WO2015173836A2

WO2015173836A2 - An interactive system that enhances video surveillance systems by enabling ease of speedy review of surveillance video and/or images and providing means to take several next steps, backs up surveillance video and/or images, as well as enables to create standardized intelligent incident reports and derive patterns

Info

Publication number: WO2015173836A2
Application number: PCT/IN2015/050036
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gautam DHARAMDAS GORADIA
Original assignee: Dharamdas Goradia Gautam
Priority date: 2014-05-15
Filing date: 2015-05-14
Publication date: 2015-11-19
Also published as: WO2015173836A3; WO2015173836A4

Abstract

An Interactive System is provided, which according to one embodiment enhances Video Surveillance Systems by automatically and/or manually capturing Live and/or Recorded Video and enabling ease of speedy review of Surveillance Video and/or Images and providing means to take several next steps, it being inferred that regular review helps 'discover'exceptions that would otherwise be missed out by most Video Surveillance Systems. The said System, in another embodiment, enables the user to backup Surveillance Video in one or more formats including but not limited to Images at on one or more locations including but not limited to a Computer, Storage Device, Local Server, Local Drive, a Network Drive, an FTP Server, or a Cloud Service like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and/or from a Camera, Mobile Device, and so on, and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future. The said System, in another embodiment, enables to create Standardized Intelligent Incident Reports which inter alia, contain the entire narrative about an Incident - the 5 Ws and 1 H (What, Where, When, Why, Who and How) in standard universally acceptable formats including but not limited to MS PowerPoint, PDF (Portable Document Format), RTF (Rich Text Format), Google Docs, and so on, which can contain the entire set of Images and/or Videos pertaining to the Incident and which can be easily shared amongst the concerned stakeholders/Law Enforcement. The said System further enables the user to draw inferences, inter alia using heuristic methods, with respect to one or more aspects of the Incident including but not limited to the Type of the Incident, its Date, Time, Location, Peculiarity, and so on. These inferences, inter alia, help in deriving 'Patterns' which include but are not limited to the kind of Incidents occurring at a particular day, time, location, and so on, which enable concerned Stakeholders/Law Enforcement to take corrective/preventive measures. It is inferred that the said System in its respective embodiments, inter alia, would help prevent crime and losses, reduce operational risks, improve business processes and sales, as well as help solve crime faster.

Description

TITLE

AN INTERACTIVE SYSTEM THAT ENHANCES VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEMS BY ENABLING EASE OF SPEEDY REVIEW OF SURVEILLANCE VIDEO AND/OR IMAGES AND PROVIDING MEANS TO TAKE SEVERAL NEXT STEPS, BACKS UP SURVEILLANCE VIDEO AND/OR IMAGES, AS WELL AS ENABLES TO CREATE STANDARDIZED INTELLIGENT INCIDENT REPORTS AND DERIVE PATTERNS.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of Video Surveillance, Incident Reporting, Crime and Loss Prevention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is well-accepted in today's times, given the increasing rate of criminal incidents, there is an urgent need to monitor, track and report any suspicious activity. It therefore comes as no surprise that Surveillance Systems are becoming ubiquitous, be it at a school, an office, a shopping mall, a restaurant, a hotel, a gym, a jewellery store and so on. Similarly Video Surveillance is extensively used to monitor business processes in various establishments like offices, malls, and retail outlets.

Further, it is also well-known that of the various Surveillance Systems, Video Surveillance Systems are the most commonly used. A Video Surveillance System usually comprises of a set of specialized cameras (analog or IP (Internet Protocol) based) connected to a Video Recorder or a Storage Device. The cameras continuously monitor the respective locations and relay live streams which get stored in the form of video footage in the Recorder or the Storage Device. It has been observed that it is a tedious task to monitor several camera streams, especially in case of huge establishments (for example Airports) where the said Systems may comprise of a large number of cameras and Recorders/Storage Devices. Further, it is also well-known, that in case of huge establishments including but not limited to airports, schools, malls, manufacturing units, law enforcement agencies, and so on, where there are many cameras, the monitoring of the same is done through 'Command and Control Centers'. These may either be installed within the premises of the respective establishments or outsourced to a third party. These Centers usually have a 'Video Wall' comprising of several televisions/monitors which display live streams from several cameras, and employ specialized personnel to continuously monitor the same. However, it has been observed by scientific studies that this kind of 'Proactive Monitoring' is a very demanding task and impossible for long time periods.

Further, according to a research carried out by the Police Scientific Research Branch at the UK's Home Office, CCTV observers suffer from 'Video Blindness' after 20-40 minutes of observation. Moreover, as per a study published in Security Oz Magazine, 'after 12 minutes of continuous video monitoring an operator will often miss up to 45% of screen activity, after 22 minutes of viewing, up to 95% is overlooked.'

Further, it is well-known that most of the above mentioned Video Surveillance Systems come preloaded with Video Management Software (VMS) that, inter alia, let a user monitor the live camera stream from the same. These kinds of VMS are usually accessed over networks such as LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), VPN (Virtual Private Network) or through the Internet via a web browser like Internet Explorer. In some cases, VMS from third-parties are also used (which are accessed from the respective computer). A VMS allows a user to view a certain number of live camera streams in its respective screen at a time. The user, as per his/her requirement can view either 1 camera, 'sets' of 4 cameras, 9 cameras, 16 cameras and so on. In case where a large number of cameras are monitored through a VMS, it is usually programmed to be on a 'rotation' mode. In this case, the VMS screen displays different 'sets' of cameras at frequent time intervals. For example, let us consider that a VMS monitors about 64 cameras. If it has been programmed to be on a rotation mode, it may display cameras 1 to 16 for a certain time period, then cameras 17 to 32, 33 to 48, 49 to 64, and then again 1 to 16 and so on in a continuous manner. In this case, it is likely that the monitoring personnel may miss out on important activity that may occur in a 'set' of cameras or in multiple 'sets' of cameras at a particular moment. Further, it is also well-known that most VMSes/DVRs/NVRs/Cameras are programmed to raise 'alarms' triggered by Video Analytics such as Motion Detection, Intrusion Detection, Object Detection/Missing Object, Face Recognition, and so on. It has been accepted that while Video Analytics are useful, they are not completely fool-proof and generate false alarms in most cases. Thus, this leads to human intervention any which way as the monitoring personnel need to spend considerable time and effort in reviewing these 'alarms' and verifying their authenticity. For example, consider a case where a VMS/DVR/NVR Camera detects an unattended bag at an airport using Object Detection and raises an 'alarm' for the same. In this case, the monitoring personnel need to manually verify whether the bag has been erroneously left behind by a passenger or it has been deliberately kept there for the purpose of criminal/terrorist activity. For this, the personnel would need to review past video footage from one or several cameras which may have captured the events prior to the bag being left unattended.

Moreover, a considerable investment of time and money is needed to set up and configure the said Video Analytics. Further, it is also well-known that in order to reduce storage costs, most VMSes/DVRs/NVRs/Cameras are programmed to record and store Video only when such 'alarms' are raised. Usually this recording continues for a certain period of time until the event raising the 'alarm' is over. In this case, it is likely that during the time intervals between the said 'alarms', important Video information may be skipped. In case of a criminal incident, from the perspective of a Law Enforcement Officer, this 'skipped' Video could have contained vital information which would have led to solving the case.

