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.