Market response to biometric surveillance demand includes tools for privacy and compliance

The demand for advanced surveillance technology is on the rise, but also accompanied by technologies that enable regulatory compliance and privacy protection. An ongoing controversy around theft reduction systems using facial recognition and a recent civil society event indicate a need for stronger privacy protections if remote biometric technology is to be accepted in public spaces.

To meet demand for video surveillance, CyberLink has released a new tool with face biometrics, called People Tracker. Pimloc and Rhombus have integrated their solutions, while Qnap has partnered with Hailo to create cutting-edge AI-powered surveillance solutions, each reducing the proliferation of personally identifiable information.

CyberLink unveils new People Tracker

The software relies on AI algorithms to recognize and track the movements of individual subjects. According to a recent announcement by the company, the tool offers improved search efficiency and investigation times compared to the company’s pre-existing solutions.

CyberLink said these enhanced surveillance capabilities could be used to track persons of interest, find missing or lost people faster and provide overall security services for shopping malls, department stores, and sports stadium applications.

From a technical standpoint, People Tracker can organize full-body images chronologically across multiple cameras based on their physical attributes. The software suite also integrates CyberLink’s FaceMe algorithms to provide accurate facial recognition capabilities.

“People Tracker is an AI computer vision trifecta with superior recognition and computing powers,” explains the company’s CEO, Jau Huang. “Compatible with major VMS providers, People Tracker takes security and surveillance to the next level without the need for equipment upgrades or additional resources.”

Huang also recently discussed CyberLink’s partnership with home robot producer Groove X.

Pimloc and Rhombus announce privacy integration

The partnership will see the integration of Pimloc’s API-based video redaction solution, Secure Redact, into Rhombus video management systems (VMS). According to the companies, the integration will remove all personally identifying information (PII) from captured or live video.

“The public debate on video surveillance has been heated on all sides: ‘freedom’ on one side versus ‘security’ on the other,” comments Pimloc CEO, Simon Randall. “Both are absolutely fundamental to Americans’ livelihoods, and now thanks to the responsible and intelligent use of technology, we can have both.”

The move also represents a substantial expansion for UK-headquartered Pimloc on U.S. soil since Rhombus’ technology is reportedly used in over 20,000 locations by over 1,500 customers.

“Rhombus is at the top of the league when it comes to smart camera security,” Randall adds. “We’re excited to be working with them to further support enterprises, starting with the healthcare, retail and manufacturing industries, and enable these sectors to improve security, reduce fraud and enhance business processes while safeguarding people’s fundamental right to privacy.”

The Rhombus partnership comes weeks after Pimloc unveiled an Australian video anonymization integration.

Qnap and Hailo join forces to optimize cloud security

If the Pimloc and Rhombus partnership is focused on privacy, the Qnap and Hailo one revolves around efficiency.

As part of the new collaboration, Hailo’s advanced AI acceleration technology has been integrated with Qnap’s QVR Face, a biometric recognition solution, as well as with its QVR Human people counting solution.

“By leveraging the power of Hailo’s advanced AI processors, Qnap surveillance users can now benefit from an easier and more cost-effective deployment supporting more AI-powered video analytics for surveillance requirements of all sorts,” says Gary Huang, general manager of Hailo in Greater China.

Technically, the Hailo-8 M.2 module is designed for optimized AI performance for edge devices, reportedly enabling over four times higher performance than a Tensor Processing Unit (TPU). Via the partnership, Qnap will also become a distributor for the Hailo-8 M.2 2280 B+M key module.

Processing biometric data on the device it is captured on, rather than transmitting it to the cloud or an on-premise server, can help organizations comply with data privacy regulations.

“When combined with Hailo’s high-performance AI accelerator, we provide power-efficient, scalable, and affordable AI surveillance solutions to a wide range of organizations and environments, including offices, factories, retail, residential communities, and more,” says Qnap general manager Meiji Chang.

Hailo also recently partnered with Gorilla and Lanner.

Article Topics

AI  |  biometrics  |  CyberLink  |  facial recognition  |  Hailo  |  Pimloc  |  privacy  |  QNAP  |  video surveillance