BJC Healthcare and Cernium Enhances Parking Garage Security With Video Surveillance System That Detects and Analyzes Suspicious Behavior.

Business Editors

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 2002

Security system represents first commercial application

of behavior-recognition technology in the United States 

Cernium, Inc. today announced that its Perceptrak(TM) product, an intelligent video surveillance system that uses behavior-recognition technology to analyze movement and activity, has been installed in two BJC HealthCare parking garages. The cameras are now in use at Barnes-Jewish Hospital's Charles F. Knight Emergency and Trauma Center and St. Louis Children's Hospital parking garages. BJC HealthCare comprises nationally recognized teaching hospitals, trusted suburban community hospitals, vital rural hospitals and state-of-the-art specialty facilities, and provides for a broad spectrum of health-care needs throughout Missouri and Illinois.

This project and five other high-profile Perceptrak installations in Toronto, St. Louis and New Orleans, represent the first commercial installations of behavior-recognition technology ever conducted in the United States and puts an emphasis on the importance of security, not only within institutional facilities, but also in adjacent facilities, such as parking garages, that serve such institutions.

Perceptrak integrates with existing closed-circuit TV (CCTV) systems deployed within parking garages and other "quiet" places - stairwells, elevator lobbies, low-traffic corridors - and detects and immediately alerts security staff to suspicious behavior - such as an erratic person, a fallen person, or a lurking person.

"Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children's Hospitals have always placed a strong emphasis on security and technology," said Albert Schall, Barnes-Jewish Hospital Security Systems Project Leader. "We're pleased to be able to extend Cernium's intelligent video surveillance capabilities to these and potentially other BJC HealthCare parking facilities."

Using Cernium's proprietary software, Perceptrak simultaneously monitors and analyzes an entire network of CCTV camera views, filtering out mundane, unwanted surveillance video, and allowing a single security officer to monitor hundreds of cameras effectively.

"The behavior-recognition technology behind provides facility directors and property managers and owners with an added level of security," said Sean Patty, president and chief executive officer at Cernium. "Further, our system allows them to provide a greater sense of personal safety to their patients, customers, tenants and employees, and provides a rapid return on investment through reduced staff requirements, fewer criminal incidents, and lower legal liabilities."

"With its innovative Perceptrak offering, Cernium has opened up new possibilities for CCTV systems and moved ahead of the competition," said Deepak Shetty, an industry analyst with Frost & Sullivan. "Importantly, new intelligent video systems, such as Perceptrak, are enhancing security because technology never falls asleep on the job."

About Cernium

Cernium, Inc. (www.cernium.com), based in St. Louis, is a leading developer and provider of behavior-recognition software and systems for the security industry, focusing on intelligent surveillance video analysis. The company develops proprietary security systems for government and industry, helping meet their safety and fiscal objectives.