The SecurityHive.com community voted during the summer of 2014 and selected the Physical Security and Video Surveillance industry’s Top 12 Influencers. – This Profile is one in the series of 12 making a difference in our industry
Vaidhi is an experienced business and technology leader with an M.S. from Arizona State University. Over the years, Vaidhi founded three businesses based in Silicon Valley. Prior to IntelliVision, he was the President and CEO of ePeople and Sirius. 30 years of industry experience with camera software and video analytics have proven successful in market growth, team building, product creation and delivery. Projects he started are deployed with US Government agencies and Fortune 500 companies.
A community of over 8000 industry professionals has just selected you as one of the Top 12 industry influencers for 2014. What is your reaction to that?
I am honored and humbled to be selected, thank you for this recognition. I must admit that I do feel some pressure to rise up to the expectations of this award.
How long have you been active in the physical security/video surveillance industry and what brought you into this industry?
I entered this industry in 2002, so it has already been 12 years! After the 9-11 tragedy in 2001, demand increased for more intelligent security solutions, hence the creation of IntelliVision.
How did you get started (what was your first job) in this industry?
My first job in the industry came through IntelliVision. We founded the company due to greater demand for smarter security solutions after a series of terrorist attacks exposed vulnerabilities in 2001.
What are some of the changes in the industry that you saw coming and are most proud about being accurate?
Over the next 5-7 years the industry will develop through improvements to artificial intelligence. Smart cameras may start deterring and even preventing crime instead of being limited to forensic evidence.
Since founding, we expected a major change in industry standards, analog to IP, to take place in the near future. We planned accordingly and adjusted product development. Thanks to this plan of action, we have reaped the benefits of later trends building off of IP cameras including H264 and high definition cameras with more and more pixels. We are seeing a new but welcomed trend towards edge analytics and smart cameras. We have had products capable of serving this market since 2005 but now adoption rates are finally starting to pick up.
How have you seen the industry change over the past few years?
A good amount of consolidation has taken place in recent years. Companies are buying out others with complementary technologies. This is creating a business environment with a few large dominant players competing in a price sensitive market.
What do you see has been the single most impactful technology in the industry?
Passive surveillance will be a thing of the past, new systems will be proactive. They will be smarter and more effective in their purpose than ever before.
This may be biased, seeing as how my company is part of the answer, but I truly believe intelligent video solutions (security, analytics, automation) will continue to grow and develop in the next 5 years. More advanced artificial intelligence behind surveillance systems will be critical in providing real time information with the ability to react instantly. There are simply not enough eyes to watch every camera. Passive surveillance will be a thing of the past, new systems will be proactive. They will be smarter and more effective in their purpose than ever before.
As an industry influencer, can you share with us a business success story or case study that you are most proud about?
There are two I am most proud of. Disney has been a great customer. They are always looking at new ways to better manage customers and employees. In their theme parks, they wanted to better understand customers with regards to flow and timing in specific areas. Using IntelliVision technology, they now have more valuable information to better run theme park operations.
Another important project was related to traffic monitoring. Throughout the United States, in almost every state, there are smart cameras running IntelliVision technology. Around 15,000 cameras have been deployed on US roadways to better control traffic lights and intersections. This was a seamless and behind the scenes project that really helps people today, even if they don?t exactly know it.
Please share with us your visions of this industry and what it will look like for manufacturers, integrators, installers, central stations, and end-users in:
Over the next 5-7 years the industry will develop through improvements to artificial intelligence. Smart cameras may start deterring and even preventing crime instead of being limited to forensic evidence. For this technology to develop, more widespread adoption will be needed and with it, declining prices. Increased demand and lower prices will likely lead to more consolidation within the industry. Companies will look to provide complete solutions rather than compete on hardware pricing for a single piece of the puzzle. H.265/HEVC will improve streaming capabilities and with lowering costs, the consumer market will be more viable (as we are beginning to see today).
