University of Reading CCTV research praised by Home Office

13 Mar 10

Security minister Lord West of Spithead has praised the research work of Dr James Ferryman, who leads the Computational Vision Group (CVG) in the School of Systems Engineering at the University of Reading.

By Brian Sims

The CVG’s work in the field of behavioural science was hailed “as an incredibly useful tool” by Lord West, who suggested that work such as this which highlights unusual behaviour in crowds would be ideal for events like the 2012 Olympic Games.

In essence, the CVG has developed computer systems which emulate human vision and, as reported on BBC1’s main evening news bulletin this week, is currently working on improving the effectiveness of CCTV for safety, security and threat assessment purposes.

This work includes crowd image analysis, spotting unattended luggage and threats to aviation both on the ground and in the air.

The research is included within the Government’s Innovative Science and Technology (INSTINCT) programme that seeks solutions to address the objectives of CONTEST, the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy.

Impact on the counter-terror effort

On his visit to the ‘red brick’ university, Lord West was shown several areas of work that could have a real impact on the fight against terrorism.

The SUBITO Project, for example, is developing an automated system to spot unattended luggage in public spaces, such as airports and train stations, and to alert CCTV operators immediately. Those operators will then be able to identify and determine who placed the luggage in situ and where they have gone to.

A separate project, Co-Friend, which is deployed at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, is developing an artificial intelligence system for understanding activities on airport aprons. Both people and vehicles moving around aircraft are tracked, with the captured information used for checking service scheduling as well as potential security infringements.

A further strand of work looks at detecting suspicious behaviour onboard aircraft.

Automated CCTV surveillance

The CVG is also developing an automated CCTV surveillance system for monitoring land and maritime checkpoints, thereby improving the efficiency and security of the transit of pedestrians and vehicles. Involving 16 European partners, this project involves working closely with border guards thoughout the European Union.

The focus of the research is on real world scenes, the team engaging with a host of other partners including not only the Home Office but also the British Transport Police and Network Rail.

Lord West commented: “The use of behavioural science offers us a lot of opportunities in countering terrorism, and the work going on at Reading will help with this. This sort of technology is an incredibly valuable tool.”

The minister added: “We’re encouraging the world of social and behavioural science to share their ideas and expertise with us to do this. Academia and industry may be able to provide invaluable assistance and advice in helping to prevent terrorist attacks.”

Dr James Ferryman responded: “It was a marvellous opportunity to show the Government the breadth of research work with which we are engaged at the University of Reading. The projects developed here have a real application for countering terrorism, and we’re looking forward to working with the Home Office and industry to progress them further.”

Science and technology within CONTEST

Lord West has announced the publication of the second in a series of brochures which set out the objectives for using science and technology within CONTEST. Many of its themes incorporate the work of Dr Ferryman and his research team.

This second brochure is targeted at experts in social and behavioural science in particular, asking them to think about how they can play a role in helping the counter-terrorism community tackle the security challenges now encountered pretty much on a daily basis.

The University of Reading is rated as one of the Top 200 universities in the world (THE-QS World Rankings 2009), and is ranked in the Top 20 UK higher education institutions in securing research council grants worth nearly £10 million from EPSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, AHRC and BBSRC.