Honeywell enters into brave new world of AI

ATLANTA—Following the recent announcement of its technology integration with Intel, which will enable new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities in its MAXPRO connected security platform, it is clear that Honeywell is jumping with both feet into the brave new world of AI.

The new security platform, which will support MAXPRO Network Video Recorders (NVR) and Video Management Systems (VMS), will incorporate Intel Vision products that enable advanced analytics, deep learning and facial recognition capabilities. These greatly enhanced security solutions will drive cost and time savings by significantly reducing false alarms and will meet compliance requirements such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) through identity anonymization, the company said.

“Ensuring the security of commercial buildings and the safety of those within them has always been Honeywell's top priority,” Pete Lau, president, Commercial Security, Honeywell, said in the announcement. “With emerging technology like analytics, facial recognition and deep learning, Honeywell and Intel are connecting buildings and protecting people like never before.”

Advances in security and surveillance technology have increased demand for high-definition video and imaging offered by Internet Protocol (IP) cameras, while the video surveillance global market is estimated to exceed $68 billion by 2023, Honeywell noted in its press release, adding, “At the same time, the technology to properly process the surge in vision data has lagged. End users require a solution that combines both building security and IT systems to address the challenge.”

Honeywell said that the integration of Intel Vision Products into the its MAXPRO NVR and VMS products will result in solutions that enhance site security and operator productivity, and that these integrated, customizable products will accelerate the processing time of each video stream and increase the number of cameras that can stream in real time through a single device. The adoption of Intel Vision Accelerator Design products will provide Honeywell's security offerings, according to Honeywell, with advanced AI capabilities with computational efficiency, allowing them to analyze video data with improved detection accuracy.

“With rapid advances in AI technology fueled by the influx of enormous amounts of visual data, our customers are presented with powerful new opportunities in multiple areas including edge video analytics and security,” Jonathan Ballon, VP, Intel Internet of Things Group, said in the announcement. “The Honeywell MAXPRO solution, powered by IntelVision Products, allows customers to process and analyze visual data in near real-time to make decisions faster, drive faster time to results and help ensure secure buildings, campus environments and banking institutions.”

Security Systems News spoke with Luis Rodriguez, director of product marketing, Honeywell Commercial Security, about the company's vision for the use of AI now and in the future.

“As Honeywell continues to develop and improve its suite of security solutions for the future, AI will play an important role in building a connected system,” he told SSN. “In the near term, Honeywell is particularly focusing on machine-learning based analytics. This is an exploding market, and we are pursuing both in-house offerings as well as building relationships with leading third-party vendors. For AI, which is earlier on the technology curve, we are actively exploring the kinds of use cases AI can provide by using both structured and unstructured data from sources that include security, fire, and beyond.”

He pointed out that new algorithms have “created ways to dramatically improve how quickly a security situation can be detected, or even predicted,” noting that new technologies produce the best results when running on hardware that is engineered to make them fast and efficient.

“Honeywell is one of the first security solutions companies to integrate Intel Vision Products into its portfolio,” he said. “By combining Intel's highly engineered hardware and machine learning software into Honeywell's MAXPRO connected security platform, customers will benefit from solutions that help resolve or altogether prevent security situations.”

He continued, “The partnership enables Honeywell's MAXPRO connected security platform to use advanced analytics, deep learning and facial recognition to strengthen its existing surveillance capabilities. Customers will be able to analyze visual data �� such as weapons detection, assault detection, license plate recognition and more - in near real-time to make decisions faster and more accurately, reducing false alarms by up to 25 percent and help ensure buildings - and the people and property within - are secure. It also meets evolving compliance requirements such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) through identity anonymization.”

Machine learning allows end users, he added, to go beyond monitoring activity on a surface level to “really understanding the scene — from who exactly is in the area to what they might be doing. As more data is processed over time, machine learning will continue to build on its learning to help deliver a more accurate assessment of potential threats each time.”

Beyond the software and hardware integrations, the partnership will also leverage the Intel Distribution of OpenVINO toolkit, which fast tracks the development of computer vision and deep learning inference into vision applications. Through the toolkit, end users can accelerate computer vision performance, shorten vision solution development and streamline deep learning inference and deployment.

Honeywell will join also join the Intel IoT Solutions Alliance (ISA) and participate in Intel IoT RFP Ready Kits.