Video Content Analysis (VCA), also knoum as video analytics, helped create a new genre within the security camera industry: "smart" or "intelligent" security. Turning passive surveillance products into proactive security products, VCA has helped revolutionize the way we think of security. However, the road to success and acceptance has been a bumpy one. With overpromising from vendors and unrealistic expectations from end users early on in the VCA product cycle, VCA has had to overcome a lot of doubt and skepticism. Now, as technology has improved and more market education has helped end users understand VCA's limitations, acceptance has gone up and more and more security ip camera companies are seeing its immense value.
In 2006, intelligent video software, also known as Video Content Analysis (VCA) or video analytics, was chosen as a&s International's Prime Product of the Year. At that time, VCA was called a "coming-of-age" product. Since then, VCA vendors and security players alike have been eagerly waiting for the other VCA shoe to drop. For years, the security industry has been wondering whether or not "this" was the year for VCA, the turning point. Unfortunately, reality is that moment has yet to come. However, something new is brewing in 2014. This year, VCA vendors and security players sense that this really is the year for VCA.
The global video analytics market was estimated to be worth US$250 million in 2012 and is expected to reach around $1.3 billion in 2017 at a CAGR of 38.6 percent from 2012 to 2017, according to a September 2012 report published by MarketsandMarkets. The Americas will lead the market with APAC observed to grow at the highest rate, primarily due to the growth of technology and increasing awareness for network video surveillance. Additionally, non-security applications of video analytics in entertainment and visual communications are considered lucrative markets, according to the report.
Although the VCA market has encountered many a speed bump, improved technology and continued market education have helped VCA overcome some of its initial challenges. Key factors driving the video analytics market, according to the MarketsandMarkets report, include the transition of video surveillance systems from analog to IP-based, emergence of open standards, and increase in the efficiency of video surveillance systems. However, the market still faces many challenges: complexity, higher cost of maintenance, and the occurrence of false alarms. Despite these challenges, VCA vendors and security companies are ready to assure end users that all of these issues are being dealt with and that the benefit of video analytics far outweighs the hiccups.
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
In a constantly changing and ever evolving market where competition continues to get fiercer, adapting to change is the key to survival. However, as VCA has become a larger part of the security industry, how companies have chosen to adapt over the years has varied. While many of the companies that were founded in the early days have since been acquired or closed their doors, some have been able to ride the wave of change without making any huge modifications to their original business model, while others have changed with the technology and learned to adapt to their environment.
One of the easiest and most common ways to get into the VCA market is to partner up with well-known VCA vendors, which many companies have done. Video analytics on the edge is a growing trend in the security industry and video management software (VMS) vendors have realized the value of incorporating VCA technology into their offerings. While some havedeveloped their own video analytics, the majority have partnered with VCA vendors to create a value-added product. Aleksandr Jesikov, Account Manager of Luxriot, a supplier of VMS, bundled with VCA, explained, "Due to the nature of our software, we realized that VCA will play an essential part in the video surveillance industry. Since it is most important for us to offer the best products and technologies to our customers, we decided to use the VCA core from a time and market proven partner as a value-added feature."
Regardless of whether or not companies develop their own or partner with established VCA companies, the thing to focus on is how VCA is spreading through the security industry like a wildfire.
If it Ain't Broke...Software Success
As the benefits of VCA in security have become more evident, more and more security ip camera companies have added VCA to their product offering as an added-value service, but a handful of companies that came up in the VCA market as strictly VCA software providers have been able to maintain their original business model without needing to change.
Success as a pure VCA software vendor has not been easy, which is evident in the amount of companies that have disappeared from the market over the last decade. But some software-only companies have been able to find success — enough success for them to not need to expand into the hardware side of things. Companies like ObjectVideo (OV), Agent Video Intelligence (Agent Vi), VCA Technology, etc., have been able to stay true to their original mission of being pure VCA software providers due to their strong presence in the market. This does not mean, though, that these companies have not grown and expanded.
OV made headlines a few years ago when they began a series of legal battles with some of the biggest names in the security industry for intellectual property infringement. As one of the biggest names in video analytics, and a software-only provider, OV's lawsuits resulted in a flood of video surveillance companies quickly entering into patent licensing agreements with the company. Now, many of the security industry's biggest players — including but not limited to Bosch Security Systems, Pelco by Schneider Electric, Sony, VIVOTEK, and most recently FLIR Systems and Hikvision — have patent licensing agreements with the company. Their success in software, along with their patent licensing program, has allowed the company to focus on the software without needing to expand outside of their focus.
One software company that has not seen a need to change is Agent Vi. Founded in 2003, the company is focused exclusively on developing VCA software and applications. With a successful business model already in place, Zvika Ashani, CTO of Agent Vi, pointed out that the company sees no reason to change. "We've been able to build a global channel program and distribute our software, and we don't see any reason to expand to other areas," said Ashani. Additionally, with an ecosystem of technology partners that include camera manufacturers and video management software (VMS) vendors, Agent Vi sees no reason to try and fix something that is not broken.
