MANUAL VOICE ANNOTATIONS FOR CCTV REPORTING AND INVESTIGATION

• US 20090290847A1
• Filed: 05/20/2008
• Published: 11/26/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Sathav, Vasanth
• Granted Patent: US 8,542,981 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 386/278
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/034 on discs G11B27/036, G11B27/038 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/18 Closed-circuit television [CCTV] systems, i.e. systems in which the video signal is not broadcast

Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods for adding voice annotations to CCTV video to aid in incident reporting and investigation. Reviewers and investigators are provided with the ability to record their impressions of an incident by encoding overlapped audio tracks on to a video clip. These overlapped tracks could be multiple in number, enabled or disabled by the listener or subsequent reviewer, without tampering with the content of the originally recorded video or audio. Each audio track represents a voice annotation, and may be assigned to a hierarchical level. The reviewer is provided with the ability to review the video clip along with existing voice annotations while recording the new voice annotation. The resultant overlapped clip file could be made proprietary or stored using a common-codec (like MPEG, MJPEG, AVI, etc) and may be stored on a computer-readable medium.

Claims

1. ) A method for annotating a video recording of an incident, comprising:

reviewing recorded video footage of an incident;

recording a first voice annotation from a first reviewer describing events occurring in the recorded video footage of the incident;

overlaying the first voice annotation over the recorded video footage, such that the first voice annotation is synchronized with the events occurring in the recorded video footage of the incident;

recording a second voice annotation from a second reviewer while playing back the recorded video footage in synchronization with the first voice annotation; and

playing back the recorded video footage in synchronization with one or both voice annotations.

2. ) The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the recorded video footage on a computer-readable medium.

3. ) The method of claim 2, further comprising:

creating a video clip, said video clip comprising a selected plurality of portions of the recorded video footage;

recording the first voice annotation describing events occurring in the video clip;

overlaying the first voice annotation over the video clip, such that the first voice annotation is synchronized with the events occurring in the video clip;

recording the second voice annotation from the second reviewer while playing back the video clip in synchronization with the first voice annotation;

overlaying the second voice annotation over the video clip, such that the second voice annotation is synchronized with the events occurring in the video clip as well as with the first voice annotation;

storing the video clip along with the overlaid first and second voice annotations on a computer-readable medium; and

playing back the recorded video footage in synchronization with one or both voice annotations.

4. ) The method of claim 3, further comprising:

overlaying a plurality of voice annotations from a plurality of reviewers over the video clip while playing back the video clip in synchronization with any combination of existing voice annotations, such that the plurality of voice annotations is synchronized with events occurring in the video clip as well as said existing voice annotations; and

selecting any combination of the plurality of voice annotations to be played back in synchronization with the video clip.

5. ) The method of claim 4, wherein selection of any combination of the voice annotations is performed via a user interface on a computer terminal.

6. ) The method of claim 4, further comprising:

assigning a hierarchy to each of the plurality of voice annotations; and

selectively playing back the video clip in synchronization with one or more of the plurality of voice annotations within a specific hierarchy.

7. ) The method of claim 4, further comprising:

storing the recorded video footage or the video clip in MPEG, MJPEG, AVI, or an equivalent open-source or proprietary file format.

8. ) The method of claim 7, further comprising:

embedding the plurality of voice annotations within the video clip as a plurality of audio tracks that can be selectively muted or activated by a reviewer.

9. ) The method of claim 7, further comprising:

storing the plurality of voice annotations as a plurality of separate audio files that are cross-referenced to each other and to the video.

10. ) The method of claim 4, further comprising

digitally signing the first, second, or plurality of voice annotations using a unique digital signature for each corresponding reviewer.

