People Tracking: Just because you’re paranoid…
With current closed-circuit television (CCTV), access control and tracking device technology, it is already possible to track and monitor populations on a giant scale. As these technologies filter down to facility level systems, what should FM’s be looking at when it comes to monitoring people moving through their buildings?
RFID — passive and active sytems
Radio Frequency Identification systems are one of the most promising when it comes to people tracking. The passive RFID system that is already widely in use for asset tracking in logistics and many other industries involves an RFID tag being applied to or incorporated into a product or person. This tag can be scanned by readers within a predefined proximity. Active RFID tags actually transmit the information at intervals, which can be recorded by RFID receivers installed at set points within a facility. While this system is more suitable for real time people tracking, active RFID tags are far more expensive than passive ones.
Wi-Fi Location tracking
Another tracking solution provided by vendors such as NEC takes advantage of existing and new standard Wi- Fi site coverage by locating wireless-enabled devices & Wi-Fi tags and is based on the actual floor plan which can be uploaded in the system. Thus, people can be tracked and traced based on their location and positioning within the actual floor plan and in real time. This system can also be used to track fixed/mobile assets and the live location tracking information (battery level of tags) can also be used for business analysis.
Video Analytics
Video analytics are developing at a rapid pace. With a number of third party vendors as well as technology conglomerates such as IBM and NEC developing systems that can tell who you are and what you are doing simply from analysing video footage. While Tomordy believes that accurate facial recognition is not yet possible and may be some way off, vendors claim to already be testing facial recognition software that can identify and match people using CCTV cameras.
When journalist and author Naomi Klein investigated China’s surveillance market for Rolling Stone magazine earlier this year, her piece was subtitled “China’s allseeing eye”, and dramatically revealed an explosion in CCTV and surveillance. In one example, Shenzhen has seen the installation of 200,000 cameras across the city over the past two years, and it is estimated that by 2011, the city will boast over two million cameras.
Combined with other people tracking technologies such as RFID, wi-fi, GPS and mobile telephone tracking, it would seem like the potential possibilities are endless. Conspiracy theorists will doubtless be conjuring up images of a big brother state snooping on citizen’s privacy. However, those involved in the industries of the built environment will be asking, how can people tracking be used to improve the management and activities taking place within our facilities?
the reality:
“The reality on the ground, both in Asia and globally, is that there is limited real implementation of solutions that are tracking people within facilities,” says Michael Tomordy, Associate Director, Arup and leader of the firm’s security practice in Asia. He points out that, while vendors are keen to push the application of people tracking systems, it can be difficult for end-users to justify the outlay.
However, as the technology develops, the cost of systems that monitor people locations or transmit their information is coming down. Also, the use of tracking systems is gaining acceptance, having been proven in asset handling applications. With smartcard technology advancing, it would seem that integrating these technologies, and establishing a prudent business case, is the challenge.
There are a number of implementations where limited people tracking systems have already added value, says Philip Wong of Cisco Systems. He points to RFID tracking as the most cost effective and popular solution on the market (see side box for more info on RFID). Applications can range from patient tracking in medical facilities, or for customer relationship applications in theme parks, hotels or airports. In the former, being able to know where each patient is, as well as being able to link each individual electronically with their medical records, has clear benefits.
Yet, it is in the realm of offering enhanced value to high rolling clients, that people tracking technologies are most likely to be implemented in the short term. There is a “meet and greet” element that luxury hotels, banks and airlines are keen to exploit. As Tomordy says: “One airline client wants to offer clients a more personalised service, so their frequent flier or premium card will contain personal information that will then transmit to their ground staff, so they know who you are and what you want before you even open your mouth to say hello.”
Guangzhou City Management Office (GCMO) is a subsidiary of Guangzhou Police and recently deployed a new CCTV system to monitor points of interest in public areas within the city limits. One of the obstacles they faced was illegal hawkers and beggars lingering outside government buildings.
As security and law enforcement officers are often stretched too thin to detect each and every suspicious and fraudulent activity, GMCO sought a solution that could automatically detect loiterers within the CCTV camera region of interest pre-configured by the system administrator.
They implemented “SmartCatch”, an NEC Hong Kong product that is based on video algorithms designed specifically to actively recognise and analyse complex human behaviors and to identify objects. The software then provides actionable, real-time alerts so that appropriate preventative measures can be taken by onsite security personnel. This software-based solution works with third party CCTV hardware (cameras, DVR, systems etc) to provide an added layer of security.
By using SmartCatch, the Guangzhou City Management Office is now able to observe and identify ‘people of interest’ who remain stationary in a zone for a long duration (i.e. 5-10 minutes). These can be identified as illegal hawkers selling items in secured areas or suspicious individuals (i.e. pickpockets). The implementation of the system allowed the GMCO to better optimise resource deployment while improving security for the busy City of Guangzhou, China. This allowed the GMCO to achieve an excellent ROI for the project, and government and commercial entities in China, Hong Kong and Macau are currently considering rolling out similar solutions, according to NEC Hong Kong.
common platform
For real time inclusive people tracking to take place, it is clear that a number of different systems will need to work in harmony. “No one system can provide comprehensive tracking,” insists Wong. Integration is the heart of the matter, with real, tangible benefits possible when a common platform is used. Cisco for example, offer IP based networks to enable the video surveillance. The system will encode footage from IP cameras and store it on a frame by frame basis, thus enabling third party software to do video analytics. These analytics then feed back into a policy engine, so if somebody goes somewhere they shouldn’t, a number of actions are possible through linked systems. An alarm can go off in a security room, a phone call can be placed to the police, the nearest camera can zoom in on the intruder etc (see case study this page for another example of an integrated CCTV system). Tomordy also sees further integration opportunities to connect systems and offer better solutions. “What we are talking about with vendors and our casino customers is how we can link together surveillance and access control in a more powerful way.”
Holding back these powerful implementations seem to be two main barriers. The first is the ROI. Tormody concedes that: “If you cant attach a financial figure to the benefits and do a proper cost-benefits analysis, then its quite challenging to justify investment in these systems.” However, beyond the cost question, the human barrier is one of the hardest to overcome. The distrust of surveillance that is clear in Klein’s article is not confined to investigative journalists. Whether the end-user of a facility, or a high net-worth client is willing to accept being traceable and monitored, and how comfortable we are with that data being available, is a question that will decide the future of commercial people tracking technology.
