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This chapter provides information about the audio analytics apps for Cisco IP cameras. These apps Enable an IP camera to trigger events when it detects certain sound patterns.
The Audio Analytics apps include the following:
The following sections provide guidelines and operational specifications for the Audio Analytics apps:
The following general guidelines apply to the Audio Analytics apps:
The Audio Analytics Aggression app detects the acoustic changes in the voice of someone who is becoming aggressive. Specific factors that the app considers include pitch, tone, and intonation changes that can occur in voice patterns when someone becomes aggressive.
This app is designed to detect actively aggressive speech, not impolite speech, passive aggression, or sarcasm. Therefore, it does not consider semantic information, such as spoken profanity.
Factors such as the accent or language of the voice can affect the performance of this app.
With this app, an IP camera can detect aggression from a sound source that is up to 33 feet (10 meters) away from the microphone and that has been sounding for at least 1 second.
The Audio Analytics Car Alarm app detects the seven standard car alarm types that are used by major car manufacturers in North America and Europe. These alarms are characterized by looping progressions of specific tonal patterns. With this app, an IP camera can detect an alarm from a sound source that is up to 164 feet (50 meters) away from the microphone and that has been sounding for at least 2 seconds.
The Audio Analytics Glass Break app detects breaking of four types of glass in their standard thicknesses when used in building applications such as windows and doors. Glass breaking is characterized by the initial sound break, the impact, followed by the glass actually shattering. The system is designed to detect breakage by an intentional hit from a hand-held implement as opposed to breakage by explosion, accident, or natural event.
With the Glass Break app, an IP camera can detect glass breaking from a sound source that is up to 33 feet (10 meters) away from the microphone.
Table 2-1 describes the glass types and characteristics that are required for optimum detection by this app.
The Audio Analytics Gunshot app detects a variety of firearms being discharged.
Gunshots are characterized by unique muzzle blasts that are associated with a range of unsilenced weapons that are typically used in civilian gun crimes in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Australasia. Types of weapons that this app can detect being discharged are handguns (including 9 mm automatics and revolvers with or without muzzle diffusers), shotguns (including 20 gauge, .410 and 12 bore), bolt-action rifles (.22 mm and 7.62 mm), and automatic rifles (including AK-47, AR-15 and Uzi submachine gun).
With this app, an IP camera can detect a gunshot from a sound source that is up to 656 feet (200 meters) away from the microphone.
The Audio Analytics Demo app lets you test the response of the other Audio Analytics apps to a prerecorded aggression, car alarm, glass break, or gunshot sound.
To use the Audio Analytics Demo app, perform the following steps.
Download the DemoAppSoundFiles.zip file that is provided with the Demo application package. Unzip and play the included audio files to test the connected speakers.
Step 1 From the IP camera web-based user interface, click the Setup link, click Application Manager to expand the menu, then click App Setup .
Step 2 Click audioAnalyticsDemo radio button.
The IP camera becomes ready to detect an aggression, car alarm, glass break, or gunshot sound, based on the configuration settings that you made as described in the “Configuring an Audio Analytics App on an IP Camera” section.
Step 4 Use an external speaker to play the audio file for an aggression, car alarm, glass break, or gunshot sound.
Step 5 Verify whether an event was triggered.
Before you can use an Audio Analytics app, you must configure the app on each IP camera on which it will run. To configure an Audio Analytics app, perform the following steps.
Install the Audio Analytics app on the IP camera on which it will run. See the “Related Documentation” section for more information.
Step 1 From the IP camera web-based user interface, click the Setup link, click Application Manager to expand the menu, then click App Setup .
Step 2 Click one of the following radio buttons to choose the app that you want to configure.
The buttons that appear on your system depend on which apps you installed.
The Cisco Audio Analytics configuration page for the app that you selected appears.
