Digifort's content analysis advantages in the use of data offered by the video content, providing advantages in both security and non-security applications.
Video contains an overwhelming amount of invaluable data. These can range from the age or demographics of
shoppers visiting a particular store to unusual behavior exhibited by certain individuals. If used properly, video can offer insights that are beneficial in both security and non-security applications.
That was the point raised by
Digifort, a Brazil-based VMS manufacturer who had a presence at Secutech International held earlier this year in Taipei.
According to Tooma Chong, Director of Digifort, what video offers is data, which contains a lot of value that is waiting to be excavated by users. “In the past, what we’ve been doing is recording heaps of data or video footage, and access it only if something has happened. Within those stored images, there is a lot of information that you can use for marketing, or discover things that you never knew,” he said. “The information is there. So the new technology is opening doors to make use of the data that you already got.”
Video content analysis or
video analytics, then, serves as a great tool for end users seeking to leverage this data to their advantage, in both
security and
non-security operations. Security-wise, analytics allows users to be more proactive rather than reactive.
“As you know we live in a world where there’s a lot of
terrorism, a lot of instability in terms of safety – we don’t feel very safe, and the authority finds it hard to prevent this from happening. Technology is all about shooting an alert before it happens, but that's hardest part. But this is our vision that we can, as much as possible, use behavioral patterns or analytics to prevent something from happening,” Chong said.
Beyond security, users are also employing video analytics for business intelligence purposes. “Not just the security division of the company, the marketing division can also benefit from that as well,” Chong said. “For example, I can say I want to see a man's activity in this aisle where I put certain items there. They can distinguish men from women, and you can do very classified investigation into certain marketing, finding out which place has more males than females and at what time.”
Open and integrative
These analytics engines, as well as other connected devices, can all be integrated into Digifort’s video management software. In fact, Chong sees Digifort’s offering as more than
VMS; it is a management platforms that give users command and control of all devices integrated to it.
“We manage basically all networked devices like cameras, NVRs and now products like
access control and intrusion panels. Then there’s integration with other technology software, what we call engines, like
number recognition engine, analytics and
facial recognition – we integrate those products into Digifort,” Chong said. “We don't see ourselves doing everything, so we had to partner with reputable technology developers, and they are very happy to work with us. We are always about being independent, being very open, welcoming other partners to work with us.”
According to Chong, one differentiator of Digifort’s VMS is it requires less hardware utilization than competitive products in the market, due to the architecture the VMS is built on. “We have proven, on average, we require half the number of servers compared to competitive VMS. As an example, in one project we’re working on, our competitor requires US$1 million worth of hardware. I can halve that and deliver the same features and performance, if not better,” Chong said. “With Digifort, we have an architecture which is proven to be very efficient. Our architecture helps us to manage all the different streams from the cameras to reduce the CPU usage and any unnecessary streaming when you are not using that camera stream. Digifort is very smart in the way that we utilize all the different streams from the camera, and if we don't need them, we stop streaming.”