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Technology

Smart CCTV learns to spot suspicious types

By Nic Fleming

9 December 2009

Video: Smart CCTV

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Keeping an eye out for baddies

(Image: Geoff Moore/Rex Features)

WHAT’S the difference between a suicide bomber and a cleaner? It sounds like the opening line of a sick joke, but for computer scientists working on intelligent video-surveillance software, being able to make that distinction is a key goal.

Current CCTV systems can collect masses of data, but little of it is used, says , a computer-vision computation researcher at Queen Mary, University of London. “What we really need are better ways to mine that data,” he says.

Gong is leading an international team of researchers…

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