The landscape of video security is undergoing a profound transformation, spearheaded by innovations like Avigilon Visual Alerts. Debuted by Avigilon, a Motorola Solutions company, last year and prominently featured at Intersec, this groundbreaking technology harnesses generative AI and natural language processing to elevate video security beyond passive monitoring. To delve deeper into its capabilities, we recently spoke with Jehan Wickramasuriya, Senior Vice President of Security and Resilience Software at Motorola Solutions.
Avigilon Visual Alerts is an on-premises, generative AI (GenAI)-powered solution integrated within the Avigilon Unity Video 8.7 platform. Designed to dramatically expand the scope of object and visual event detection, it empowers organizations to proactively identify a myriad of safety, compliance, and logistical challenges before they escalate into critical incidents. This advanced system introduces several revolutionary features that set it apart from traditional video management software and analytics:
* **Focus of Attention:** This feature activates Avigilon’s intelligent “Focus of Attention” interface, translating vast quantities of raw data into an intuitive, color-coded map. This visual aid alerts security teams precisely when and where their immediate triage and response are needed, cutting through the noise of countless alerts.
* **Automated Action Workflows:** Detections are seamlessly integrated into a robust rule engine, allowing users to configure sophisticated, automated responses tailored to their specific operational needs. This ensures rapid and consistent incident management.
* **100 Percent On-Premises Processing:** In a significant departure from many cloud-based solutions, all AI analysis occurs entirely within an organization’s own infrastructure. This design choice guarantees stringent data privacy and compliance, particularly vital for sensitive environments.
‘Making video security proactive rather than passive’: The Power of Gen AI
According to Wickramasuriya, Visual Alerts represents a pivotal shift from static, rule-based analytics to dynamic, descriptive intelligence. A core enabler of this paradigm shift is generative AI, a technology rapidly gaining traction within the video security sector.
“A primary goal of Visual Alerts is to make video security proactive rather than passive,” Wickramasuriya explained. “Traditional analytics are often limited to pre-defined objects like people or vehicles. However, Visual Alerts leverages generative AI to expand the system’s ‘vocabulary,’ enabling it to detect complex scenes and specific activities that were previously undetectable.” He added, “Generative AI is considered the fastest-growing segment in video security, transforming cameras from mere observation tools into sources of real-time, operational intelligence. This fundamentally shifts the cognitive load from human operators to AI.”
The Intuitive Natural Language Interface
Another standout feature of Visual Alerts is its revolutionary natural language interface. This allows operators to bypass complex menus and technical jargon, instead using conversational input to define detection rules. Once an event is identified, the system can automatically trigger predefined responses, such as audible alarms, email snapshots, or API calls to external security systems, facilitating a faster, more orchestrated response.
“Unlike older versions where users had to navigate complex menus to set rules, Visual Alerts allows users to simply describe what to detect in a scene using natural language,” Wickramasuriya elaborated. “It democratizes access to advanced analytics by eliminating the need for specialized technical knowledge to create complex rules. Operators can simply type prompts such as ‘Alert me when there’s smoke,’ ‘Alert me when a window is broken,’ or ‘Alert me when a person is lying on the floor.’”
The potential of natural language extends to smart search capabilities, where users could query “find people wearing a red shirt” to retrieve relevant footage. While not currently supported, Wickramasuriya confirmed, “it is a use case we are actively exploring and expect to share more about in the future.”
Industries Primed for Transformation
Visual Alerts excels at workflow optimization and proactive incident prevention, making it an ideal solution for a diverse range of complex industries and vertical markets:
* **Healthcare and Hospitals:** For sprawling healthcare facilities, Visual Alerts acts as an indispensable aid, reconciling data from expansive camera networks to manage large volumes of people, understand diverse events simultaneously, and enable immediate, verified action during incidents.
* **Oil and Gas:** In intricate industrial sites, Visual Alerts plays a crucial role in upholding stringent safety standards, ensuring compliance, and detecting hazards. Operators can craft highly specific alerts, such as immediately flagging an “unauthorized vehicle near a shut-off valve,” enhancing critical infrastructure protection.
* **Logistics and Warehousing:** Visual Alerts provides crucial, early hazard detection and workflow management. This can save vital time when the early signs of smoke or fire are detected in a vast warehouse, enabling security teams to conduct safe and swift evacuations.
* **Retail and Public Venues:** Large public venues can leverage the system’s generative AI for advanced crowd management. By identifying “high crowd density,” operators can proactively manage pedestrian flow and identify potential safety bottlenecks, enhancing visitor experience and security.
Privacy at the Core
Avigilon Visual Alerts is meticulously designed with a privacy-first architecture, ensuring that all generative AI video analysis is performed entirely on-premises.
“By utilizing the AI Appliance 2X with its Avigilon Hardened OS, sensitive video data is processed using local models without the need to send data to the cloud,” Wickramasuriya affirmed. “This server-side approach allows organizations in highly regulated sectors, such as healthcare and critical infrastructure, to deploy advanced AI capabilities while maintaining strict data sovereignty and compliance.”
Furthermore, Visual Alerts offers privacy-aware AI analysis that prioritizes events over identity. This functionality allows administrators to blur out individuals or specific, sensitive areas within the camera’s field of view in real-time, reinforcing privacy protections without compromising security effectiveness.