11. ) A method for providing Hierarchical Embedded Investigation Accounts (HEIA), the method comprising:

recording video footage of an incident, said video footage being recorded by a CCTV camera;

storing the video footage on a first storage medium;

retrieving the stored video footage and adding a portion of the video footage that is relevant to an investigation of the incident into a video clip;

storing the video clip on a second storage medium;

recording a first voice annotation from a first reviewer of the video clip describing events occurring in the video clip;

said first voice annotation being encoded over the video clip such that the first voice annotation can be played back in synchronization with the video clip;

recording a second voice annotation from a second reviewer of the video clip describing events occurring in the video clip, said second voice annotation being recorded while reviewing the video clip in synchronization with the first voice annotation; and

playing back the video clip with a choice of muting or unmuting either of the first and second voice annotations.

12. ) The method of claim 11, further comprising:

storing the video clip along with the first and second voice annotations on the second storage medium;

providing the video clip to a plurality of subsequent reviewers of the video clip, said subsequent reviewers being able to record a plurality of subsequent voice annotations describing the incident, said plurality of subsequent voice annotations being recorded while reviewing the video clip in synchronization with either or both of the first, second, and any existing voice annotations; and

playing back the video clip with a choice of muting or unmuting any combination of the first, second, and plurality of subsequent voice annotations.

13. ) The method of claim 12, further comprising:

assigning a hierarchy to each of the plurality of voice annotations; and

selectively playing back the video clip in synchronization with one or more voice annotations within a specific hierarchy.

14. ) The method of claim 11, wherein the ability to selectively mute either of the voice annotations is provided via a user interface on a computer terminal.

15. ) The method of claim 11, further comprising:

storing the recorded video footage or the video clip in MPEG, MJPEG, AVI, or an equivalent open-source or proprietary file format; and

encrypting the recorded video footage, the video clip, and the corresponding voice annotations using any proprietary encrypting mechanism.

16. ) The method of claim 11, further comprising

digitally signing the first, second, or plurality of voice annotations using a unique digital signature for each corresponding reviewer.

17. ) A system for annotating a video recording of an incident, comprising:

a CCTV camera that records video footage of an incident;

a first storage unit for storing the recorded video footage;

a first logic unit enabling the generation of a video clip, the video clip comprising a plurality of portions of the recorded video footage;

a first input device on a computer for recording a first voice annotation describing events occurring in the video clip while reviewing said video clip;

a second logic unit for overlaying the first voice annotation over the video clip, such that the first voice annotation is synchronized with the events occurring in the video clip;

a second input device for recording a second voice annotation from a second reviewer while playing back the video clip with the first voice annotation;

a third logic unit for overlaying the second voice annotation over the video clip, such that the second voice annotation is synchronized with the video clip and the first voice annotation; and

a user interface for playing back the video clip together in synchronization with one or both of the first and second voice annotations.

18. ) The system of claim 17, further comprising:

a fourth logic unit for overlaying a plurality of voice annotations from a plurality of reviewers over the video clip while playing back the video clip with the first, second, or any existing voice annotations, such that the plurality of voice annotations is synchronized with the video clip as well as with said existing voice annotations; and

a user interface for playing back the video clip together in synchronization with any combination of the plurality of voice annotations.

19. ) The system of claim 18, further comprising:

a storage unit for storing the recorded video footage or the video clip in MPEG, MJPEG, AVI, or all equivalent open-source or proprietary file format.

20. ) The system of claim 18, further comprising:

a unique digital signature for each corresponding reviewer, said unique digital signature being embedded in the corresponding voice annotation.

21. ) A security system for reporting incidents recorded with a CCTV camera and using Hierarchical Embedded Investigation Accounts (HEIA), the system comprising:

a video clip of an incident recorded by a security camera;

a storage unit to store the video clip;

logic that enables a plurality of users to play back the video clip and to record a plurality of Hierarchical Embedded Investigation Accounts (HEIA), each HEIA being a voice annotation describing the incident, said HEIAs further being overlaid over the video recording as a plurality of audio tracks in synchronization with the video clip; and

logic that enables said plurality of users to select one or more of the plurality of HEIAs in any combination to be played back along with the video clip while recording a subsequent HEIA.