Page 18 - Security Today, October 2017

cruises tend to target fair weather locations, they still experience all types of weather con- ditions and sea states. A reliable man over- board detection system must accurately de- tect human falls in all these situations, while avoiding false alarms and providing the crew with actionable data to react to the situation. Although a challenging problem, numerous companies currently deploy MOB solutions.
PureTech Systems, recently announced the approval of a patent addressing the use of video technology for man overboard de- tection. Its MOB system captures images us- ing thermal cameras surrounding the ship’s perimeter, extending from the lowest passen- ger deck to the waterline. Thermal video is a logical choice for maritime situations, as it is less susceptible to harsh lighting scenarios, such as sunrise and sunset. It can also pro- vide clear images day or night and in most weather conditions. High resolution thermal sensors can therefore deliver clear visual in- dications of a human target to the crew for confirmation.
The use of geospatial video further en- hances the detection capabilities of this type of MOB solution. Geospatial video is the understanding of where each video pixel resides in “real” space—meaning latitude, longitude and elevation. This adds another dimension to video analysis by allowing the software to not only understand the physical location of the object, but also the real size, speed and acceleration. Therefore, although an object may be falling at the same expected speed of a human, a geospatial video solu- tion can understand that this same object is too big or too small to be a human, and sup- press the alarm.
The use of opposing cameras provides a means by which the video analytics can fur- ther confirm the event is happening on the ship itself, and is not something occurring in the background, such as on the water, in the sky or on the dock. In addition to actually being detected in both images, a detection occurring between two camera pairs must pass several additional tests for the duration of the fall; including time stamp, object size, object location, object speed, object type and fall trajectory on both cameras within the pair before being considered an alarm. This
further ensures that the crew receives mini- mal false alarms.
System Integration and Crew Notification
In the event of a man overboard situation, accurate detection is only part of the prob- lem. Systems must also provide a high level of situational awareness to help the ship’s crew gain a full understanding of the event as quickly as possible. MOB systems de- ployed with geospatially video analytics have several unique features.
Image data. Humans inherently rely on vision as one of the primary senses; the hu- man mind will rely on its sense of sight as a means to confirm any other data received. Using video analytics for detection means data preferred for validation by a first re- sponder—still images and looping video—is instantly available to reduce the time required to confirm the event. To further ensure rapid verification, video analytic systems highlight the potential target with graphical “bound- ing boxes” on both still images and full mo- tion video clips in order to quickly communi- cate what event raised the alarm.
Location data. In addition to logging the GPS location of the ship at the exact time of the event, video solutions leveraging geospa- tial data also provide insight as to the loca- tion the event took place on the vessel itself. Including location information with each alarm allows first responders to more quickly reach the incident location and begin MOB procedures without the loss of valuable time typically required to confirm an event and its point of origin.
Industry Response and Regulations
Technology providers are not the only insti- tutions taking actions around the need for MOB detection and the deployment of solu- tions. The United States government identi- fied a need for increased measures to detect MOB situations in 2010 when it released the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVS- SA). The act applies to cruise ships carrying more 250 passengers on international voyag- es in which passengers embark or disembark in any US port. It calls for automatic man-
overboard detection/monitoring systems within 18 months of the technology becom- ing available.
Since the first release of the act, several companies have stepped forward to prove their detection capabilities, prompting the current revision of the act and the develop- ment of an international standard for these man-overboard systems by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Various cruise lines are also proactively testing the new technology ahead of the formal release of the ISO standards and the CVSSA requirements to ensure they under- stand how to most effectively incorporate this technology as an integral part of their safety systems.
Other Industries
While having tremendous potential to cater to the current requirements of the marine in- dustry in detecting, recording and reporting man-overboard events in real time, this tech- nology is directly applicable to the broader safety category of “long fall events.” In ad- dition to other maritime industries, includ- ing ferry operators, oil platforms, commer- cial shipping and military vessels, these types of falls can be a safety concern to other non- maritime industries, such as bridges.
The cruise line industry has recognized the need for man overboard detection sys- tems and many manufacturers have invested research and development to create technol- ogy which results in accurate detection and notification, including systems based on the use of geospatial video analytics. These video-based systems monitor thermal im- ages, process them using intelligent video algorithms and combine this data with geo- spatial techniques. This results in not only highly accurate detection capabilities, but also a complete solution which supplies crew members with critical event location data to reduce the delay between
the time of the event and
the deployment of rescue
procedures.
Eric Olson is the vice president of marketing at PureTech Systems.
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