Surveillance Camera Switching via Map-Integrated Composite Display
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current video surveillance systems face difficulties in allowing operators to seamlessly track targets as they move between camera views, leading to increased workload due to the lack of intuitive understanding of camera locations and relationships, especially when targets move outside the initial camera's horizon.
Innovation Solution
The system stores map and camera information, detects the target's movement direction, and generates a display that includes pictures from the current and next cameras, arranging them to maintain the operator's focus on the target, with adjustable screen layouts and sizes to reflect camera distances, ensuring smooth transition and understanding of the target's path.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If automatic camera switching is implemented when tracking target moves outside camera horizon, then tracking continuity is improved, but operator's understanding of camera locations and relationships deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
A map display is introduced as an intermediary element between the camera pictures and the operator. The map shows camera locations and the tracking target's movement path, serving as a mediator that connects discrete camera views and maintains spatial context. This allows automatic camera switching to occur while the operator retains understanding of camera positions through the map interface.
2Loss of information
If map display is added to show camera locations, then spatial understanding is improved, but operator's workload increases due to frequent line of sight movement between map and camera pictures
Solution Approach 1:
The map display and camera picture display are merged into a single integrated screen interface. The map and camera views are positioned and scaled relative to each other to reflect actual spatial relationships, allowing the operator to understand camera locations and target positions without shifting attention between separate displays. This integration eliminates the need for frequent line of sight movement while maintaining spatial awareness.
3Reliability
If multiple camera pictures are displayed simultaneously, then tracking target continuity is improved, but screen space utilization and picture quality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the screen are allocated different functions and picture sizes based on their importance. The primary camera picture displaying the current tracking view occupies the largest area with highest quality, while secondary camera pictures showing future or past views are displayed in smaller regions with adjusted sizes. This local quality differentiation ensures adequate screen space utilization while maintaining tracking continuity through selective multi-picture display.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a video surveillance system which tracks a tracking target by a plurality of surveillance cameras. This system is capable of tracking completely the location of the tracking target even in case the camera picture is automatically changed in accordance with the moving of the tracking target. The system includes a moving direction detector for detecting the moving direction of a tracking target. Moreover, the system has storage units for storing the passage configuration of a surveillance zone and the camera location information. The system also has a camera selector for identifying a camera which will shoot the tracking target next in accordance with the moving direction information, passage configuration information and camera location information, and a screen composition unit for synthesizing on a screen a picture from a camera shooting the tracking target and a picture from a camera selected by the camera selector.