The following is an OPEN letter to hotel groups indicating how LPR can be used with existing cameras and system, if integrated, intelligent imaging is added!

I would like to expand on the I-CUBE vision for a typical hotel group, for example, SUN INTERNATIONAL’S SUN CITY.  The guest makes a booking, indicating their license plate number as NP123.

When NP123 arrives at any of the 8 entrances, immediately a welcome board displays a welcome message and directs Mr & Mrs Smith to, firstly a reserved parking, and then to reception.

A message is sent to reception showing a past picture of Mr & Mrs Smith, so they can be welcomed by name as they arrive.

House keeping is automatically informed and room confirmed ready.

When Mr. Smith walks into the casino, being a MVG member the casino marketing manager is made aware of Mr. Smith’s arrival (as all MVG members are enrolled in the Facial Recognition database) via a PDA.  The barman is informed to prepare a Dirty Martini, Mr. Smith’s favourite drink.

Unfortunately while at the casino, the Smiths car is stolen and the criminal attempts to leave the hotel. However, while the car colour and shape matched, and the license plate was the same, the face of the driver was not the same and security immediately arrested the criminals and returned the car.

Before handing over the criminals, they are found to have been involved with 7 other criminal events in the area, which is then handed over to the police as supporting evidence so they are not immediately released.  The criminals are enrolled in the 3D neural network facial database so that if they ever come back an alarm is immediately activated and they can be followed.

Mrs Smith had left her GAMBLING DAY CARD in the car, which the criminals handed on to an associate to collect the money in the card.  When the criminal went to the claim the money in the card, her face was compared to the face of the person who was issued the car earlier that day, and the person who had been using the card throughout the day.  Of course, when none of the faces associated with the card matched the person who wanted the money, appropriate action was taken and the criminal was apprehended.

By reviewing whom the person was associated with, a link was obtained to the criminals involved with the car theft and other criminal activities, allowing the person to be charged with a number of outstanding warrants.    

The next day the local gambling board wanted to know about all incidents in the casino.  The gambling board authorities were able to review the above incident, plus take note of the 35 banned gamblers, which were removed before entry to the casino, and the 3 people who had enrolled in the SUN INTERNATIONAL SELF BAN PROGRAM.  Two of the 3 people who had self-banned themselves had also banned themselves from ALL CASINOS in Gauteng, and the gambling board members could see that the TEMPLATES of the people banned had automatically been sent to the appropriate casinos, preventing any banned person from gambling.

At 7 am the hotel security staff were automatically notified that 4 vehicles had been in the parking area for longer than 7 days, along with the vehicle colour, shape and a picture of the driver allowing them to find the car and take appropriate action. 

The SUN INTERNATIONAL delivery web site allows any authorised person to see when a vehicle arrived and departed, and select people add and remove vehicles, which are allowed entry and exit without being delayed.  

At 8 am all the shops in the hotel area were notified of the last 24 hours traffic, indicating what time staff members came onto duty, when security personal went past the store, allowing them to immediately follow up any activity either in or around their stores.          

At 9 am all stores, the casino and the hotel are updated with the latest WANTED DATABASES, for manual (check, credit card, returns, etc.) and automatic identification of UNDESIRABLE PEOPLE.

At 11 am the SMITHS depart, having had the car colour, shape, license plate and driver verified on exit!  They automatically received a THANK YOU SMS from the HOTEL, whishing them a safe trip.

At the end of the money, those utilising the information gained from the system are charged 3c per transaction, covering all the hardware, software, cameras, maintenance and support required to keep the system operational 24/7/365.

If you are interested in assisting in presenting the above vision to selected hotel groups, please let me know how we can work together to bring this to the right peoples attention?

Please note, that all of the above utilises existing hardware and systems where possible, just adding the integrated, intelligent imaging software!  

Smarter cars: Today's police cruisers are rolling databases

Once upon a time, the average police officer driving a black-and-white had a radio, a siren, a red flashing light and a partner.

Now, when cops hit the road, technology rides shotgun.

"I got the toolbar bigger here," Trooper Gregory J. Krafft announces victoriously to a co-worker who is walking past his cruiser in the state police office parking lot in Bridgeport Township.

Krafft points at the newly up-sized icons on the screen mounted to his dash. He touches one of them, and a license plate-tracking database opens.

That database can tell Krafft a lot about any license plate number he enters. A voice in the computer tells him the make and model of the vehicle. The registered owner's name pops up, along with a record of traffic violations.

If the person's name is similar to the name of someone with a warrant, the voice says, "Wanted person." It also can say "stolen," "expired plate" and "suspended license."

Today's police cruiser is a far cry from your father's cherry-top. Nationwide, squad cars are adding laser-guided tracking devices, automatic license plate recognition systems, mobile forensics labs and the ability to share and retrieve data, audio and video.

If you're pulled over, chances are the officer already knows all about you and your vehicle before asking to see your license and registration. In his license identification system, Krafft can find out a driver's record of offenses -- and whether the driver is lying when he answers Krafft's question, "So, do you get pulled over a lot?"

Having a driver's record at the scene makes the warning-versus-ticket decision less subjective, Krafft said. Having an automatic e-ticket form makes writing up the driver a lot less time consuming.

And having a ticket-printer in the arm rest is just kind of cool.

"Everything is so much faster," Krafft said.

