMS. BVMS supports predictive solutions by establishing a decision centre that delivers actionable insights to customers to make informed decisions. Users can establish a decision centre using software, giving them a single, clear dashboard for evaluation. Dashboards can help users identify unforeseen, unwanted or future situations faster and more reliably – enabling a response before potential situations occur.

BVMS combines multiple security domains like video security, intrusion, access control and data management solutions like Intelligent Insights. It is a highly resilient system that focuses on making data available under the most severe circumstances. Subsequently, we can begin to add various edge, near-edge or cloud components to offer the level of AI needed to support data-driven solutions.

Most data-driven solutions are customer-specific and require tailoring. We offer solutions that can be tailored and are at the same time modular and scalable through new AI algorithms. One example is Camera Trainer, a machine learning software that operators can directly upload to Bosch network cameras. Users train cameras to recognise objects and situations and tailor the solution to meet the specific needs of customers. If cameras detect the defined scenario, they perform a predefined action in real-time like a count or an alarm.

Another example is our new open camera platform, INTEOX. Cameras built on INTEOX support predictive solutions by employing machine learning, deep neural network-based video analytics and allow third-party software apps for customised applications. Select models offer Traffic Detector, custom-made for ITS applications, an additional video analytics feature based on deep neural networks that helps distinguish and classify automobiles in congested scenes with precise detail. Possible disturbances caused by vehicle headlights or shadows are ignored; this uncovers new ways to improve mobility, safety and the efficient use of roadways.

Bosch takes a holistic approach to video management, considering the complete system rather than individual components required to build a video security solution. In doing so, we combine AI and IoT to deliver insights that help predict unforeseen events and uncover new business opportunities that create additional revenue streams or reduce operational costs.

Pieter-van-de-Looveren
Pieter van de Looveren

www.boschbuildingtechnologies.com

This article was published in the August 2021 edition of Security Journal UK. Pick up your FREE digital copy on the link here

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