The rapid and profound evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) in the electronic security market has opened up new possibilities for protecting the assets within our facilities. Now, we can not only detect intruders but also anticipate intrusions through behavioral analysis and object classification (people and/or vehicles) within the scene.
In this remarkable development of AI, leading manufacturer Avigilon has introduced an interesting additional variable with its camera processors. Their high processing capacity allows the definition of multiple Regions of Interest (ROI) within the same scene, enabling simultaneous analytics events of different natures within each region.
In this way, we can break down each Avigilon camera with embedded intelligence into multiple Regions of Interest, each with potentially different behaviors, effectively turning the camera into a set of independent sensors supported by video.
In the list below, you’ll find all the analytic events that we can simultaneously define within the same scene on an Avigilon H6A camera.
Objects in the area of interest | The event is triggered when the selected object type moves into the area of interest. This event can be used to count objects |
Loitering objects | The event is triggered when the selected object type moves into the area of interest and remains there for an extended period. |
Objects crossing a beam | The event is triggered when the specified number of objects crosses the directional beam configured within the camera’s field of view. The beam can be unidirectional or bidirectional. |
Object appears or enters the area of interest | The event is triggered each time an object enters the area of interest. |
Absence of objects in the area of interest | The event is triggered when no objects are present in the area of interest. |
Objects entering the area of interest | The event is triggered when the specified number of objects enters the area of interest. |
Objects leaving the area of interest | The event is triggered once the specified number of objects has exited the area of interest. |
Object stops in the area of interest | The event is triggered when an object moves in an area of interest and then stops moving for the specified threshold time. |
Prohibited direction | The event is triggered when an object moves in the prohibited direction of the path. |
Smart motion rule | Events are sent for people (including tracking) and vehicles present, against the preset unchangeable parameters. |
Tampering detection | The event is triggered when the scene changes unexpectedly. |
Crowd size | This event is triggered when the number of people exceeds a configurable threshold within a certain duration. |
Unusual crowd growth | This event is triggered when the size of a crowd grows unexpectedly. |
Unusual crowd size | This event is triggered when an unusually large crowd size is detected. |
This capability currently allows us, for example, to support perimeter protection with two simultaneous analytic events, such as line crossing and objects in area. Additionally, we can set up an activity zone between the perimeter and the facility’s buildings within the camera’s field of view to detect, for instance, the concentration of people above a predefined threshold.
Moreover, I can divide the field of view into three perimeter areas (near, intermediate, and far), where I apply different criteria. In other words, I would have seven simultaneous events on the same camera (three areas with two events each—line crossing and object in area—and the concentration of people within the activity zone).
If we have a perimeter like the one in the image below, with, for example, 50 cameras, this would mean an installation with 350 simultaneous analytic events.
Alarm management in the electronic security market
We are accustomed to considering an alarm control center in our facilities when managing the alarms for our security deployment.
Additionally, when the number of alarms is high, it’s often necessary to have advanced functions for managing them, such as forced, partial, or timed arming. It would be ideal to have these advanced management functions available for these new analytics events within our Avigilon ACC software platform, as if CCTV and intrusion management were integrated into a single product.
The virtual alarm panel
SGSE has created the Avigilon Virtual Alarm Panel to introduce advanced management of simultaneous analytics events into the Avigilon software platform, providing functionality similar to the most advanced alarm control centers on the market.
The Avigilon Virtual Alarm Panel allows the installation to be broken down into three layers:
- Each analytics event becomes a virtual zone within the Virtual Alarm Panel.
- Virtual zones can be grouped into a higher layer called a virtual group, partition, or area. Through the icons of these virtual areas, we can execute bulk actions on the virtual zones.
- Virtual areas can then be grouped into an even higher layer known as the virtual panel, which allows for bulk actions on virtual areas through its icons.
As an example, consider a virtual panel for a logistics center, where we could have virtual areas for various perimeter sections and a set of virtual zones associated with these virtual areas for different segments into which the center’s perimeter can be divided.
States of virtual zones
Not only is it possible for the operator to perform real-time actions using the SGSE Virtual Alarm Panel, but they will also have access to much more information thanks to the states of the deployed elements.
In the case of virtual zones, the operator will be able to view the full set of states shown in the image below, both in the summary view and on the ACC map.
NORMAL
ALARMED
ISOLATED
ARMED
ACTIVE
INHIBIT
MALFUNCTION
UNKNOWN
And remember, on the icon of the virtual zone, it is possible to apply the previously mentioned commands for inhibition, isolation, and reintegration.
Icons of virtual zones
Each of the different analytics events available in the Avigilon H6A camera series has its representation through corresponding icons in the SGSE Virtual Alarm Panel.
In the following image, you can see the 32 icons that represent these events, which include the classification of people and/or vehicles, as well as various behaviors in the classification that go beyond perimeter detection.
With this set of icons, we can therefore create specific areas for detection and others for activity within the field of view of each Avigilon H6A camera.
Statuses of areas and virtual panels
Just like with virtual zones, both areas and virtual panels have their various states represented with a consistent color code throughout the product.
In the image below, we can see these statuses:
VIRTUAL PANEL
NORMAL
ARMED
ALARMED
UNKNOWN
AREAS
NORMAL
ARMED
ALARMED
UNKNOWN
The virtual panel synoptics
In deployments where there is a large number of icons, working with the synoptics of the virtual panel can be very useful.
In these synoptics, it is easy to represent zones of our facility or the entire facility with the three layers mentioned earlier (virtual panel/virtual area/virtual zone) and the states of each of the elements.
The operator can interact with each of these icons by hovering over them and using the right mouse button to apply any of the commands explained earlier.
The virtual panel maps in the avigilon ACC software platform
When we want not only to access information about the elements of the virtual panel through their states, but also to know their locations within our facility, we will work with the virtual panel maps in the Avigilon ACC software platform.
Just like in the synoptic view, the operator can interact with the commands of the virtual panel elements by hovering over their icons and accessing them with the right mouse button.
The simple configuration of the virtual panel
The workflow of the virtual panel revolves around the management of advanced intrusion functions within the artificial intelligence embedded in Avigilon cameras, in a very simple way, so that the operator can take quick and effective actions within our facility.
The configuration of the virtual panel follows this workflow, allowing for an intuitive and easy-to-use advanced setup, as you can see in the following explanatory video on the virtual panel’s operation.
Alarm confirmation in the virtual panel
Both in virtual panels, areas, and zones, we can link them to alarms that were previously defined by the operator in ACC.
Within the virtual panel, whether in the synoptic view or the maps, we can confirm alarms directly by right-clicking on the icons of each element.
Additionally, these alarm confirmations in the virtual panel can also be executed in the ACC alarm viewer, as shown in the following image.
We would only need to purge them so they disappear from this viewer.
The demonstrative video of the virtual panel
To clearly illustrate all the advanced functions and the configuration of the Avigilon virtual alarm panel, developed by SGSE, we have prepared the following demonstrative video.
Avigilon's multi-technology integration platform around artificial intelligence
This interesting Avigilon virtual alarm panel can coexist within the same ACC software platform alongside integrations of products from other technologies.
A very interesting case is the creation of integrated solutions with the virtual panel and an intrusion panel, such as Honeywell’s Galaxy Dimension or ACRE’s SPC.
In the following image, you can see an icon representation of the virtual panel, where each one includes a camera at the bottom and the integrated intrusion elements from the SPC panel within ACC.
You can access more information about the integration of SPC intrusion panels in Avigilon through the following link:
Build your integrated electronic security solutions with SGSE.
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