The underlying idea of this project is to develop a novel networked audio sensor, the PTZ-microphone, for video monitoring systems. One PTZ-microphone will be a networked audio node behaving like a PTZ camera, i.e. it will be able to focus on sound from d ifferent directions and track moving sound-sources. The PTZ-microphone will have the ability to interact with one or several cameras, thus enabling audio-video synergy in processing. With the PTZ-microphone solution, the currently provided video functiona lity will be made available for audio also.
In short, the main innovations that will come out of this project are:
1) A new type of networked audio sensor, the PTZ-microphone, providing remote and directional audio capture for video monitoring systems.
2) A system that is compatible with existing video monitoring infrastructure and protocols.
3) A system providing audio capture in situations where existing audio solutions come short.
4) Software defined solution incorporating:
- Simultaneous listening and recording of live audio from multiple spatial positions
- Control of PTZ-microphones by cameras and vice versa
- Tracking of audio sources and spatial sweeps for audio event detection
- Audio event scheduled acquisition
- Privacy protection through au dio analytics and spatial exclusion of forbidden-listening areas
- New audio-video synergy methods
- Full system functionality in real-time and in post-processing