Video analytics are slowly introduced into the market with museums and historical sites becoming prime

clients for the technology. The technology can automatically alert authorities to visitors getting too close or

if an object is removed from its usual place. “This way, the burden of monitoring multiple camera feeds is

removed, allowing the operator to work much more proactively in terms of responding to actual incidents.

Video analytics can also be used to detect objects that have been left behind within a scene, alerting the

operator to questionable packages,” Makosinski said. Also, it is impossible to watch, say, 150 cameras at

once, said Ken Platt, Facility Director of the Butler Institute of American Art.

Until recently, wireless alarms were mostly called upon, hidden behind paintings or in exhibit cases,

to protect collections. “But intelligent video can allow visitors to move freely within the space and alert the

security personnel in the control room and the guard in the exhibit galleries only when someone

attempts to touch or remove the protected object,” Lazuta said. “Protective zones are drawn around

objects, and alerts can be sent also in the form of an e-mail or a text message.”

Proper attention in installation and configuration should be paid to prevent false alarms. “Anything from

a reflection or a shadow can set off an alarm if it is not programmed to ignore these movements,” Lazuta

said. "There are solutions uniqely programmed for museums to elimate these false alarms."

<A&S, 2011, Jan>