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NEWS RELEASE
September 4, 2002
Media Contact:
Doug Ramsey, (858) 822-5825 or dramsey@ucsd.edu
UCSD COMPUTER VISION GROUP AWARDED THREE FEDERAL
GRANTS FOR HOMELAND SECURITY-RELATED RESEARCH
Mohan Trivedi talks about using computer vision for face detection, video surveillance and tele-viewing. Length 04:56 |
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San Diego, Sept. 4, 2002 -- The Computer Vision and Robotics Research
(CVRR) Laboratory at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has
won federal funding for three separate research projects, including one
of the first awards from the group that coordinates inter-agency U.S.
counter-terrorism research. “Homeland security has become a major focus
for our group,” said Mohan Trivedi, CVRR director and professor of electrical
and computer engineering at UCSD’s Jacobs School of Engineering. “We are
making great strides in the area of computer vision, and we expect all
of these projects to yield real-world results in the next 12 to 18 months.”
Trivedi and his research team are working on technologies that range
from a handheld computer that lets the user customize views of a remote
crisis site, to camera-network surveillance systems that are programmed
to alert authorities in the event of suspicious activity.
The three projects announced today include:
- “Real-Time Face Detection, Localization and Correlation.” Initial
funding of $170,000 over 12 months comes from the Department of Defense’s
(DoD) Technical Support Working Group, which coordinates inter-agency
counter-terrorism research. Trivedi is working on a system that automatically
isolates all the faces in a crowd, adjusts for environmental conditions
such as changes in lighting from day to night, and matches those faces
against a database. The system could be used to monitor public spaces
such as airports and embassies.
- “Distributed Interactive Video Arrays (DIVAs) for Surveillance and
Security.” A grant from the Office of Naval Research’s Independent Applied
Research program will fund the deployment of DIVAs--networks of inter-linked,
omni-directional (360°) cameras--along a 3.5-mile stretch of San
Diego coastline. The system will be programmed for constant surveillance
of the coastline and offshore area, with human operators only entering
the equation when the computer detects suspicious activity on land or
water and alerts the appropriate authority.
- “Digital Tele-Viewer (DTV): Streaming Customized Video from Remote
Crisis Sites.” The DoD-funded Center for Commercialization of Advanced
Technology (CCAT) has approved a grant of $75,000 to fund fast-track
commercialization of software that turns a handheld computer into a
remote tele-viewer. The DTV can access video streams from camera networks,
and allow multiple users simultaneously to customize their desired views
of the
site--panning, tilting and zooming within the feed, without moving the
cameras. The DTV would allow federal, state, local and other security
personnel a low-cost way to monitor vulnerable areas simultaneously
without having to be located inside a command-and-control center.
More information on these and other research at UCSD related to homeland
security can be found at http://homelandsecurity.ucsd.edu.
There is more on Mohan Trivedi and his lab at http://cvrr.ucsd.edu.
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