Another company that has stayed true to its VCA software roots is VCA Technology. Founded seven years ago as a specialist OEM video analytics provider, VCA Technology is focused on providing VCA software libraries for ip camera manufacturers, VMS, and DVRs to build into their products. The company's SDK provides the foundation for many companies' video analytics. Initially, VCA Technology was concentrated on security and perimeter protection, but as demand in the market has evolved, the company has broadened into other areas such as counting, retail, and web-based applications. "We have shipped 170,000 units so far, but with the wider market in mind, we are broadening the range of supported platforms to include Windows, Linux, PC, and embedded processors," said Geoff Thiel, CEO of VCA Technology.
Embedded From the Start While companies like the aforementioned found success with VCA software as a standalone product, other companies view VCA software alone as a nonstarter and thereby established companies with VCA embedded into other products, whether it be hardware or other software. "The initial assumption was that VCA is a viable product all by itself," said Jesikov, "However, as time as passed by it became clear that VCA can only be a part of a bigger integrated product."
SightLogix was founded in 2004 on the principle that software alone cannot solve a problem; it needs hardware to accompany it. John Romanowich, CEO and founder of SightLogix, explained that to solve the problem of detecting what is wanted and ignoring what is not wanted, good integration of hardware and software is necessary. As a result, since its founding, SightLogix has been embedding video analytics on the edge in thermal cameras for use in outdoor perimeter applications. By putting the analytics onboard the thermal camera, and applying a high degree of video processing, the camera shifts from simply a surveillance device to a security device, as pointed out by Romanowich.
Other companies, such as Intelligent Security Systems (ISS) were founded on a similar principle of embedding VCA software into hardware, but have since modified their business model, integrating video analytics into VMS instead of hardware. When ISS was established in 1999 they were a DVR manufacturer; however, their DVR had built-in analytics. Over time, ISS noted that more and more customers had a need for management services for their video. Therefore, based on customers' needs and where the market was moving, ISS shifted their focus from DVRs to VMS with added-value analytics, which they now embed into hardware, according to Aluisio Figueiredo, COO of ISS. "At the end of the day, if there is no value added, it's [VMS] a commodity. With value added we can provide a tailor-made solution for every customer."
When established in 2003, Aimetis was an analytics company focused on third party integration, but there were significant business and technology obstacles to overcome at the time. Because the potential of analytics was not yet understood, potential partners were slow to invest, explained Justin Schorn, VP of Product Management at Aimetis. "From a technology standpoint, the hardware performance of existing products was insufficient to simply ‘bolt on' analytics. As a result, Aimetis focused on building a video management platform from scratch with VCA as a key differentiator."
Outsiders Getting in on the Action
Although video analytics is not new to the security industry, adoption has only been gradual. Video analytics is not yet a standard, but seeing the added value of VCA technology, many security companies have acquired, partnered with, or developed their own analytics to add to their offering. Several notable acquisitions of video analytics companies have been made over the last decade, for example Infinova's 2012 acquisition of March Networks, and most recently Avigilon's acquisition of VideoIQ in January of this year. Additionally, in 2013, Kastle Systems, well known for delivering access control as a service, acquired CheckVideo, a provider of cloud-based intelligent video surveillance and alarm verification solutions. This trend of acquiring video analytics companies is also how many total solution providers got into the VCA game.
In 2007, Honeywell Security got in on the VCA game through the acquisition of ActivEye, a small specialist VCA company. This allowed the company to add complementary solutions to their video offering. Their goal in the acquisition was "to ensure that video content analytics sits at the core of integrated security systems, ensuring the technology provides tangible benefits to the security manager," said Jeremy Kimber, Commercial Operations Marketing Leader of EMEA at Honeywell Security. Similarly, Tyco Security Products' 2008 acquisition of Intellivid, a retail data analytics company, was a stepping stone into VCA technology for the company, originally part of a retail-centric product offering, according Shahar Ze'evi, Senior Product Manager at Tyco Security Products; however, the company has spent the last few years developing the technology to provide functionality for the broader security market. Ze'evi further noted, "Our view of analytics has never been as a standalone application but rather as an additional tool that enhances our VMS offering."
Many other security ip camera companies have acquired VCA companies as well. DVTel, a total solution provider of video surveillance, acquired intelligent video provider ioimage in 2010. "The addition of VCA technology to our product offering was important and necessary," said Kim Loy, VP of Global Marketing and Chief Product Officer of DVTel. "Rather than start the development of VCA, the company [DVTel] acquired ioimage, which already had a strong brand that was known and trusted in the industry."
More specialized companies such a FLIR Systems have also acquired more niche video analytics companies, such as Traficon, a company that specializes in video image processing software and hardware for traffic analysis. FLIR's 2012 acquisition of Traficon paved the way for the company to more aptly penetrate the intelligent transportation systems market.
THE YEAR FOR VCA (?)
Regardless of how or when security ip camera companies entered into the video analytics world, the increased interest is surely a good omen for the future of VCA. As more vendors begin to include video analytics in their offering, along with the continued growth of technology, accuracy, and education, there is no reason for 2014 to not be the year of VCA.
No comments:
Post a Comment