• Alex Savin
• April 6, 2022
• Share Now

Video Tracking Application – Endless Opportunities for Increasing Productivity

What is a Video Tracking application?

Video tracking is locating an object or multiple objects in successive frames of a video. It allows you to estimate the location of the moving objects over time. The nature of the thing doesn’t matter. You can track people, animals, machine tools, vehicles, and even dust or fluid particles. In a word, everything that moves is visible to an eye or with a microscope. The video tracking application is very extensive, some of which we will describe in this article.

A Video Tracking System Enables You:

• to indicate the location of the object in the video sequence;
• to estimate the motion vector of any object in a video frame;
• to track the location of several definite points in an image;
• to foresee the location of the moving objects based on the previous motion info.

With video object tracking software, you get a powerful means of gathering useful data for your project. Such information can save both your time and effort, thus increasing productivity and taking your business to the next level.

Video Tracking Advantages

Video Tracking Saves Time

As usual, video tracking algorithms work much faster than those object detection. While tracking an object, the user already knows a lot about its appearance from the previous frame. Besides, you can find the direction and speed of its motion. As a result, don’t need much time to predict its location in the next frame. You have to do a small search around to locate the object accurately, whereas, with the detection algorithm, you always start from scratch.

Video Tracking Preserves Identity

Imagine having multiple objects (for instance, people in the crowd) detected in a video frame. With the object detection algorithm, the output you get is numerous rectangles that contain the object. Unfortunately, there’s no identity attached to the object. It will be difficult to say which rectangle corresponds to which object if we take several frames. The video tracking helps establish the identity of the objects across frames.

Occlusion Isn’t a Problem with Video Tracking Application

There are situations when the object on the video gets occluded (partially or completely) by another one. In such a case, the object detection algorithm will most likely fail. A good video tracking algorithm will cope with this problem with ease. It will detect and handle various types of occlusions. As a result, there will be no single video frame where the object will vanish from sight.

Video Tracking Application with Perfect Performance on All Stages

It’s not a secret that video tracking application is a complex processes. Regardless of your industry, it includes three core stages: detection, prediction, and data association.

Detection

It’s necessary carefully choose the right approach for detecting the object of interest in a video frame. First and foremost, need to define the type of camera you need. Needs to be considered both with stationary and moving cameras depending on aims. Next, select the detection algorithm that fully meets the requirements of your project.

Prediction

Take care of the best possible way of predicting the object’s location in the next frame. Does your object move at varying speeds? Is the frame rate low relative to the object’s speed in motion? You have to find the best solution to minimize process and measurement noises.

Data Association

Necessary thoroughly think over every detail of using the predicted locations to associate detections across frames to form tracks. Need to establish all the necessary criteria for evaluating the matches by defining a cost function. Pay much attention to the elimination of unlikely partners. Take into account that the tracked object can leave the field of view, or new objects can appear.

Video Tracking Solutions for Various Business Fields 

Video tracking has a wide range of uses nowadays. The precious data it provides serves various businesses. Below are just a few of the numberless business fields where a video tracking system is helpful.

Retail Stores and Malls

Retail stores and malls employ video tracking to examine the flow of visitors. It allows the staff to track people in motion and analyze their customer behavior. As usual, the main goals are: to rationalize the usage of the floor space; improve the processes that influence visitors’ overall experience; to make better planning and investment decisions. A video tracking system helps improve the customer experience while reducing business costs.

Security Surveillance

Commonly, the need for security is continuously increasing day in and day out. That’s why tracking various objects in the outdoor and the indoor environment becomes a highly important task. Though the equipment for video surveillance isn’t too expensive nowadays, the cost of having human operators is rather high. That’s when a good video tracking system is a real way out. It can track moving vehicles and people to detect suspicious activities requiring immediate action. In case any abnormal activity occurs, an alert is issued.

Chemical and Physical Laboratories

Video tracking is used in various fields related to different sciences. Toxicology, pharmacology, psychopharmacology, drug discovery, molecular biology, genetics, and physics. Video object tracking software can serve as a versatile solution at the core of your lab. It doesn’t matter whether you are tracking dust particles, droplets, or other objects invisible to a naked human eye. With a good video tracking system, you’ll get the much information you need at the end of the experiment.

Behavioral Studies of Animals

Video tracking software is a common part of studying animals today. A video tracking system allows us to track and analyze any animal’s behavior, movement, and activity. It’s a cost-effective solution for all standard behavioral tests. The best thing is that you can track not only a single animal. You can track several objects simultaneously as well. As a result, you get various standard calculations related to object tracking, such as time, distance, average speed, etc. This means that video object tracking provides reliable data and increased productivity.

Manufacturing Industries

It’s not a secret that the manufacturing process is becoming more automated daily. More and more human manual work is being replaced by automation through advanced engineering, computers, and robotics. Video object tracking is an integral part of the automated control process. Real-time video tracking of complex 3D objects is irreplaceable for industrial applications where accuracy, robustness, and run-time performance are vitally important. Thanks to a good video tracking system, the fast and reliable manufacturing process. Sometimes even one service technician is quite enough to operate the process.

Transportation Companies

Unquestionably, the owners of large transportation companies have to keep track of all their vehicles simultaneously effectively. However, it’s almost impossible without an appropriate video tracking system. Real-time object tracking enables the fleet owner (or controller) to view the activity and status of every vehicle. One glance at the dashboard is enough to ensure that the location and speed conform to the planned scenario. So, video tracking helps handle fleet management. Besides, it facilitates better decision-making if something goes wrong.