Tell us about a current industry FAD or trend that you do not see being around in the future (i.e.: NFC, gesture technology for access control, body worn cameras, patient biometric authentication, etc)
There is a lot of development going into 4k and 360 degree cameras. This makes me believe that implementation of PTZ?s will slow down as other camera types will not require motorized movement to view an entire scene or have as much FOV as a PTZ.
Are there any current trends you think will be short-lived? If so, why?
I don?t see HD-SDI lasting much longer. With IP technology advancing, prices declining, and analog slowly moving out of the picture I believe IP will be the dominant industry standard and other standards like HD-SDI and analog will be phased out.
Tell us about a newer technology that you think is going to significantly alter the industry landscape:
Intelligent software on the edge, as camera CPU?s grow in capability, will make advanced analytics more accessible to a larger customer base. Access to expensive backend servers will not be required. Processing information at the point of capture will quicken response times, allowing for more proactive surveillance systems.
What vertical market do you think is going to witness the biggest impact of industry advancements and why? (Airports, Seaports, Campus (K12/Univ), Hospitals, Law Enforcement, Banking, Oil/Gas, Retail, etc)
By far this will be retail. We are seeing an enormous amount of demand from retailers for more and more intelligent solutions within their ecosystems. Retailers, from department stores to quick service chains, want to know more about the customer. Age and gender information, traffic patterns, customer counting, knowing where and how customers spend their time, service speeds; these will all relate directly to ROI and improve their bottom line.
Another vertical I envision would be public safety and city surveillance. The UK was among the first to adopt this concept and other countries will follow shortly. Public safety is becoming a higher priority concern for governments and one of the only ways to monitor this is city surveillance with real time monitoring. With this, technologies will have to evolve so that video bandwidth is reduced, video storage is more manageable and real time alerts and events are more accurate.
What are your thoughts on laws or legislation that are currently being considered or do you think may be forthcoming that will have an impact on the industry:
Demands for stronger encryption within the industry will most likely conflict with government and law enforcement interests. Market demands and new legislation may push and pull encryption standards/expectations in the near future.
Privacy issues are always at the forefront in this industry.
What is your position on where the privacy line is located today and where you see that line in the future and do you agree with those positions?
Security, crime prevention and public safety are also at the forefront of the industry. It?ll be a battle between the two, especially in the US where privacy is so highly protected and demanded. Ultimately, the public will determine if they prefer privacy or safety. At IntelliVision, we try to meet both demands to the best of our abilities.
What are your thoughts about technologies that may be intersecting with more individual/personal applications (i.e.: cloud, IoT, wearables, etc.)?
Home automation is becoming more accessible to a wider range of consumers as prices decline. Security, convenience and accessibility will help drive this market. Other trends such as wearables have potential to complement home automation with added convenience and control.
It seems that ecosystems for physical security are expanding rapidly and are requiring deeper integration with different types of partners, providing new market opportunities.
How can the industry support or accelerate these synergistic partnership opportunities?
Open standards for API and SDK?s will aid integration efforts. The market demands plug & play solutions; the easier it is to integrate different products the better.
The industry has seen a significant increase in the merger and acquisition activity lately. What M&A activity do you think has been significant and what do you see happening with companies in the near future?
Schneider?s purchase of Pelco, Canon?s purchase of Milestone, Avigilon?s purchase of VideoIQ and the merger of IQI and Vicon have all left a lasting impact on the industry. More activity of this nature will most likely continue and even accelerate over the next few years. There are still hundreds of vendors with similar offerings and price points. Those that can differentiate with added value will survive.
Is there anything in the “lab” that you’re currently working on or involved with that you would like to share with our readership?
We are looking at some major releases in 2015 as needs for advanced video analytics are recognized by more customers. Stay tuned for updates!
Who do you look to as an industry influencer? Who or what are some resources that you follow?
I keep up with the moves of major CEO?s in the industry and use IPVM as a resource for information, and of course SecurityHive!
Please provide any other feedback or comments you wish our readers to know about you or your position in the industry.
Intelligent security solutions are evolving into proactive systems capable of enabling quick and effective responses. The technology and know-how exists, but integration with other products/services will determine the extent of growth in the near future.