Smarter cars

With every patrol car in every Saginaw County law enforcement agency equipped with the same computers, there's no way to know how many full-time officers an agency would need to replace the work it saves in digital performance, he said.

Paramus, N.J., Deputy Police Chief Richard Cary calls the technology now deployed in police vehicles "force multipliers."

While they may not fully replace a Starsky-and-Hutch-style real-life partner, technology is making police work safer by feeding cops information at a pace unheard of just a few years ago, he said.

Developers of new crime-fighting gear for police cars are moving away from the Batmobile, with its atomic batteries and whiz-bang gadgetry, and toward the Knight Rider's KITT, with its artificial intelligence. They're not making cop cars faster or equipping them with weapons. They're making them smarter.

Some worry, however, that all this technology might become a distraction to officers, particularly when they are driving at high speeds. Investigators are examining whether a phone call, text messages and an e-mail distracted the state trooper who was driving New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine at 91 mph when his Chevy Suburban crashed April 12.

The audio features and touch-screens of Saginaw County's computers help keep officers' hands and eyes on the road, Krafft said. But nothing replaces the wisdom patrol officers preach: Pull over when you're too distracted to drive.

"It's definitely multitasking," Krafft said. "You've really got to pay attention."

Hands on the wheel

Working to address concerns about technological distractions is Andrew Kun, co-director of Project 54 (named for one of TV's most famous police cars, the cruiser from the 1960s show "Car 54, Where Are You?") at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. The project is aimed at improving the interface between police officers and their in-car technology, using among other things voice commands that allow officers to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.

"Police cars are pretty busy places. There's a lot of equipment that is indispensable for everyday work but can distract from the primary task, which is driving," said Kun, who envisions a wholly integrated car that could, for example, read a license plate, check it for violations, note its speed and location and print a ticket, all at a voice command from the officer.

The project, which the Department of Justice funds, focuses on making the most efficient use of police officers' time while improving safety. And if it leads to more drivers getting tickets, at least you're on your way faster.

Mike Fabbri is director of data solutions operations at Motorola -- a company that, in addition to making cell phones and other electronics, has helped police communicate for decades.

He has helped transform a Chevy Suburban into a state-of-the-art "command vehicle" using the latest communications, video and wireless networking and computing power.

"Improving situational awareness is probably the No. 1 driver for this technology," Fabbri said. "What contributes to the anxiety, the risk, the fear is not knowing what's behind that door. So, to the extent you can provide information ... the better decisions they are able to make and the safer they are."

The Motorola command vehicle is all about data collection and networking. It can carry multiple video cameras, stream video from cameras in the field or in other vehicles and read and gather information about license plates by the dozens.

A wireless network ties together all this, plus traditional voice communications to all similarly equipped vehicles as they approach crime scenes.

Costly technology

The communications and computing power doesn't come cheap, though. "Starter kits" cost between $150,000 and $250,000, and systems for larger municipalities, such as the one deployed in Los Angeles, can cost millions.

A similar first responder surveillance system is available from Firetide, with headquarters near San Jose, Calif. That company's product involves the installation of camera nodes in high crime areas that beam signals into police vehicles.

When officers drive into the vicinity, "the node recognizes that they are there and automatically feeds the video. As they patrol, they will be able to view video in real time of what's going on. If they see suspicious activity, they know how to approach," said Ksenia Coffman, marketing manager for Firetide.

Used in Dallas and Rockford, Ill., the systems vary in cost depending on the size of the surveillance targets. Individual nodes sell for $1,800 to $3,000.

Researchers at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, meanwhile, are taking their experience in designing cockpits for helicopters and applying it to police vehicles. They are working with Carbon Motors, an Atlanta-based startup that hopes to build the first line of vehicles specifically manufactured for law enforcement.

Cockpit, not a seat

William Santana Li, chairman and CEO of Carbon, said the police cars of today are modified versions of regular cars; they're awkwardly configured at best, dangerous to drive at worst.

"Georgia Tech has a skill set here that has not been applied to motor vehicles. We are marrying what we know from the automotive sector with the aerospace sector so that we have literally a cockpit," he said.

"We've spent a lot of time with law enforcement agencies and come up with a list of critical requirements. We're starting with a clean sheet of paper," he said.

He hopes to have the vehicles on the road within five years at a cost of $50,000 or so -- about what a fully equipped cruiser costs today.

Others are pursuing better ways to enhance data. Sarnoff Corp. of Princeton, N.J., has developed the VideoDetective, a device that serves as a mobile video lab. It can take images -- from a bank surveillance camera, for example -- and enhance them to help identify suspects.

Mike Matisa, product manager for law enforcement products at Sarnoff, said the devices, which look like overgrown laptops, are available to local law enforcement agencies through the Department of Homeland Security's technology-transfer program.

Coherent Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., has a laser forensic unit called the TracER that can help police find clues like minute fibers, bodily fluids or fingerprints.

"There's been a huge change in the technology that has allowed us to bring the size, weight and price down," said Peter Schuman, director of investor relations at Coherent. The units currently cost about $45,000.

One of the most Batmobile-worthy devices is undergoing final testing by the Virginia Beach, Va.-based firm StarChase. The StarChase system actually fires a homing device that sticks to fleeing vehicles so that authorities can track them using satellite technology.

Sean Sawyer, president of StarChase, said his company hopes the system will allow officers "to convert a dangerous, high-speed pursuit scenario into a more deliberate and controlled interdiction strategy."

No word yet on cost. v