Version 1.0

Home Video Surveillance Software, see results of 10 hours of surveillance video in 10 seconds.

Attrasoft IF (ImageFinder) Surveillance is a Home Video Surveillance Software. It monitors binary (normal, abnormal) situations automatically, and lets you see the results in a single click. If you do binary video surveillance, this software will save you time.

Download IFSurveillance Demo

Attrasoft, Inc.

P. O. Box 13051

Savannah, GA, 31406 USA

gina@attrasoft.com

Install the Software

The deliverable is either a zip file on a CD or downloaded from a web address. To install the software:

· Unzip “CD:\IFSurveillance2010.zip” to a folder;

· Click “ImageFinderLive.exe” in the folder to run.

The software requires:

· Updated Windows;

· .Net Framework;

· A camera supported by .Net Framework.

Statement of Copyright Restriction

The Attrasoft program that you purchased is copyrighted by Attrasoft, and your rights of ownership are subject to the limitations and restrictions imposed by the copyright laws outlined below.

It is against the law to copy, reproduce or transmit (including, without limitation, electronic transmission over any network) any part of the program except as permitted by the copyright act of the United States (title 17, United States code). However, you are permitted by law to write the contents of the program into the Machine memory of your computer so that the program may be executed. You are also permitted by law to make a back-up copy of the program subject to the following restrictions:

Each back-up copy must be treated in the same way as the original copy purchased from Attrasoft;
No copy (original, or back-up) may be used while another copy, (original, or back-up) is in use;
If you ever sell or give away the original copy of the program, all back-up copies must also be given to the same person, or destroyed.

In addition, this software is for the personal use only. This is defined as follows:

You cannot sell a service based any computation results produced by this software. You must purchase a separate annual license for commercial use from Attrasoft.
You cannot use the software to perform work for which you will get paid for. You must purchase a separate annual license for business use from Attrasoft.

This User’s Guide and Reference Manual is copyrighted by Attrasoft.

Install the Software. 2

Statement of Copyright Restriction. 3

4. Step By Step Examples. 15

4.1 Install 15

4.2 Training. 16

4.3 Surveillance. 18

5. Tweaking and Maintenance. 20

5.1 Parameters. 20

5.2 Maintenance. 21

5.3 Three Settings. 22

5.4 Customized Setting. 22

5.5 Error 23

5.6 Demo. 24

5.7 Customized Software and Services. 24

1. Introduction

Attrasoft IFSurveillance (Figure 1.1) is a Home Video Surveillance Software. It monitors binary (normal, abnormal) situations automatically, and lets you see the results in a single click.

Basically, you define a Normal situation by taking some video pictures of the situation. The software learns what the Normal situation is based on the video pictures you have taken. Once the software has learned what the norm is, anything other than the norm will be recorded. You can see the recorded images in a single click.

For example, when you go to work, no one is supposed to be in your home, which is normal. If someone is there, that will be abnormal.

The benefit of this surveillance software is to save you time. Instead of looking at hours after hours of video, in a few clicks, the software simply presents you with alert images only and groups them all together so you can see 10 hours of surveillance in 10 seconds.

Figure 1.1 IFSurveillance.

The deliverable is either a zip file on a CD or downloaded from a web address. To install the software:

· Unzip “CD:\IFSurveillance2010.zip” to a folder;

· Click “ImageFinderLive.exe” in the folder to run.

The software requires:

· Updated Windows;

· .Net Framework;

· A camera supported by .Net Framework.

If you have several cameras, the software will select the first camera.

The software operates in two phases:

I. Training Phase (Learn the Normal Situation);

II. Monitoring Phase (normal, not abnormal).

The training consists of taking video pictures (one or several clicks) and fingerprinting (one click). Training might require taking more than one set of video pictures. The training takes 3 clicks:

1. Start Camera Live;

2. Get sample Pictures for Library 1;

3. Fingerprinting Library 1.

Figure 1.2 Toolbar.