Further, it is well-accepted that the personnel who are monitoring the cameras are expected to have a certain level of 'Situation Awareness' with reference to the areas they are monitoring. This would include but is not limited to factors like environmental conditions, location, and characteristics of the areas being monitored at different times. This would help them in determining whether any observed activity/person is a perceived threat, or just a false alarm. It is accepted, especially in case of large establishments like airports, malls, and so on, due to the complex nature of human behavior and the large number of cameras to be monitored, maintaining Situation Awareness is a challenging task. In some cases, it was accepted that in order to maintain Situation Awareness, personnel needed to regularly monitor cameras on a daily basis. For example, in case of a bank, if a car has been coming every day at a particular time, the person who has been monitoring regularly, will be able to determine whether this is a perceived recce and alert the concerned authorities. Or, in case of a school, if it is observed that a child is being accompanied by an adult at a particular time, the person who has been monitoring regularly, may be able to determine whether the adult is authorized or not for this purpose i.e. he/she may be a parent/guardian or actually someone with malicious intentions.

Further, it is well-known that in case of major criminal/terrorist incidents which occur in areas not directly covered by Video Surveillance, Law Enforcement officials need to retrieve andaggregate video footage from local businesses/public video surveillance around the scene of the incident. This in itself is a tedious and time consuming activity and would result in aggregation of long hours of video. The officials have to spend a considerable amount of time in reviewing the entire footage which may sometimes run into days or weeks, out of which it is likely that only a few hours may be of relevance. In some cases, it is well-known that officials use Video Synopsis/Summarization tools/techniques to extract key frames from the video to form a 'Video Synopsis/Summary' and review the same. The Video Synopsis/Summarization tool/technique automatically extracts the key frames based on one or more 'perceived' activities in the video. However, it is accepted that in case the video depicts multiple activities happening at the same time, it would result in a 'Video Synopsis/Summary' that will show these activities overlapping with each other, thereby leading to confusion.

Further, it is well-accepted that Law Enforcement officials face several challenges while carrying out post-facto analysis of video footage. These could include difficulties in 'playing back' the video from a single interface as different DVRs/NVRs/Cameras support different video formats which are usually not compatible with each other. Also, while 'playing back' the video, in case the officials want to 'zoom' in to have a better look, they need to rely on the VMS/DVR/NVR/IP Camera for the same. However, in this case, only the video from a single camera can be reviewed at a time. Further, the size of the video footage may run into terabytes thus making it difficult for the officials to share the same with their peers/counterparts in other locations, for review purposes.

Further, it is accepted that in case of small or medium-sized establishments like Schools, Jewellery Stores, Retail Shops, Housing Societies, and so on, cannot afford to have dedicated 'Command and Control Centres' employ specialized personnel for monitoring their Video Surveillance Systems. The monitoring is either done by the owners/proprietors themselves or by someone from their senior management team. It has been observed that these concerned authorities are often pressed for time due to their core commitments/obligations and are unable to devote the requisite amount of time for the monitoring activity. Further, it has also been observed in some cases that these concerned authorities are not conversant with the Video Surveillance Systems and often need to rely on specialized experts known as System Integrators who have installed the Video Surveillance Systems- Further, it is well-accepted that in case of most Video Surveillance Systems, if the user wants to 'rewind' and 'playback' one or multiple cameras, it is a cumbersome activity and requires considerable time and expertise.

Further, it is well-accepted that in case of a criminal incident, the law enforcement authorities usually commence their investigations by asking for the video footage of the same. It is well- accepted that to retrieve this footage from the Recorder or Storage Device is an expensive, tedious and time-consuming process and requires considerable expertise. Also, it has been observed in some instances, that the culprits damage or steal the Recorder or Storage Device, the Recorder or Storage Device failed to store the footage, or the footage itself gets erased or corrupted during the retrieval process. Further, the file size of the video footage may sometimes run into Terabytes, thus making it all the more cumbersome to share the same. Further, once the authorities get access to the footage, they need to spend a considerable amount of time in viewing the entire footage which may run into hours, while the relevant footage may only be of a few minutes. Thus, all this results in considerable delay in the investigation proceedings, while the culprits make an easy escape.

Further, it is accepted that incidents, criminal or otherwise, do not differ by geographies. A bomb blast, murder, theft, assault, fraud, will be the same across countries. It is accepted that each country will follow its own format for reporting incidents. In some cases, it has even been observed that different jurisdictions within a country, like a state, city, or any territory, would follow their respective formats for reporting incidents. This leads to non-standardization, and eventually causes confusion amongst the concerned stakeholders and/or Law Enforcement. Thus in this case, it becomes difficult to disseminate information about an incident, thereby making it even more difficult to solve the same and/or nab the perpetrators. Further, it would be difficult to infer the kind of incidents taking place at a particular location, date, and time, which would have enabled the concerned stakeholders and/or Law Enforcement to predict and/or prevent similar incidents which may occur in the future.

Further, all incidents basically comprise of facts and/or information that would allude to the 5 Ws (What kind of incident took place, Where did the incident take place, When did the incident take place, Who were the people involved, Why did the incident take place) and 1 H (How did the incident take place). It is therefore inferred that when an incident report contains all of these elements, it would give the concerned stakeholders and/or Law Enforcement 'the complete picture' which would enable them to take the necessary corrective/preventive measures.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention in a particular embodiment enhances Video Surveillance Systems by automatically and/or manually capturing Live and/or Recorded Video and enabling ease of speedy review of Surveillance Video and/or Images and providing means to take several next steps, it being inferred that regular review helps 'discover' exceptions that would otherwise be missed by most Video Surveillance Systems.

The present invention in another embodiment enables the user to backup Surveillance Video in one or more formats including but not limited to Images at on one or more locations including but not limited to a computer, storage device, local server, FTP location, cloud service, and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future.

The present invention in another embodiment enables the user to create Standardized Intelligent Incident Reports which inter alia, contain the entire narrative about an Incident - the 5 Ws and 1 H (What, Where, When, Who, Why and How) in universal formats like MS PowerPoint, PDF, Google Docs, which can contain the entire set of Images and/or Videos pertaining to the Incident and which can be easily shared amongst the concerned stakeholders/Law Enforcement. The present invention in another embodiment enables the user to draw inferences, inter alia using heuristic methods, with respect to one or more aspects of the Incident including but not limited to the Type of the Incident, its Date, Time, Location, Victims, Weather, Peculiarities about the same, and so on, wherein the said inferences, inter alia, help in deriving 'Patterns' which include but are not limited to the kind of Incidents occurring at a particular day, time, location, and so on, which enable concerned Stakeholders/Law Enforcement to take corrective/preventive measures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

A detailed description of the preferred embodiments and best modes for practicing the present invention are described herein.

