UNBLINKING EYE-SECURITY AND SURVEILLANCE aerial reconnaissance drones can use the technology to keep an eye on an area for days at a time, noting when and where objects move. "We're hoping to make this technology do things that were long thought impossible-making things more secure without the need to have a human operator on hand every second," says Simpson. 7.4.6 Motion-Tracking Cameras More homes and small businesses may soon be able to install affordable telecom-based surveillance cameras, thanks to a University of Rhode Island (URI) researcher's invention. The new device, created by Ying Sun, a URI pro- fessor of electrical engineering professor, allows a single inexpensive camera to automatically track moving objects in real time, eliminating the need to link together several cameras in order to thoroughly cover a specific area. Using low-cost, commercially available hardware, the Automatic Image Motion Seeking (AIMS) system follows a moving object and keeps the target at the center of the field of view. "This [device] has broad impact for security surveillance because it eliminates the need to have a full-time guard watching a video screen," says Sun, who began developing the unit in 2002. "It's one intelligence level above any other existing system, and we've found the right compromise between speed and accuracy." The unit is also inexpensive. Sun says the device can operate on a $30 webcam as well as on more sophisticated equipment. The device simply requires a motor-driven, pan-tilt camera mount and a processor. With low-cost equipment, the system could cost less than $300, including camera, making it ideal for use in homes and small businesses. Because it can track movements, one AIMS camera can be just as effective as several stationary cameras. At a rate of 15 frames per second, the camera analyzes images for any motion. Once a moving object is found, it feeds that information to the camera mount to begin tracking the object as it moves. "We're working on adding 'behavior modifiers' to the system as 