Once trained, it allows a user to identify an abnormal situation in a six clicks:

1. Load Library 1;

2. Start Camera Live;

3. Start Surveillance;

4. Stop Surveillance;

5. Stop Camera Live;

6. View Alert.

These six steps are implemented by six buttons in the toolbar (Figure 1.2). The software monitors the binary situation by matching between the previously stored images and live images; anything that does not look normal will be recorded.

This matching is implemented via “Signature” matching, i.e. all images must be converted into signatures first.

The IFSurveillance has three image panels (Figure 1.3):

· Key Panel;

· Live Panel; and

· Results Panel.

Key: the images representing normal.

Live: live camera.

Results: images that are abnormal.

The results can be viewed in two ways:

· clicking the “Open” button; or

· clicking the “Alert” button.

The “Open” button will simply open the folder that contains the abnormal images. Please click View/Medium Icons to set the view option in the Windows Explorer.

The “Alert” button will show the alert images inside the software. Use the Home, Next (=>), and Previous (<=) buttons to see matched images. The “Home” button goes to the first image; the “=>” button goes to the next image; and the “<=” goes to the previous image.

Figure 1.3 Three image Panels: Key, Live, and Results.

Chapter 2 lists the steps for training and chapter 3 lists the steps for Surveillance.

2. Training

Figure 2.1 Training Menu Items.

IFSurveillance is a home Video Surveillance software. It monitors binary (normal, abnormal) situations automatically and attempts to save you time. The software operates in two phases:

· Training;

· Surveillance

Once trained, it allows a user to do surveillance in a few clicks.

The software supports three quick settings and one slow setting. In this chapter, we will introduce the simplest way for training.

The training takes 3 steps:

1. Start Camera Live;

2. Get sample Pictures for Library 1;

3. Fingerprinting Library 1.

These three steps are implemented by clicking three menu items:

1. Click “Get Sample/Camera Live”

This step starts the camera.

2. Click “Get Sample/Get sample Pictures for Library 1”

Take video pictures that define the "Normal" situation; anything else will be abnormal. Each time you click this menu item, it will take 10 pictures, one per second. The video pictures will be stored in the ".\sample1\" folder. You can take video pictures as many times as you want.

3. Click “Get Sample/Fingerprinting Library 1”

Fingerprint the Normal situation; this allows the software to learn what is normal. Each time you change pictures in library 1, such as adding more pictures, or deleting old pictures, you will need to fingerprint again.

The software supports three different libraries.

To use Library 2,

1. Start Camera Live;

2. Get sample Pictures for Library 2;

3. Fingerprinting Library 2.

To use Library 3:

1. Start Camera Live;

2. Get sample Pictures for Library 3;

3. Fingerprinting Library 3.

You can see the training images in two different ways:

· Use the Windows Explorer;

· Use the IFSurveillance.

Assuming that “.\” folder is where the software is located (for example, “.\” could be “C:\IFSurveillance2010”, or “c:\abc\def\”), then the folder to store images for library 1 is “.\sample1\”. Go to this folder using Windows Explorer and see in the images.

To see the images via IFSurveillance, click the “1” button in Figure 2.2. Use the Home, Next (=>), and Previous (<=) buttons in Figure 2.2 to see the training images. The “Home” button goes to the first image; the “=>” button goes to the next image; and the “<=” goes to the previous image.

Collectively, these images define the norm. For example, if you monitor your home, the images can be collected in different hours to reflect various normal conditions during day times and night times.

Training only applies to a fixed location. If the situation is changed, such as an object inside the pictures is moved, collecting images and fingerprinting have to be done again.

Figure 2.2 Load Library 1 Images to IFSurveillance.

3. Surveillance

Figure 3.1. Surveillance menu items.

Once the software is trained, it allows a user to identify an abnormal situation in a few clicks. This monitor menu assumes training is completed. The monitoring takes 6 clicks (See Figure 3.1):

1. Load Library 1;

2. Start Camera Live;

3. Start Surveillance;

4. Stop Surveillance;

5. Stop Camera Live;

6. View Alert.

These steps can be completed by clicking the menu items in Figure 3.1.

1. Load Library 1

This step loads the first situation to be monitored. This software allows three settings plus a customized setting.

2. Camera Live

This step starts the camera.

