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7th International Multidisciplinary Symposium
„SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH QUALITY AND INNOVATION IN
ENGINEERING AND RESEARCH”
UNIVERSITARIA
SIMPRO 2016
Some examples of video surveillance as a service applications
Predrag Dašića, Jovan Dašića, Bojan Crvenkovića
aSaTCIP Publisher Ltd. Vrnjačka Banja 36210, Serbia
bHigh Technical Mechanical School of Professional Studies, Trstenik 37240, Serbia
Abstract
Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS) has undergone significant scientific development since its inception. Development of cloud
technologies significantly influenced surveillance market which is expected to entirely replace traditional surveillance systems.
Economic analysis show positive growth of surveillance equipment and systems and in the coming years VSaaS is expected to have a
larger stake of the security market. In the paper are given examples of Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS) applications in
current surveillance systems implementations. We also review the existing literature and propose how to apply advancement into
future frameworks.
Keywords: Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS); Intelligent Video Surveillance as a Service (IVSaaS); cloud technology;
1. Introduction
Surveillance systems have been in use for several decades now since the invention of Closed-circuit television
(CCTV) cameras and tape recorders. Over time these systems advanced to using computer system and IP cameras to
capture, store and reproduce recordings which quickly reached limits in size, power requirements, processing, analysing
and especially storage. Main obstacle is that they are all on site based solutions. Cloud computing introduced a novel
approach to how data is being managed which reflected to video surveillance as well. This brought to the idea, utilizing
cloud computing enormous network, storage and processing capabilities (Dašic, et al. 2016). Video surveillance as a
Service has undergone significant scientific development since its inception. Notable research done in the area covers
universal environmental surveillance system (Chen, et al 2013), intelligent surveillance video analysis service (Chen, et
al. 2016; Tomforde, 2013), automatic configuration of video-surveillance (Conejero, 2015), remote display solution
(Song, et al. 2015). Authors (Dautov, and Paraskakis, 2013) introduced a novel approach to developing autonomic
cloud application platforms, based on vision of treating cloud platforms as sensor networks. This approach is based on
intelligent re-usage of existing solution strategies and products (specifically, Stream Reasoning and the Semantic Web
technology stack), to create a general-purpose autonomous framework.
Key areas of cloud based video surveillance are video-based detection and tracking (García-Rodríguez, and García-
Chamizo, 2011), video-based person identification, and large-scale surveillance systems. A significant percentage of
basic technologies for video-based detection and tracking were developed under a U.S. government-funded program
called Video Surveillance and Monitoring (VSAM) (Collins, et al. 2000).
2. Applications of Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS)
Applications of VSaaS include sectors of tourism (hotels, restaurants), healthcare (hospitals, care centres), education
(schools), finance (banks, trade centers), retail (shops, malls), data centers (high tech companies), airports (terminals,
runways), ports (incoming vessels), government (buildings, municipalities areas, landmarks, police, military), transport
(roads, highway, railway, parking areas), industrial (plants, equipment, open areas), telecommunication (equipment,
service centres). Alongside listed applications VSaaS is applicable in homes and estates of common people looking for
easy and affordable security measures. More on specific video streaming application can be found in publications for
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +38-1606-926-690; fax: +38-137-692-669.
E-mail address: dasicp58@gmail.com.
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International Multidisciplinary Symposium - SIMPRO 2016:
urban traffic management (Esteve, et al. 2007), networking applications for emergency services (Frank, R. et al 2009),
vehicle surveillance system (Fu, 2010). Further, we will present and discuss current applications and supporting
technologies for Video Surveillance as a Service.
Remote access to live and recorded surveillance video using mobile devices is a standard feature in VSaaS. It is
applicable in both civilian and military environment with native encryption algorithm support for high security of
content flow. In paper by (Philp, et al. 2009) is proposed an addition security measure for video transmission using
watermarking as another layer of authentication. Authors (Abu-Lebdeh, et al. 2012) have developed a novel system
architecture for mobile video surveillance applications using 3GPP 4G Evolved Packet Core (EPC), with key
components of service architecture: service development platform (SDP) and the machine to machine (M2M) gateway.
Another application of VSaaS in mobile segment is the research done by (Paul and Park, 2013) who developed a system
for object classification and recognition using a mobile phone as image acquisition device. Images or video material is
sent to cloud system for analysis processing which then sends back the results of multiclass natural objects recognition
to mobile device. Analysis is performed using high dimensional feature vectors using clustering algorithm and classify
and recognize using native Bayes classifier. (Yu, et al. 2012) developed intrusion detection system (using machine
learning technique) for android mobile platform which performs robust people classification in diverse scenes in real-
time. Their video surveillance systems is intended to function within Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) environment.
On Fig. 1 is given a graphical representation of VSaaS applications and features.
