IIT Bombay researchers develop AI platform for real-time video surveillance

Apart from Surakshavyuh, the team also offers Jigayasa, an offline analysis solution that works as a video repository and search platform with features such as text search and face search.

A video surveillance platform developed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) has found application in military surveillance as well as remote monitoring of social distancing norms violations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The platform Surakshavyuh, initially designed in 2017, has now evolved into an enterprise-grade video analytics solution based on machine-learning-enabled technology that can detect physical intrusion and loitering, monitor perimeters and track objects, count crowds and recognise faces, among other features.

It was designed under an industry collaboration between the National Center of Excellence in Technology (NCETIS) at IIT-B and SrivisifAI Technologies Pvt Ltd, a Pune-based company working on making artificial intelligence (AI) and video analytics technology affordable for mass consumption.

While the team at IIT-B worked on the science behind the tools, SrivisifAI took the product to the market.

“For any CCTV surveillance system, the footage needs analysis – either real-time or for retrospective diagnosis. We have developed these solutions with thorough ground studies, research iterations and by developing required algorithms that can alert end-users of products to take requisite actions. This is even as we continue researching to push the frontiers in the detection of human-object interaction, unusual events, etc,” said Ganesh Ramakrishnan, Institute Chair Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, who led the team in the project.

Unusual human activity includes loitering, sneaking in, intrusion, someone entering and exiting the premises.

Surveillance currently primarily depends on CCTV camera footage. “CCTV footage videos are typically subjected to post-mortem analysis for events. What our tool does is give us real-time analysis,” said Ramakrishnan.

Apart from Surakshavyuh, the team also offers Jigayasa, an offline analysis solution that works as a video repository and search platform with features such as text search and face search. The two can be used together, too.

As an example use case, the models can be used to issue a trigger warning if more than five people gather at one place or if a person is not wearing a mask, features that can be used in the Covid-19 pandemic to detect adherence to rules in public spaces. A pilot project has been set up at the institute campus.

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