3. Start Surveillance

This step starts Surveillance.

4. Stop Surveillance

This step stops Surveillance.

5. Stop Camera Live

This step stops the camera.

6. View Alert

This step views all alert images in a folder (Please Click View/Medium Icons).

Figure 3.2 View Surveillance Results.

The results can be viewed in two ways:

· Clicking the “Open” button; or

· Clicking the “Alert” button.

The “Open” button will simply open the folder that contains the abnormal images. Please click View/Medium Icons to set the view option in the Windows Explorer.

You can also use the Toolbar in Figure 1.2; simply click buttons, “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”, “5”, and “6”. These six steps can also be implemented by the six buttons in Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3 Six clicks.

4. Step By Step Examples

4.1 Install

The deliverable is either a zip file, “IFSurveillance2010.zip”, on a CD or downloaded from a web address. To install the software, unzip the file to a folder, for example:

C:\IFSurveillance2010\

Software is:

ImageFinderLive.exe

Normal is defined by images; the software allows three different simple settings. The images for these three settings are stored in:

C:\IFSurveillance2010\Sample1\
C:\IFSurveillance2010\Sample2\
C:\IFSurveillance2010\Sample3\

The results are stored in this folder:

C:\IFSurveillance2010\alert\

Figure 4.1 Start Camera.

4.2 Training

The training consists of taking video pictures (one or several clicks) and fingerprinting (one click). Training might require taking more than one set of video pictures. The training takes 3 clicks:

1. Start Camera Live;

2. Get sample Pictures for Library 1;

3. Fingerprinting Library 1.

1. Click “Get sample/Camera Live”

This step starts the camera (See Figure 4.1). If this step is successful, you should see camera images in the middle picture box.

2. Click “Get Sample/Get Samples for Library 1”

This step takes video pictures that define the "Normal" situation (Figure 4.2); anything else will be abnormal. Each time you click this menu item, it will take 10 pictures, one per second. The pictures will be stored in the ".\sample1\" folder. You can take video pictures as many times as you want.

Click “Get Sample/Get Samples for Library 1” and go to the “.\sample1” folder using Windows Explorer; you will see Figure 4.3. In this example, no person is expected to be in this place. The norm is an empty room. Anything other than an empty room is not normal.

Figure 4.2 Learn the Norm.

Figure 4.3 Click “Get Sample/Get Samples for Library 1” and go to the “.\sample1” folder using Windows Explorer.

Figure 4.3 Fingerprinting.

3. Fingerprinting Library 1

This step fingerprints the Normal situation, and trains the software to learn what is normal. Each time you change video pictures in library 1, such as adding more video pictures, or deleting old video pictures, you will need to fingerprint again.

This completes the training phase.

4.3 Surveillance

You will do this step over and over again. As long as the situation is not changed, you can monitor the binary situation repeatedly. The first three steps start the surveillance, the next two steps stop the surveillance, and the last step sees the results.

1. Click “Monitor/Load Library 1”

This step loads the first situation to be monitored, which was obtained in the last section.

2. Click “Monitor/Camera Live”

This step starts the camera.

3. Click “Monitor/Start Surveillance”

This step starts the Surveillance.

4. Click “Monitor/Stop Surveillance”

This step stops the Surveillance.

5. Click “Monitor/Stop Camera Live”

This step stops the camera.

6. Click “Monitor/View Alert”

This step views all alert images in a folder (Please Click View/Medium Icons).

Step 6 will open a folder in Figure 4.5. You can also click the “Alert” button to view alert images inside the software; see Figure 4.6. Use the Home, Next (=>), and Previous (<=) buttons to switch images. The “Home” button goes to the first image; the “=>” button goes to the next image; and the “<=” goes to the previous image.

Figure 4.5 Click “Monitor/View Alert” and see the abnormal situations. Please click View/Medium Icons in the Windows Explorer.

Figure 4.6 Click the Alert button to view alert images inside the software.

5. Tweaking and Maintenance

5.1 Parameters

Figure 5.1 Parameter button.

Figure 5.2 Four parameters.

