Hackett: A number of colleges are applying video analytics to improve customer service. We’ve seen analytics used to monitor the length of checkout queues at the bookstore or count people at a sporting event to dynamically assign security and concession stand coverage.
The uses vary based on the school’s need. We’ve seen large universities w
ith major sports programs using analytics to monitor traffic flow into parking garages in order to redirect motorists to adjacent lots when a garage is fully occupied. Some smaller community colleges use video analytics to detect when someone leaves the cafeteria line with a tray of food without paying for a meal.
These institutions look at higher education as a business and use analytics to solve business problems much in the same way retailers do – to give their customers, the students, faculty, staff and guests, a better experience.
Kattan: We’ve also seen school administrators using people counting analytics for real-time statistics regarding people coming in and going out of the building during specific times of the day. Analysis of the video can lead to a variety of insights, such as understanding which areas of the school are visited more frequently and have more traffic than others, and understanding motion patterns. This can help administrators assign personnel, such as cleaning crews, or save on resources, such as electricity, once they understand that certain areas are not being used, or being used less than other areas.
Q: Nilsson: Speaking of perimeter protection, the emergence of thermal imagery in IP surveillance has the potential to greatly improve detection capabilities. With that, analytic capabilities should also improve. Are you seeing interest in thermal technology from campuses?
Kattan: Actually, we have not yet seen much interest in thermal from this market, probably due to price considerations. But as price comes down and awareness goes up, I can certainly envision increased interest for certain applications.
Hackett: We’re actually seeing the interest today now that the technology is an easy option to consider in new camera deployment. In fact, we’ve already had independent departments within universities approach us for single thermal camera deployments. Usually the impetus is to protect a lab environment containing sensitive or highly-valued materials or an expensive athletic field that might otherwise be prone to costly vandalism.
Fredrik Nilsson is general manager of the Americas for Axis Communications and can be reached at [email protected].
