Title: Thermal imaging systems for real-time applications in smart cities

Authors: Rikke Gade; Thomas B. Moeslund; Søren Zebitz Nielsen; Hans Skov-Petersen; Hans Jørgen Andersen; Kent Basselbjerg; Hans Thorhauge Dam; Ole B. Jensen; Anders Jørgensen; Harry Lahrmann; Tanja Kidholm Osmann Madsen; Esben Skouboe Bala; Bo Ø. Povey

Addresses: Visual Analysis of People Lab, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark ' Visual Analysis of People Lab, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark ' Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, København, Denmark ' Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, University of Copenhagen, København, Denmark ' Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark ' Department of Electronic Systems, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark ' Department of Electronic Systems, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark ' Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark ' Visual Analysis of People Lab, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark ' Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark ' Department of Development and Planning, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark ' Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark ' Department of Electronic Systems, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

Abstract: In the modern world, cities need to keep up with the demand for mobility, efficient infrastructure and environmental sustainability. The future smart cities use intelligent information and communication technologies to raise the quality of life. This includes computer vision as one of the main technologies. It can observe and analyse human activities from a distance in a non-invasive manner. Traditional computer vision utilises RGB cameras, but problems with this sensor include its light dependency, and the privacy issues that can be raised by people being observed. In this paper, we propose the use of thermal imaging in real-time smart city applications. Thermal cameras operate independently of light and measure the radiated infrared waves representing the temperature of the scene. In order to showcase the possibilities, we present five different applications which use thermal imaging only. These include both indoor and outdoor scenarios with the purposes of people detection, counting and tracking, as well as one application for traffic safety evaluation.

Keywords: thermal imaging; people tracking; people counting; real-time systems; smart cities; mobility; efficient infrastructure; environmental sustainability; quality of life; intelligent systems; computer vision; thermal cameras; people detection; traffic safety.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCAT.2016.076790

International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology, 2016 Vol.53 No.4, pp.291 - 308

Received: 29 Mar 2014
Accepted: 23 Oct 2014
Published online: 01 Jun 2016 *

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