Figure 1 illustrates few elements of the interactive system which according to an embodiment enhances Video Surveillance Systems by enabling ease of speedy review of Surveillance Video and/or Images and providing means to take several next steps, Backs up Surveillance Video and/or Images, as well as enables to create Standardized Intelligent Incident Reports and derive Patterns.

The said system consists of a User Interface that renders the users actions, and with the help of the Control system transmits the appropriate requests to the Database(s). The Control System acts as the bridge between the User Interface and the Database(s). The Database(s) consists of a databank which is the reservoir of an extensible collection of well-classified data and further stores the data user wise.

As per Figure 1 , the User Interface of the said System includes various elements including but not limited to the following:-

1. Auto - Capture Module

This Module enables the user to automatically capture, inter alia, Images from Video Feeds which could include but not limited to Live Surveillance Video Feeds brought forth from one or multiple Cameras, Webcams, Recorders, and/or Storage Devices, from media including but not limited to a live Television/Internet broadcast, or from recorded Video played back through an application such as a media player, and so on, at pre-defined time intervals. The Images thus captured will accordingly depict what is being 'seen' in the Video Feed. The user may choose the time interval as per his/her requirements. If the user wants to capture Images of Video Feeds from a 'low activity' area such as a hallway or a corridor, he/she may specify a larger time interval (e.g. every 1 minute). Else, if the user wants to capture Images of Video Feeds from say, a retail store having high footfalls, he/she may specify a smaller time interval (e.g. every 1 second). The user may choose to capture Images for any particular time period such as an hour, several hours, a day, several days, weeks, months, and even years.

The Module further enables the user to capture the activity happening on one or more devices including but not limited to computers, tablet PCs, mobile phones, and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future. This would be useful in order to monitor whether employees in a company or organisation are performing authorized activity on their respective devices.

The user can even choose to store the captured Images on one or more locations including but not limited to a Computer, Storage Device, Local Server, Local Drive, a Network Drive, an FTP Server, or a Cloud Service like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and/or from a Camera, Mobile Device, and so on, and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future. This would be useful as a backup especially for

Surveillance Video, wherein it is accepted that the respective Recorder or Storage Device may be overwritten (after a certain period), stolen, tampered with, or destroyed. Further, in this case, the Module enables the user to store the said backup on or more locations as long as desired. Scheduler Module

This Module enables the user to Schedule, inter alia, capture of Images from Video Feeds which could include but not limited to Live Surveillance Video Feeds brought forth from one or multiple Cameras, Webcams, Recorders, and/or Storage Devices, from media including but not limited to a live Television/Internet Broadcast, or from recorded Video played back through an application such as a media player, and so on.

The user can specify the days and the time duration for which the scheduled capture process is to be carried out, as well as the time interval at which the Images are to be captured. The System enables the user to create multiple 'Schedules' in this manner, as desired. This is especially useful for capturing activities which are carried out periodically in

organizations/establishments. For example, in case of a bank, this could be used to monitor the event of a cash van arriving at a particular time and leaving at a particular time. Thus, if any criminal or untoward incident occurs during this period, the concerned party has a relevant set of Images that can be reviewed and on which several next steps can be taken using the Said System. The next steps include but are not limited to sharing the Images with the concerned Stakeholders/Law Enforcement, creating an Incident Report from the said Images, and so on as described in the Review Module further in this document.

The user may even choose to store the captured Images one or more locations in the same manner as described in the Auto-Capture Module above. Multiple Window Capture Module

This Module enables the user to capture one or more 'Windows' displaying Video Feeds which could include but not limited to Live Surveillance Video Feeds brought forth from one or multiple Cameras, Webcams, Recorders, and/or Storage Devices, from media including but not limited to a live Television/Internet Broadcast, or from recorded Video played back through an application such as a media player, and so on, using the said System. The 'Window' in this case, could be that of an Internet Browser, a Video Management System, or an application that streams video and so on.

The Module enables the user to 'define' each Window, so that the System identifies the same and captures accordingly. For example, take the case of a Retail Store having 9 surveillance cameras at different locations in the store. The user can set the System to capture the Video Feed coming from the cameras from different 'Windows'. The Window displaying the Video Feed from the camera positioned at the main door can be defined as 'Main Door Camera'. Similarly, the Window displaying the Video Feed from the cameras positioned at the first four retail shelves can be defined as 'Retail Shelf Cameras (1-4)' and so on. The Module further enables the user to capture from the Windows during a particular date and time schedule (as described in the Scheduler Module above), or until the said Windows are closed. The user can further set the time interval at which each Window is to be captured. For example, a Window displaying the Video Feed of a low activity area can be set to be captured at a high time interval (say 1 minute), while a Window displaying a Video Feed of a high activity area can be set to be captured at a low time interval (say 1 second).

The user may even choose to store the captured Images in the same manner as described in the Auto-Capture Module listed above. Aggregate Module

This Module enables the user to aggregate, inter alia, Images from Video Feeds which could include but not limited to Live Surveillance Video Feeds brought forth from one or multiple Cameras, Webcams, Recorders, and/or Storage Devices, from media including but not limited to a live Television/Internet Broadcast, or from recorded Video played back through an application such as a media player, and so on.

The Module also enables the user to aggregate, inter alia, Photos, Videos, and so on, which have been captured using one or more devices such as cameras, mobile phones, tablet PCs and so on. This would be useful, especially for Law Enforcement, for aggregating relevant Images/Photos from multiple Video Sources in case of incidents like the Boston Marathon Bombings/Vancouver Riots wherein they are required to go through thousands of hours of Video/several photos.

The Module enables the user to aggregate using one or more methods which include but are not limited to the following:- i. Manual Aggregation - In this case, the user can watch the Video and wherever he/she deems it necessary, will aggregate the relevant Image by actions that include but are not limited to pressing a key, clicking by using a mouse or similar pointing device, using gestures like swiping, tapping and so on. In this case, the user can keep concentrating on the Video and does not need to pause/stop the same. ii. Automatic Aggregation - In this case, the user can automatically aggregate Images from the Video in one or ways including but not limited to the following:- a) Aggregating Images at pre-defined time intervals in the Video. Here the user can choose the time interval as per his/her requirement.

b) 'Slicing' the Video into 'frames' and aggregating each frame.

c) Aggregating Images based on 'triggers' such as face recognition/object detection.

d) Aggregating Images and/or Videos stored in a particular tocation including but not limited to a Local Drive, a Network Drive, an FTP Server, or a Cloud Service like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and/or from a Camera, Mobile Device, and so on.

The Module further enables the user to 'Preview' the aggregated Images as shown in FIG 1. Further, the user can even edit one or more Images by one or more means including but not limited to adding cliparts, adding captions, annotations, and so on. For example, if an Image depicts the face of the culprit, using the said System, the same can be highlighted. The user can even crop one or more areas of an Image. This would be useful for example if the Image contains faces of multiple culprits and the same needs to be extracted.

