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ObjectVideo helps Marines in Fallujah detect threats

ObjectVideo helps Marines in Fallujah detect threats

Anybody who watches the news knows that the troops serving in Iraq can use all the help they can get. Fighting a non-traditional enemy force that can pop up out of nowhere and often uses improvised weapons and tactics, in an area the size of California where there is no front line, the Marines and other forces constantly look to security technology to enhance their capabilities. In Fallujah, an Iraqi city that became a household word during an April 2004 siege by the Marines, Naval Sea Systems Command deployed their Critical Area Protection System, providing mobile video surveillance through cameras mounted on telescopic poles atop trailers, which can be rapidly deployed over large areas to provide immediate perimeter security. ObjectVideo's video analytics are a main component of the system, used by the Marine Corps' Marine Expeditionary Force to detect and classify potential threats, receiving real-time alerts regarding those threats. Having video analytics involved allows the Marines to better classify threats and better utilize limited manpower. "We evaluated numerous video surveillance technologies and found ObjectVideo provided superior features, such as anomaly detection," said NAVSEA's Roger Leete, in a statement provided to ObjectVideo for distribution. "They brought us in to do the analytics," said Paul Brewer, ObjectVideo co-founder and vice president of new technologies, "they brought us in to do the integration." But, he said, "We've been able to make the product Marine-proof, so we don't need to send our guys over to provide technical support. Our corporate goal is to make it usable for end users with an average knowledge of Microsoft Office." After the system was deployed, Brewer sat in on a debriefing conference call, talking about implementation of the CAPS system. They were "gushing about how useful it was," said Brewer. "It really did feel cool. They had a real manpower problem and being able to use [our analytics] as a force-multiplication technology was a great benefit, they said. It was very gratifying."

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