Guest Editorial: Intelligent Audio-Visual Observation Systems for Urban Environments

The security of citizens constitutes an issue of primary importance. Constant improvements in security should be one of the strategic activities of any government and its agencies such as police, city police, firemen, local administration, etc. One of the tasks in ensuring security of citizens is to develop both fixed and a man portable, integrated, fast, wide-area intelligent audio-visual, behavioral observation systems for individuals, platforms, and goods in complex urban environments. It should meet surveillance and security tasks including compound security, trafficking of illegal goods, safety monitoring and evacuation on a 24-h/7-day basis. This includes the integration of sensor technologies, data fusion, and intelligent observation systems to enable stand-off detection and analysis through barriers, of substances and weapons, of carriers and people, as well as behavior analysis to separate potential perpetrators from crowds and neutralize the threat. The aims of this special issue are threefold as follows: (1) introducing innovative research in intelligent audio-visual observation systems, (2) presenting new ways of applying them, and (3) discussing different aspects of security architectures for urban environments.