External Video Analytics

Macula Monitor allows establishing a direct interactive connection to third-party video analytics servers (or other software servers) via HTTP/HTTPS. These providers are external to the Macula system but they may run the analysis on the same video streams. The main purpose of this feature is to provide you with a single interface, eliminating the need to switch between several different applications.

A prominent example of such a VA system is the Active Guard server by i-PRO. It will provide you with the video analytics search options based on many different parameters: persons' appearance, faces, etc. (the specific VA options depend on the video analytics configured on the camera side). If the same cameras are present in the Macula configuration, you will be able to view the archive locally when inspecting the analytics events.

By default, there are no built-in connections to any systems, and the functionality is hidden.

Enable Video Analytics Connections

To enable the feature in Macula Monitor:

1. Run the Macula Monitor configuration tool: main menu Tools > Administration tool

2. Enable the Video Analytics Connections under Menu Buttons in the Interface tab

3. Restart the Macula Monitor application

4. The corresponding menu item should appear in the main application menu, under Edit > Video Analytics Connections

Create Analytics Connection

Now, you need to create the VA connection(s) similarly to Macula server connections.

To do this, go to the main Macula Monitor menu and choose Edit > Video Analytics Connections, add a new server, then fill in the connection settings:

• Server title: user-defined analytics instance name

• IP address: IP or hostname of the target Web application instance

• Port: remote HTTP/HTTPS port to connect to

• Use HTTPS: enable to use a secure connection

• User name and password: user account

All settings must match those on the remote side. Before entering the settings in Macula Monitor, make sure that the target Web application is accessible from the client machine (e.g., by running telnet command from the command line.).

If the remote application is not running or the connection settings are incorrect, the tab may become unresponsive.

After the connection is established, the video analytics tab will reflect the remote Web application content and allow you to interact with it. Some of the remote functions may call Macula Monitor functionality, e.g., open a pop-up window with Macula archive.

This connection is direct, meaning that it does not go through the Macula server. If you want to share the configured VA connections with other Macula Monitor workstations, export the application settings.

Access VA in Macula Monitor

Once you successfully go through the steps above, a new VA Investigation tab will appear next to the Reports tab of Macula Monitor. Click it to start working with it.

If the application freezes when you click the VA Investigation tab, it means the target application server is not accessible. Double-check if it is running and that you have entered the correct connection settings.

Here, you can use the remote application as usual. For the information about how to use the specific VA application, please refer to its documentation provided by its manufacturer.