The Module further enables the user to add one or more attributes to one or more Images. These can include but are not limited to i) a Description - This would be useful especially in case a sequence of Images depicting a particular Incident have been aggregated. The description for each Image in this case would make a good narrative. Especially if the Images are shared in the form of an Incident Report (described in the Report Module further in this document), it would make it easier for concerned Stakeholders/Law Enforcement to 'comprehend' what is being depicted in the images. The pertinent questions relating to the Incident that would have been put to the concerned party can be thus pre-empted and answered in this manner, ii) Tags - This would be useful in searching and retrieving sets of Images which are similar in nature, for example Images depicting a particular Incident, Images belonging to a certain category (for example Images depicting traffic violations), Images depicting faces of culprits/suspects and so on.

The Module further enables the user to take several next steps with the aggregated Images which include but not limited to reviewing the same using the Review Module, creating an Incident Report and/or Contact Sheet from the same using the Report Module, and/or sharing the same using the Share Module, as described further in this document. Review Module

This Module enables the user to speedily review, inter alia, Images captured from Video Feeds through the Auto-Capture Module, Scheduler Module, and the Multiple Window Capture Module as described above, as well as external Images stored on one or more locations including but not limited to a Computer, Storage Device, Local Server, Local Drive, a Network Drive, an FTP Server, or a Cloud Service like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and/or from a Camera, Mobile Device, and so on, and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future. As described above, the Auto-Capture, Scheduler, and/or the Multiple Window Capture Modules, enable the user to capture Images from Video Feeds brought forth from 1 or multiple cameras. The Images captured will accordingly depict what is 'seen' in the Video Feed. Thus, it can be inferred that when the user reviews these Images through the Review Module, he/she can get to review multiple cameras at the same time. In case an activity is happening over multiple cameras, this would enable the user to track the entire sequence of events.

The Module further enables the user to decide the pace at which he/she wishes to review. For example, if the user does not find anything amiss while reviewing, he/she can choose to 'fast forward', if he/she feels the need to review a particular area/activity in slow motion, he can choose the 'slow' mode. The user can even navigate back and forth between the Images as desired. Further, the user can even 'Pan'and 'Zoom' in to a particular area of the Images during review. The user can Zoom in upto a desired resolution. This would enable him/her look closely at specific activities/areas which are likely to go unnoticed. Thus, even if the user does not use a Pan Tilt Zoom (PTZ) surveillance camera, he/she can still avail of the 'Pan' and 'Zoom' facilities in this manner.

It is inferred that after subsequent reviews carried out in the above manner, the user can develop a 'trained eye' for discovering exceptions that would be missed by most Video Surveillance/Video Management Systems which include but are not limited to the fol!owing:- i. a security guard sleeping during his/her duty hours,

ii. the staff not paying attention to their customers in a store,

iii. standard operating procedures not being followed in an organisation,

iv. a long queue of customers waiting in a bank,

v. a car parked on the wrong side of the road,

vi. someone conducting a recce,

vii. someone stealing a small piece of jewellery without anyone knowing,

viii. housekeeping staff not performing their duties well, and so on.

Further, the user can carry out the review through the Module for one or more purposes including but not limited to the following:- i) monitoring whether employees in a company or organisation are performing authorized activity on their respective devices including but not limited to computers, tablet PCs, mobile phones, and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future.

ii) monitoring health and safety of employees at their respective workplaces

iii) in case of a criminal incident such as a theft, reviewing the relevant Images captured from Surveillance Video pertaining to the Incident, inter alia, to verify the insurance claims put forward by the concerned party.

The Module further enables the user to review Images captured for any particular time period such as an hour, several hours, a day, several days, weeks, and so on. These could include but are not limited to the time period between the opening and closing times of an organization, activities spanning several hours, and so on.

In this case, the time taken for review is considerably reduced as opposed to the time the user would have taken to review the corresponding Video through existing means and/or systems. It can be inferred that this would induce the user to review on a regular basis which in turn would help him/her acquire considerable 'Situation Awareness' of the activities taking place in his/her respective premises. The Module further enables the user to create, inter alia, a 'Review Chart' which would enable the user to keep track of the time periods that he/she or the person responsible has completed reviewing and/or is about to review. The Chart would also enable him/her to note down exceptions encountered during review and also decide the appropriate corrective/preventive measures for the same. Further, the user can also keep track of the number of Images reviewed upto a certain time period as well as the number of reviews he/she has undertaken.

The Module further enables the user to 'Color Code' one or multiple Images based on what is being observed in the same. This would enable the user to 'flag' one or multiple events encountered during a review. For example, if the user is reviewing a set of Images captured for a mall for a period between its opening and closing times, and observes suspicious activity in some Images, he/she can flag them with red color and add a description as 'Suspicious Activity', if the user observes that the staff was not paying attention to the customers, he/she can flag these Images with yellow color and add a description as 'Inattentive Staff and so on. The user has the option of color coding Images in their original resolution or specific areas in the Images as visible when the Images are in a 'zoomed' mode. Further, the user has the option of color coding Images within a particular range.

The Module further enables the user to add a Description to one or multiple Images while reviewing. Thus, if the user comes across a sequence of Images depicting a particular incident, he/she can describe each Image and build up a narrative for the entire set of Images. The user can choose to provide a description for the Image in its original resolution or as visible when the Image is in a 'zoomed' mode, thus focusing only on a particular area.

The Module further enables the user to add one or more Tags to one or more multiple Images while reviewing. This would help the user in searching and retrieving the Images in future. The user can tag an entire set of Images depicting a particular incident. In case the set of Images depict multiple incidents, the user can use multiple tags for the same. The user can choose to tag an Image in its original resolution or as visible when the Image is in a 'zoomed' mode, thus focusing only on a particular area. The user can retrieve the Images by their respective tags as and when desired. This would be of immense help to the user in that he/she can 'recall' past Incidents easily for one or more purposes as desired. If the user were to 'recall' past incidents from a DVR, or an NVR, he/she would need to remember the exact date and time intervals within which the Incident occurred.

The Module further provides the user with the ability to detect and recognize faces and/or objects in the Images while reviewing. When a face or an object is 'encountered' in an Image, it is 'learned' with respect to one or more criteria including but not limited to the physical contours of the same and this information is saved in the Database of the System. The user can even add a description to one or more of the said 'faces' or Objects'. When the same face or object is encountered in one or more subsequent Images, it refers to previously saved information about the same and notifies the user accordingly. The Module further notifies the user if an object seen in a particular Image, is not seen in the subsequent Images (i.e. it is missing), or is seen again after some time. For example, in case of a jewellery store, if a small piece of jewellery is 'displaced' from its usual position which could possibly be due to it being stolen, then theModule would track the same and send a notification.

The Module further enables the user to 'demarcate' certain areas in the Images while reviewing. This would enable the user to closely observe what is going in specific parts of the Image. In case an exception is found, the user is notified about the same and will be provided options to take several next steps as described below. For example, a jeweler who is reviewing Images of his store, can demarcate the area depicting his/her jewellery shelf. He/she can thus review all the activities that took place in and around the jewellery shelf. Or a traffic police officer who is reviewing Images of a busy road, can demarcate the area near the traffic signal. He/she can thus track as to how many vehicles obeyed the signal and how many vehicles violated it.

