Monitoring Dynamic Movements within the Interior of Buildings Using Camera

Previous experiences during earthquake events emphasize the need for new technologies for real-time monitoring and assessment of facilities with high value nonstructural elements such as equipment or other contents. Moreover, there is a substantial limitation in our ability to rapidly evaluate and identify potential hazard zones within a structure, exposing rescue workers, society and the environment to unnecessary risks. A real-time monitoring system, integrated with critical warning systems, would allow for improved channeling of resources and informed decision making processes for rescue workers and building owners. In recognition of these issues, in this paper, we describe a methodology for image-based tracking of seismically induced motions. The methodology includes the calibration, acquisition, processing, and analysis tools for seismic assessment. We especially focus on the issue of providing a reliable feature/object detection and tracking methodology for an image sequence from a single camera view.