Video Analysis: A Multi-faceted Tool

May, 2003

Video analysis capabilities meet a wide range of challenges - not just limited to law enforcement. They can be useful for applications related to various fields, such as the military, surveillance, and security fields, as well as the commercial industry:

• Commercial Industry - Banks, retail, convenience stores, pharmacies, restaurants, and other private businesses use video to monitor, record, and protect their places of business. Using video analysis, commercial businesses can store and sequence this footage, enhance video frames to support monitoring and security, locate and track subjects, and much more.

• Military - Video analysis capabilities can address the video needs of the military by accommodating the video feed from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or aircraft, including infrared (IR) data. Some of its uses include installation security, target identification and assignment, weapons deployment, target kill and confirmation, damage assessment, surveillance and reconnaissance, training, and mission debriefing. Frame-by-frame video analysis can help sort and sequence footage based on requirements, quickly scan the video, and mark up or include commentary for briefings.

• Intelligence and Surveillance - Video analysis adds significant value to sophisticated surveillance systems and makes the best use of satellite or aerial video with capabilities such as enhancement, image tracking, and the ability to accept IR, synthetic aperture RADAR (SAR), and sonar data. It can help reduce the time required to review incoming surveillance tapes, saving precious man-hours currently allocated to this task.

• Security - Video analysis supports security operations, whether for Federal installations or private businesses. Used with metal detectors, badging, and intrusion detection systems, analysis of video footage provides a comprehensive security solution.

• Law Enforcement - Whether it''s video from a crime scene or a sting operation, video analysis can be used to analyze and edit any video clip. Dash-mounted video cameras found in police cars often produce illegible, jittery video. Police can use video analysis to clarify a blurry or otherwise unreadable video clip without changing the underlying footage.