Abstract: The present invention provides a system and method for processing real-time rapid capture, annotation and creation of an annotated hyper-video map for environments. The method includes processing video, audio and GPS data to create the hyper-video map which is further enhanced with textual, audio and hyperlink annotations that will enable the user to see, hear, and operate in an environment with cognitive awareness. Thus, this annotated hyper-video map provides a seamlessly navigable, situational awareness and indexable high-fidelity immersive visualization of the environment.

Abstract: A system for tracking at least one object, comprising: a plurality of communicatively connected visual sensing units configured to capture visual data related to the at least one object; and a manager component communicatively connected to the plurality of visual sensing units, where the manager component is configured to assign one visual sensing unit to act as a visual sensing unit in a master mode and at least one visual sensing unit to act as a visual sensing unit in a slave mode, transmit at least one control signal to the plurality of visual sensing units, and receive the visual data from the plurality of visual sensing units.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for performing video surveillance of a field of view is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for performing surveillance of the field of view includes monitoring the field of view and detecting a moving object in the field of view, where the motion is detected based on a spatio-temporal signature (e.g., a set of descriptive feature vectors) of the moving object.

Abstract: A sentient system combines detection, tracking, and immersive visualization of a cluttered and crowded environment, such as an office building, terminal, or other enclosed site using a network of stereo cameras. A guard monitors the site using a live 3D model, which is updated from different directions using the multiple video streams. As a person moves within the view of a camera, the system detects its motion and tracks the person's path, it hands off the track to the next camera when the person goes out of that camera's view. Multiple people can be tracked simultaneously both within and across cameras, with each track shown on a map display. The track system includes a track map browser that displays the tracks of all moving objects as well as a history of recent tracks and a video flashlight viewer that displays live immersive video of any person that is being tracked.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for video surveillance is disclosed. In one embodiment, a sequence of scene imagery representing a field of view is received. One or more moving objects are identified within the sequence of scene imagery and then classified in accordance with one or more extracted spatio-temporal features. This classification may then be applied to determine whether the moving object and/or its behavior fits one or more known events or behaviors that are causes for alarm.

Abstract: A unified approach, a fusion technique, a space-time constraint, a methodology, and system architecture are provided. The unified approach is to fuse the outputs of monocular and stereo video trackers, RFID and localization systems and biometric identification systems. The fusion technique is provided that is based on the transformation of the sensory information from heterogeneous sources into a common coordinate system with rigorous uncertainties analysis to account for various sensor noises and ambiguities. The space-time constraint is used to fuse different sensor using the location and velocity information. Advantages include the ability to continuously track multiple humans with their identities in a large area. The methodology is general so that other sensors can be incorporated into the system. The system architecture is provided for the underlying real-time processing of the sensors.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for detecting objects (e.g., bags, vehicles, etc.) left in a field of view are disclosed. A long-term representation and a short-term representation of the field of view are constructed, and a difference between the long-term representation and the short-term representation is calculated. One or more criteria may optionally be applied to this difference to determine whether the difference represents an object that was left in the field of view.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for detecting suspicious activities is disclosed. In one embodiment at least one low-level feature set is detected in a plurality of frames of a sequence of scene imagery. The frame-to-frame associations of the detected low-level feature set are determined, and suspicious activities is identifying on the bases of these frame-to-frame associations.

Abstract: In a method of maintaining a general ledger and a computerized inventory accounting system utilizing a perpetual average inventory valuation, an inventory sales transaction is posted to the general ledger having a first amount that corresponds to a first rate for items in inventory. Next, an inventory purchase transaction is posted to the general ledger after the posting of the inventory sales transaction that result in a change in the first rate of the inventory sales transaction. Finally, an adjustment value corresponding to a change in the first amount due to the change in the first rate is calculated and a corrected transaction having the adjustment value is posted to the general ledger.

Abstract: A scalable architecture for providing real-time multi-camera distributed video processing and visualization. An exemplary system comprises at least one video capture and storage system for capturing and storing a plurality of input videos, at least one vision based alarm system for detecting and reporting alarm situations or events, and at least one video rendering system (e.g., a video flashlight system) for displaying an alarm situation in a context that speeds up comprehension and response. One advantage of the present architecture is that these systems are all scalable, such that additional sensors (e.g., cameras, motion sensors, infrared sensors, chemical sensors, biological sensors, temperature sensors and like) can be added in large numbers without overwhelming the ability of security forces to comprehend the alarm situation.

Abstract: A method and system for detecting moving objects and controlling a surveillance system includes a processing module adapted to receive image information from at least one imaging sensor. The system performs motion detection analysis upon captured images and controls the camera in a specific manner upon detection of a moving object. The image processing uses the camera's physical orientation to a surveillance area to facilitate mapping images captured by the camera to a reference map of the surveillance area. Using the camera orientation, a moving object's position (e.g., latitude, longitude and altitude) within a scene can be derived.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for providing immersive surveillance wherein a remote security guard may monitor a scene using a variety of imagery sources that are rendered upon a model to provide a three-dimensional conceptual view of the scene. Using a view selector, the security guard may dynamically select a camera view to be displayed on his conceptual model, perform a walk through of the scene, identify moving objects and select the best view of those moving objects and so on.

Abstract: This invention is a method of decoding a stream of video image data transmitted as independent image frames consisting of plural marcoblocks transmitted in a nonsequential order. The method defines a sub-frame corresponding to a proper subset of the full frame. The method determines if a currently received macroblock is within the sub-frame. The method decodes the sub-frame. The sub-frame may be decoded at less than or equal to the frame rate of the video image data. A table has one entry for each macroblock that stores a transmission order within the video frame for the corresponding macroblock. The method determine if a current macroblock is within the sub-frame by reading the table. Each macroblock consists of a plurality of contiguous blocks and includes luminance data for any included blocks and chrominance data for the macroblock as a whole. The method optionally decodes the luminance data for each included block and ignores the chrominance data.