Automation of the CCTV-mediated detection of individuals illegally carrying firearms: combining psychological and technological approaches
Iain T. Darker, Paul Kuo, Ming Yuan Yang, Anastassia Blechko, Christos Grecos, Dimitrios Makris, Jean‐Christophe Nebel, Alastair G. Gale · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2009
Findings from the current UK national research programme, MEDUSA (Multi Environment Deployable Universal Software Application), are presented. MEDUSA brings together two approaches to facilitate the design of an automatic, CCTV-based firearm detection system: psychological-to elicit strategies used by CCTV operators; and machine vision-to identify key cues derived from camera imagery. Potentially effective human- and machine-based strategies have been identified; these will form elements of the final system. The efficacies of these algorithms have been tested on staged CCTV footage in discriminating between firearms and matched distractor objects. Early results indicate the potential for this combined approach.