Fig. 1. Applications and features of VSaaS. Source: authors
VSaaS brought significant improvements in open area surveillance allowing the utilization of sophisticated tracking
and analysis software to run in real-time processing large amounts of data. VSaaS for open area surveillance can be
used virtually anywhere through simple internet networks, existing fiber networks or mobile 3G/4G networks providing
coverage for large urban areas. In paper by (Chen, et al. 2014) is given a proposal of a unified computational
framework, whose purpose is the integration simplification of various video analysis techniques. The framework is
developed upon cloud architecture which enable it to handle massive data analysis. Authors (Weng, et al. 2013)
developed an open mobile could architecture ―Pics-on-Wheel‖ for tracking taxi vehicles in urban environment which
can be used for surveillance purposes such as: vehicle location, driving duration, incident recording, driver monitoring
as well as provide detailed analytics. A multimedia surveillance backend system architecture was developed by (Dey, et
al. 2012) and is based on the Sensor Web Enablement framework and cloud based ―key-value‖ stores. Their framework
obtains data from camera/edge device simulators, splits media files and metadata and stores those in a segregated way
in cloud based data stores hosted on Amazons EC2.
Cloud-based video surveillance enables the possibility of smart interaction between software and on-site mechanical-
electrical devices. For example, one of the applications is the usage of robots in servicing incursions and other threats in
risk areas (e.g. nuclear facilities). (Park, et al. 2012, 2013) have developed sub-optimal decision making algorithms for
such robots where Unattended Ground Sensors (UGS) detect a threat and the robots service the alerts by visiting the
alert location and collecting evidence in the form of video and other images and transmit them to the operator.
Healthcare industry can greatly benefit from cloud based surveillance, especially from video analytics software such
as motion analysis. Authors (Lee, and Chung, 2012) developed an algorithm capable of detecting falls of patients in
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Sustainable Development through Quality and Innovation in Engineering and Research
healthcare institutions and removing shadows from objects thus greatly increasing false detection. Such a system of
detection can be implemented to monitor patients movement in real-time by automatically notifying hospital staff of
unfortunate event such as falling or undesired movement.
VSaaS can be implemented for maritime video surveillance both ground-based, harbors and dock, and on-vessel
implementation. Authors (Auslander, et al. 2011) analysed and compared anomaly detection algorithms for local
maritime video surveillance. In paper by (Guo, 2012) were presented key technologies of intelligent monitoring for
middle line of the south to north water transfer. The application of VSaaS could improve real-time surveillance from
boats, mass transit screening for boat passengers, crane safety cameras for docks and perimeter security. (Gómez, et al.
2015) developed a surveillance system that possesses several highly advanced features which can be best utilized
through VSaaS application. The features include: 3D environment change detection, a multiview-based acquisition
method to monitor wide-sized indoor environments, analysis of the elements detected to identify intruders, new and
missed objects, fusion of color and 3D features to create an accurate 3D model of the scene, real-time surveillance
algorithm based on the tilt-angle movement and support for absence of illumination by automatic IR adjustment.
Cloud based video surveillance can serve as a data source for Applied behavior analysis (ABA) which can help
researcher to better understand human habits and behavior patterns. For example authors (Kröckel and Bodendorf,
2010) presented a concept of using data mining methods on images obtained by video surveillance. The analysis is
performed for customer trajectories, paths through the retail environment, while image processing is done using
OpenCV Computer Vision Library. Results about patterns and clusters are obtained by different method of data mining.
Education sector has proven to have reduced incidents (Tanner-Smith, 2016) with installed physical security measures.
Application of VSaaS in schools can greatly influence the early detection of incidents (fights, falls, unauthorized access,
vandalism), reduce overall security costs (less security personnel needed, less hardware and technical maintenance
personnel, no Digital Video Recording (DVR) devices required) and can provide behavioral analysis.
Military sector relies heavily on video surveillance for internal and as well mission purposes. Usage of drones,
robots, unmanned aircrafts accompanied with advanced data analytics is the backbone of military operations. One of the
developed techniques applicable in military environment is s 3-D imaging technique which pairs high-resolution night-
vision cameras with GPS to increase the capabilities of passive imaging surveillance. The technique was developed by
(Schwartz, 2011) and uses camera models and GPS to derive a registered point cloud from multiple night-vision
images. These point clouds are used to generate 3-D scene models and extract real-world positions of mission critical
objects. This enables precise geo-positioning in low-light environment. A supportive hardware solution comes from
company Avigilon, which developed Light Catcher technology capable of capturing video with color detail in extreme
low-light environments.
3. Conclusion
This paper presented modern applications of Video Surveillance as a Service from both scientific and general public
view. Available literature covers a wide scope of application issues and solutions, however more effort is needed in
automation of intelligent data analysis since the amount of data exceeds current software and hardware capabilities.
Beside intelligent data analysis more development is needed in area of video compression and transfer to support high
definition streaming without the need of using intermediary storage with pre-compression function. Maintaining secure
environments is of imperative importance especially in times of increased terrorist activities, political and economic
crisis and unstable conflict regions. VSaaS reduces overall costs and offers unsurpassed technological possibilities
compared to traditional systems which should be fully utilized.
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