The Module further enables the user to send one or multiple Images to a 'Collection' interface which would enable the user to take one or more next steps with the same. The user can choose to send Images either in their original resolution or specific areas in the Images as visible when the Images are in a 'zoomed' mode. The user can also choose to send 'color coded' Images in the same manner. The next steps that the user can take with respect to these Images include but are not limited to i. Creating an Incident Report from the said Images

ii. Creating an Instant Report from the said Images

iii. Creating a Contact Sheet from the said Images along with their relevant descriptions if needed.

iv. Creating a Video from the said Images

v. Adding a Description and/or Tags to the said Images

vi. Sharing the said Images to a particular location in one or more formats like a compressed zip file as well as via services like E-mail, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Report Module

This Module enables the user to create Standardized Intelligent Incident Reports. The user can create Reports on any kind of Incidents which include but are not limited to criminal Incidents like a murder, theft, robbery, assault, fraud, or non-criminal like a staff issue, suspicious activity, agitated customers, standard operating procedures being flouted in an organization, or even incidents concerning health and safety for example, a guest slipping and falling at a hotel. The user can even create Reports on inchoate offences that may lead to crimes later for example, an attempted theft, attempted murder, and so on.

The Ivlodule enables the user to create Reports in a standard reporting format which contains sections that allude to the 5 Ws (What kind of Incident took place, Where did the Incident take place, When did the Incident take place, Who were the people involved, Why did the Incident take place) and 1 H (How did the Incident take place), which are universally common for all Incidents. These include but are not limited to the Date of the Incident, Time of the Incident, Location of the Incident, Category of the Incident (could be Theft, Murder, Attempted Assault and so on), Severity of the Incident (could be High, Low, Medium and so on), Amount of Loss (if applicable), Weather (could be weather conditions due to which the Incident might have occurred), Peculiarity of the Date (could be a festival like Christmas, or a special observance like an Annual Day of an organization, or even a Weekend and so on), Peculiarity of the Time (could be Early Morning, Afternoon, Late Evening and so on), Peculiarity of the Location (could be a Secluded Area, or Crowded Area, and so on), Peculiarity of the Category (could be the cause behind the incident for example, in case of a theft at a jewellery store it could be 'Inattentive Staff), Peculiarity of the Affected Party (could be people belonging to a certain community or of a certain occupation, or living in a particular area and so on), Peculiarity of the Perpetrators (could be their Modus Operandi, their appearance, and so on), and so on.

The information that the user enters in the above sections is captured as 'meta-data' which is used to draw inferences which inter alia, help in deriving 'Patterns' such as the kind of Incidents taking place on a particular date, at a particular time, at a particular location, affecting particular persons, executed in a particular manner, and so on as described later in this document.

The Module further enables the user to add a brief Description about the Incident as well as about the perpetrators, victims, and/or the witnesses if applicable, the Action Recommended and the Action Taken by the concerned party. If needed (especially by courts), the user can also add details about the Incident Log/Audit Trail (for example, could be the entire sequence of events from when the Incident occurred till its current status), the Integrity Verification /Authentication (this would be needed in case the Incident was captured by a Video

Surveillance System, in order to verify whether the captured Video footage has been verified to be authentic and not been tampered with during the investigation proceedings) as well as details about whether the Incident has been 'closed' or is still unresolved.

The Module further enables the user to enter the details of the person/entity reporting the Incident as well that of the recipient of the Report. The Module enables the user to pre-fill these details while creating the Report.

The Module further enables the user to add to a Report, inter alia, Images captured

from Video Feeds which could include but are not limited to Live Surveillance Video Feeds brought forth from one or multiple Cameras, Webcams, Recorders, and/or Storage Devices, from media including but not limited to a live Television/Internet Broadcast, or from recorded Video played back through an application such as a media player, and so on, and/or any other Images stored on one or more locations including but not limited to a computer, storage device, local server, FTP location, cloud service, and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future. The user can even add the relevant Video footage pertaining to the Incident. Further, the user can describe the respective Images and/or Videos. This would be useful especially in case a sequence of Images depicting the Incident have been added. The description for each Image and/or Video in this case would make a good narrative for the recipient of the Report. The Module further enables the user to choose the format in which the Reports are to be generated. The user can choose one or more standard universally accepted formats including but not limited to MS PowerPoint, MS Word, PDF, Google Docs, and so on. The user can even choose to protect Reports (in case they are meant to be confidential) by one or more means including but not limited to providing a password to open and access the same.

Once the user has entered the relevant details and/or added the relevant Images and/or Videos as decribed above, the Module enables him/her to generate the Report automatically without any further intervention. Once the Report is generated, the Module enables the user to share the same via one or more services including but not limited to E-mail, FTP, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future. It is inferred that the person/entity which receives the Report can review the same and further add their own comments/suggestions and further share the same with concerned stakeholders/Law Enforcement. For example, if a theft occurs, the affected party creates an Incident Report and sends it to the Police.

The Police Officer assigned to the case, would review the same and further add his own comments/suggestions based on the modus operandi of the theft, the suspected whereabouts of the perpetrators, and so on, and share the Report with his/her Senior Officer. The Senior Officer would look at the comments/suggestions made by his/her deputy would be able to take the necessary steps. If he/she feels that the perpetrators are likely to escape to a neighbouring city or state, the Officer will immediately 'forward' the Report to the respective Police authorities in that location.

The user can even choose to create Reports without Images and/or Videos. This would be useful for creating Reports of Incidents like economic offences, where Images and/or Video would not have relevance. The Module further enables the user to create an Instant Report with just Images and/or Videos and their respective descriptions if needed. This would be useful especially if the user wants to quickly share a set of Images and/or Videos as a Report. These Reports could be used to share one or more Images which depict exceptions, wherein it is inferred that the recipient would be able to easily 'comprehend' the Images and/or Videos and take the appropriate corrective/preventive measures.

The Module further enables the user to create an 'All is Well' Report which inter alia, lets the user state that everything, including but not limited to the respective Video Surveillance System, was 'in order' at a particular location, or in an organization, and so on, and no untoward

Incidents/exceptions occurred. The user can even add to this Report, Images and/or Videos depicting, inter alia, that the respective Video Surveillance System installed at the location or in an organization, was in order i.e. the surveillance cameras were working properly, the Video Feed was being recorded in the Recorder/Storage Device and so on. The 'All Is Well' Report would be useful for concerned stakeholders to gauge the efficacy of a particular location and/or organization with respect to one or more parameters like the processes, the efficiency of the staff/personnel, and so on. The Module further enables the user to draw inferences from the All Is Well Reports, which would enable them to derive 'Patterns' that would inter alia, indicate that over a period of time everything was in order at a particular location.

