Today Sony, Milestone and Agent Vi announced a complete solution for intelligent video analysis in connection with Milestone's Integration Platform Symposium in Las Vegas, Feb. 12 to 14. Following its introduction to the market several years ago, intelligent video analysis technology has been increasingly used by the security industry. However, up until now there has been no single cost-effective, scalable solution available as systems have been heavily dependent on central video processing software.
A central system requires a significant hardware platform, and as a result, the server cost quickly increases with the size of the installation. Large server costs have meant that video analysis technology has not been as widely used as expected. To this end, Sony, Milestone and Agent Vi are combining their three video analysis technologies to create one "distributed architecture" which draws on the strengths of the three products. The solution is a combination of Sony's DEPA architecture, the distributed architecture and video analysis algorithms offered by Agent Vi, and Milestone XProtect IP video management software.
Currently, Sony provides intelligent cameras embedded with its unique video analysis architecture, DEPA (Distributed Enhanced Processing Architecture). DEPA embedded cameras process the video in the camera and transmit the metadata to the Agent Vi application. The Agent Vi offering is based on the concept of "distributed architecture" and boasts a comprehensive rule engine and easy-to-use GUI for handling the metadata created by the camera. It triggers an alarm that reports back to the Milestone application. Milestone offers a video management platform, XProtect Analytics 2.0, which integrates and consolidates alarms from the combined systems and provides complete operational workflow for the security operator.
The new offering relies on the open platform of the Milestone XProtect Analytics 2.0 framework to manage and view the alarms created by the Sony/Agent Vi integration. It enables customers to access video analysis technology without the cost burden of a server infrastructure for video processing. As such, those who have been reluctant to use the technology in the past can now start to benefit from video security analysis.
"We are delighted that the strongest parties in the video analysis market are able to collaborate and build an offering that will accelerate the use of the video analysis technology. Sony brings its megapixel cameras to this partnership, providing the largest range of x14 type of cameras embedded with intelligent video analysis on the market, although all Sony cameras can be used," said Yu Kitamura, European Product Manager, Sony Professional.
"Agent Vi's partnership with Sony and Milestone yet again emphasises the central role that video analytics has in the surveillance world, and points to the solid position that Agent Vi has in this space. To maintain leadership position in the surveillance world, companies have to include layers of intelligence as part of their solutions and we are proud to take part in bringing a comprehensive intelligent video solution alongside Sony and Milestone," said Itsik Kattan, CEO of Agent Vi.
"The Milestone XProtect Analytics 2.0 framework provides an easy-to-manage interface for this powerful combination with Sony and Agent Vi that really adds value to a security installation. It's a future-proof platform that allows the addition of more innovations as they become available," says Henrik Friborg, VP Strategic Alliances and Co-Founder of Milestone Systems."
About Sony Professional
Sony Professional, a division of Sony Europe, is the leading supplier of AV/IT solutions to businesses across a wide variety of sectors including, Media and Broadcast, Video Security and Retail, Transport & Large Venue markets. It delivers products, systems and applications to enable the creation, manipulation and distribution of digital audio-visual content that add value to businesses and their customers. With over 25 years' experience in delivering innovative market-leading products, Sony Professional is ideally placed to deliver exceptional quality and value to its customers. Sony's Professional Services division, its systems integration arm, offers its customers access to the expertise and local knowledge of skilled professionals across Europe. Collaborating with a network of established technology partners, Sony delivers end to end solutions that address the customer's needs, integrating software and systems to achieve each organisations' individual business goals. For more information, please visit www.sonybiz.net.
About Agent Vi
Founded in 2003, Agent Vi is a pure-software video analytics company that provides real time video analytics solutions for a variety of security, safety, business intelligence and operational efficiency applications. Agent Vi open-architecture technology seamlessly integrates with existing video equipment and IT infrastructure, making video analytics feasible, affordable and scalable. Agent Vi's pure-software, Future-Proofed IPoIPTM architecture (Image Processing over IP) allows implementation of the full range of video analytics capabilities on surveillance networks of any size, while requiring the lowest number of servers and providing best detection performance. With its worldwide partnerships and distribution networks, Agent Vi's comprehensive video analysis solutions are being deployed around the globe. For more information, please visit www.agentvi.com.
About Milestone
Founded in 1998, Milestone Systems is the leading global developer of open platform IP video management software. XProtect? gives users a powerful surveillance solution that is easy to manage, reliable and proven in more than 45,000 customer installations. With support for the industry's widest choice in network hardware and integration with other systems, XProtect provides best-of-breed solutions to “video enable” organisations - reducing costs, optimising processes, protecting people and assets. With headquarters in Denmark and ten international offices, Milestone software is sold through authorised partners in 90 countries. For more information, please visit www.milestonesys.com.