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And who watches the cameras?

Some of your cameras see nothing. And you do not know it.

In a four-thousand-camera installation, on any given Tuesday a few of them are useless: one dirty, one somebody knocked while putting up scaffolding, one frozen since Saturday. It usually comes to light the day the video is needed and is not there. Nobody looks at four thousand images every morning. IRIS does.

What it really costs

The day you need the video it is already too late

A dirty camera bothers nobody. It does not beep, it does not blink, it appears in no report. It still shows as connected, it still fills its tile in the wall, it still writes to the disk. It can stay like that for three weeks and nothing happens. Until the day something does.

Then somebody asks for the video. And the video is there: it was recorded, it takes up disk, it can be exported. What is not there is what needed to be seen. It makes no difference whether it was an accident on the dock, an insurance report, a customer claim or a formal request you have to answer in writing: the file exists and it is useless.

And there is a second bill, a quieter one: every camera that cannot see is a camera that was bought, installed, cabled and is still being maintained. It is still on the inventory, still in the contract, still in the licence. The only thing it has stopped doing is the thing it was bought to do.

This is what a healthy camera looks like

This is what a healthy camera looks like

This is the reference. Nothing that follows is a fault in the place you can see: it is a fault in the camera looking at it. And every one of them is found by comparing against this.

How it knows

The camera does not need to know it is broken

This is not a new box or another cable. It is the camera you already have, looked at by the same IRIS that looks at everything else. It works in three steps, and they are worth understanding because they explain why it works with any camera, from any manufacturer, of any age.

  1. 1

    It remembers how it looked

    On day one IRIS records how that camera looks when it is fine: its framing, its sharpness, its colour, how much light it gives at night. That is its reference, and it belongs to that camera and no other — a camera on the loading dock and one in a lobby have nothing in common, and comparing them to each other would make no sense.

  2. 2

    It sees it in the picture, not in the device

    And this is what changes everything: IRIS asks the camera nothing and does not depend on it being able to diagnose itself. It looks at the picture that arrives, the same way it would look at a person or a lorry. That is why it works exactly the same on a brand-new camera and on one from twelve years ago — and why you do not have to replace a single one to start.

  3. 3

    And it tells nobody until it matters

    A raindrop is not a fault and must not sound like one. Everything carries its own threshold and its own time: the drop has to stay there a good while, the dirt has to get worse over several days, the framing has to have really changed. The urgent ones — covered, turned, no signal — alert straight away. The rest wait for the morning report.

All thirty-four

What IRIS can see about a camera

Each one is a real image with the fault on it — not a screenshot, not a mock-up. They are grouped by what causes them, not by what a technical catalogue calls them: whoever lands here does not know whether theirs is «optical degradation», but they do know whether somebody touched it or something got in the way.

Somebody has touched it9

  • The image is not yesterday’s: it covers something else. Sometimes a knock, sometimes scaffolding, sometimes somebody.

    CAM-901

    It has shifted

    The image is not yesterday’s: it covers something else. Sometimes a knock, sometimes scaffolding, sometimes somebody.

  • Somebody has turned it to face a wall, the ceiling or the ground. It keeps recording; it no longer watches anything.

    CAM-902

    Pointed at the wall

    Somebody has turned it to face a wall, the ceiling or the ground. It keeps recording; it no longer watches anything.

  • A hand, a bag, tape or cardboard over the lens. The simplest sabotage there is, and the fastest to spot.

    CAM-903

    Fully covered

    A hand, a bag, tape or cardboard over the lens. The simplest sabotage there is, and the fastest to spot.

  • Only part is hidden, but it is the part it was watching: the door, the turnstile, the till. The rest of the picture looks fine, which is why nobody notices.

    CAM-904

    Covered where it matters

    Only part is hidden, but it is the part it was watching: the door, the turnstile, the till. The rest of the picture looks fine, which is why nobody notices.

  • Spray, foam or oil applied on top. It does not come off by itself and cannot be cleaned from the ground.

    CAM-905

    Paint on the dome

    Spray, foam or oil applied on top. It does not come off by itself and cannot be cleaned from the ground.

  • A spotlight, a torch or a laser aimed at the lens. The camera is still alive and nothing can be seen.

    CAM-906

    Blinded

    A spotlight, a torch or a laser aimed at the lens. The camera is still alive and nothing can be seen.

  • A sharp movement or repeated shaking. It may be an attempt to pull it off, or a mount that has been loose for months.

    CAM-907

    A knock on the mount

    A sharp movement or repeated shaking. It may be an attempt to pull it off, or a mount that has been loose for months.

  • Somebody has reached the equipment. IRIS alerts while it is happening, not once the camera has gone blind. What actually happened is for whoever watches the video to decide.

    CAM-908

    A hand on the lens

    Somebody has reached the equipment. IRIS alerts while it is happening, not once the camera has gone blind. What actually happened is for whoever watches the video to decide.

