5.2 Mobile viewing application
The second part of our solution is to implement
a mobile viewing application. This will allow students from SIT to check the
availability of study spaces in school before heading over to the study
locations. Some features of our mobile viewing application include ability to
allow students to view a live feed of the study areas which highlights the
bird’s eye view of the study area. The mobile viewing application will tap on
the current surveillance cameras available at each of the study areas in
SIT@Dover. Taking reference to the secondary research section, our team
proposes use of the existing surveillance cameras installed at the various
study areas to monitor crowds.
Assuming the current surveillance cameras
installed at each of the study areas in SIT@Dover utilizes the Analog system, a
converter can be installed to give them internet access. If the current cameras
utilize the Internet Protocol (IP) system, the video feed can be directly
projected onto the mobile application. With the cameras granted internet
access, the live video feed can then be extended onto the mobile application
for students to retrieve remotely.
The mobile application will consist of four
pages. The login page, reminder page and two viewing pages. To access the
application, students will have to log in with their SIT user account
(STU/170****) and their password.
The
Figures below shows the interface of the application:
Once the mobile application is launched, its
download link will be uploaded onto the school’s website, a follow up email
will then be sent out to all SIT’s students with step by step instructions on
where to download the application and how to navigate it. As mentioned under
the proposed solutions section, the instructions will also be printed out in
the form of posters and pasted onto the school’s social media accounts.
The team learned, in the
market, there are 2 different kinds of security cameras namely the Internet
Protocol (IP) Camera and the Analog Camera. The main difference between the two
are the way the broadcasts are delivered to the user.
The IP camera receives
digitalised video input directly and transmits it onto an IP network for users
to stream and record the feed in real time. As such an IP Camera’s feed can
easily be remotely accessed with internet access.
On the other hand, the
Analog camera transmits video signals by the means of a video cable to a
central system before the user able to view the feed. Therefore, to transmit
the video feed to the internet for remote monitoring, a converter needs to be
installed to the central system
Some other differences in
the two systems are the video quality and storage features. In terms of video
quality, the IP Camera’s resolution is 9 times better than an Analog Camera
thus can provide greater detail to the user. In terms of storage capabilities,
the Analog Camera relies on a physical storage unit to record the video footage
while the IP Camera’s video footage can be stored directly on a cloud. However, since the purpose
of our camera is to report crowd volume at a location to the user, it is not
necessary to consider storage and video quality.
An alternative solution from the mobile
application is to install monitor screens of the study areas at strategically
high traffic locations around the campus for students to check on the crowd.
This system essentially serves the same purpose of being able to check on the
study areas’ occupancy remotely.
However,
this idea wouldn’t be as feasible as a mobile application as this kiosk would
incur many costs to setup as well as regularly maintenance. Apart from the high
cost from implementing it, the monitor screens will only be limited to certain
areas in the campus whereas the mobile application can be accessed by students
from anywhere.
With the
convenience that our implementation brings, a primary concern is that
non-SIT students/staff can download the application and abuse the system, as a
result compromising the security of our facilities. For prevention of such
problems, the team suggests integrating SIT’s student portal into the log in
page of the mobile application. This means only members of the faculty can log
in and access the application’s feature.
Our group also did a two-weeks site survey to
understand the crowd situation in its study areas and to also gather
feedback on further improvements to the current system. We hope to learn
about the current issues students are facing when using the study spaces at
SIT@Dover. Through the survey conducted targeted at forty-two students in SIT,
the team found that students reflected a general inconvenience in finding study
spaces in SIT. Of which, most students have also given positive feedback on the
idea of a monitoring system and agreed it will help them reduce time wastage
and effort in looking for seats. (Refer to Appendix A for detailed survey
results.)
Edited 30/11/2017