The right for video surveillance

As things go with privacy legislation in western European countries like France, the debate about video surveillance, which has been twisted from the start is now hardly emerging from the nimbs of big brotheries to lay down the foundation for a new era of service.
As a matter of fact, we discover by twisting the argument the other way that, videosurveillance may also be considered as a service, yet another extension of the police protection for citizens of safe countries.
Why should only VIPs and wealthy people be able to benefit from a bodyguards ?
Why shouldn't everybody be safe while walking downtown or in subway corridors ?
How about the right for security ?

Among things that slowed down the understanding that video surveillance is nothing but a new tool for ensuring people safety, the usages have been dictated by law and initial restrictions which came from technical limitations have been used as guidelines for establishing rules of dissemination. The validation process for authorizing a system to be deployed, and used, the fear for totalitarism which is a fairy tale in our democratic system, have rendered useless and weak the majority of today's urban videosurveillance systems in the country. Very few systems have been built with the idea that video surveillance is an ubiquity power for enforcing law.

There we go and focus on the most compelling reason for installing video surveillance systems in as many places as possible : as police or accredited officers have the mean for witnessing facts in real time, the criminals should be aprehended more quickly and with more efficiency. The realtime evidence, the "flagrand délit" is the idea that should substain any video surveillance system. We are glued in systems that are sold and operate mainly for providing after-acts testimonials, inherently slows and out of range for countering the growth of urban crime and terrorism.

As the difference between civilized countries and lands of terror and mob rules, the ability for a nation to protect and secure its citizens and infrastructures, its economy, its future, will not be achieved by infiltering in a stazy like fashion, one spy for every 60 people in the country.
It will probably be usefull that records of video be maintained in vast video warehouses so that post-event analysis can be conducted and lead to the conviction of criminals.
But it will be far more profitable for everybody that a true new generation of security service be made available to all of us, ensuring that police can operate effectively in as many places as possible, with real-time evidence, either localy or remotely.

By thinking about the video surveillance in the light of new technologies and networks, we have been detaching the three key concepts which will be the ground for tomorrow's videosurveillance systems :
There is a right for video surveillance
Video surveillance extends the real-time evidence for security authorities
Video surveillance as a Service must be deployed on a very large scale
These three concepts form the core of massively multi camera systems that will enable large scale video surveillance systems to be created and operated for the sake of security and economy.
Massively multi camera systems will be deployed nationaly and will have built-in interoperability. They will be operated by special task forces, both sedentary and on the field. They will contribute to identify, analyze and react to criminal and terrorist threats. In 50 years from now, people will hardly understand why intrusion alarm and video security have long been the privilege of to few people and places and how so many risks have been left unattended.

IP video interoperability : standards evolution

Since 2007 interoperability has been the moto for IP video industry.

Talking about open systems in security is "une gageure" but as convergence overwhelms everybody, from manufacturers to customers, it becomes clear that big fish will not get trapped in closed solutions nets.

Among the paths to interoperability, it seems obvious to the specialist that not only codecs and telemetry need to be standardized, there is a whole new range of video analytics application waiting to be developped on the ground layed by open and shared event detection APIs.

The ONVIF consortium, launched by majors SONY, BOSCH and AXIS has been very active and begins to expect results from its ongoing work sessions :

28-05-2009
ONVIF is ready for global interoperability
San Ramon, CA (USA) ONVIF (Open Network Video Interface Forum) releases its test tool and conformance process, strengthening its position as the leading standardization initiative for network video products. The release makes it possible for product manufacturers who have joined ONVIF to declare conformance to the ONVIF specification. "It is now only a question of time before we see the first ONVIF conformant products on the market," says Stefan Alfredsson at Axis Communications, chairman of ONVIF's communication committee. "The core specification and test specification, which were published at the end of 2008, enabled interested parties to prepare their products for the common interface. Today's release of test tool and conformance process makes it easy to verify interoperability and allows companies to market ONVIF conformant products." "This is a significant milestone for the industry and for the more than 55 members of ONVIF," says Simon Harris at IMS Research. "With the rapid market growth of network video products, the need for a standardized interface has become more and more evident. The release of standards by industry groups such as ONVIF will undoubtedly accelerate the migration to network video. The real benefits will show when there are several ONVIF conformant products on the market, facilitating the implementation and use of various vendors' equipment in the same surveillance system," Simon Harris says. Interoperability has been a cornerstone of ONVIF since the organization was founded by Axis, Bosch and Sony in 2008. "It is quite clear that the security market wishes for a single global interface standard," says Stefan Alfredsson. "And it takes more than a specification to achieve true interoperability. Therefore we have put a lot of effort into making it easy for integrators, manufacturers and software vendors to implement the ONVIF interface and verify conformance to the specification. Today we see the result of these efforts." Source : http://www.securityworldhotel.com/int/news.asp?tp=1&id=45273&nm=1&NewsDate=28-05-2009

Transports collectifs individualisés

En décembre 2006 j'avais écris un bref article sur ce que devait être ces transports individuels gérés de manière collective.

La centralisation des transports urbains a conduit sur un siècle à développer des environnements artificiels et anxiogènes au sein des villes. Les réseaux de transports publics sont des lieux de promiscuité forcée, mais de véritables passages obligés pour se déplacer sans subir les attentes de la circulation.
Par opposition, l'utilisation de la voiture, moyen individuel de transport permet d'échapper à la rencontre indésirée avec la foule en s'isolant mais atteint les limites de sa viabilité par le nombre d'individualités en circulation et la pollution qu'elle génère.

De nouvelles solutions, basées sur la technologie informatique et les systèmes de radio navigation pourraient constituer une alternative valable ces deux solutions, pour la circulation urbaine.
On imagine facilement l'utilisation d'une flotte exclusive de véhicules individuels ou familliaux géolocalisés et guidés par une informatique centrale. Ces véhicules seraient à la disposition du public pour les amener automatiquement d'un point à un autre de la ville.
L'utilisation d'un système de transports publics massivement distribué mais organisé par une intelligence centrale a de nombreux avantages :

• Minimisation des attentes et des temps de transport.


• Déplacements "porte à porte"


• Optimisation de la circulation


• Sécurité


• Qualité du transport

En contrepartie, les habitants de la ville devraient renoncer à utiliser leurs véhicules personnels qui pourraient être laissés dans de vastes parkings périphériques à la ville.
La difficulté principale réside dans la mixité des espaces de mouvement o๠se croisent les piétons et les véhicules et dans la prévention des collisions entre véhicules. Cette difficulté peut être résolue par le recours à des radars et à la vision artificielle en complément de systèmes de guidage au sol. Quelque soit la solution retenue, elle sera plus fiable que le libre arbitre des conducteurs irrespectueux des piétons, avec ou sans mauvaise volonté.

L'utilisation des véhicules collectifs individualisés est la solution ultime à l'automatisation du trafic dans les grandes zones urbaines. Elle ne remet pas en question la création d'une gamme de confort et de services professionnels. On en trouve un exemple dans le film futuriste "Total recall".

Il semble que le "mème"  (cf. Daniel Denett) continue à se propager car un jeune designer vient de concevoir une version de ces véhicules futuristes qui parsèmeront bientôt les rues de nos mégapoles.

Je suis tenté d'ajouter aujourd'hui que ce type de véhicules ne saurait fonctionner uniquement sur la base d'un guidage GPS centralisé. Il se doit de disposer de capteurs de proximité et d'un système de vision artificielle afin de s'adapter à son environnement. A suivre...