To see the current parameters, click the “Parameter” button in Figure 5.1, and you will open Figure 5.2. There are four parameters:

Threshold:

The live image is matched against the library images. The matching result is a matching score. Exact matches have a score of 100. A score of 0 means no match. The images that have a match score above a certain Threshold is considered a match. The default Threshold score is 83. You get more alert images by reducing this score. For example, reduce the default Threshold score to 80.

Sample Time Interval

When you click “Get Sample/Get Samples for Library 1” menu item, the sample is collected at the interval of every one second (1000 milliseconds). You can change this number. For example, if you change it to 2000, one image will be collected every two seconds.

Surveillance Time Interval

When Surveillance starts, a live image is collected at an interval of every 3 seconds (3000 milliseconds). You can change this number. For example, if you change it to 2000, one image will be collected every two seconds.

Tweak Parameters (0 … 100)

You can produce more matches or less matches. When this parameter is set to 0, it will produce less results. When this parameter is set to 100, it will produce more results.

5.2 Maintenance

Figure 5.3 Clear library folders and the alert folder.

The library images are stored in:

C:\IFSurveillance2010\Sample1\
C:\IFSurveillance2010\Sample2\
C:\IFSurveillance2010\Sample3\

The results are stored in this folder:

C:\IFSurveillance2010\alert\

You can clear these images using Windows Explorer. The software can clear these as follows:

· Close and restart the IF Surveillance;

· Click “Get Sample/Clear Library 1 (./sample1)” in Figure 5.3.

5.3 Three Settings

The surveillance steps using library 1 are:

1. Load Library 1;

2. Start Camera Live;

3. Start Surveillance;

4. Stop Surveillance;

5. Stop Camera Live;

6. View Alert.

Step 1 can be replaced by Library 2 or Library 3.

To load Library 2 instead of Library 1, you must:

· Train with Library 2

· Load Library 2.

To Train with Library 2:

1. Click “Get Sample/Camera Live”

2. Click “Get Sample/Pictures for Library 2”

3. Click “Get Sample/Fingerprinting Library 2”

To Load Library 2

Click “Get Sample/Load Library 2 (.\data\lib2.txt)”

You can repeat this process for Library 3.

5.4 Customized Setting

Figure 5.4 Your own library.

The library images are stored in:

C:\IFSurveillance2010\Sample1\
C:\IFSurveillance2010\Sample2\
C:\IFSurveillance2010\Sample3\

You can store your library images in any folder in your computer.

To open your library images, click the “Sample” button in Figure 5.4 and select a folder.

To fingerprint these images, click the “Fingerprinting” buttons in Figure 5.4.

To load this library, click the “Load” button in Figure 5.4.

To start surveillance, click the following menu items in the Monitor menu:

2. Start Camera Live;

3. Start Surveillance;

4. Stop Surveillance;

5. Stop Camera Live;

6. View Alert.

5.5 Error

Occasionally, the computer will hog a resource this software needs and an error will occur. When an error happens, simply close the software and restart the software again. Since all data are stored in files, an error will not result in losing data.

If the software presents you with alert images that are supposed to be normal, you can solve this problem as follows: simply move the images from the “.\alert\” folder to the “.\sample1\” folder, and fingerprint library 1 again.

5.6 Technology Demo

IFSurveillance is based on Attrasoft image recognition technology. To test the image recognition technology, go to:

http:\\attraseek.com

The Online demo has three steps:

· Browse (Select an Image)

· Upload

· Search

To get a Test Image:

· Click “Test Images”;

· Choose any image on the list and save the image to your computer.

To make a Search:

· Click the “Browse” button and select the image you just saved;

· Click the “Upload” button;

· Click the “Search” button.

NOTE: This is a demo that only has 1.5 million images. It is not meant to replicate a Net Search. Use of random images may not get a match. Please test with our 40,000 test images. As you can see from looking at the Test Images the range of image types is wide.

5.7 Customized Software and Services

This software matches a whole image against a whole image. It is possible that your requirements will go beyond whole image against whole image. Attrasoft can customize the software for your requirements.

Contact: gina@attrasoft.com