The Module further enables Law Enforcement authorities to issue Tickets, inter alia, on traffic violations to the respective offenders. The Module enables to enter details which include but are not limited to details of the Vehicle, details of the Owner/Driver, details of the Insurance, and so on. The authorities can even add one or more relevant Images captured from Live Surveillance Video Feeds brought forth from one or more cameras, which inter alia, would depict the traffic violation. The Module enables the authorities to generate this Ticket automatically without further intervention and send it to the respective offender via one or more services including but not limited to E-mail, and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future. The authorities can also draw

inferences from the said Tickets, which would enable them to derive 'Patterns' that would inter alia, indicate the kind of traffic violations occurring on a particular day, at a particular time, by particular types of vehicles (two-wheeler, four wheeler etc.), and so on. The Module further enables the user to search for the Reports by one or more criteria including but not limited to the Date and Time of the Report, Report Title, Amount of Loss, whether the Report is Open or Confidential, the Date and Time of the Incident, Location, Category, Date of the Incident, Severity of the Incident, Weather, as well as Peculiarities of the Date, Time, Location, Category, Affected Party, Perpetrators and so on. The Module brings forth the Search Results as per the criteria supplied by the user.

The Module further enables the user to sort and filter the Search Results as desired. The user can even take one or more next steps which include but are not limited to determining which Incidents are yet unresolved and which Incidents have been closed and accordingly taking corrective/preventive measures, sharing the Reports via services like E-mail, and so on.

The Module further enables the user to create a Contact Sheet from Images captured from Video Feeds and/or external Images of any kind along with their relevant descriptions. These could be used for one or more purposes in different domains. For example, a School can use the System to create a Contact Sheet of Images of its Security Guards along with their names and other relevant details (including but not limited to their Date of Birth, Date of Joining, Permanent Resident Address, Location, Duty Hours, as well as Contact No.). The School can display this Contact Sheet in its premises in order to keep track of the Security Guards like for example whether they are present in their respective locations during their stipulated duty hours or not, are they too old or too young for the job, and so on. The School can also create a Contact Sheet for Students and their respective Teachers who are going for a Picnic. This would enable the Teachers to know important details about their Students like for example, whether they have any particular dietary/special needs and so on. This Contact Sheet could also be shared with parents in order to assure them that their children are in safe custody. A Law Enforcement Agency can use the System to create a Contact Sheet of suspects which it can circulate amongst its officials at various immigration and border entry/exit points.

The Module further enables the user to draw inferences, inter alia using heuristic methods, with respect to the 'meta-data' that is captured while the user creates an Incident Report as described above. These include but are not limited to the Date of the Incident, Time of the Incident, Location of the Incident, Category of the Incident, Severity of the Incident, Amount of Loss, Weather, as well as Peculiarities of the Date, Time, Location, Category, the Affected Party, the Perpetrators, and so on, which, inter alia, help in deriving 'Patterns' which include but are not limited to the kind of Incidents taking place on a particular date, at a particular time, at a particular location, affecting particular persons, executed in a particular manner, and so on. The user can choose to derive 'Patterns' from Incidents reported during a specific Date and Time Range.

The Module enables the user to choose one or more formats in which he/she wishes to derive 'Patterns' including but not limited to the following:- i) Single Group Chart - This gives a 'Pattern' of Incidents as per a single criteria. For example, this could be used to view all Incidents by their respective Location, or by Category, or by the Peculiarity of their Date, and so on, ii) Double Group Chart - This gives a 'Pattern' of Incidents as per two criteria. For example, this could be used to view all Incidents by their respective Location, as well as by Category. iii) Tabular Report - This gives a Tabular Report of all Incidents by multiple criterias as described above. iv) Heat Map - This gives a Tabular Report that shows, through color intensity, the relative frequencies of Incidents with different dates, times, and other relevant criteria. v) Hot Spots - This gives a Map depicting various 'Hot Spots' where Incidents have frequently occurred.

The above mentioned 'Patterns' enable the user, inter alia, to 'predict' or 'forecast' the occurrences of Incidents in the future and accordingly take appropriate corrective/preventive measures. The user can inter alia, use heuristic methods for this purpose. For example, in case of a bank, if the concerned stakeholders observe a Pattern of thefts at their branches located in secluded areas, they can accordingly decide to deploy more security at these respective branches. Or in case of a retail store, if the concerned stakeholders observe a Pattern that their staff is not attending to customers properly during morning hours, they can admonish the respective staff accordingly. The Module further, automatically 'predicts' or 'forecasts' the occurrences of Incidents in the future based on one or more criteria including but not limited to the Date of the Incident, Time of the Incident, Location of the Incident, Category of the Incident, Severity of the Incident, Amount of Loss, Weather, as well as Peculiarities of the Date, Time, Location, Category, the Affected Party, the Perpetrators, and so on.

For example, a research report by the RAND Corporation on Predictive Policing (2013) states that serial offenders committing a certain type of crime such as a theft, often tend to wait for a specific number of days till they can commit the next offense. In this case, the Module can automatically note, say the number of days that have elapsed between two consecutive thefts and accordingly predict the number of days after which the next one is likely to occur. Search Module

This Module enables the user to search for inter alia, Images by one or more criteria including but not limited to the Date and Time on which the Images were captured, Keywords (which, inter alia, will be searched in the Descriptions, if any, of the Images and/or Videos), Tags, and so on. The user can even search by the respective Module in which the said Images were captured or aggregated, namely the Auto-Capture Module, Scheduler Module, the Multi- Window Capture Module, and the Aggregate Module as described above in this document. The Module further enables the user to search within a Date and Time Range as well as within a Date and Time Slot. For example, if the user wishes to search all Images captured or aggregated between say 1^st January 2015 9 am till 31^st March 2015 9 am, he/she would have to choose to search by the Range option. Else, if the user wishes to search all Images captured or aggregated between 1^st January 2015 till 31^st March 2015 only during the time slot of 9 am till 6 pm, he/she would have to choose to search by the Slot option. Searching by the slot option would enable the user to filter his/her search to specific time periods. The user could search by one or more slots for example, the time slot between the opening and closing times of a jewellery store, the first or second half of the day in an organization, the lunch hours, and so on.

Once the user has searched by one or more of the above mentioned criteria, the Module enables the user, inter alia, to Review the Images brought forth in the same manner as described in the Review Module above in this document. Share Module

This Module enables the user to share, inter alia, Images captured or aggregated from Live Surveillance Video brought forth from one or multiple Cameras, Webcams, Recorders, and/or Storage Devices, from media including but not limited to a live Television/Internet Broadcast, or from recorded Video played back through an application such as a media player, and so on, and/or any other Images stored on one or more locations including but not limited to a computer, storage device, local server, FTP location, cloud service, and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future, via one or more services including but not limited to E-mail, FTP, Skype, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, and and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future. Export/Import Module

This Module enables the user to export data that can be imported by other users of the said System, wherein the data can include but is not limited to Images captured and/or aggregated by the said System along with their respective descriptions, Incident Reports built using the said System, and so on.

This would be useful in disseminating information instantly and in an efficient manner. For example, imagine that Interpol wants to share information about suspected terrorists to the Police authorities all across the world. This information would likely comprise of the photos of the suspects along with a brief description about them. Further, it would be likely that there may be hundreds of photos to be shared. It is accepted that conventional methods for sending this kind of information would be cumbersome.

