Thinking that Day 1 was going to be “as good as it gets” tech-wise was a clear misjudgment on my part. Day 2 brought the SIA New Product Showcase winners and I was all too happy to see that two of the exhibitors we selected to visit were proudly displaying their ribbons. As on Day 1, attendees not only visited the larger exhibits but significant booth traffic also found the main hall’s far aisles and the [almost] remote Connected Security and Emerging Tech Expos.
My day began, however, not on the show floor but at the Security Industry Association’s standards meetings where a new breed of high security door monitoring and LiDAR-based space monitoring were discussed as new perimeter and intrusion detection system categories. We’ve covered trends of LiDAR’s color-coded point clouds representing recognized objects through open source software with precision where they may be mistaken in video. Australian security hardware company FSH has pioneered the use of multiple magnetic sensors in a single door sensor improving on “high security” door status.
I also couldn’t help but notice a falloff in attendance by Asian visitors and exhibitors that seemed to follow the effects of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration last year on Chinese-made goods (previously covered multiple times in SecurityInfoWatch as well as the June issue of Security Business magazine). Those who attended CES 2019 in January also noticed a slight decrease at that show, which may be confirmed by upcoming attendance audits. But where the Chinese entrepreneurs may have reduced participation in both shows, there were innovative and growing exhibitors new to ISC this year. Making money at security is alive and well, not only in video processing, but in mass notification, perimeter security, public safety situation awareness and cloud infrastructure.
Here’s a few of the companies I had a chance to visit on Day 2 of the show:
Camcloud
It is no accident that Andre Fontana’s Twitter handle is @realmrcloud; together with CEO Brendan Harrison, Ottawa-based Camcloud combines a slick pinch and zoom, drag to modify multi-camera view, with a mobile device user interface. As with Verkada (covered here in our Day 1 report), Camcloud improves on provisioning cloud-connected cameras. The main difference lies in deep support of multiple camera manufacturers; including the Hanwha 360-degree camera’s individual quadrant dewarping, real-time object detection and event timeline. Camcloud resells through channel partners that enjoy their own customized, white-labeled web service portal.
Reconasense
Having just received a SIA New Product Showcase Award for their public safety situation awareness platform, Reconasense demonstrated multiple sensors revealing an event’s story on detailed location overlay maps. One of the sensors is EAGL’s latest generation, energy-based gunshot detection sensors, which form an invisible, wireless net around a facility, corporate campus or city. The EAGL sensor platform matches energy signature to known weapons in their database, often distinguishing between different caliber rounds on the same weapon. You may recall our Day 1 coverage of Athena Security and Zeroeyes, which are also identifying weapons, but through advanced, AI-based object recognition.
SafeKard
SafeKard, another SIA New Product Showcase Award (Mass Communications) winner leverages LoRaWAN or Low Power, Wide Area (LPWA) networking protocol designed to wirelessly connect battery operated IoT devices. LoRaWAN has gained high acceptance and technology improvement in smart parking individual vehicle spaces.
The “device” in this case is an ultra-thin ID Card Sleeve that is armed when the ID card is inserted and transmits a personal alarm when an inconspicuous side button is depressed. The location of the “call for help” is transmitted rapidly through miniature repeaters, capable of up to five miles in an unobstructed outdoor use case. The student or employee ID is displayed in seconds within an emergency operations center and may be configured to trigger mass notification systems. The location “resolution” is up to the facility manager; more repeaters inside a building will provide greater precision, depending on building construction. In most cases, six repeaters can provide location data within several rooms of a K-12 school building. Check out the live video.
Shadowtrack 24/7
Did you know that an “eLock” is an electronic rapid access solution leveraging fingerprints and other biometrics or mobile device digital key? It appears to be an ordinary padlock but is digitally accessible and reports a location to a platform. Shadowtrack 24/7 now offers an expanded range of affordable GPS asset and fleet trackers attachable to mobile and fixed assets. From a semi-tractor trailer container to compact cash transportable safes, these GPS devices are integrated onto the company’s web-based ST247Spot Tracking Platform, giving users a single view of their supply chain. Check out the live video.
Siklu
Dubbed the “wireless fiber” transceiver or “wireless bulldozer,” Israel-based Siklu has been providing PoE-based point/multipoint wireless multi-gigabit throughput over 60/70/80GHz millimeter wave transmission. In recent years, Siklu transmitted “Overwatch” video surveillance during a Super Bowl LIVE event in Houston, an NFL fan fest with 1.5 million attendees. In fact, the transmission of thermal imaging of a medical emergency in a crowd of 10,000 concert attendees has made Siklu a go-to technology for extending fiber optic cable wirelessly.
Their latest product at ISC West 2019 is a millimeter wave, line of sight transceiver with throughput rivaling multimode fiber optic cable in a package about the size of three stacked smartphones. As with previous devices, this incredibly compact PoE transceiver can be used to power outdoor IP cameras, simplifying traffic and transportation monitoring in a smart city use case.
About the Author:
Steve Surfaro is Chairman of the Public Safety Working Group for the Security Industry Association (SIA) and has more than 30 years of security industry experience. He is a subject matter expert in smart cities and buildings, cybersecurity, forensic video, data science, command center design and first responder technologies. Follow him on Twitter, @stevesurf.
