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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - VICTORIA (Video analysis for Investigation of Criminal and TerrORIst Activities)

Teaser

Summary

The analysis of video material collected by national and regional Law Enforcement Agencies (LEA) from many varied sources, including CCTV and handled cameras, has become a critical component in investigations related to major criminal acts and terrorist attacks. The amount of video data of interest for legal investigations is continuously increasing with the rapid deployment of video equipment, surveillance cameras in public and private areas, body-worn cameras of police forces, smartphones or digital cameras used by bystanders recording crime scenes, or even the criminals/terrorists themselves posting videos on the Web that they recorded during the act.
After a terrorist attack or a major criminal act, each hour is precious to find clues that can help to capture the offenders and prevent further acts, and accelerate and secure (regarding the exposure of the police forces) the operations led to capture the offenders to save lives and prevent further damage. There is hence an urgent need for efficient tools that can assist the LEAs in their daily video investigation tasks, to help them to process the huge volume of video material with less effort, and to find clues and evidences faster.
The core technology for such tools is video analytics. Video analytics is a technology from the computer vision domain, aiming at finding and recognising objects, persons, scenes, etc. Many previous projects have developed video analytics for other applications, which are also relevant for video investigation tools. However, the current TRL of these analytics is only sufficient for applications in a controlled environment, i.e. were camera position and parameters, lighting conditions, image quality, etc., are suitable. For example, object recognition, face recognition, number plate recognition can be exploited for real world applications in a controlled environment.
The TRL of these analytics is however too low for using them in video investigation tools, where the environment conditions of the videos vary a lot depending on the source of videos: the collected video material comes from a variety of sources in the public domain (e.g. from surveillance systems in streets, airports, subway or train stations, etc.), from private institutions (banks, hotels, gas stations, etc.), but also video registrations provided by bystanders, or posted on the Web. As a consequence, the analytics used for video investigation must be robust to different environment conditions such as the camera characteristics, image quality, viewing angles, moving cameras (handheld cameras or smartphones), etc.
Additionally, the few video investigation tools available are generally closed systems, limited to the video analysis technology mastered in-house by the vendor (e.g. motion detection and limited object recognition), and not open to integrate other video analytics technologies that could be provided by third parties. This limitation hinders the development of innovation activities leading to new products that could offer to end-users enhanced features and/or performance, and flexibility to better fit specific user requirements, and globally the need of video investigation systems to adapt to evolving user needs and the continuous progress of technology.

In view of the needs and challenges described above and the absence of a robust technical solution, VICTORIA aims at creating a real breakthrough regarding functionality and usability of video analysis tools used for legal
investigations. To achieve these aims, the VICTORIA project will address the following five specific objectives:

- Develop a TRL-6 video analysis technology that will boost the LEAs\' video investigation capacity
- Increase significantly the usability of video analysis tools for legal investigations
- Create a business model and ecosystem allowing the video investigation field to grow and prosper
- Train LEA investigators in the use of advanced video investigation tools
- Ensure that the VICTORIA tools

Work performed

After the end of Period 1, the main results achieved so far are the following:

- Detailed user requirements document
- Real and synthetic video datasets created
- Ethical and legal specifications report
- Video Analytics Platform (VAP) Data Protection by Design Guidelines and Data Protection Impact Assessment
- Definition of a software and hardware architecture of the VAP
- Definition of a video analytics plug-in framework
- First version of all algorithms ready for integration into VAP V1
- First implementations of the interfacing between the VAP and all analytics components (algorithms) accomplished
- Pipeline working for automatic scene reconstruction and manual correction
- Motion reconstruction from poorly and well calibrated camera networks
- Visualization of 4D scene reconstruction with metadata allowing for straightforward user interaction
- Backbone implementation for VAP V1 finished
- GUI implementation on-going
- Training methodology defined
- Training Curriculum developped
- Dissemination strategy established and detailed
- Building the VAFI community in perspective of the VICTORIA Analytics Contest
- Through the French National Body (FRNB), VICTORIA officially proposed a new work item proposal to upgrade and expand replacement of ISO 22311

Final results

VICTORIA will achieve a major impact in the field of video investigation by addressing the current lack of tools that can efficiently support LEA officers during such investigations.
(1) Improved investigation capabilities (short term)
(2) Crimes solved more rapidly, to reduce societal distress, investigative costs and the impact on victims and their relatives
(3) Prevention of more terrorist endeavours
(4) LEA officers provided with better tools to help them on their (specialized) daily work
(5) Better identification and understanding of criminal activities

The main positive societal impact of VICTORIA will be a better protection of the citizens against crime and terrorist acts thanks to the enhanced video investigation capability of LEAs, enabling them to set-up targeted operations to stop offenders, and provide evidences for lawsuits. The solving of more criminal cases, the acceleration of investigations thanks to Victoria will reinforce the confidence of European citizens in their police forces.

VICTORIA will make an important step towards addressing the market potential of video surveillance applications with products designed and produced in the EU, by joining the capabilities of leading research institutes and industrial leaders, who work hand in hand with LEAs to develop the technology required for the products that meet the end-user needs.