There’s more to this quote by the Indian mythologist Devdutt Pattanayak than meets the proverbial ‘eye’, for one doesn’t gain omniscience merely through sight.

Those in the business of analytics equate the ubiquitous CCTV cameras seen in urban settings to ‘eyes’, while the analytics applied to the video feed serving as the ‘brain’. Devoid of real-time video analytics, relying merely on human sight to monitor the feeds wouldn’t be the most judicious use of such powerful hardware.
There are 770 million CCTV surveillance cameras in use today, which is set to cross the 1 billion mark by 2021, estimates London based IHS Markit. Increased focus of governments on public safety can be attributed to this rise which in turn swells the video analytics market to touch $ 11 billion by 2025.

While surveillance is the primary use case, we shall explore how cities and business establishments are using CCTVs and video analytics to become more liveable and efficient in this article.

How Cities are benefiting from Video Analytics
The city of Gurugram in the National Capital Region (NCR) in India, has been capturing real-time video feed using over 600 rotating CCTV cameras and relaying it to an Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) through a 400 km wide optic fibre network.

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has been using video analytics for helping the traffic police in e-challaning traffic transgressions such as helmet, no-entry, speed and parking violations through Automatic Number Plate Recognition. Besides vehicle counting for better traffic monitoring and control, video analytics also enables the police in the city to identify vehicles by type and colour. This feature comes in particularly handy in identifying and tracking down stolen and getaway vehicles used by criminals.
Other usages in the city include pothole detection and illegal obstruction on roads, in addition to identifying and fining illegal garbage disposal. The crowd alert feature of video analytics has the potential for monitoring congregations in public spaces and adherence to social distancing norms.

According to a July 2020 report by UK-based tech firm Comparitech, Hyderabad - the capital of Telangana state has the distinction of being the city with the most number of CCTV cameras in India,- 580,000 with plans of doubling it to 1 million by the end of 2020; averaging out to one camera for every 10 citizens, thereby, making it the 16th most surveilled city in the world.

Besides monitoring the video feed for traffic violations, the use of AI-based video and image analytics has been seen in delinquency mapping, voter identification during local elections and pension disbursal.
As for other countries, let’s take the example of cities in UAE – Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Gharbia where nearly 7000 school buses are being fitted with cameras behind their stop signs to ensure motorists stop five metres away from them while children onboard or deboard the bus. The camera feed will not just track and fine violators using video analytics, but also raise alerts and fine the school bus driver on over-speeding or failing to deploy the stop sign at designated bus stops.

Through e-challans and parking tickets, video analytics enables city administrations to augment their revenue collections.
Applications beyond City administration
From a surveillance standpoint, we have seen CCTVs becoming important tools in enhancing security in indoor settings such as houses, residential and commercial complexes. The video feed in such cases need manual intervention and used usually post-fact i.e. manually analyzing the feed after a crime has taken place. The real value kicks in with real-time video analytics, reducing the manual intervention and thereby helping in quantifying and enhancing user experience in various indoor and outdoor settings.

Education Campuses
CCTVs in education institutions are becoming an important aide to teachers and the administration staff for tracking attendance, indexing student engagement, misbehaviour, security and safety etc. In the US, schools are seen adopting video analytics for gun detection, gunshot and fire detection, crowd behaviour and fight detection to improve response time for law enforcement, without needing someone to initiate a phone call or push an emergency button manually.

Power Transmission and Distribution
Traditionally, engineers have to physically climb power transmission towers to assess the condition of critical infrastructure. Drones fitted with cameras and sensors can obviate the need for this reducing the associated risk, accelerating the inspection process covering the entire power line spanning long distances without inconveniencing customers with power cuts. Video analytics can help in identifying foreign objects, tree contacts, damaged insulation, loose parts and corrosion damages.

Ports and Airports
Besides surveillance of passengers, crowd management and detection of abandoned objects and harmful substances, video analytics can be used for monitoring critical infrastructure such as cargo depots, hangars, runway health and surrounding areas for preventing illegal entry. While CCTVs capture the feed indoors, drones fitted with cameras are being used for monitoring external assets.

Manufacturing
The fourth industrial revolution is taking place in the manufacturing sector with IoT enabled smart machines helping improve and speed up productivity and reducing wastage. Quality assurance (QA) plays a key role in limiting manufacturing defects. While many manufacturers still use manual intervention for inspecting products, the ability to spot these defects isn’t fool-proof.

As products are becoming more complex and varied with custom configuration, it is impossible for human eyes to spot the variances. That is where video analytics comes in to automate the quality assurance process; identifying mismatches ranging from missing components, scratches and damages etc. Post the lockdowns, factories opening up have been using video analytics to monitor social distancing and wearing of masks besides mandatory safety gear.

Logistics
AI-based video analytics is making supply chains smarter by recognizing aberrations and sending real-time alerts in order to improve efficiency along the chain. By monitoring loading and unloading of goods, driver wellness, and tracking truck utilization patterns, video analytics can improve safety, timeliness, and productivity.

Retail
A loyalty card or even a phone number alone can give retailers an idea of what people buy and when, but video analytics can give them an edge in improving the overall customer experience. CCTVs have been traditionally used as a deterrent to theft in retail. Today, the use cases are far more diverse. In a grocery store, CCTVs that capture movements through the aisles can help optimize floor design and arrangement of merchandise; crowding at checkout counters can help determining scheduling of employees and through a combination of facial recognition and mobile, shoppers can get personalized recommendations.
So, the next time you walk across the road and look at a digital signage showing an advertisement of your favourite brand, it may have just been programmed for you!

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