Instead, using the said System, the photos along with their descriptions can be, inter alia, packaged in a single composite data file which could be shared instantly via one or more services including but not limited to E-mail, FTP, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future. This file can be imported by the receiving user through the said System. Bookmark Module

This Module enables the user to 'bookmark' inter alia, frequently accessed URLs, or IP addresses. These URLs or IP addresses may redirect to one or more Live Video Feeds brought forth from one or multiple Cameras, Webcams, Recorders, and/or Storage Devices, from media including but not limited to a live Television/Internet broadcast. The user can add a title to each URL or IP address for ease of identification for example 'Office Cameras', 'Home Cameras', 'Bank Vault Cameras' and so on. The Module enables the user to access the URLs or IP addresses with the said titles. Thus, the user is saved the hassle of remembering Complex URLs or IP addresses. Customize Module

This Module enables the user to customize the said System with respect to one or more parameters including but not limited to the following:- i) Location - This enables the user to choose one or more locations at which he/she wishes to store Images and/or Videos captured and/or aggregated through the System, which include but are not limited to a computer, storage device, mobile device, a local server, an FTP server, Cloud Services like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future. The Images and/or Videos captured and/or aggregated through the System are simultaneously stored in all the chosen locations. ii) Format and Resolution - This enables the user to choose the file format and resolution in which he/she wants to capture or aggregate Images and/or Videos through the System. The user can choose to capture or aggregate the said Images and/or Videos in their original resolution or in a custom resolution. iii) Date Format - This enables the user to set the appropriate date format which will, inter alia, be displayed in the Incident Reports created by the System as well as in the Date and Timestamp applied to Images captured and/or aggregated through the System. iv) Speed of Review - This enables the user to choose the speed at which he wishes to

Review Images through the System. The user can choose a 'Slow', 'Medium', 'Fast', or even a 'Very Fast' speed. v) Shortcuts - This enables the user to create shortcuts for performing one or more actions through the System. vi) Text Alignment - This enables the user to choose the alignment of the text displayed in relevant Modules of the System. This is useful especially in case of languages like Arabic, where the text is displayed in a right-to-left direction. vii) Reports - This enables the user to choose the format in which the Reports created through the System are to be generated as well as certain details which he/she wants to be pre filled each time during creation of a Report. The user can even choose the actions to be performed by the System once the Report is generated. These could include but are not limited to opening the said Report, or sharing the said Report automatically via one or more services including but not limited to E-mail, FTP, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future.

The user can even choose one or more brand elements for example company/organization logos to be displayed in the Reports. This could be useful for identifying all Reports that are created from within a particular organization. viii) Delete - This enables the user to delete, inter alia, the Images and/or Videos captured and/or aggregated through the System. The user can choose to delete within a particular date and time range. The user can further choose to delete Images and/or Videos stored in multiple locations, at the same time. ix) Maintenance - This enables the user to carry out a maintenance of the System with respect to one or more parameters including but not limited to optimizing the Database of the System, checking System performance, and so on. Thus, while there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the present invention as applied to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive and various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details of the methods described may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same functions in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of this invention. Substitutions of elements from one described embodiment to another are also fully intended and contemplated. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Claims

1. An Interactive System is provided, which inter alia:

2. The System according to claim 1 , enables the user to speedily review Images captured from Surveillance Video Feeds and/or Images for any time period such as an hour, several hours, a day, several days, weeks, months, and years.

3. The System according to claim 1, considerably reduces the time taken for review of Surveillance Video and/or Images as compared to the time taken by the user in case he/she were to review the same using existing Systems and/or means, wherein it is inferred that this would induce the user to review on a regular basis as a standard operating procedure which in turn would help him/her acquire considerable 'Situation Awareness' of the activities taking place in his/her respective premises.

4. The System according to claim 1 , further enables the user to keep track of the time periods that he/she or the person responsible has completed reviewing and/or is about to review, as well as note down exceptions encountered during review and decide the appropriate corrective/preventive measures.

5. The System according to claim 1, further enables the user to discover during the review process, inter alia, exceptions that would otherwise be missed by Video Surveillance/Video Management Systems, which may include but are not limited to the following:-.

i. a security guard sleeping during his/her duty hours,

ii. the staff not paying attention to their customers in a store,

iii. standard operating procedures not being followed in an organisation,

iv. a long queue of customers waiting in a bank,

v. a car parked on the wrong side of the road,

vi. someone conducting a recce,

vii. someone stealing a small piece of jewellery without anyone knowing,

viii. housekeeping staff not performing their duties well, and so on.

6. The System according to claim 1 enables the user to speedily review Images captured from Surveillance Video Feeds/any other Images stored in a particular location including but not limited to a Local Drive, a Network Drive, an FTP Server, or a Cloud Service like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and so on.

7. The System according to claim 1 , enables the user to decide the pace at which he/she wishes to review, and further navigate back and forth as desired, as well as to Pan, and Zoom into a desired resolution during the review.

8. The System according to claim 1, enables the user to perform actions on one or multiple Images during the review which include but are not limited to the following:- i) Highlight particular areas in an image by one or more means including but not limited to adding cliparts, adding captions, annotations, and so on.

ii) Color Code Images based on what is being observed in the same

iii) Add a Description

iv) Add Tags which would help in searching and retrieving the Images in future.

9. The System according to claim 1 , enables the user to detect and recognize, inter alia, faces and/or objects during the review, as well as receive notifications when the same faces and/or objects are encountered subsequently, or missing during the review.

10. The System according to claim 1, enables the user to take several next steps with respect to the Images, either in their original resolution or specific areas in the Images as visible when the Images are in a 'zoomed' mode, which include but are not limited to the following:- i. Creating an Incident Report from the said Images

ii. Creating an Instant Report from the said Images

iii. Creating a Contact Sheet from the said Images along with their relevant descriptions iv. Creating a Video from the said Images

v. Adding a Description and/or Tags to the said Images

vi. Sharing the said Images to a particular location in one or more formats like a compressed zip file as well as via services like E-mail, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp.

11. The System according to claims 1 and 10, enables the user to demarcate certain areas in the Images in order to focus on the same during the review, and take one or more next steps in case of any exception.

12. The System according to claim 1, in particular embodiments, can be:

i. used to monitor whether employees in a company or organisation are performing authorized activity on their respective devices including but not limited to computers, tablet PCs, mobile phones, and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future. ' ^. . ^.

ii. used to monitor health and safety of employees at their respective workplaces

iii. used by Insurance companies, inter alia, to verify the claims put forward by a party.

13. The System according to claim 1, enables the user, inter alia, to automatically and/or manually capture Images from Surveillance Video at frequent time intervals, as may be determined by the user, it being accepted that the Surveillance Video may be brought forth from one or multiple Cameras, Webcams, Recorders, and/or Storage Devices at a time, and further speedily review the same.

14. The System according to claim 1, enables the user to automatically and/or manually capture Images from Surveillance Video from multiple Cameras, Webcams, Recorders and/or Storage Devices from multiple locations simultaneously from a computer, mobile phone, tablet, and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future, and further speedily review the same.

