EP-4738302-A1 - METHOD FOR CONFIGURING A VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM

EP4738302A1EP 4738302 A1EP4738302 A1EP 4738302A1EP-4738302-A1

Abstract

A graphical user interface to be displayed on a computing device associated with a video surveillance system is automatically configured to create links between cameras of the video surveillance system. An association between nearby cameras is obtained by identifying an object in a video feed of one of the cameras, and re-identifying the same object in another video feed of another one of the cameras. If the re-identification of the object takes place within a predetermined time period, it can be assumed that the object has moved from the field of view of the first camera into the field of view of the other camera. As a result, a user interface element resulting in a switch from the video feed of the first camera to the video feed of the other camera is configured to be superimposed on the video from the first camera.

Inventors

DOYON, Jonathan
HUBIN, MORTIMER
MATUSEK, FLORIAN
ZANKL, Georg

Assignees

Genetec Inc.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20251027

Claims (15)

A computer-implemented method for configuring a video surveillance system (100), the method comprising: at a computing device (102) associated with the video surveillance system (100), identifying a first object (110) in a first video feed (108A) captured by a first camera (106A) of a plurality of cameras (106A-106D) of the video surveillance system (100); determining a first time (t A ) at which the first object (110) is captured by the first camera (106A); determining whether the first object (110) can be re-identified in a second video feed (108B-108D) captured by a second camera (106B-106D) of the plurality of cameras (106A-106D) within a predetermined time period (T1) from the first time (t A ); when the first object (110) is re-identified in the second video feed (108B-108D) within the predetermined time period (T1), associating the second camera with the first camera (106A) as an associated camera (106C); generating first configuration settings (118) specifying first attributes (119) of a first user interface element (120C) configured to be displayed in a display area (122) of a graphical user interface (124) when the display area (122) displays video from the first camera (106A), the first attributes (119) including a position (P) of the first user interface element (120C) in the display area (122) and a reference to the associated camera (106C); and storing the first configuration settings (118) in a memory (114).
The method of claim 1, further comprising: at the computing device (102) associated with the video surveillance system (100), obtaining location information (104) identifying locations (105A-105D) of the plurality of cameras (106A-106D) of the video surveillance system (100); determining a number of candidate cameras (106B-106D) in proximity to the first camera (106A) based on the location information (104); and determining whether the first object (110) can be re-identified in one of a plurality of candidate video feeds (108B-108D) captured by the candidate cameras (106B-106D) within the predetermined time period (T1) from the first time (t A ).
The method of claim 2, further comprising, by the computing device (102) and in response to identifying the first object (110) in the first video feed (108A), obtaining the plurality of candidate video feeds (108B-108D), and performing image recognition on the plurality of candidate video feeds to re-identify the first object (110), preferably, wherein the plurality of candidate video feeds (108B-108D) are received and processed by the computing device (102) in real time.
The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising: at the computing device (102) associated with the video surveillance system (100), obtaining a first feature vector (150) characterizing the first object (110), the first feature vector (150) being associated with the first time (t A ); comparing the first feature vector (150) to at least one second feature vector (160) associated with the second video feed (108B-108D); and determining that the first object (110) is re-identified in the second video feed (108B-108D) when the at least one second feature vector (160) matches the first feature vector (150) and is associated with a second time (tc) within the predetermined time period (T1).
The method of claim 4, further comprising, by the computing device (102), retrieving the first feature vector (150) and the at least one second feature vector (160) from a database (170) of feature vectors generated in advance, preferably, wherein the database (170) is continually updated during operation of the video surveillance system (100).
The method of any one of claims 4 to 5, further comprising performing image processing on the first video feed (108A) prior to generating the first feature vector (150) for the first object (110), wherein the image processing includes at least one of selecting a specific frame of the first video feed (108A), extracting a portion of a frame of the first video feed (108A) including the first object (110), and enlarging the portion of the frame of the first video feed (108A) including the first object (110).
The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising generating, by the computing device (102), second configuration settings (118) specifying second attributes (119) of a second user interface element (120A) configured to be displayed in the display area (122) of the graphical user interface (124) when the display area (122) displays video from the associated camera (106C), the second attributes (119) including a position (P) of the second user interface element (120A) in the display area (122) and a reference to the first camera (106A), and storing the second configuration settings (118) in the memory (114).
The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: at the computing device (102), obtaining at least one motion vector (128) characterizing a movement of the object (110) from at least one of the first video feed (108A) and the video feed (108C) captured by the associated camera (106C); and determining the position (P) of the first user interface element (120C) and/or the second user interface element (120A) based at least in part on the at least one motion vector (128).
The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one motion vector (128) specifies a speed of movement and/or a direction of movement of the object (100) entering or exiting a field of view (107A) of the first camera (106A), and/or a speed of movement and/or a direction of movement of the object (100) entering or exiting a field of view (107C) of the associated camera (106C).
The method of any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising, by the computing device (102), determining at least one of a position of the first object (110) in an image captured by the first camera (106A) and a movement path of the first object (110) in the first video feed (108A), and determining the position (P) of the first user interface element (120C) based at least in part on the position and/or the movement path of the first object (110).
The method of any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising determining, by the computing device (102), a time interval (T2) between the identification of the object (110) in the first video feed (108A) and the re-identification of the object (110) in the video feed (108C) captured by the associated camera (106C), and generating the first configuration settings (118) based at least in part on the time interval (T2).
The method of any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising: at a client device (126) displaying video from the first camera (106A) in the display area (122) of the graphical user interface (126), prompting a user to confirm whether the first user interface element (120C) is to be displayed in the display area (122); and storing a result of the confirmation.
The method of any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising: adjusting, by a client device (126) displaying the graphical user interface (126), at least one of the position (P) of the first user interface element (120C) in the display area (122) and an opacity (O) of the first user interface element (120C) in response to user input; and storing the at least one of the adjusted position (P) and the opacity (O) as part of the first configuration settings (118).
The method of any one of claims 1 to 13, further comprising: determining, by the computing device (102), a position (Q) of at least one further user interface element (121) configured to be displayed in the display area (122) when the display area (122) displays video from the first camera (106A); and specifying the position (P) of the first user interface element (120C) such that the first user interface element (120C) does not overlap the at least one further user interface element (121).
A surveillance system (100) comprising: a plurality of cameras (106A-106D); a computing device (102) including at least one processor (140); and a memory (14) having stored thereon program instructions executable by the at least one processor (140) for: identifying a first object (110) in a first video feed (108A) captured by a first camera (106A) of the plurality of cameras (106A-106D); determining a first time (t A ) at which the first object (100) is captured by the first camera (106A); determining whether the first object (110) can be re-identified in a second video feed (108B-108D) captured by a second camera (106B-106D) of the plurality of cameras (106A-106D) within a predetermined time period (T1) from the first time (tA); when the first object (110) is re-identified in the second video feed (108B-108D) within the predetermined time period (T1), associating the second camera with the first camera (106A) as an associated camera (106C); generating first configuration settings (118) specifying first attributes (119) of a first user interface element (120C) configured to be displayed in a display area (122) of a graphical user interface (124) when the display area (122) displays video from the first camera (106A), the first attributes (119) including a position (P) of the first user interface element (120C) in the display area (122) and a reference to the associated camera (106C); and storing the first configuration settings (118) in the memory (114).

