IntelliVid Corporation Unveils New Retail Loss Prevention Product

June 27, 2005
New Video Investigator elevates role of traditional CCTV into a powerful theft prevention solution

At the National Retail Federal Loss Prevention Conference & Expo, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based IntelliVid Corporation announced availability of Video Investigator, a revolutionary product that transforms existing Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) systems into extraordinary theft prevention and security solutions in retail environments.

IntelliVid's new product goes well beyond searching, scene-change detection and object tracking to help retail Loss Prevention (LP) personnel accomplish tasks never before possible. Video Investigator is designed to work with existing CCTV infrastructures and industry-standard hardware.

The software-based Video Investigator converts video data captured by CCTV into useful, actionable information. Video Investigator's patented Intelligent Video Analysis (IVA) technology delivers an entirely new level of capabilities to track people and assets, monitor high-value merchandise, and have a measurable impact on the retailer's bottom line.

Video Investigator addresses a critical market need: The retail industry suffers from over $33 billion in losses each year according to industry surveys, despite the widespread adoption of loss prevention tools. In its initial deployments, Video Investigator has already detected significant potential losses at leading department, drug and specialty retail stores.

Dave Ferguson, a seasoned loss prevention professional in retail, said, "Video Investigator is a huge advantage for retailers. For example, in one of our particularly high-theft stores, it has enabled us to see plenty of incidents that we would have missed, and we've apprehended a number of thieves who would have otherwise gotten away. We're also using it to share investigations between stores when we think there's a chance that a gang or repeat offender will hit multiple locations. Video Investigator is really making a difference in a lot of ways."

According to Read Hayes, Director of the Loss Prevention Research Council, "The IntelliVid system is uniquely capable of doing a number of things, including tracking people and assets. It has enabled us to gather video data and perform cutting-edge research that would not have been possible with generic recording devices."

CCTV is one of the most predominant strategies for curbing retail theft. Standard CCTV has two uses for retail LP: real-time mode to monitor the sales floor, and forensic mode to investigate past incidents. However, retailers find both of these applications are often time-consuming and largely ineffective. And, most thieves view CCTV as posing little if any risk.

IntelliVid recognized that LP professionals would benefit greatly if they could more effectively use the enormous volume of video information that they collect, and be able to analyze and use their video assets to measurably reduce theft and increase profits.

"We're excited to be launching Video Investigator here at the NRF Loss Prevention Conference and Expo because we know we're delivering a critical solution for LP's CCTV needs: unprecedented tracking capabilities, asset monitoring, and a host of tools to facilitate investigations and evidence collection. Quite simply, LP professionals need their existing video assets to do more, and they want a straightforward solution that works," said Dr. Patrick Sobalvarro, President and CEO of IntelliVid. "Our customers tell us that Video Investigator is the answer to dramatically improved LP and safety, and significantly reduced risk. We look forward to demonstrating to all of the retailers here how we can help them as well."

Among Video Investigator's many firsts is the ability to prevent theft with real-time monitoring of high-value assets. Virtual electronic tagging of assets (merchandise, store fixtures, etc.) quickly alerts LP personnel with audible and visual cues when objects appear and disappear. This new level of LP is enabled through Video Investigator's Video Article Surveillance(VAS) technology. Unlike traditional Electronic Article Surveillance, VAS alerts personnel to possible theft incidents while suspects are still inside the store.

Video Investigator also tracks multiple suspects across multiple cameras in real-time. Computer-Aided Tracking (CAT) automatically suggests cameras and regions to help LP personnel easily follow a suspect by suggesting the cameras where the suspect is most likely to appear next. LP users can simply point and click the areas they want to observe to keep selected objects or suspects in one virtual camera view. Video Investigator observes in-store traffic and "learns" camera layouts and relationships automatically, even when stores are re-merchandised or cameras are moved.

LP personnel can also make movies of a suspect's path throughout a store to obtain a complete chain-of-custody and incontrovertible video evidence of theft events and other incidents instantly. With Video Investigation Management (VIM), LP professionals can combine distributed video evidence and case notes quickly and easily, to create a comprehensive investigation.