Surveillance Design

Viseum Surveillance Design Expertise

In fact, Viseum’s surveillance design expertise delivers wide-area coverage from a single unit, close-up evidential images, and a deterrent that offenders cannot pre-empt. You can download our Request For Proposal (RFP) support documentation, or you can contact your Viseum representative for technical architect and engineer (A&E) specifications for your project.

Surveillance Design System Architecture

Certain AI Surveillance Camera solutions have the following coverage issues:

• High specification PTZ Cameras without IMC technology are unsuitable for intermittently manned or standalone video surveillance camera programmes because they:
  • Do not cover an entire area simultaneously.
  • Miss close-up evidence on pre-set tours, as independent trials show.
• High specification fixed cameras without IMC technology are unsuitable for standalone video surveillance programmes. Covering the same area as each IMC would take at least 200 high resolution fixed cameras.
• High specification auto-tracking speed domes are only suitable for close proximity, non-populated, single intruder environments. They also involve complex and lengthy installation and downtime maintenance procedures, and the resulting high costs of engineers’ return visits.
• High specification megapixel cameras are unsuitable for covering the specified area. In well-lit areas they give recognition evidence only up to 60m, with a 20-degree field of view.
• A high specification speed dome auto-tracking camera, or a highly trained operator, may already be following an event. All other activity outside the PTZ Camera’s field of view then goes unseen.
• Covering the same area as just 1 x 360-degree Viseum IMC would take 10 x the next best 180-degree megapixel cameras. That brings low light, high bandwidth video transmission and high capacity storage problems.

AI Surveillance Camera Optical Requirements

• The multiple AI surveillance camera unit must work with a suitable PTZ Camera and various high specification fixed contextual view cameras, to suit each environment and application.
• One recommended solution for outdoor wide areas with low light sensitivity suitable for automated detection under standard street lighting is:
  • Fixed contextual view cameras: Sony Exmor 1/2.8-inch CMOS, 1080p sensor. Fixed lens 4.3 mm 60° horizontal view, Near IR low light sensitivity 0.005 lux (optional full IR).
  • Viseum AiPTZ Camera series.
• Operators must adjust zoom levels easily in real time or pre-programmed for automated identification and recognition of suspects, and situational awareness.

Surveillance Design – Considerations

AI Surveillance Camera Deterrent

• The solution must perform as though it is constantly “manned” with the PTZ Camera moving intelligently, to provide reassurance to communities of constant protection and a visual long-term deterrent to would-be offenders.
• Criminals must see that the system avoids mechanical pre-set tours, so they cannot pre-empt the PTZ Camera’s position.
• Criminals must also see that fixed contextual view cameras will foil any attempts at diversion/distraction tactics.

Surveillance Design Resilience

• A fault in the equipment or communications must not reduce the effectiveness of video surveillance at the central control room or remote observation post.
• Video surveillance must remain operational across the whole area of each camera installation, even if there is a fault on the surveillance network preventing video or telemetry transmission.
• All cameras must continue recording locally.

Data Protection

• The system must protect the privacy of individuals at all times.
• The system must select targets for close-up recording, automatically triggered by specific location and behaviour.
• The system must keep an audit trail recording when an operator, and when the system itself, is targeting individual people.

Environmental

• Multiple camera unit must be small and light enough to secure onto standard street lighting columns and standard camera poles.
• Camera solution to support environmental considerations by minimising the number of cameras, and quantity of street furniture and cabling installed.
• Fixed cameras apply where the area is larger than one or two box cameras can cover. They also apply where size, weight, wind load or cantilever limits rule out such cameras. Engineers should then combine them into a practical, aesthetic and cost-effective single camera unit design.

Surveillance Design – Operational Requirements

Auto-tracking Capabilities

• When no operator controls the camera manually, the system must detect and capture events automatically to close-up evidential quality. This must hold in any field of view from the camera installation.
• Installers must pre-programme the automation with surveillance profile schedules. These schedules must reflect local knowledge of the areas, and the times of day or week when crime usually occurs. Meanwhile the system must continue to monitor areas where other crimes could occur.
• Automated multiple event management.
• The PTZ Camera must switch automatically and accurately between specified numbers of particular events. It must do so when those events occur at the same time in various areas around the camera installation. It must also continue to track all suspects’ locations no matter if they speed up, slow down or change direction.
• The camera to be easily programmed with 1 to 3 levels of surveillance priorities for close-up evidence from the PTZ Camera, based upon particular activities and locations.