  • A tool in contact with the mount, the screws or the junction box. This is the alert that arrives before the whole camera is lost.

    CAM-909

    Being taken down

    A tool in contact with the mount, the screws or the junction box. This is the alert that arrives before the whole camera is lost.

Something has got in the way10

  • Dust, mud, grease or salt built up on the optics. It does not happen overnight: it happens over a month.

    CAM-910

    Dirty

    Dust, mud, grease or salt built up on the optics. It does not happen overnight: it happens over a month.

  • A sign, a tarpaulin, a skip or a parked lorry block the area it watched. Nobody did it on purpose and nobody is going to move it.

    CAM-911

    Something new in front

    A sign, a tarpaulin, a skip or a parked lorry block the area it watched. Nobody did it on purpose and nobody is going to move it.

  • Water on the optics long after the rain has stopped. Usually it is the dome, not the rain.

    CAM-912

    Drops that stay

    Water on the optics long after the rain has stopped. Usually it is the dome, not the rain.

  • Filaments in front of the lens. They blur, they reflect at night and they fire detections that are nothing.

    CAM-913

    Cobwebs

    Filaments in front of the lens. They blur, they reflect at night and they fire detections that are nothing.

  • They settle where the infrared light shines and block half the picture. They come back every night; in summer, every single one.

    CAM-914

    Insects on the dome

    They settle where the infrared light shines and block half the picture. They come back every night; in summer, every single one.

  • The tree that was planted small now covers half of it. Nobody notices, because it took two years.

    CAM-915

    The branch has grown

    The tree that was planted small now covers half of it. Nobody notices, because it took two years.

  • A build-up on the dome that will not melt by itself. It is the fault that arrives on the day the camera is needed most.

    CAM-916

    Snow or frost

    A build-up on the dome that will not melt by itself. It is the fault that arrives on the day the camera is needed most.

  • Airborne particles that veil the picture little by little. It is normal in a quarry, a plant or on the coast.

    CAM-917

    Dust and sand

    Airborne particles that veil the picture little by little. It is normal in a quarry, a plant or on the coast.

  • Oil or residue on the optics that distorts more than it blocks. Typical of kitchens, workshops and production lines.

    CAM-918

    Greasy streaks

    Oil or residue on the optics that distorts more than it blocks. Typical of kitchens, workshops and production lines.

  • An organic splat stuck to the dome. It dries, it does not fall off and it always blocks the same patch.

    CAM-919

    Bird droppings

    An organic splat stuck to the dome. It dries, it does not fall off and it always blocks the same patch.

The picture is no longer usable10

  • The picture loses sharpness. It may be the focus, months of vibration, or somebody who touched it.

    CAM-920

    Out of focus

    The picture loses sharpness. It may be the focus, months of vibration, or somebody who touched it.

  • The scene goes black all at once: a light went off, the illuminator failed, or the exposure changed by itself.

    CAM-921

    Gone dark

    The scene goes black all at once: a light went off, the illuminator failed, or the exposure changed by itself.

  • So much light that no detail is left. It is worse than a black image, because it looks like it is working.

    CAM-922

    Blown out

    So much light that no detail is left. It is worse than a black image, because it looks like it is working.

  • Everything tends to grey and things do not separate from the background. It is the first thing to go and the last anybody looks at.

    CAM-923

    Flat, no blacks

    Everything tends to grey and things do not separate from the background. It is the first thing to go and the last anybody looks at.

  • A green, blue or violet cast takes over the whole picture. A red car stops being red, and searching by colour stops working.

    CAM-924

    The colour has gone

    A green, blue or violet cast takes over the whole picture. A red car stops being red, and searching by colour stops working.

  • Electronic noise that buries the detail, almost always at night. It tires whoever watches and misleads whatever analyses.

    CAM-925

    Full of grain

    Electronic noise that buries the detail, almost always at night. It tires whoever watches and misleads whatever analyses.

  • Moisture inside the dome. It cannot be cleaned from outside: it has to be opened, which is why it pays to know before climbing up.

    CAM-926

    Misted from inside

    Moisture inside the dome. It cannot be cleaned from outside: it has to be opened, which is why it pays to know before climbing up.

  • Fine by day, useless by night. For half the hours of the year it is watching nothing at all.

    CAM-927

    No night vision

    Fine by day, useless by night. For half the hours of the year it is watching nothing at all.

  • It is stuck in night mode with the sun high, or it keeps switching back and forth. Colour is lost, and with it the ability to search by colour.

    CAM-928

    Mono at midday

    It is stuck in night mode with the sun high, or it keeps switching back and forth. Colour is lost, and with it the ability to search by colour.

  • No single image looks bad. Compared with the one from a month ago, the camera has been sliding for a month. This is the one you fix before it breaks.

    CAM-929

    Getting worse for weeks

    No single image looks bad. Compared with the one from a month ago, the camera has been sliding for a month. This is the one you fix before it breaks.

The stream is failing5

  • Short cuts, jumps and chunks that never arrive. Every gap is a stretch of time that camera recorded nothing.

