In a paper titled “Eye in the Sky,” the researchers describe their system. It uses a simple Parrot AR quadcopter (which costs around $200) to transmit video footage over a mobile internet connection for real-time analysis. An algorithm trained using deep learning estimates the poses of humans in the video and matches them to postures the researchers have designated as “violent.” For the purposes of the project, just five poses are included: strangling, punching, kicking, shooting, and stabbing.
The scientists hope that systems like theirs will be used to detect crime in public spaces and at large events. Lead researcher Amarjot Singh of the University of Cambridge told The Verge that he was motivated by events like the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017. Singh said attacks like this could be prevented in future if surveillance cameras can automatically spot suspicious behavior, like someone leaving a bag unattended for a long period of time.
