Vidient's SmartCatch video analytics software wins Lenel certification

More good news for Sunnyvale, California-based Vidient Systems and its SmartCatch intelligent video surveillance and analytics software. We have frequently reported on the SmartCatchR system, noting that it is already in place at several airports around the United States including San Francisco, San Diego, and Salt Lake City International airports. This week the company announced that SmartCatchR had been certified by Rochester, New York-based Lenel Systems International for use with its OnGuardR security management software — a triumph, the company said, for the technology’s ability to integrate seamlessly into other security applications.

As we reported this summer, Vidient’s success demonstrates the growing strength of the video analytics sector as it moves beyond simple motion detection. Today the technology uses complicated algorithms to recognize different things — a person, a car, a fire, or anything else which a programmer can write an algorithm to recognize. This, however, is only the first step: Once an object has been defined, today’s sophisticated video systems allow users to set rules for action: If an object (a person, a vehicle) has crossed a predetermined line, for example, an alarm is sent to a security post and officers are dispatched to the scene. The systems can send alerts to pagers, emails, cell phones, or any other predefined device.

Company backgrounders: Vidient is funded by leading global venture investors Blueprint Ventures, Trident Capital and Hotung Venture Capital. Lenel, a division of UTC Fire & Security — itself a unit of United Technologies — was recently certified by the General Services Administration (GSA) as an integrated solutions provider for the HSPD-12 program. The company has completed nearly 13,000 system implementations in more than seventy-five countries.

-read more in this company PDF news release; company Web sites: Vidient; Lenel