How Does Motion Detection Technology Works In Security Cameras

Security cameras have become a necessity for almost every urban household. Or at least if it’s not a necessity, it’s more of a right for every individual to be able to feel safe and secure around the clock, and security cameras play an integral role in ensuring that we feel protected.

In order to operate properly, cameras come fitted with motion detection features to be able to identify a potential threat and notify the concerned parties in a timely manner. Long gone are the days when actual people were needed to safeguard our premises. We can easily spend the day at work with the comfort of knowing that our household is being protected by these motion detecting cameras. These motion detecting features can be quite a handful, however, since they tend to give out false alarms every once in a while.

Let us consider in detail how motion detection works, the pros and cons of multiple motion detection technologies, and how companies are trying to make motion detection technology more accurate and practical.

Smart devices have evolved greatly in such a small timespan. They employ a number of technologies to detect motion and activity, such as light waves, thermal waves, or radio waves. Cameras available on the market usually employ one of the following techniques for motion detection.

Passive Infrared Technology (PIR)

Cameras employing PIR technology work on heat signature detection. Living organisms have heat signatures being emitted from their bodies, and the infrared technology lets the cameras detect that signature in their operational zone.

Computer Vision Technology (CV)

The other technique employed is that of the CV. This approach relies on recording frames of reference in the operational zone of a camera. If any changes are detected in the frames being recorded, an alert is sent.

CV cameras work on different algorithms designed by various security companies for optimal detection. Sometimes a continuous and significant change of pixels in a certain area hints at movement, while sometimes directional patterns are observed by motion sensors by observing the changing locations of the pixels in reference.

CV cameras prove useful in motion detection of various objects, and also inform the owners regarding the shape of the object that moved. Further algorithms can be employed so that cameras suppress movements from insignificant objects, meaning the number of false alarms can be reduced.

Pros and Cons

PIR and CV technologies both have their ups and downs which give them an edge over each other in various situations. We know that infrared sensors detect heat signatures. This helps them filter out insignificant motions in their operational range, such as swaying trees, fluttering curtains, or the changing light in the environment. They are also cost-efficient, since the video recording is only triggered if a moving heat signature is detected. The triggered recording goes on until movement is observed, after which the camera returns to its original, low power consumption state.

Since PIR cameras start recording after a while, a loophole is present before the operational phase. This means that owners can miss a certain important part of the activity in the recording, such as the facial features of the culprit. The infrared technology cannot operate behind glass or sheets, meaning these cameras cannot be used through a house window, which somewhat limits their usability in certain areas.

False Alarms, and How to Tackle Them

The biggest con for both technologies is that of false alarms. These can get quite annoying for a number of families. Indeed, many will end up turning off the cameras as a result. Manufacturers are coming up with upgraded features and technology every day in order to tackle this problem. PIR camera manufacturers give you option of changing the level of sensitivity, so that objects which are less warm or quite far away can be neglected to avoid false alerts.

Facial Recognition

Facial recognition features are also being employed in CV cameras, which lets them filter out the faces of family and friends. Your camera takes a month or two to become properly functional in this case, since the software is storing faces that you want to be ignored by the camera. You can also give a set of preloaded pictures to the software so that it can filter out these faces during its motion detecting activities. Facial recognition features are quite complex, and the functionality as of now is somewhat limited. The related algorithms are being upgraded continuously for user convenience.

Conclusion

Related posts:

For those who have not yet heard of the Social Credit Score introduced in China a few years ago, this blog will be an eye-opener. Because our dystopian image of a technology-dominated future has…

As I said in my post on what not to eat when you are pregnant, it is not true that you are eating for two. Yes, your calorific needs do increase somewhat — by about 300 calories a day — but you…

Serverless computing is cloud hosted execution environment that allows customers to run their applications in the cloud while completely abstracting underlying infrastructure. It is a serverless…