April 27, 2009 Greenville, RI USA/Uden, Netherlands:
DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY LOOKS FOR LOW-COST FORENSIC CAMERA
Responding to a request made by the US Department of Homeland Security SECURE Program, Videology Imaging Solutions has developed a low-cost surveillance camera with blast-resistant recording. The camera is intended as a “Video Black Box” for use in mass transit vehicles. The camera records continuous video images onto a hardened, high-temperature/blast-resistant memory device.
VIDEOLOGY’S DESIGN IS PUT TO THE TEST
Scientifically devised blasts were arranged by DHS to test the survival capabilities of the memory devices. In one test, eight cameras were mounted inside a retired Maryland Transit Authority bus along with a massive explosive device representative of what a suicide bomber would carry. Upon detonation, the bus was virtually destroyed, leaving twisted metal and debris scattered over a large area.
All eight cameras were recovered, and despite having suffered direct hits, the memory devices in seven of the cameras were fully intact. They were able to yield video recordings of the events preceding the blast, thus achieving DHS’s functionality goal. The camera, designed and manufactured in the U.S. by Videology Imaging Solutions, Inc., will record, and preserve for later retrieval, activity occurring just prior to an explosive event such as that caused by a suicide bomber.
CAMERA PROVIDES EFFECTIVE, AFFORDABLE MASS TRANSIT SOLUTION
The cameras’ easy installation and low cost—under $200 in mass transit quantities—meets DHS’s additional requirement that the camera be inexpensive. This will make it possible to equip trains, and other mass transit vehicles with multiple, autonomous video recorders at a fraction of the cost of more conventional, less durable monitoring systems.
Press, government, and OEM inquiries are welcomed. Read DHS’s accounts and watch video clips:
Success Strewn Amidst the Wreckage
Lights, Camera, Ka-Boom!
*DHS does not endorse this or any other product