Utility Inc. announced today that they collaborated with Sony Imaging Products & Solutions Inc. to develop Smart Patrolling, the first in-car camera video system with artificial intelligence (AI). Smart Patrolling will supplement conventional license plate reader (LPR) technology for law enforcement vehicles by providing a cost-effective solution that can be delivered to entire fleets, rather than a handful of vehicles.
Smart Patrolling is the only solution that uses AI to achieve license plate capture through an in-car video system. This feature, which is an add-on to existing Rocket IoT™ Vehicle video systems, frees officers from keying in license plate numbers and significantly minimizes driver distraction.
“We are excited to collaborate with Utility in the development of Smart Patrolling solution,” said Satoshi Kanemura, Senior General Manager at Sony Imaging Products & Solutions, Inc. “At Sony, we strive to develop innovative solutions for our customers and for that reason, we are proud to collaborate with a forward-thinking company like Utility, Inc. that develops incredible technology for police and other first responders. It is an excellent match with Sony’s new innovative AI-based solution backed by many years of experience in the field of image recognition and processing.”
Smart Patrolling integrates fluidly with Utility`s cloud-based evidence management platform, AVaiL Web™. The value of AI used in Smart Patrolling for a police department grows as more vehicles use the technology. With Smart Patrolling as an add-on to the Rocket IoT™ In-Car Video System, entire departments can be outfitted with License Plate reading capabilities.
“Smart Patrolling is a game changer for law enforcement. For many years LPR technology has been inaccessible to all but a handful of first responders. By leveraging our company’s combined capabilities in communications, software, and AI, Utility is rewriting the LPR script for our nation’s first responders with Sony,” said Ted Davis, CEO of Utility, Inc. “Today we are announcing license plate reading as an add-on to our tremendously successful Rocket IoT™ In-Car Video System. Soon our partner departments will be able to embed license plate meta-data into vehicle and body worn camera video automatically, notify their drivers of hot list plates, and collaborate with other departments for investigations – all through AVaiL Web™.”
In addition to Smart Patrolling, Utility is in the preliminary stages of developing recognition technologies designed for fixed as well as mobile applications with Sony, to enhance response to amber and silver alerts, and to cross reference to known criminal databases through the use of license plate information.
Utility and Sony are exhibiting (BOOTH #2511) Smart Patrolling at the 2018 International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in Orlando, FL from October 7th-9th.