Artificial Intelligence is the hottest tech topic of the moment, but in the field of home and industrial security, AI is not exactly new. In fact, the main feature of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning platforms is their ability to analyse huge amounts of data and detections in real time, including those collected and generated by security systems.

INTEGRATED SECURITY SYSTEMS

It should be considered in this sense that a modern security system is born from the synergy of various components: intrusion, fire prevention, video surveillance, increasingly also safety. All these components integrate and can pool a large number of detections, alarms, events, video recordings, environmental parameters detected through sensors.

All this information represents a concrete and objective basis on which the Artificial Intelligence performs its analyses. In particular, to highlight both the ‘normal’ behaviour of the monitored environments and people, and the anomalous deviations from this baseline of behaviour. Such deviations could indicate events to which the security system must react.

In other words, the analysis functions brought by AI play a dual role. They help both in the real-time analysis of information, with a capacity to process data infinitely superior to that of man. But they also help in the ‘historical’ analysis of events, correlating information from various sources – internal but also external to the security system. This makes it possible to indicate, for example, which monitored areas have a higher probability of potentially dangerous activity, based on factors such as time of day, historical crime data and environmental conditions. These assessments are refined over time, as AI algorithms ‘learn’ from experience

AI and access control

AI has also showed its usefulness in access management. Access control systems can use AI to recognise suspicious behaviour patterns or anomalies in authorised accesses. For instance, an algorithm can detect if an access code is entered abnormally or if it is used at unusual times, signalling potential security threats.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE and Videosurveillance

The field in which Artificial Intelligence applied to security has the longest and most solid ‘history’ is video surveillance. AI algorithms are able to accurately recognise objects, people, abnormal behaviour and significant events. Alerting surveillance personnel when necessary.

In this approach, one of the most ‘popular’ functions is object and person recognition. By analysing video from multiple cameras in real time, AI systems can alert security personnel to the presence of potentially dangerous objects in the monitored area, such as an abandoned suitcase or backpack in an airport or train station. Similarly, facial recognition allows people to be identified and tracked in real time, facilitating the monitoring of suspicious persons in crowded environments.

BURGLAR ALARM SYSTEM WITH INTEGRATION OF INTELLIGENT VIDEO ANALYSIS. THE MEDEA CONTROL UNIT AND THE 'VIRTUAL IO' FUNCTION

The integration of AI into intrusion detection systems offers several significant advantages that improve the effectiveness and reliability of protection when alarms are generated.
The VCA COMPONENTAL ‘Perimeter’ function allows the automatic detection of the entry or exit of a target in a specific image area.

Thanks to the Virtual I/O function of the Medea control unit, CCTV devices can dialogue with the burglar alarm system via TCP/IP communication. Events generated by the video analysis of the cameras are managed as ‘inputs’ of the burglar alarm system. In this way, following an alarm event from a camera, it is possible to command a “pre-trigger” which, associated with the event of the corresponding movement sensor (protecting the same portion of the area), generates a general alarm status according to the logic programmed in the burglar alarm control unit.

By integrating AI into intrusion detection systems, higher levels of security can be achieved, making the systems more responsive, adaptable and effective