Apparatus for automated monitoring of facial images and a process therefor

An apparatus for automated monitoring of facial images comprising:

• a box-shaped cabinet formed from a conductive material comprising a top portion, a bottom portion, side portions extending therebetween, and a first opening extending through one of the side portions;
• at least one video capturing device enclosed in the cabinet for continuously capturing videos comprising a lens mounted to and covering the first opening of the cabinet;
• at least one processing unit enclosed in the cabinet;
• and
• at least one transmitter operatively connected to the processing unit through a second opening of the cabinet,
• wherein the at least one processing unit is configured to:
• analyze frames of videos from the video capturing device frame by frame using Haar classifier image calculations applied to each frame captured by the video capturing device to detect a captured frame including a human facial image;
• when the captured frame including the human facial image is identified, generate a cropped and normalized version of the captured frame by removing portions of the frame other than the human facial image and resizing the version of the frame such that the human facial image conforms to a predetermined size;
• capture date and time information for the captured frame;
• and
• after the cropped and normalized version of the frame is generated and when network connectivity is present, cause the at least one transmitter to automatically transmit in real time the cropped and normalized version of the frame and the date and time information for the frame to at least one predefined storage unit operating in unattended mode, and to which the cabinet is operatively connected, and
• wherein the bottom portion of the cabinet is provided with a slot for an RJ45 connector to attach a LAN cable for transfer of the cropped and normalized version of the frame to an off-site storage unit in an unattended mode, and for preserving the cropped and normalized version of the frame in said off-site storage unit for investigation and analysis instantaneously or when required.

A process for automated monitoring of facial images for surveillance purposes in a monitoring apparatus, comprising:

• continuously capturing videos using a video capturing device;
• analyzing each frame of the captured video frame by frame using a Haar classifier image calculation mechanism for identifying a captured frame including a human face image,
• when the captured frame including the human face image is identified, generating a cropped and normalized version of the captured frame by removing portions of the frame other than the human facial image and resizing the version of the frame, such that the human facial image conforms to a predetermined size;
• capturing date and time information of the captured frame including the human facial image;
• and
• after the cropped and normalized version of the frame is generated and when network connectivity is present, automatically and immediately transmitting the cropped and normalized version of the frame and the captured date and time information to a predefined off site storage unit operating in an unattended mode, using a wi-fi dongle or network cable for investigation and analysis instantaneously or as and when required,
• wherein the video capture device is positioned within a cabinet formed from a conductive material comprising a top portion, a bottom portion, side portions extending therebetween, and a first opening extending through one of the side portions, and
• wherein the video capturing device comprises a lens mounted to and covering the first opening of the cabinet.