SGPTI positions cameras virtually

MONTREAL—When designing where to hang cameras, how useful would it be to know almost exactly what a camera's view would be before ever turning a screw? According to Daniel Jeanson, president of integrator SGPTI, pretty useful: “We used to spend days on site figuring out how to position the cameras. Now we don't have to.”

That's because SGPTI is using Feeling Software's Omnipresence 3D to create virtual models of the buildings and campuses in which the company is working. “As soon as the 3D drawings are done,” he said, “I can see exactly how I can position the camera, and it tells me exactly what I would see. I can see if I have the right camera and the right lens without having to install anything.”

But isn't the 3D imaging time-consuming and expensive? Jeanson said for a recent university job, “we were all aware there would be a cost for that, but when we approached the school, they decided to spend more, reasoning that if they have a better system, that's easier to navigate, it will provide more advantages to the agents operating the system.”

That's because, after the installation, the Feeling Software interface also allows operators to know exactly where the camera they are viewing is in the building, and it makes it easier to follow a moving person through a building or the entire campus.

“For them to know all these cameras is not easy,” said Jeanson, “and this makes it very simple. The good news for us as an integrator is the fact that we can just position the cameras without leaving our offices.”

As Feeling Software integrates with more VMS providers, that benefit will be more widespread. For example, the company in June announced an integration with Pelco's Endura platform, which allows for Feeling's Omnipresence 3D platform to be deployed on any new or existing location where Endura is installed.

Initially, Jeanson allowed, the Feeling engineers need to be on-site to support installation and set-up. “They are more familiar with the 3D,” he said. “It's a team effort, where I'm an expert on video surveillance, and they know more about the 3D and making sure it's designed correctly ... but maybe in the future we won't need them.”