The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate has begun a pilot project at Boston’s Logan International Airport of a new video surveillance technology that combines 360-dgree camera coverage and video analytics software.

The Imaging System for Immersive Surveillance (ISIS) is designed for used where surveillance of large open areas is required and provides automatic detection of abnormal events to help operators identify suspicious incidents in large open areas. The ISIS system, which was developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory and is managed by the Energy Department’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, includes: continuous 100 megapixel video recording of the entire terminal; simultaneous access to the live feed for multiple analysts to retrieve digitally captured scenes at any time for forensic review without disrupting coverage; the ability to archive captured video; and designation of exclusion zones or restricted areas where people are not normally present, which can be monitored and scanned for abnormal activity or suspicious items that may have been left behind or removed.

The pilot will demonstrate a proof of concept system and compare its utility and capability versus the standard CCTV systems currently in use. Lincoln Labs is developing a second generation system that will be smaller and offer better image resolution. The ISIS pilot is part of the DHS Wide Area Surveillance project. DHS says it has invested about $3 million through its Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop this technology and install the prototype at Logan.