Privacy-Preserving Surveillance Camera With Event-Triggered Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Surveillance cameras capture and transmit more information than necessary, including private activities and are susceptible to privacy invasions and eavesdropping, leading to concerns over individual privacy and inefficient power consumption.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an event-based capture mechanism to identify objects of interest, followed by activating a standard illuminance capture mechanism only when relevant objects are detected within a defined area, preserving privacy by obscuring identities and reducing unnecessary data transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a surveillance camera continuously captures and transmits high-resolution imagery data, then security monitoring capability is improved, but privacy invasion and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The camera alternates between low-power event-based capture mode and high-resolution standard capture mode. The event-based mode continuously monitors for changes, while the standard mode activates periodically or on-demand when events are detected, reducing overall power consumption while maintaining security monitoring capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts only the essential security monitoring function from continuous high-resolution capture by using event-based imaging for detection and triggering standard capture only when necessary. This separates the always-on monitoring function from the high-power detailed recording function.
2Reliability
If a surveillance camera continuously captures and transmits high-resolution imagery data, then security monitoring capability is improved, but privacy invasion increases
Solution Approach 1:
The camera uses periodic event-based sampling to monitor the environment, triggering full-resolution capture only when specific events occur. This reduces the continuous recording of private activities while maintaining the ability to capture security-relevant moments.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different capture qualities to different situations: low-resolution event-based imaging for general monitoring and high-resolution standard imaging only when security events are detected. This local differentiation reduces privacy invasion while maintaining security effectiveness.
3Measurement precision
If a surveillance camera continuously captures and transmits imagery data, then detection accuracy is improved, but data transmission volume and processing load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system transmits data periodically in event-based mode with low data volume, and switches to standard mode with higher data transmission only when events are detected. This periodic transmission strategy reduces overall data volume while maintaining detection accuracy for security events.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts and transmits only the essential detection information through event-based imaging, reserving full-resolution data transmission for confirmed security events. This extraction approach minimizes unnecessary data transmission while preserving detection capability.
Data Source
AI summary
An example apparatus, method, and computer program product for preserving privacy while capturing imagery data in a surveillance setting are provided. In some embodiments, the example apparatus includes an event-based capture mechanism and a standard illuminance capture mechanism, electrically connected to a controller. The event-based capture mechanism is configured to generate an event-based image, while the standard illuminance capture mechanism is configured to generate a standard illuminance image. The controller includes program code configured to cause the controller to receive, from the event-based capture mechanism, the event-based image, detect an object of interest in the event-based image, activate the standard illuminance capture mechanism based at least in part on a classification of the object of interest, and receive, from the standard illuminance capture mechanism, a standard illuminance image.