Locally Stored Recordings

The system must offer an option to record video from all cameras digitally and locally to the camera. This local recording must cover a minimum of 30 days. It must use a hard disk specified for 100% 24/7 duty cycle, for primary evidential use and central control room backup storage. All recordings must:

• Be time-stamped, watermarked, bit-for-bit checksummed and encrypted to recognised UK Home Office approved standards, to ensure authentication and data privacy.
• Permit rapid interrogation of the locally stored digital video using real-time IP video streaming.
• Be downloadable locally using digital formats playable using common open-source movie players.
• Operators must be able to download each IMC’s fixed contextual view camera recordings, in any selection from 1 to 6. This must include its PTZ Camera. They must download as a single file. Finally, operators must play them all together, using a proprietary digital viewer approved by the UK Home Office for court evidence.
• Include a bit-for-bit locally stored evidential recordings seize process for emergencies.
• Have capability for transferring locally recorded key evidence into a secure evidence locker local to the camera.

Surveillance Design – Manual Operation

Mobile AI Surveillance Camera Observation Post

• Ability to manage these camera installations outside of the central control room. For example, during intelligence gathering or emergencies.
• Using wireless 3/4G, WiFi, multichannel COFDM, local LAN access.
• HTTPS TCP/IP secure web browsers to watch all live contextual view cameras, control the PTZ Camera, interrogate recordings local to the camera, schedule surveillance profiles, and prioritise crime hotspots.
• In addition to the above TCP/IP working, all live cameras must also be viewable and recorded remotely in real time.

Surveillance Design – Camera Project

Integrating the AI Surveillance Camera with Command Control

• Camera solution must be compatible with all major brands of central control room equipment using any recognised communications medium. E.g. Fibre, WiFi, COFDM, etc.
• Camera solution’s internal processor must act as a multichannel codec. It must handle controlling, streaming and recording all cameras at the control room. This avoids purchasing additional single, or multichannel, or PTZ Camera data control codecs. The product costs less, and installers can fit and relocate it more easily.

Operational

• Central control room surveillance operator must be able to take control of the PTZ Camera in a standard way at any time.
• The operator must be able to manage each PTZ Camera with the On Screen Display in the normal way, and also easily modify and schedule IMC surveillance profiles.
• Operator following a live event with the PTZ Camera must also watch and record at the same time. Specifically, they must reach any one of the multiple camera unit contextual view cameras. In this way they see what else is happening in the whole area.

Surveillance Room Design – Command Control Intelligent Video Wall

• Maximising the video wall performance by switching to show only cameras with events of interest.
• Providing automated audio/visual alerts for event detection based on activity and location.

What good surveillance design delivers

• Fewer cameras, because one unit covers what many fixed cameras cannot.
• Lower civil, cabling and installation costs across the whole project.
• Close-up evidence that stands up in court, rather than distant wide shots.
• A visible deterrent that offenders cannot predict or pre-empt.
• One surveillance design that scales from a single street to a national programme.

Questions governments ask about surveillance design

Does this surveillance design replace our existing cameras? No. Instead, Viseum integrates with all major video management systems, so you keep whatever already works. You can relocate our units whenever priorities change.

How long does a surveillance design take? Usually we return an outline within two weeks. Afterwards, a full surveillance design specification follows once you confirm the sites and the evidence standard you need.

Finally, who signs off the project? Your own advisors do. But we supply the calculations and the coverage models, so that sign-off becomes straightforward.

In short, a rigorous surveillance design protects the public, the budget and the evidence chain. Request our surveillance design specification template to begin.

Requirements from live deployments

Every requirement below comes from live deployments in city centres, airports and critical national infrastructure. Your advisors can compare our surveillance design against any competing proposal on equal terms.