Oncam Global Group AG introduced an addition to its in-house security technology capabilities: the Oncam IPZoom 360°, 5-megapixel camera and software that, when combined with a high-resolution co-located IP PTZ camera, enable security personnel to zero in on a detailed image of a specific “suspicious” person, object or event while an entire area continues to be surveilled. It is scheduled for general availability in the first quarter of 2011 and will be offered in an indoor, covert, conceal-mounting model and an outdoor/indoor IPC67-rated minidome model.
Oncam 360° cameras, with award-winning Grandeye technology onboard, are the cornerstone of any security design, integrating well with a variety of other best-in-breed technologies to architect a total security solution that verifies real threats and minimizes the costs associated with false alarms and inappropriate responses.
The Oncam IPZoom camera, employing sophisticated video analytics and management software, is a triggering device for a user-provided, co-located, high-resolution IP PTZ camera. It has the processing capability to signal and focus the IP PTZ camera anywhere within the panorama or fisheye views that the IPZoom camera generates. The end result is a flexible and intelligent security solution that catches all the action and provides high-resolution detailed images about an area of interest. The camera is compatible with Windows-based video management systems.
How it Works The IPZoom camera is the controlling camera in an IPZoom scenario. It identifies, or acquires, suspicious events, such as unusual behavior that is characteristic of a typical adversary, objects in places they should not be, objects removed that should be there, or any other changes that could represent threats to an environment.
Then, a simple point and click of a mouse on the object or area of interest within the panorama or fisheye view “tells” the IP PTZ camera exactly where to pan, tilt and zoom to capture details. The object or persons in question are automatically tracked and interrogated without compromising overall 360° surveillance. Once a threat is verified, an appropriate measured response can be taken.
“What makes the IPZoom solution a significant step forward is that it simultaneously delivers the best that both cameras have to offer—the breadth of the overall view and the detail of the close-up,” said Oncam Global CEO James Ionson, who notes that a single IPZoom 360° camera along with an IP PTZ camera could eliminate up to a dozen stationary security cameras currently installed on a large premises.
“While the Oncam IPZoom 360° camera will be a valuable component for a wide variety of security applications, its unique capabilities make it an absolutely essential element of total solutions architected for the protection of critical infrastructures, such as ports, power plants, pipelines, airports and other high-risk locations,” Ionson added.
Field Test in Canada The IPZoom solution is being field tested by Commport Communications International, a secure-data-storage facility in Ontario, Canada. Commport’s systems integrator, SecureVisionView, installed the IPZoom camera solution to provide physical security for the facility and its personnel and to prevent outdoor vandalism.
SecureVisionView President Bob Miller, whose company also remotely monitors the activity, said, “This is far better and more cost-effective than having a patrolling security guard or even a network of stationary PTZ cameras. The IPZoom-IP PTZ duo can instantly focus on a situation, move around an area of interest, or closely follow a subject.”
He continued: “We’re able to better and more quickly assess an event and, if necessary, even let our data-storage customer remotely view the images on a computer or cell phone. False-alarm calls to the local police can be virtually eliminated.”
Miller added that the IPZoom 360° camera will also prove to be an effective security solution for his other clients, some of which need to secure large, open premises, such as marinas, construction sites, and car dealerships.
The Oncam IPZoom 360° camera is the latest addition to the technologies that Oncam Global deploys when architecting security solutions that focus on first understanding potential threats and not just “throwing various unconnected technologies into a mix, as is often the case,” said Ionson, who also heads the U.S.-based subsidiary.
He explained: “When we know who or what we need to look for we can build a set of likely scenarios and characteristics associated with an adversary. Then we pull together the appropriate technologies designed specifically to identify actions that would allow adversaries to reach their goals. Once those actions are identified and then verified, the threat they pose would be met by an appropriate response. Without such a process, a response is unlikely to match the threat level, often with overreaction, incurring unnecessary costs and disruption.
“The IPZoom solution supports our SATIV approach to applying technologies, which covers surveillance, acquisition, tracking, interrogation and verification,” continued Ionson. “This advanced imaging capability enables personnel to drill down and interrogate an acquired target, obtaining as much data as possible, while never losing sight of the overall picture. It allows for a threat to be more accurately assessed and for the proper action to be taken.”
Photo courtesy of Oncam Global Group. www.oncamglobal.us