Description

Field The present disclosure relates generally to the field of video surveillance, and, more particularly, to a method for configuring a video surveillance system. Background A video surveillance environment may have a number of cameras connected to a server for the purpose of transmitting video data to the server. The server may archive the video data, manage and control the cameras, provide a workstation environment, for example, for a live view of the camera video feeds, and/or provide access to camera video feeds by remote workstations. Typically, a so-called video management system (VMS), which is a software component running on the server, provides the aforementioned functions of the server. In a complex video surveillance environment, where numerous cameras are deployed, it may be difficult for an operator to quickly identify a camera that he/she wishes to select in order to display the video feed of said camera. This may be the case in buildings with similar looking areas (e.g., corridors, conference rooms, etc.), or when multiple cameras are installed in a same room. When trying to identify a camera among a plurality of cameras, the operator may rely on naming conventions and/or logical organization from the VMS. However, when such a configuration is deficient, or when the operator is not familiar with the naming convention, it might be time consuming for the operator to identify a camera. The operator might have to manually look at a large number of potential video feeds and look for visual cues to identify the camera. A user may connect to the server with a desktop application to view the video feeds, for example, when the server is an on-premises server. For example, a user may use the Genetec® Security Desk application to connect to a server running the Genetec® Security Center unified security platform. Similarly, a user may connect to the server with a web application or a web browser, for example, when the server is a cloud computing environment. Against this background, there remains a need to provide improvement to existing systems that provides an improved display of information while allowing for an efficient configuration of the video surveillance system. Summary The following presents a simplified summary of one or more implementations in accordance with the aspects of the present disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of such implementations. The disclosure describes various examples of automatically generating one or more user interface elements that can be superimposed on a display area of a video feed (also referred to as video stream) from a camera and, upon selection of a user interface element, result in the display of a video feed from another camera in the display area. In one example, a first camera may display a certain area of the video surveillance environment, for example, an entrance to a building. When a visitor enters the entrance to the building, the user can be seen by security personnel watching the video from the first camera. However, once the visitor leaves the field of view of the first camera, the visitor can no longer be observed by the security personnel. Therefore, it is necessary to switch the display to a video feed from another camera. Here, by an appropriate configuration of a user interface element superimposed on the video from the first camera, the operator of the system can click on or otherwise activate the user interface element in order to immediately switch to the view from the other camera. Advantageously, the other camera has a field of view that the visitor enters after leaving the field of view of the first camera. This allows for a seamless and easy tracking of a visitor, or any other person or object that is present in the video surveillance environment. The present disclosure describes, in one or more exemplary implementations, a method for automatically configuring a video surveillance system, more particularly, automatically associating one or more additional cameras with a first camera having a first field of view. The fields of view of the additional cameras may overlap or be adjacent to the field of view of the first camera, such that selection of one or more of the additional cameras allows for tracking of objects or persons without having to manually select the correct further camera, for example, from a drop-down list or the like. Advantageously, in some exemplary implementations, the user interface element associated with the further camera is arranged in the display area of the video captured by the first camera such that it gives an indication of the position and/or arrangement of the further camera. For example, when the further camera is positioned such that it can capture an object or person that is leaving the field of view of the first camera on the left side, the user interface element associated with the further camera may be displayed in proximity to the left boundary of the display area showing the video f