Advances in video surveillance are enabled by efficient new processors, such as the Axis ARTPEC-8 SoC. Axis Communications has manufactured network cameras with these AI acceleration processors inside and plans to make similar enhancements to its broad range of surveillance products.
Applications like CyberLink’s FaceMe® Security can make the most of this on-device processing power. Thanks to the recently added support for FaceMe® Security in the Axis Camera Application Platform ACAP, and FaceMe® SDK's support of the Axis ARTPEC-8 SoC, customers can see big improvements in smart video management system functionality, with faster performance, and significantly expanded video coverage.
Read on to learn what this newly forged partnership between CyberLink FaceMe® and Axis Communications means to you as a video surveillance systems integrator or end user.
Axis Communications is a leading provider of video surveillance, access controls, intercoms, and audio systems. The Axis Camera Application Platform (ACAP) is an open application software platform adaptable for a broad range of industries and use cases. You could think of it as a hub application, where you can configure, access, and use a wide selection of networked cameras with a wide range of data driven surveillance apps.
Thanks to its built-in flexibility, ACAP can be used to create customized applications to fit the specific needs of a broad range of industries. These industries, with characteristically different operations and priorities, naturally benefit from different ways of accessing surveillance hardware, and analyzing gathered data. This means that ACAP is great for both system integrators and their customers, as it facilitates finely customized applications.
ACAP constantly refreshes to keep up with state-of-the-art hardware, development tools, and infrastructure. The goal is to future-proof ACAP solutions that are in place, enabling users to adopt the latest hardware plus computer vision and video analytics software innovations. ACAP can also integrate feeds and data from other networked Axis security hardware like speakers, intercoms and radar products.
Axis ACAP provides one of the best solutions for customers by allowing the integration of technology from partner companies, like CyberLink. By joining the Axis Technology Integration Partner Program, users of supported Axis IP cameras, can now leverage FaceMe®'s leading technology for tasks like identity verification, attendance management, access control, security alerts, and AI smart monitoring using ACAP enabled face recognition cameras.
The close integration of FaceMe® within ACAP means that Axis network cameras, with built-in AI-accelerating SoCs, can shoulder much of the AI processing burden for FaceMe®, enabling faster processing and / or simultaneous monitoring of more video channels.
ACAP flexibly combines advanced edge analytics and cloud or server-based technologies to run applications completely or partially at the edge. In this article we will look closely at edge use cases enabled by Axis's own custom processor, the SIA (Security Industry Association) award winning ARTPEC-8 SoC.
Source: Axis
As its name implies, the ARTPEC-8 is the eighth generation of this custom SoC, designed specifically for accelerated network video analysis. The chip delivers deep learning and AI analytics on the edge and is built-in to the newest Axis cameras. This edge processing, combined with cameras packing the newest image sensors, yields the fastest and most accurate analytics and alerts.
The FaceMe® SDK is a leading, highly accurate, AI facial recognition engine, purposely designed to integrate edge-based AI facial recognition into a wide range of IoT and AIoT solutions. FaceMe®'s SDK supports a wide range of platforms (Windows, Linux, Android, iOS and more), architectures, AI inference engines, and GPU / VPU hardware acceleration choices - including the latest ARTPEC-8 SoC from Axis.
Source: Axis
For time-sensitive tasks where the most accurate AI-based facial recognition technology is deployed, fast edge processing is desirable. Situations where solutions like FaceMe® get deployed will often benefit from rapid data processing and analysis, for the timeliest results. Cloud processing options may be a welcome alternative or backup choice but can be prone to adverse network conditions and latency. Another choice, using a server situated near the edge devices adds complexity with installation, as well as added hardware and maintenance costs.
In our 2024 Ultimate Guide to Facial Recognition Technology a more thorough explanation of edge-based facial recognition is provided. In summary, as well as the processing / response speed benefits compared to cloud processing, outlined above, organizations may welcome: cost of ownership benefits, greater service reliability and availability, install flexibility, and stronger security.
Axis has designed its ACAP cameras to make edge processing capable camera installations simple and incredibly effective. With an ARTPEC-8 SoC in each camera, enough processing power is available to analyze data on the spot. For example, the Axis SoC can run real-time object detection and classification on anything that enters its field of view. Additionally, with FaceMe® SDK integration, Axis cameras like the Axis Q3536-LVE/38-LVE Dome Cameras and Axis Q1656-LE Box Camera can run AI-enhanced facial recognition on-device. Remember, FaceMe® is top ranked in NIST FRTE 1:1 and 1:N facial recognition with 99.83% accuracy, Being able to run this software entirely on the edge, thanks to a tiny chip built into a camera is no small feat.
