About

At the end of 2012, Professor William Robson Schwartz had the idea of creating a research group focused on smart surveillance to foster the field in Brazil. In January 2013, the Smart Surveillance Interest Group (SSIG), currently Smart Sense Laboratory, was born in the Department of Computer Science of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG). Since its first meeting, attended by its only four members at the time, much has changed. The group has expanded not only in members, but also in focus. In addition to smart surveillance and biometrics, the research topics now include computational forensics.

Currently, the Smart Sense Lab consists of more than 15 members, including undergraduate and graduate students. To investigate problems in its three main areas of interest (video surveillance, computational forensics, and biometrics), the group develops techniques involving computer vision, machine learning, and digital image processing.

In its five years of existence, the group has achieved an extensive academic production, with publications in the main international journals and conferences in the world.

The Smart Sense Laboratory develops projects with support from government agencies such as the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the Minas Gerais State Agency for Research and Development (Fapemig) and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes). The group also works on R&D projects in partnership with private companies such as Samsung, Petrobras, Hewlett-Packard and Maxtrack. Such partnerships allow the group to advertise its work and transform it into more direct benefits to society, by means of new products and technologies.