Video Analytics by AgentVi

great article! Clean tech perseveres in tough economy

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 11:38:00 +0000

Hi fellow bloggers.

I have made a few changes with my contact details over the web in order to help people find me better. Please feel free to contact me any one of the following ways:

David Anthony - Corporate profile
http://21ventures.net/pages/management-team.asp

David Anthony on LinkedIN
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidanthony21ventures

on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/21danthony
http://www.youtube.com/user/21danthony

If someone wants to contact me with a business idea, please first have a look at our investment criteria section in 21Ventures.net

David Anthony speaking to a crowd in Seattle WA - USA

Without further ado, give you my latest article:

Clean tech perseveres in tough economy

By Efrain Viscarolasaga

The pre-holiday Fourth Conference on Clean Energy at the Hynes Convention Center is long since over, but the event has traditionally proven to be a litmus test for the local clean energy industry.

Surprisingly, the event maintained at least a slight feeling of optimism for the long-term prospects of the local clean technology community, despite the plunging stock market, tightening financial environment and plummeting price of oil. If nothing else, its success bolstered the industry’s position among the region’s traditional industry heavyweights such as telecom, biotech and finance, and left attendees feeling that the industry has a future beyond next year’s event.

Some notes:

• Stealthy portable battery maker Lilliputian Systems Inc. of Wilmington made an appearance at the conference, with new vice president of business development and marketing Mouli Ramani walking the halls. Though the company had a small presence at the show, its big announcement came from its Wilmington facility, where Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick attended an event and helped the company announce the addition of 100 new “green collar” jobs through a planned expansion of its manufacturing plant.

The expansion comes as the company finally put a target date — 2009 — on the release of its portable fuel cell for wireless devices.

For the uninitiated, Lilliputian was founded out of MIT on research developed by Samuel Schaevitz and Aleks Franz, Lilliputian’s co-founders. In 2003 they added CEO Ken Lazarus, and despite raising more than $60 million in funding, the company has remained fairly quiet about its technology.

Over the past few months, a slow stream of information coming out of the company seems to indicate that it has solved the technology issues, and units could be forthcoming as soon as next year.

While such miniature, portable fuel cells have been researched both here and in Asia for years, they have always been “some time away.” If Lilliputian has indeed solved the technology issues, and has a device that can penetrate the $50 billion portable power market, it is no surprise the governor turned out for its expansion announcement.

When you consider the applicability of such power sources on everything from cell phones and music players to GPS units and laptops, 100 new jobs to get them out the door may be just the beginning.

• Two local companies used the conference to announce new funding. Cellulosic ethanol microbe developer SunEthanol Inc. announced its name change to Qteros Inc. and brought in $25 million, while alternative engine technology maker ReGen Power Systems LLC added $5 million to its coffers.

What’s interesting about the two deals is that despite the Chicken Little syndrome that has many in the industry saying no “new money” is coming out of the VC community, both deals included new investors. Qteros’ new investors include Cambridge-based Venrock, New York-based Soros Fund Management LLC and energy giant BP PLC, joining previous investors Battery Ventures,Long River Ventures and Camros Capital.

For ReGen Power Systems, the investment represents the firm’s first private funding, though it previously received $500,000 from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. It’s new investors are New York-based 21Ventures LLC and the Quercus Trust.

Despite being held during the heart of one of the worst financial weeks in recent history, the economic outlook of the clean energy sector was positive among attendees of the conference. The financial sections of the event, including the annual “investor pitch” sessions, where budding entrepreneurs pitch their company to potential investors, were among the most-attended sessions of the event.

• The atmosphere was likewise positive at the conference’s job fair, where a handful of companies still hiring people (rather than laying them off) fielded questions from a room packed with potential employees. According to Matthew Richards, the founder and managing director of renewable energy recruiting firm DanePartners, which sponsored the job fair, the abundance of job seekers wasn’t all that surprising, given the economy. The number of companies hiring, however, including Conservation Services Group of Westborough, Satcon Technologies Corp. of Boston, Konarka Technologies Inc. of Lowell, Evergreen Solar Inc. of Marlborough and Second Wind Inc. of Somerville, was encouraging.

Among the areas that were most active, said Richards, were green-collar jobs, those that require hands-on knowledge of technologies, both new and traditional. Sectors most active on the recruitment side included energy efficiency and demand-response companies, as opposed to core technology research companies in the wind, solar or biomass sectors.

Taking Control of International Waterways

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:25:00 +0000

Waterways are, of course, vital to the economies of so many countries around the world. Their protection is of the utmost importance. Remember the attack on the USS Cole?

U.S. naval forces and port security directors have learned their lesson and work harder than ever to protect their water-based assets. An intelligent video analytics platform can monitor and detect vessels entering into prohibited space. Patrolling vessels are immediately notified of the breach and can respond before the damage is done.

Intelligent Video Tracks Terrorist Border Crossing

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 13:08:00 +0000

Under the cloak of darkness, intruders try their best to infiltrate borders, buildings and security infrastructures. Thermal imaging and night vision does a decent job at eliminating surprise at night, but with large areas to monitor and analyze, sometimes security systems falter. Combining existing thermal imagery with advanced, intelligent video analytics, security personnel can now comb large swaths of land with more effectiveness.

The Israeli military has integrated video analytics and thermal imagery to track terrorists looking to cross into Israel. The camera, with its intelligent processing, can track a number of suspicious individuals in the field without overwhelming security personnel monitoring the activity. Additionally, with the ability to track their path of movement, soldiers can maneuver into the area without stumbling across planted booby traps or ambushes.

The New Meter Maid

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:03:00 +0000

Everyone has spent time driving around their respective cities looking for that ideal parking space only to be let down after twenty minutes of circling. In despair, risk is taken by parking in a spot less than ideal, often times illegal. We ask, is a parking enforcement officer going to come around this corner? Come to this side of town? Peer into this alley for an illegally parked car? We gamble and hope that the person checking for parking violations is having a good day.

Meter maids and parking enforcement officers can now become a thing of the past. Intelligent video analytics is taking over, informing authorities remotely of illegal parking, and even suspicious street activity. Here, a New York City camera, equipped with state-of-the-art video analytics and intelligent processing has identified a vehicle that has stopped illegally in front of a judicial building.

Dam Security Upgrades

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:53:00 +0000

Securing a population’s water supply is something we seem comfortable leaving up to those who know best – the authorities. But with the increasing threats of terrorism, how can we be so sure that the infrastructure supplying our water is indeed being protected all the time?

To counter terrorist and criminal threats, security experts around the world are turning their attention to tech-centric water management and security solutions, such as advanced video surveillance systems with integrated intelligence, not just mere analytics capabilities.

Such video surveillance systems are used to monitor thousands of cameras effectively with the intelligence embedded right into the camera. IP Bandwidth is only used when the intelligent video analytics draws attention to suspicious activity which is then further analyzed by a central server while a live human being determines the next course of action.

Remember the days when city engineers ran a tube along a road to count the cars?

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 12:18:00 +0000

Back in the day when we only had computers in dark corners of school libraries, cars where counted using a pressure tubing physically strewn across a road or highway and bolted into place. Thanks to computers and the modern wonder of video analytics, cars can be counted in each line without bolting any pressure tubes. Now we just need to teach this computer to find us an open parking spot, we'd be all set...

...Intelligent security cameras allow for a cheaper safer public environment and also reduce costs in other civic tasks. Big brother is watching, but he is also helping out.

Agent Video Intelligence Receives 2007 Detektor CCTV Innovation Award

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 15:26:00 +0000

Stockholm, Sweden October 24, 2007:
Agent Video Intelligence, Inc. (Agent Vi), provider of pure video analytics for business intelligence and enterprise security solutions, today announced that it has been awarded the prestigious Detektor International Award 2007 for Innovative Achievement in CCTV Products. The awards were announced in conjunction with the opening of the Sectech Exhibition & Conference for security professionals last night in Stockholm, Sweden.

"We're very grateful to receive this award from Detektor International", said Agent Vi CEO Buddy Flerl. "Theres a lot of satisfaction that comes from knowing that weve been able to serve seventy-plus new customers in over twenty-five countries in the last year alone. Detektor Internationals recognition of Agent Vi's software further validates our mission to provide our customers with the best possible security surveillance and business intelligence. I'd also like to congratulate the other winners in this category: Axis, Checkpoint, Milestone and Sony. All are respected colleagues and good partners."

AgentVi receives 2007 Detektor Award (FULL ARTICLE)

AgentVi on JuiceCaster

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:37:00 +0000

AgentVi begins using JuiceCaster for organizing a a broadcast network

21Ventures expands Israeli investment

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:13:00 +0000

21Ventures, a US investment company, said it has invested $3 million in surveillance software company Agent Video Intelligence Inc., in a B financing round, bringing its total investment in Agent Video to $13m.

"We have built a solid foundation across the globe with our software systems and have consequently achieved significant product validation," said David Anthony, managing partner of 21Ventures, a US investment company comprised of American businessmen, and a board member of Agent Video. "With success, however, comes a rise in customer needs and requirements. The investment today will support an increase in the sales and marketing teams in Asia, Europe, as well as in North and South America in order to meet these demands."

Agent Video offers the only enterprise-grade solution in video intelligence and video content analysis technology and is the first company to provide embedded and distributed artificial-intelligence video analytics software with the low bandwith required by video surveillance networks to support extremely large numbers of cameras.

Click here to read the full article

By MATTHEW KRIEGER

Pro Security Mag: Checklist for Video Analytics

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 12:05:00 +0000

Professional Security Magazine published a checklist to consider when considering video analytics for your security system.

Click here to read the full article.

"In 10 years every video surveillance camera on earth will have some kind of intelligence"

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 23:31:00 +0000

Intelligent video analysis technology has been around for some time but has not yet really established a steady foothold in the security market. The reasons for this maybe varied but the general scepticism about the technology has been mainly due to unsatisfactory levels of reliability and accuracy. Today we are starting to see reports of successful projects proving that intelligent video analysis has evolved and turned into something that really should be considered when designing a security system. The technology not only has several strong technological advantages over traditional monitoring, but it also has the potential to generate excellent financial savings by reducing manpower requirements.

SecurityWorldHotel.com met with Gadi Talmon, co-founder of the Israeli company Agent Vi, a rising player in the intelligent video market, to clarify some questions about the technology itself and get his view on where intelligent video is today and where it is heading.

By Christian Schiller

Click here to read the full article

Intelligent Video Analytics are able to spot an unattended item in a crowd from a shaking camera. Impressive:

Intelligent Video

noreply@blogger.com (VBR) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 15:50:00 +0000

Venture Business Research (www.vbresearch.com) has been paying particulr interest in this sector in 2007. In Marhc we nominated Dragnet as our Company of SGC 2007, since then we have tracked a profusion of fundraisings. We continue to identify significant appetite for investment in this field from VCs and PE funds at the moment as technology continues to evolve. We are particularly excited about developments in the US and in certain countries in Northern Europe.

VBRGSRR20Aug2007.pdf

The Video Intelligence Revolution

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 08:55:00 +0000

Not too long ago, we relied on a guard sitting behind a desk, sipping cofffee and thinking of retiring, to protect us in security situations. The paradigm has shifted thanks to video analytics and video intelligence, now a guard can doze off or play sudoku to keep him awake and if a situation requires him, the intelligent video analytics system will alarm.

Most people alertly watching the screen will still usually miss this object because of the activity around it. AgentVi allows the camera enough intelligence to identify the threat on its own.

In a world that time is money, video analytics companies like AgentVi are making the world a safer place, and for less.

Intelligence at the edge

alon.blankstein@gmail.com (Alon Blankstein) — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 06:16:00 +0000

In today’s world it is almost impossible to speak with a security officer, installer or system integrator who is not familiar with the term “Intelligent Video”.

During the past years Intelligent Video has become an integral part of almost any security related system design. Security consultants, system integrators and end users have come to understand the limitations of the human factor, and are looking for a reliable and robust solution to perform automated human behavior tracking.

The data received from the vast number of security cameras and Digital Video Recorder (DVR) installations that needs to be recorded and investigated has become so impossibly complex, making efficient management and control unattainable. Today’s Intelligent Video solutions filter out irrelevant information, allowing the user to focus only on relevant events. A reliable decision making process based on relevancy has finally made its entry.

With today’s growing interest in Intelligent Video and its applications, serious players in the security market try to identify Intelligent Video companies for collaboration purposes. HSE spoke with Mr. Boris Bachman, Head of Product Management at MATE Intelligent Video to find out how the Intelligent Video solution target market needs.

HSE. So what is Intelligent Video actually?

BB. Intelligent Video (IV) is a technology that allows for the analysis of video information plus the tracking, detecting and classifying of specific events. Intelligent Video is used for security, safety, access control and retail applications.

In addition to solving various problems, Intelligent Video includes various vertical market applications that were not applicable previously. For example in the security segment Intelligent Video identifies potential threats and intrusions, and in access control Intelligent Video detects unauthorized personnel entering or tailgating into a restricted area. In the retail market Intelligent Video allows the user to analyze behavior pattern, resulting in increased revenues, plus Intelligent Video provides detailed counts for both people and cars.

HSE. Why is Intelligent Video so important?

BB. Intelligent Video, as opposed to the traditional CCTV system, allows the security personnel to not only record and then watch the crime or intrusion after it has taken place, but to accurately detect intrusions in real time, making video surveillance a pro-active tool instead of re-active one.

HSE. Can Intelligent Video replace a security guard?

BB. Intelligent Video does not come to replace the security staff but to ease the security personnel's work and increase their efficiency by providing them with investigative tools and assisting them to focus on events that require attention.

HSE. Is Intelligent Video really such a big change when compared to the classic Video Motion Detection (VMD) solutions?

BB. IV solutions’ performance is by far superior when compared to the traditional video motion detection. To name but one drawback of the classic VMD solution is its inability to recognize static objects that are added to the scene, objects that are removed from the scene, or slow-moving objects.

Another disadvantage of the traditional Video Motion Detection is its dependency on movement to perform its detection. Consequently the VMD solution is prone to false alarms caused by natural causes or events, i.e. the waving of a flag on its pole, or a bird flying through the security perimeter.

Intelligent Video utilizes motion-tracking methods that reduce irrelevant pixel changes in the video recording. Content analysis determines whether the monitored activity constitutes a threat. Via advanced algorithms the software identifies and catalogs objects and events with a precision that is unmatched in the past.

To come back to the original question, the intelligent video solution offers not only capabilities that outshine the classic VMD solution, but the utilization of IV will also impact positively the bottom line by saving time and related operational cost of human operators.

HSE. What types of solutions does Intelligent Video provide?

BB. Intelligent Video provides various solutions including loitering detection, tailgating prevention, object removal detection, and people and car counting. Intelligent Video can be used in a variety of markets enhancing the surveillance system of each facility according to its specific needs.

We at MATE recognize three main vertical markets, each with its typical specific needs: Homeland Security, Commercial and Retail. Our video analytics enable us to offer tailored solutions for each of these markets. For instance, for retailers the "people counting" solution would be used for providing business critical information helping them understand shopping patterns, at banks loitering detection would be used in ATM rooms for improved security, etc.

HSE. Do you have to replace the entire CCTV system and Install an intelligent one?

BB. Not necessarily. It depends of course on what Intelligent Video system one would choose. As a general rule, any surveillance system can be upgraded rather than replaced. In fact, not only can CCTV or DVR system be upgraded, but in actuality, any single analogue or IP camera can become an Intelligent Video device. MATE's solutions are designed to upgrade almost any existing CCTV or DVR system, adding MATE intelligence. Our solutions are easy to install and cost-effective.

HSE. What about a management system? Do you have to replace it?

BB. Of course not. One of MATE's main efforts was to develop an open platform. All MATE products and solutions can be easily integrated with 3rd party management systems.

In addition, MATE currently offers integrated solutions with major DVR vendors such as American Dynamics, Dedicated Micros, DVTel and others.

HSE. What does a company need to consider when choosing an Intelligent Video solution?

BB. If the company is looking to upgrade its surveillance system, I believe the main factor it should look at is the ease of use... i.e. how easy it would be to install the Intelligent Video system and integrate it within its current CCTV system.
An additional factor would be the functionality the Intelligent Video system offers. MATE offers dedicated solutions. A company that has a specific need does not have to purchase expensive, complicated Intelligent Video systems to answer its specific need. For example we provide the iSense product which is a flow counting sophisticated edge device instead of providing a complex Intelligent Video combiner. This allows us to create a much more flexible solution for our customers tailored to their needs.

HSE. We hear a lot about "moving intelligence to the edge". What does this mean and why is it important?

BB. Moving intelligence to the edge refers to putting the video content analysis capabilities near where the video is generated or at the edge of the IP video network. This can be inside of the camera itself or within a video detection unit that is installed close to the camera. The main benefits for moving intelligence to the edge is a reduction in hardware components and the ability to reduce or eliminate the transmission of video until an alarm has been generated. The greatest impact can be seen in applications like people counting and tailgating detection. For people counting it is really unnecessary to transmit the video, it is the counting data that is important. For tailgating, the relevant video is created at the point of the tailgating event. Thus by using analytics at the edge for counting and tailgating detection you eliminate the unnecessary transmission and storage of video which has no security relevance. Of course, "edge" technologies come with the normal distance limitations of the network which is 100m for Ethernet.

HSE. Looking forward, what kind of untapped potential do you see?

BB. Nobody has a looking glass, but everything points to the fact that Intelligent Video will lead the video surveillance market. Adding millions of new cameras and DVRs will create a serious problem for security personnel who would face the need to analyze an enormous amount of video feeds. Using Intelligent Video and thus filtering irrelevant events out and focusing on data that requires attention only will make processing the flood of data possible. Since the need is huge and the solution is reliable it will make the migration to Intelligent Video a priority for anybody concerned about security. Companies such as MATE who offer integrated Intelligent Video solutions will mostly benefit from that.

Intelligent Video has a Bright Future By Greg McConnell

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 12:29:00 +0000

Video analytics has been in the high end market of security projects for several years now. Airports, prisons, military bases, and other large scale facilities have deployed intelligent video with some success over the years. However, as with any new technology, it is taking a while for video analytics to really make its way down to the small and mid-sized projects. It's not “mainstream” yet, which of course begs the question: “How long will it be before video analytics becomes a staple technology?”

Read the full article:
Security Info Watch Full Article by Greg McConnell

Intelligent Video Analytics can notice an unattended object in a crowd even when wind shakes the camera.

Video Analytics vs. Video Intelligence

noreply@blogger.com (David Anthony) — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 12:27:00 +0000

What is the difference between Video Intelligence and Video Analytics?