If you’re unsure whether edge or cloud-based processing is for you, or if you’re thinking about a hybrid solution, then ACAP could be for you. The platform combines advanced edge analytics and server-based technologies using your choice of cloud, local server, and edge environments; allowing you to choose to run applications completely or partially on the edge. Not only does ACAP provide flexibility but this hybrid ability can also improve system efficiency and reduce storage, bandwidth, and hardware needs, for simpler, scalable and more efficient deployments.
Axis currently has a basic computer vision solution available to ACAP users with connected cameras, in the form of its Axis Face Detector app. However, it is limited to recording and detecting shoplifters, or similar block-listing style functionality.
Benefiting from the super flexibility, accuracy, and performance of CyberLink's AI facial recognition engine, FaceMe®, and the latest Axis cameras is relatively simple. A developer only needs to create an app which installs within ACAP using the free SDKs from Axis. Then, as FaceMe® Security is certified compatible with ACAP, users can benefit from an upgraded smart security and access control infrastructure. Specifically, FaceMe® can be used to provide advanced and automated computer vision based processes like: identity verification, access control, security alerts, and AI smart monitoring for ACAP camera users.
Some developers and their clients may only require light-weight video analytics at the edge, while others may favor taking full advantage of edge hardware acceleration as provided by processors like the Axis ARTPEC-8 SoC and cameras which have it built-in, to run advanced face detection and recognition at the edge.
A video management system (VMS) is the center of a complete video surveillance operation. Long ago, surveillance systems consisted of closed-circuit television (CCTV), where cameras locally transmitted signals to a central recorder, and required a monitor for each camera. In modern times, video surveillance went digital using IP networks to connect IP cameras to VMS’ for recording, playback, and management of all recorded footage. The system can be accessed remotely and footage is easier to comb through using digital files as opposed to analog tapes of the past. With the dawn of computer vision and artificial intelligence (AI), VMS’ have grown even smarter by adding active detection triggers like perimeter intrusion detection, license plate recognition, color detection, and facial recognition.
Axis has its own popular VMS, Axis Camera Station Pro. This open platform is a natural fit for software-based solutions written for Axis devices. Using Axis Camera Station Pro as your VMS with Axis cameras makes sense as it is a free tool for use with Axis hardware, thereby helping lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) for the surveillance system.
Axis Camera Station Pro is powerful, yet easy to operate. It offers an intuitive user interface so that personnel can quickly master the basics and explore the depth of functionality. Out-of-the-box this VMS enables: video surveillance, security and access control, search functionality, and privacy features, complete with a mobile app for remote monitoring. Despite its name, the Axis Camera Station is not only compatible with Axis cameras, it also supports other Axis hardware like intercoms, AV recorders, and wearables.
FaceMe® Security integration with Axis Camera Station Pro enables Axis customers to improve access control management with instant pop-up notifications of VIPs, employees, or blocklisted individuals directly from their familiar VMS user interface. By using highly accurate face recognition for identity verification, security and access control is strengthened over security cards or keys that can be stolen, transferred, or lost.
With ACAP enabling FaceMe® Security on its Axis ARTPEC-8 SoC powered cameras, FaceMe®’s face detection and face template extraction can now be done at the edge, running directly on the camera. ACAP cameras reduce the overall workload and effectively save up to 66% on the facial recognition Workstation, thus improving overall performance of FaceMe® Security and allowing support for more cameras.
In addition to improved performance, the ACAP integration means more FaceMe® features like person-of-interest detection, group tagging and management, and visitor summaries can be seamlessly layered on top of existing video feeds.
The collaboration between Axis Communications and CyberLink FaceMe® developers has resulted in the most advanced AI-based facial recognition algorithms being able to run on key commercial security hardware like IP cameras.
This partnership provides added value to customers, with solutions enabling more efficiency and new capabilities. It will be interesting to see what other advances come from integrating continuously improving technologies like FaceMe® SDK, FaceMe® Security, Axis Camera Station Pro VMS, ACAP, the Axis ARTPEC-8 SoC, and future network cameras from Axis.