Development of an Intelligent Fisheye Camera

Intelligent cameras, or smart cameras as they are often referred to, appear ubiquitously in our everyday lives, both at home and at work. In our pockets, bags, cars and homes we are now experiencing and interacting with a new generation of smart cameras that far surpass the ability to merely capture images - they can provide high-level descriptions of the environment and analyse what they see. Recently, researchers at De Montfort University have developed a low-cost, low-power intelligent camera system that incorporates a 2.8" touchscreen and a fisheye lens, is capable of capturing visual environment data, performing algorithms to extract metrics and wirelessly transmit them to the cloud for further analysis. Having the advantage of a short focal length and wide field of view, our fisheye camera system can provide information for a multidisciplinary audience including image processing, camera technology and embedded systems, and support a wide variety of applications such as surveillance, home monitoring, motion analysis, facial identification and intelligent transportation systems. This paper describes a first generation prototype camera system that gathers luminance data by capturing High Dynamic Range (HDR) imagery that is comparable to the data acquired with costly and cumbersome research equipment. The paper also explores the requirements for, benefits of, and challenges faced when developing an even smarter intelligent camera system.