Vehicle Video Metadata Extraction for Searchable Event Footage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current dashboard cameras and vehicle-mounted cameras lack the capability to perform onboard video analytics, leading to missed important events like car accidents, and existing license plate databases are limited in usefulness due to lack of access to video footage and metadata analysis tools.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a capture device that captures video, performs video analysis to extract metadata, and communicates with a wireless device, paired with a database that stores and provides searchable metadata, allowing users to request and access video footage, with features like license plate recognition and object character recognition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If video footage is captured and stored locally in vehicle-mounted cameras, then video quality and storage capacity are improved, but storage space is limited and important events can be missed without onboard video analytics
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts video analytics processing from the vehicle-mounted camera to a remote server. The camera captures video and stores it locally, while the server performs advanced video analysis including license plate recognition, object detection, and event identification. This separation allows the camera to maintain simple local storage while the server provides comprehensive analytics to prevent missed events.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a remote server as an intermediary between the vehicle-mounted camera and the final video analysis results. The camera captures and stores video locally, then transmits footage to the server which performs sophisticated analytics including license plate recognition and object detection. This intermediary enables advanced processing without requiring large storage capacity in the camera itself.
2Loss of information
If expensive systems with spotter cars or tow truck drivers are used to gather license plate data, then database information completeness is improved, but system cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the system to automatically perform license plate recognition and video analytics through onboard cameras and remote server processing. Instead of requiring human spotter cars or tow truck drivers to manually gather license plate data, the system uses automated computer vision algorithms to detect, recognize, and store license plate information along with associated video footage and metadata in the database.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical system of spotter cars and tow truck drivers with an automated electronic system. Vehicle-mounted cameras capture video, and a remote server performs automatic license plate recognition, object detection, and event identification. This substitution eliminates the need for human operators and expensive physical resources while improving database completeness.
3Loss of information
If all captured video is transmitted to the database, then data availability for users is improved, but transmission bandwidth and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only essential information (metadata such as license plate numbers, timestamps, location data, and event identifiers) from the captured video for transmission to the database. The full video footage is retained locally in the vehicle-mounted camera. When users request specific footage, only that particular video file is transmitted on-demand, rather than continuously transmitting all captured video.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary video analysis locally in the vehicle-mounted camera to identify important events and extract relevant metadata before transmission. The camera detects objects, recognizes license plates, and flags significant events, then transmits only this processed information and associated video segments to the database. This preliminary processing reduces the volume of data requiring transmission while ensuring important information is preserved.
Data Source
AI summary
A system comprising a capture device and a database. The capture device may be configured to (i) capture video, (ii) perform video analysis to extract metadata corresponding to the captured video and (iii) communicate with a wireless communication device. The database may be configured to (i) communicate with the wireless communication device, (ii) store the metadata received from the wireless communication device, (iii) generate search results for a user based on the metadata and (iv) provide the user at least one of (a) the metadata and (b) the captured video based on the search results. The metadata may be used to determine license plates present in the captured video. The capture device may transmit the captured video to the database via the wireless communication device based on a request by the user.