Step 4 Enter appropriate values in the Cisco Audio Analytics configuration page fields as described in the following table:
Drag the slider to select the minimum audio level, in decibels, that a sound that the IP camera microphone captures must register for the camera to trigger an event based on the sound. Valid values are –90 through 0 (decibels). The default value is –90. |
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Drag the slider to select the relative sensitivity at which the IP camera triggers an event based on a sound. A higher value causes the IP camera to be more sensitive and trigger more events, but can cause false triggers. Lower this value if the camera generates too many false triggers. Valid values are 0 through 100. The default value is 50 for all apps, except for the Glass Break app, for which the default value is 60. |
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Check this check box to enable automatic gain control. AGC causes the IP camera to automatically adjust its microphone audio gain to avoid saturated audio from loud sounds and boost low-level audio. In most cases, this option should not be enabled because it can cause audio distortion. |
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Available only when the Enable AGC check box is not checked. Drag the slider to select the volume gain for the IP camera microphone. Gain can help avoid saturated audio and boost low-level audio. Valid values are 0 through 100. Default value for all apps is 50 expect for the Gunshot app, for which the default value is 90. |
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Check this check box put the camera in test mode, which allows you to test the response of the camera to recorded sounds. For more information, see the “Testing an Audio Analytics App” section. Note When a camera is in test mode, it can detect only sounds that are provided in a file that you can obtain from Cisco. Uncheck this check box when you are not testing the camera so that other features operate normally. |
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Check this check box to cause the app to run in debug mode, which creates a 2 MB audio recording (approximately 1 minute of audio) when the app starts. The recording file is saved on the IP camera. You can export the file as described in the “Export Recording button” section and provide it to a Cisco support representative if requested for troubleshooting. When this check box is checked, the IP camera creates a new recording file each time that you start the app. If there is an existing recording file on the camera, it is overwritten. If you want to save an existing recording file, export it before you start the app. |
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Click to save the audio recording file that the IP camera created in debug mode. Use the dialog box that appears to save the file in the location of your choice. |
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Check this check box to display the Audio Level graph at the bottom of the Cisco Audio Analytics configuration page. This graph shows in real time the volume, in decibels, of the audio that the microphone of the IP camera picks up. This feature is available only if you log in to the IP camera by using an HTTP (not an HTTPS) connection. This feature is not supported if you are using the Safari browser or a version if Microsoft Internet Explorer earlier than version 10. |
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Click to save changes that you made on the Cisco Audio Analytics configuration page. |
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Click to reset the values of the options on the Cisco Audio Analytics configuration page to their default values, then click OK in the dialog boxes that confirm this action. You do not need to click the Save button to save the changes. |
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Click to display the license for the open source component of the Audio Analytics apps. |
Step 5 Click the Save button in the Cisco Audio Analytics configuration page, and then click OK in the confirmation dialog box.
You can test whether an IP camera that is running an Audio Analytics app triggers an event as expected. To do so, you run the app an play a test aggression, car alarm, glass break, or gunshot sound.
To test an audio analytics app, perform the following steps.
Download the DemoAppSoundFiles.zip file that is provided with the Demo application package. Unzip and play the included audio files to test the connected speakers.
Step 1 Put the camera in test mode by checking the Enable Test Mode check box as described in the “Configuring an Audio Analytics App on an IP Camera” section.
Step 2 Run the app that you want to test.
The IP camera becomes ready to detect an aggression, car alarm, glass break, or gunshot sound, based on the configuration settings that you made as described in the “Configuring an Audio Analytics App on an IP Camera” section.
Step 3 Use an external speaker to play the audio file for an aggression, car alarm, glass break, or gunshot sound.
Step 4 Verify whether an event was triggered.
Step 5 Take the camera out of test mode by unchecking the Enable Test Mode check box.
To run an Audio Analytics app on an IP camera, perform the following steps. The IP camera can run one Audio Analytics app at a time.
Step 1 From the IP camera web-based user interface, click the Setup link, click Application Manager to expand the menu, then click App Setup .
Step 2 Click the radio button for the app that you want to run:
Step 3 (Optional) If you want the app to run automatically each time the IP camera reboots, in the Installed Application List area, check the Start on Boot check box that corresponds to this app.
If you do not check this check box, you must run the app manually each time the IP camera reboots.
To stop an Audio Analytics app on an IP camera, follow these steps:
Step 1 From the IP camera web-based user interface, click the Setup link, click Application Manager to expand the menu, then click App Setup .
Step 2 Click the radio button for the app that you want to stop: