When the 2008 Olympic Games kick off in Beijing next year, organizers will be using a sophisticated computer system to scan video images of city streets looking for everything from troublemakers to terrorists.
The IBM system, called the Smart Surveillance System, or S3, uses analytic tools to index digital video recordings and then issue real-time alerts when certain patterns are detected. It can be used to warn security guards when someone has entered a secure area or keep track of cars coming in and out of a parking lot.
IBM is also developing a similar surveillance system for lower Manhattan, but has not yet begun deploying that project,...
Just one year ago, the S3 system was little more than a research project at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center, but in the past year the company's service group has been working hard to develop it into a profitable line of business, selling it to retail and banking customers such as Italy's UniCredit bank.
IBM is also integrating the S3 system into the city of Chicago's existing surveillance infrastructure, as part of the city's Operation Virtual Shield emergency response project