Chellappa, Bhattacharyya Receive NSF Grant for Smart Camera System

Dr. Rama Chellappa

Professor Rama Chellappa (ECE/UMIACS/CS) and Professor Shuvra Bhattacharyya (ECE/UMIACS) are part of a research team that has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant for the development of a smart camera system. The two researchers, along with Principal Investigator Wayne Wolf, professor of electrical engineering at Princeton University, are developing distributed smart camera systems that cooperate in real time to analyze activities in a

Dr. Shuvra Bhattacharyya

scene, such as movements of people, vehicles and other objects. These smart camera systems can be used in airport terminals, train terminals and other public locations to monitor and analyze the actions of both individuals and large groups of people.

The technology is being developed and commercialized through Verificon Corporation, which was spun out of Princeton University in 2003. Verificon projects are also receiving funding from the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The research team's grant is one of several technology initiatives aimed at new approaches to airport security that are currently being supported by NSF. For more information on these initiatives, visit: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=108019&org=NSF.

Published November 6, 2006