    CAM-930

    The stream breaks up

    Short cuts, jumps and chunks that never arrive. Every gap is a stretch of time that camera recorded nothing.

  • There is nothing wrong with this picture, and that is precisely the problem: it has been the same for six hours. The stream arrives, the disk records, and not one car has gone by.

    CAM-931

    Frozen

    There is nothing wrong with this picture, and that is precisely the problem: it has been the same for six hours. The stream arrives, the disk records, and not one car has gone by.

  • Blocks and artefacts eating the detail. The plate you needed cannot be read, and it was not the camera: it was the bandwidth.

    CAM-932

    Blocky

    Blocks and artefacts eating the detail. The plate you needed cannot be read, and it was not the camera: it was the bandwidth.

  • Fixed horizontal or vertical lines. Usually electrical interference or the sensor itself, and cleaning the glass will not shift it.

    CAM-933

    Bands across the picture

    Fixed horizontal or vertical lines. Usually electrical interference or the sensor itself, and cleaning the glass will not shift it.

  • Marks or lines always in the same spot of the image, whatever happens in front. It is the sensor, and no software will fix it.

    CAM-934

    Dots that never move

    Marks or lines always in the same spot of the image, whatever happens in front. It is the sensor, and no software will fix it.

Without waiting for somebody to notice

It inspects all four thousand every day

Nothing has to go off. You schedule an audit — every day, every Sunday, the first of every month, whenever you like — and at the appointed time IRIS looks at every camera in the installation one by one and compares each with how it was.

When it finishes there is a report: which are fine, which have got worse and which cannot see. With each one’s image, time and what is wrong with it. It exports to a spreadsheet, and that is what you hand to whoever maintains the installation so they climb the ladder knowing what they are climbing to.

And it does not cost more

Ask it whatever you like: the licence is per camera

Asking it to alert you when somebody falls and asking it whether that same camera is dirty cost exactly the same, because what you pay for is the camera, not the question. There is no separate maintenance module, no price per thing you want to watch. If the camera is already in IRIS, you already have this.

What people ask

The six questions that always come up

In this order: first whether it works with what is already there, then whether it will fill the day with alerts, and finally what it costs.

  • Does it work with my cameras, or do I have to replace them?

    With the ones you already have, whoever made them. IRIS asks the camera nothing and does not depend on it being able to report that it is broken: it looks at the picture that arrives, the same way it looks at a person or a lorry. A twelve-year-old camera produces a picture, and that is enough. Nothing to replace, no extra box, no new cable.

  • Is this not going to fill my day with alerts?

    No, and that is precisely the design. Everything carries its own threshold and its own time: a raindrop has to stay a good while, dirt has to get worse over several days, the framing has to have really changed and not just caught a gust of wind. Only three things alert immediately: the camera being covered, being turned, or losing the stream. Everything else interrupts nobody — it waits for the day’s report.

  • How does it know how that camera was supposed to look?

    Because it keeps a record. On day one IRIS notes how that camera looks when it is fine — its framing, its sharpness, its colour, how much light it gives at night — and that becomes its reference. It belongs to that camera and no other: one on the loading dock and one in a lobby have nothing in common, and comparing them would say nothing. From then on it compares each day against its own reference, not against an ideal.

  • How often does it check the cameras?

    You decide. You schedule an audit — every day, every Sunday, the first of every month — and at the appointed hour IRIS looks at every camera in the installation one by one, without anybody having to ask and whoever happens to be at the screen. When it finishes there is a report of which are fine, which have got worse and which cannot see, each with its image and its time. It exports to a spreadsheet.

  • Is this charged separately?

    No. The IRIS licence is per camera, not per question. Asking it to alert you when somebody falls and asking it whether that same camera is dirty cost exactly the same, because what you pay for is the camera. There is no separate maintenance module and no price per thing you want to watch: if the camera is already in IRIS, you already have this.

  • Does IRIS fix the camera, or does somebody still have to climb up?

    Somebody has to climb, and IRIS does not pretend otherwise: it repairs nothing, reboots nothing and cleans no domes. What it does is let whoever climbs go up knowing what for, and in the right order. The difference is not small: you go from a calendar round — walking four hundred cameras because it is that time of year — to a list of the eleven that actually have something, with the picture in front of you. And some of those eleven get sorted from the ground.

See it running

The three things you will ask it for

Inspect them all every day, find out while somebody is touching a camera, and ask it which ones are seeing nothing. Pick one above and watch: it is a summary of the real screen, running by itself.

Every simulation

Inspect them all every day

Every day at ten in the morning, look at every camera and tell me which have got worse.

  1. The sentence
  2. Where it applies
  3. What it finds
  4. The same rule
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And the best part

Nothing to drill, nothing to rip out:the cameras already on your walls can start understanding.

No building work, no new cabling, no swapping equipment. It connects to what is already there, and what is already there starts telling you what it sees.

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