Avigilon donates HD surveillance system equipment to the University of British Columbia

04 January 2010

Avigilon has made an in-kind contribution of Avigilon HD surveillance system equipment to the University of British Columbia’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The Avigilon HD surveillance equipment is being used in the research and development of the MyView research project, a research system for the capture, processing, and playback of video data recorded by multiple cameras for the purposes of identifying and tracking, and motion studies, of individual athletes as they participate in sports. Avigilon’s contribution has a commercial value of more than $600,000.

Avigilon’s gift of megapixel cameras and network video recoders is currently being used in the prototype stage of the MyView multi-camera tracking system. Using the UBC Thunderbirds hockey program as a test environment, the MyView research team uses object detection and identification techniques to identify hockey players, records the game using multiple cameras installed in the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Center arena, and stores video data on Avigilon Network Video Recorders. Using the MyView Video Broswer installed on a mobile device, users can access the stored video to create individualized videos that track the actions of specific players throughout the game.

“We believe that there are many commercial applications for MyView, from high school sports events where parents want to focus on their child’s role in a game, to hockey fans wanting to watch a specific player’s moves, to skiers wanting to watch their performance at the end of the day,” explained Professor Sidney Fels, UBC Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “The Avigilon HD Surveillance System equipment has played a key role in our success to date and we look forward to an ongoing relationship with Avigilon as we continue to advance our research and development efforts.”

“Our organization understands the importance of responding to practical application and compliance needs as well as research interests, and are intrigued by the adoption of our HD surveillance solution for unique applications outside the traditional security market,” said Alexander Fernandes, chief executive officer at Avigilon. “We are thrilled to support the MyView research team in their effort to use advanced High Definition surveillance technology for the innovative purpose of human tracking in the sporting events industry.”