15. The System according to claim 1, enables the user to to 'Schedule', inter alia, capture of Images from Surveillance Video at pre-defined time intervals from multiple Cameras, Webcams, Recorders and/or Storage Devices from multiple locations simultaneously from a computer, mobile phone, tablet, and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future, and further speedily review the same.

16. The System according to claim 1, in a particular embodiment, enables the user to automatically and/or manually capture, inter alia, Images from media including but not limited to a live television/Internet broadcast, and further speedily review the same.

17. The System according to claim 1 , enables the user, inter alia, to store the backup of Surveillance Video in one or more formats including but not limited to Images at on one or more locations, till the time as would be needed by the user.

18. The System according to claim 1 , enables the user to aggregate, inter alia, Images from multiple Video sources in one or more ways including but not limited to the following:- a) Aggregating Images at pre-defined time intervals in the Video.

b) 'Slicing' the Video into 'frames' and aggregating each frame.

d) Aggregating Images and/or Videos stored in a particular location including but not limited to a Local Drive, a Network Drive, an FTP Server, or a Cloud Service like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and/or from a Camera, Mobile Device, and so on.

19. The System according to claim 18, enables the user to aggregate Images from one or more Videos which are being played, without pausing or stopping the Video.

20. The System according to claim 1 , enables the user to search and retrieve, inter alia, Images captured or aggregated through the said System, based on one or more Search Criteria including but not limited to the Date and the Time on which the Images were captured, within a particular Range and/or Slot, Tags, as well as by Keywords, and further speedily review the said Images.

21. The System according to claim 1, enables the user to create Standardized Intelligent Incident Reports, which can, inter alia, provide first-hand information to the concerned Authorities/Stakeholders/Law Enforcement including but not limited to 'meta-data' like the Date of the Incident, Time of the Incident, Location of the Incident, Category of the Incident, Severity of the Incident, Amount of Loss, Weather, as well as Peculiarities of the Date, Time, Location, Category, the Affected Party, the Perpetrators and so on, a brief Description about the Incident, as well as the Action Recommended, Action Taken and so on.

22. The System according to claims 1 and 21 , enables the user to create Reports on any kind of Incidents which include but are not limited to criminal Incidents like a murder, theft, robbery, assault, fraud, non-criminal like a staff issue, suspicious activity, agitated customers, standard operating procedures being flouted in an organization, or Incidents concerning health and safety for example, a guest slipping and falling at a hotel, as well as inchoate offences that may lead to crimes later like an attempted theft, attempted murder, and so on.

23. The System according to claims 1 and 21, enables the user to create Standardized Intelligent Incident Reports with inter alia, Images captured from Surveillance Video and/or any other Images.

24. The System according to claims 1 and 21, enables the user to create Incident Reports without Images and/or Videos, it being inferred that these Reports could be of Incidents such as economic offences, where Images and/or Video would not have relevance.

25. The System according to claim 1 , enables the user to create an Instant Report with just Images and/or Videos and/or their respective descriptions.

26. The System according to claim 1 , generates the said Reports automatically in standard universally acceptable formats including but not limited to MS Powerpoint, PDF, Google Docs, and so on, with the relevant descriptions, formatting and/or Images and/or Videos, without the need for any manual intervention.

27. The System according to claim 1 and 21 , enables the user to share the said Reports via one or more services including but not limited to E-mail, FTP, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future, it being inferred that the person/entity which receives the Report can review the same and further add their own comments/suggestions, and further share the same with concerned stakeholders/Law Enforcement who may take the necessary steps based on the comments/suggestions.

28. The System according to claim 1, enables Law Enforcement authorities to issue Tickets, inter alia, on traffic violations to the respective offenders, wherein the tickets would comprise the entire information about the violation, the offenders, and their vehicles, as well as the relevant Images and/or Videos captured from Live Surveillance Video Feeds, depicting the traffic violation.

29. The System according to claims 1 and 28, enables Law Enforcement authorities to draw inferences from the said Tickets, which would enable them to derive 'Patterns' that would inter alia, indicate the kind of traffic violations occurring on a particular day, at a particular time, by particular types of vehicles (two-wheeler, four wheeler etc.), and so on.

30. The System according to claims 1 and 21 , enables the user to draw inferences, inter alia using heuristic methods, with respect to one or more aspects of an Incident including but not limited to the Date of the Incident, Time of the Incident, Location of the Incident, Category of the Incident, Severity of the Incident, Amount of Loss, Weather, as well as Peculiarities of the Date, Time, Location, Category, the Affected Party, the Perpetrators, and so on, which, inter alia, help in deriving 'Patterns' which include but are not limited to the kind of Incidents taking place on a particular date, at a particular time, at a particular location, affecting particular persons, executed in a particular manner, and so on, which enable concerned Stakeholders/Law Enforcement to take corrective/preventive measures.

31. The System according to claims 1 and 30, automatically 'predicts' or 'forecasts' the occurrences, of Incidents in the future based on one or more criteria including but not limited to the Date of the Incident, Time of the Incident, Location of the Incident, Category of the Incident, Severity of the Incident, Amount of Loss, Weather, as well as Peculiarities of the Date, Time, Location, Category, the Affected Party, the Perpetrators, and so on.

32. The System according to claim 1 , enables the user to create an 'All is Well' Report which inter alia, lets the user state that everything, including but not limited to the respective Video Surveillance System, was 'in order' at a particular location, or in an organization, and so on, and no untoward Incidents/exceptions occurred, it being inferred that this Report would be useful for concerned stakeholders to gauge the efficacy of a particular location and/or organization with respect to one or more parameters like the processes, the efficiency of the staff/personnel, and so on.

33. The System according to claim 1, enables the user to create a Contact Sheet from Images captured from Video Feeds and/or external Images of any kind along with their relevant descriptions. ■

34. The System according to claims 1 and 21 , enables the user to search for Reports by one or more criteria including but not limited to the Date and Time of the Report, Report Title, Amount of

Loss, whether the Report is Open or Confidential, the Date and Time of the Incident, Location, Category, Date and Time of the Incident, Severity of the Incident, Weather, as well as Peculiarities of the Date, Time, Location, Category, Affected Party, Perpetrators and so on, wherein it is inferred that the user can take one or more next steps which include but are not limited to determining which Incidents are yet unresolved and which Incidents have been closed and accordingly taking corrective/preventive measures, sharing the Reports via services like E- mail, and so on.

35. The System according to claim 1 , enables the user to share, inter alia, Images captured or aggregated from Live or Recorded Video and/or any external Images via one or more services including but not limited to E-mail, FTP, Skype, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, and and such present or future technologies that are available, or may be available at any time in the future.

36. The System according to claim 1 , enables the user to export data that can be imported by other users of the said system, wherein the data can include but is not limited to Images captured by the said System along with their respective descriptions, Incident Reports built using the said System, and so on.

37. The System according to claim 1, enables the user to 'bookmark' inter alia, frequently accessed URLs, or IP addresses which may redirect to one or more Live Video Feeds brought forth from one or multiple Cameras, Webcams, Recorders, and/or Storage Devices, from media including but not limited to a live Television/Internet broadcast.

38. The System according to claim 1, enables the user to customize the said System with respect to one or more parameters.