In the last couple of years, video analytics, also known as video content analysis or intelligent video analytics, has gained immense popularity in both industry and the academic world. With the popularization of deep learning, video analytics has allowed for the automation of tasks that were once the exclusive purview of humans.
Recent developments in video analytics have been a game-changer, ranging from applications that monitor traffic jams and alert in real-time, to others that analyze customers’ flow in retail to maximize sales.
But how much do you know about intelligent video analytics? The main ideal behind video analytics is to automatically recognize temporal and spatial events in videos. A person moving suspiciously, traffic signs that aren’t obeyed, these are some of the examples of what an intelligent video analytics can detect.
One notable area in which video analytics is applicable is video surveillance, a task that has been with us for close to 50 years. In principle, the idea is simple; install cameras strategically to allow human operators to control what happens in a room, area, or public space.
In practice, however, it is an undertaking that is far from easy. An operator is responsible for more than one camera and, as several studies have revealed, increasing the number to be monitored significantly affects the operator’s performance.
What we are trying to imply is that even if a large amount of hardware is available and generating signals, a bottleneck is formed when it is time to process those signals due to human limitations.
As we conclude, it is worth mentioning that video analytics offers tremendous help in the area of transport, helping in the development of smart cities. A surge in traffic, more so in urban areas, can lead to an increase in accidents and traffic jams if adequate traffic management measures are not undertaken. Intelligent video analysis solutions can play an important role in this scenario.
Traffic analysis can be leveraged to dynamically adjust traffic light control system and to monitor traffic jams. Not to mention, it is widely relied upon in detecting dangerous situations in real time, such as a vehicle stopped in an unauthorized space on the highway, or even vehicles involved in an accident. When an accident occurs, these systems help with the collection of evidence in case of litigation. That will surely come in handy for drivers and insurers.