Eptascape Releases Surveillance Camera with Automatic Facial Encryption

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Eptascape unveiled a surveillance camera that performs real-time video analysis to mask people's identities, and to generate annotations describing the video content according to the emerging MPEG-7 standard.

Dubbed "Eptacam", the camera protects personal data by hiding people's identities, while maintaining the surveillance factor in the resulting video. Should an incident occur, authorized personnel who possess the proper decryption key can play back video recorded from the camera revealing people's identities. Without bias for age, race or gender, none of which can be deduced by looking at the privacy-enabled images produced by the Eptacam, operators in the control room can focus on activities and not people. Moreover, video generated by the Eptacam will not be subject to the existing storage, duplication and dissemination limitations originating from privacy concerns.

Based on proprietary embedded software, the Eptacam performs video analysis in real-time, generating meta-data annotations encoded in MPEG-7 that provide an overview of what the camera sees. In a typical Eptacam MPEG-7 frame, meta-data annotations describe visual characteristics of relevant objects, tracking them as they move through the scene. Once received in the control room, MPEG-7 annotations allow viewing software to detect relevant events as they happen, and to highlight objects or features in the video presented to monitoring personnel. Practical examples include highlighting objects left behind, people trespassing or moving against the flow, people crossing an access gate "tail-gating" behind another person.

The MPEG-7 meta-data annotations obtained with the Eptacam are useful in forensic activities as well. Video recorded from surveillance cameras has proven to be an effective investigative tool. However, searching the massive amount of video recorded from surveillance cameras is often a daunting task.

Although still in its infancy, MPEG-7 meta-data is used to index video in an XML database for further search and retrieval using templates or other textual descriptions of the objects of interest.

"The Eptacam is a shift from pixel-based to content-based video and it makes the practice of video surveillance in public spaces more socially acceptable," said Marco Graziano, founder, president and CEO of Eptascape. "Our technology keeps up with the values of an open society while increasing the effectiveness of surveillance as a safety measure."

"Eptascape is debuting with a very promising, next-generation surveillance camera for security, in a market which has an enormous potential for start-up companies," said Chris Shipley, DEMOfall Executive Producer. "I am pleased to have at DEMOfall a start-up company such as Eptascape that develops innovative technology with a sensitive attitude toward preserving our privacy and a sophisticated understanding of the impact of security technology in our society."

The Eptacam is an open system marketed to security systems integrators as a key component in a variety of surveillance installations. Because the Eptacam is based on established standards such as MPEG-7 and XML, systems integrators can quickly and easily integrate the Eptacam with commercial databases, rule-based decision systems, and custom-made software. Samples of the Eptacam will be available to selected companies for evaluation and field trials in Q4. Eptascape is actively pursuing partnerships for the marketing of its products and consulting services worldwide.

Eptascape is a technology company focused on innovations in computer vision and applications of the MPEG-7 standard. Eptascape markets its products and consulting services to the security industry world-wide. Founded in 2005, Eptascape is privately held and based in Mountain View, California.