IPVM (IP Video Market Info), the independent source for video surveillance information, does their typically solid job analyzing the TSA report on the SightLogix video analytics system at Buffalo Airport, which we blogged about previously.

Ethan over at IPVM fills in a number of details, and points out that some of the information in the public version of the report has been redacted. Fortunately, the reports (in their full content) are posted on TSA’s Secure Webboard. Every airport is required by regulation to establish an Airport Security Coordinator (ASC) position. The ASC has webboard access provided to them by the TSA. It’s also the location where they go to retrieve Security Directives. We’re told that over 400 domestic airports have access to the full unredacted report.

Unfortunately, SightLogix does not have access to the full report nor does anyone else without clearance to use the TSA webboard. We can however provide additional information that is not confidential regarding the testing at Buffalo Airport. SightLogix equipment went through a 9-month, four-season test by the TSA before being funded at Buffalo Airport. And they are now testing another SightLogix product through the same four-season process. This funding and testing is based upon the favorable results achieved in their test environments.

SightLogix was founded to make outdoor video analytic cameras that can accurately detect targets with low nuisance alerts in the outdoors. We are confident the testing at Buffalo Airport would have yielded a probability of detect at 100% or very close to it, because SightLogix conducts our own testing during qualification and will not leave a site without 100% coverage and margin to spare.

As mentioned in the IPVM report, the integrator on the Buffalo project pointed out that “99% of the alarms were caused by animals and dependant on the size and quantity may or may not be a concern for the airport.”  SightLogix cameras use GPS-based analytics and are georegistered to the scene during initial calibration. This allows the camera to determine the precise location and actual size of all objects in its field of view, allowing users to set very accurate video analytic size filters for eliminating small animals and other objects from sending alerts. This is a key to accurately detecting targets  based upon size, and is the reason that SightLogix systems have the lowest outdoor FAR/NAR in the industry.

At this point in our company’s history, now that we have been able to consistently achieve extremely high levels of detection accuracy, we’ve turned our focus towards cost reduction with our new SightSensor thermal camera model, which has twice the processing power of those originally tested by the TSA at Buffalo and at pricing per-foot on par with less reliable fence sensors and visible cameras with analytics. The additional processing is being used to vastly enhance the thermal image so it more resembles a quality black and white visible image, under all lighting (or no lighting) conditions. The overall cost reduction was achieved by reducing the costs of the electronics and housing and streamlining manufacturing, now that we are in higher volume sales.

Thanks to IPVM for providing a valuable service in clarifying the scope of the TSA  report and presenting the facts. You can find their report here.

We’ve added narration to the SightLogix Automated Outdoor Video System overview, shown below.  Each video panel displays the view from a visible, wide angle and thermal perimeter security camera, while the bottom right shows a PTZ camera automatically steered to zoom and follow detected targets. The target’s location is simultaneously displayed onto the topology map on the bottom left.

Click the video for a guided tour of the system in action.

SightLogix is presenting an Intelligent Video Surveillance webinar each month at 1 p.m. Eastern Time (10 a.m. PT; 11 a.m. MT; Noon CT, 6 p.m. GMT). The webinar will discuss how intelligent video surveillance designed for the outdoors can improve security for large outdoor facilities and perimeters.

Register at www.sightlogix.com/surveillance-webex-registration.html.

Webcast topics include:

• The use of outdoor surveillance systems to detect, track and identify intrusions
• Understanding the sources of nuisance alarms and how to prevent them
• The value of obtaining precise location information about a target
• The impact of camera range and detection accuracy on overall solution costs

Webcast Details

Hope to see you there.

The folks over at Chemical Facility Security News make an important comment on using Google Maps for designing a perimeter security layout.  We certainly agree that walking a site is the best way and only way to understand the nuances of a perimeter’s terrain. Ultimately, a good security design requires a real-world, on-site evaluation. It’s a good point and we thank them for making it.

Even so, SightSurvey is helpful for building good security concepts into a final site design. For instance, it can highlight the need to address the area under the pole — the so-called “dead zone” — which remains a security concern regardless of real-world terrain conditions. This is particularly important for securing large areas, such as chemical storage facilities, refineries, or transportation assets, because as you narrow the camera’s field of view to cover longer distances, the blind spot under the camera grows.

Importantly, each camera in a perimeter layout must address the dead zone of the next camera along the perimeter, and this area only increases as the distance covered by each camera expands.  Consider that a camera twenty feet off the ground using a seven degree field of view may have a blind zone as long as 60 meters.

A modeling tool like SightSurvey — while not a replacement for a real-world evaluation – can still play an important role in making sure that these important design gaps are appropriately addressed.

SightSurvey was designed to help integrators quickly and easily model an outdoor area and perimeter security layout around an actual site.  It’s become one of our most popular design tools.

SightSurvey uses Google Maps to create an intelligent video camera layout on any facility. This lets you address typical security design issues — like camera blind spots and terrain conditions — and determine areas of vulnerability or coverage gaps. By using Google Maps, you can gain a close approximation of the final design requirements even before you visit or walk the area.

With SightSurvey, you can set pole height, view blind spots under the camera, and choose visible or thermal intrusion detection cameras based on the application environment. Even large facilities such as airport perimeters, rail yards or seaports can be designed in a few minutes.

SightSurvey also lets you plan the number of cameras and their optimal placement, and determine a camera’s range for different sized object detection, such as a person versus a vehicle. You can also use SightSurvey to compare the number of cameras required for effective video intrusion detection around your facility.

We’ve put together a brief overview of SightSurvey, which you can watch below.  If you like what you see, register for SightSurvey here.