Virtual Camera Video Analytics Without Direct Capture Access
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing video analytics systems require direct access to video capture devices, which can be impractical or undesirable in certain scenarios.
Innovation Solution
A virtual camera system that generates analytics using cloud-based software containers to encode, stream, and analyze video files without direct access to the capture devices, utilizing a virtualized software application environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If direct access to video capture devices is required for analytics, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and accessibility worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual camera that copies the functionality of physical video capture devices. The virtual camera software replicates the video input capabilities and analytics processing of physical cameras, allowing analytics to be performed on copied video data without requiring direct access to the original capture devices. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining measurement precision through accurate video data replication while reducing device complexity by eliminating the need for direct physical device connections.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a virtual camera as an intermediary between the video source and analytics processing system. This virtual camera layer mediates the interaction by receiving video input, processing it through software containers, and providing analytics output without requiring direct access to physical capture devices. The intermediary resolves the contradiction by enabling analytics precision while simplifying system architecture through software-based mediation.
2Measurement precision
If physical video capture devices are used, then video data quality is improved, but ease of operation and scalability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual camera creates software-based copies of video capture functionality, eliminating the need for physical device deployment. Video data quality is maintained by processing actual video streams through the virtual camera software, while ease of operation improves dramatically as virtual cameras can be provisioned and configured through software without physical hardware installation or access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/physical video capture device system with a software-based virtual camera system. The physical camera hardware is substituted with virtual camera software that runs in containerized environments, maintaining video data quality through proper stream processing while dramatically improving ease of operation through software deployment and management capabilities.
3Reliability
If multiple physical cameras are deployed for analytics testing, then analytics coverage is improved, but productivity and scalability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual camera system creates software copies of camera functionality that can be rapidly provisioned in multiple instances. Analytics coverage is maintained by processing video streams from multiple virtual cameras, while productivity improves as these virtual instances can be deployed quickly through software configuration without the time-consuming process of physically installing and configuring multiple camera devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual camera platform provides universal functionality that can serve multiple analytics testing purposes simultaneously. A single virtual camera infrastructure can handle diverse analytics workloads, support multiple video sources, and provide various analytics capabilities through software configuration rather than requiring dedicated physical camera setups for each testing scenario, thereby improving both analytics coverage and provisioning efficiency.
4Speed
If video analytics are processed locally on capture devices, then response time is improved, but device complexity and resource requirements worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex analytics processing functionality from the video capture devices and relocates it to cloud-based virtual camera infrastructure. Response time is maintained or improved through efficient cloud processing, while device complexity is reduced by removing analytics processing requirements from the capture devices themselves. The analytics capability is taken out and implemented as a separate service.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual camera acts as an intermediary that receives video streams from capture devices and performs analytics processing in a dedicated cloud environment. This mediator approach maintains fast processing speeds by using specialized cloud infrastructure while keeping the original capture devices simple and focused solely on video acquisition without the burden of complex analytics processing requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A non-transitory, processor-readable medium stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to generate, using a first compute device, a video file. The non-transitory, processor-readable medium also stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to cause the video file to be sent to a second compute device that is cloud based, to cause the second compute device to: encode the video file, using a set of at least one software container, to generate an encoded video file; execute, at the set of at least one software container, a streaming protocol to generate a stream based on the encoded video file; and cause, via the set of at least one software container, generation of a set of analytics associated with the video file, based on the stream and using a virtualized software application environment.