Belfast-based tech firm Liopa is continuing R&D on a new surveillance tech designed to read your lips from CCTV footage and recognise key words.
Some areas of the UK are covered in security cameras that are barely used because the cost of staff to actually review the footage can be high, and so security teams have been turning to automated tools to analyse footage. We have systems that can track individuals across cameras and facial recognition tech has been controversially deployed in some surveillance systems.
Belfast tech firm Liopa has been developing a new Visual Speech Recognition technology that aims to read lips from video footage where audio of the speech may not be present. The research has now entered its second phase as part of a DASA competition to develop Behavioural Analytics tech for UK Defence and Security.
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The initiative aims to develop new tech solutions that can provide insights into why people act the way they do, either as individuals or as groups, in order to predict future behaviour. The ability to lipread multiple people from video footage would be useful to the initiative.
Liopa’s tech uses an AI-based approach to predict the phrases most likely used from video of someone speaking, such as footage from CCTV that often lacks audio. It aims to use it as part of an automated system that would pick out high-risk keywords from large volumes of CCTV footage, helping with surveillance and crime prevention.
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Liam McQuillan, Founder and CEO, Liopa, said: "This contract allows us to build on the progress made in the Phase 1 project. It’s great validation of our VSR technology in a practical use case that will provide invaluable information for Defence & Security personnel."
DASA Delivery Manager, Eleanor Humphrey, said: "Behavioural Analytics is a fascinating and emerging capability that is finding innovative ways to keep our people safe from major threats. We are delighted to be working with Liopa to accelerate their technology and look forward to seeing the results."
Source: Written based on press release
