DARPA funds further work on nighttime surveillance tech

ObjectVideo Inc. has snagged another round of funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to continue developing of nighttime video surveillance technology.

The two-year $750,000 grant follows a $100,000 grant given by DARPA last year to the Reston, Va., company.

The goal of ObjectVideo's work is to extend the capabilities of current commercial video surveillance systems. The work will address challenges in tracking people and objects in a nighttime environment using multiple cameras. Some of the challenges include strange lighting effects, low light levels and moving vehicle headlights.

ObjectVideo already has produced an intelligent surveillance systems that automatically identifies suspicious objects or behavior. The Video Early Warning software, developed in part with DARPA funding, compares behavior of an object in a camera's view with a preset list of policies, alerting personnel when a policy has been violated.

The technology has been implemented at a number of Defense Department installations, including Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, where Air Force One is based. It also is being used at a number of ports.

DARPA will pay for the work through its Small Business Technology Transfer program, which encourages development and commercialization of advanced technologies.