You are here: silicon.com > Management > IT Pro

IT Pro

Skin-detecting CCTV keeps an eye on motorists

Congestion charging gets under your skin?

Tags: cctv

By Natasha Lomas

Published: 26 February 2008 17:31 GMT

A company that has developed a CCTV system which counts people in cars by detecting human skin claims the London Congestion Charge could benefit from the technology.

Photo stories

Check out silicon.com's latest photo stories here…

1. Photos: Google Android comes out to play

2. Photos: The high-tech future of retail

3. Photos: MoD tracks with deadly accuracy

4. Photos: Behind the scenes at Mobile World Congress 2008

5. Photos: Zoom in on London from the air…

6. Photos: Power-generating leg brace goes for a walk

7. Photos: What should be crowned the king of Apple cool?

8. Photos: When tech chiefs rock out...

9. Photos of the year

10. Photos: The super 3D body scanner

Vehicle Occupancy, a company spun out of research at Loughborough University, has pioneered an infrared CCTV system known as dtech that scans car windscreens and determines how many people are in the vehicle by detecting human skin and counting faces.

It is now touting a commercial application of the tech that can be used for policing high occupancy vehicle lanes - roads where cars must have more than one occupant in them - and therefore cutting congestion.

Leeds City Council is reported to be interested in testing the technology on its car-pool lanes.

Professor John Tyrer, professor of optical instrumentation at Loughborough University, said single occupant cars are the main cause of congestion and argued that more intelligent schemes than London's Congestion Charge - which polices vehicles rather than occupants - are needed to create effective congestion-cutting schemes.

He told silicon.com: "At the moment the Congestion Charge in London is not at all successful - the average speed in that zone has gone down since the charge was introduced. It's changed the demographic distribution slightly but the net result is it's not made a big deal of difference. And it's not seen by the people in there as actually anything other than a flat tax.

"So if you charge a single occupant car but you don't charge multiple occupant cars you've then got a logic which says I've got to change my behaviour because I can begin to see the reason behind this."

Vehicle Occupancy has conducted extensive trials of the technology during the five years it has been developing dtech - including utilising the Mallory Park Motor Racing Circuit near Leicester.

Tyrer explained: "We're able to position people in different configurations in the car and then go round and round and round at different speeds - it's very, very controlled conditions. We're able to map everything and look at the repeatability."

The dtech cameras are elevated so they have a three-quarter vantage point of vehicles on the road and are therefore able to get a view of any front and rear passengers, said Tyrer - who added the technology is "very" accurate.

He said many UK councils have shown interest in using dtech to police vehicle occupancy, adding it is already in use "all over the world".

dtech has additional applications beyond policing congestion, according to Tyrer, who said as well as car parking and tolling the tech can be used for people auditing, survey work and border crossing.

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure

Tim Ferguson How CIOs can achieve post-recession success Q&A: McKinsey & Company on living in the 'new normal' business world

Richard Leyland Does your business really need an office? Future Company: Banishing physical workplace brings perils as well as perks


  • Jobs
BDM - (45k OTE) - Vehicle Rental - London

Business Development Manager - OTE 45k - Vehicle Rental - London The role Your position at this highly reputable company will involve you selling ...

Business Analyst / Consultant HCM / HRMS (West London / Berkshire)

Business Consultant - HCM Software, Human Capital Management, Talent Management, Performance Management, LMS, HRMS Offices commutable from West ...

Senior Sales Executive-SEO Solutions

The solutions are sold on a results basis, i.e.if you don't optimise a company's search engine performance you don't charge them anything. On average ...

Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.





Quick Sitemap Links: