Manual voice annotations for CCTV reporting and investigation

• US 8,542,981 B2
• Filed: 05/20/2008
• Issued: 09/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Sathav, Vasanth
• Primary Examiner(s): Pwu, Jeffrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lauzon, Thomas C
• Application Number:
  US12/123,946
• Publication Number:
  US 20090290847A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,953 Days
• Field of Search: 386/279, 386/282, 386/285, 386/287, 348/13
• US Class Current: 386/279
• 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:

a closed circuit television (CCTV) camera monitoring a secure area;

a plurality of investigators investigating a crime or accident in the secure area by reviewing recorded video footage from the CCTV camera of the crime or accident in the secure area;

recording a first voice annotation from a first investigator of the plurality of investigators describing events occurring in the recorded video footage of the crime or accident;

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 at least a second voice annotation from a respective at least second investigator of the plurality of investigators investigating the crime or accident while playing back the recorded video footage in synchronization with the first voice annotation;

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

assigning the first and at least second voice annotation to a hierarchy based upon at least one of a reviewer'"'"'s rank, a stage in the investigation and a content of the annotation; and

playing back the first and at least second voice annotations in accordance with the hierarchy where each of the first and at least second voice annotations in the hierarchy are played back individually in synchronism with the recorded video footage.

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 investigator 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 open-source or proprietary video 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 and investigator.

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

recording video footage of a crime or accident, said video footage being recorded by a CCTV camera monitoring a secure area;

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 crime or accident into a video clip;

storing the video clip on a second storage medium;

recording a first voice annotation from a first investigator of a plurality of investigators investigating the crime or accident by reviewing the video clip, the recorded first voice annotation 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 at least a second voice annotation from at least a second investigator of the plurality of investigators investigating the crime or accident by reviewing the video clip, the recorded second voice annotation 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;

assigning the first and at least second voice annotation to a hierarchy based upon at least one of a reviewer'"'"'s rank, a stage in the investigation and a content of the annotation; and

playing back the first and at least second voice annotations in accordance with the hierarchy where each of the first and at least second voice annotations in the hierarchy are played back individually in synchronism with the recorded video footage.

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 crime or accident, 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.