The security system is far from typical.  A surveillance computer is being trained to not only take a person's picture, but process information like never before, 10TV's Anietra Hamper reported.

"Now we're trying to figure out what are the behaviors that are happening, where are people going, when are they going and how are they moving through the scene," said Dr. James Davis, who is researching smart surveillance at Ohio State.

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Davis is teaching the system to analyze how people and objects interact and know when something is abnormal.  Then, security will be alerted when something is suspicious.  There is no human involvement.

The new technology allows security to take an image and turn it into a 360-degree panoramic view, Hamper reported.

From one view, cameras can highlight specific movement.  A close-up shows activity being marked.  Over days, weeks and months, the information is compiled into a movie so security can track activity patterns in a specific location.

For more immediate security concerns, the user can click on a street level map, pull up a camera anywhere on campus and instantly have a GPS location.  From there, they can target-lock anyone of concern, Hamper reported.

"People can be walking, theoretically, for blocks and the cameras are still latched onto that person and we can see where they're going, what they're doing," Davis said.  "We can actually watch, rather than worry about controlling cameras."

At OSU's Blankenship Hall, security officials are excited about the prospect of using the technology to integrate the university's complex 800 camera system.

"We can integrate our alarm system into it," said Ronald Balser of Ohio State's Security and Protective Services.  "(We can) integrate our reporting system into it, so not only do we get it to use it for surveillance, but also use it for crime prevention."

With smart surveillance capable of monitoring thousands of cameras, security officials can keep more eyes and a closer eye on activity around the nation's largest university.

The technology has generated interest from several other college campuses and from security experts from around the U.S., Hamper reported.

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