NEC technology that detects changes in crowd behavior

TOKYO, JAPAN: According to NEC research as of October 31, 2013, NEC Corporation has developed the world's first "crowd behavior analysis technology" that utilizes security camera footage to understand the behavior of crowds and to detect abnormalities. This technology is expected to contribute to greater safety and security through the early detection of unusual conditions and accidents.

NEC's newly developed technology analyzes the influence that an unexpected incident, or the signs of an incident, has on the behavior of a crowd in order to accurately identify changes in the crowd's behavior. As a result, existing security cameras can be used to detect disturbances, such as a sudden change in the flow of foot traffic or a crowd formed around a fallen individual, and to accurately estimate the degree of congestion, even in an extremely crowded environment, such as an event venue or train station during rush-hour.

Key features of this technology include the following:

1) Accurate understanding of crowd conditions

The technology creates pseudo-images through simulations that demonstrate a wide range of different conditions, such as varying degrees of crowd congestion and each individual's behavior. Image recognition technologies then employ a proprietary algorithm to match and analyze security camera images against pseudo images. This enables crowd conditions to be understood with a high degree of accuracy even when people in the images appear to be heavily overlapped.

2) Fast and accurate analysis of changing crowd conditions

Special focus is placed on the behavior of people in the vicinity of any unusual occurrence. For example, if two individuals begin to quarrel in a public space, the technology closely analyzes the behavioral patterns of people surrounding the incident, such as temporary pauses or large gatherings. Moreover, the level of an incident can be estimated based on a pre-determined threshold value that helps measure the magnitude of a crowd's change.

NEC will continue driving research and development in support of image analysis technologies and the expansion of safety related business that promotes greater security for communities throughout the world.

NEC exhibits these technologies at the C&C User Forum and iEXPO 2013 at the Tokyo International Forum from 14-15 November 2013.