Patent ID: 8614744

Claim:
A method of monitoring an area, the method comprising: generating a region schema for the area, the generating including: obtaining training object tracking data for the area for an initialization time period; evaluating the object tracking data to identify a set of prototypical tracks, each prototypical track including a start location, an end location, and a trajectory, the trajectory comprising an expected path an object will travel between the start location and the end location, and each prototypical track including variation information for the trajectory, the variation information defining a plurality of crossbars, comprising a plurality of lines that intersect a line formed by the trajectory at a substantially perpendicular angle, the plurality of crossbars being periodically located along the trajectory; and storing the set of prototypical tracks in the region schema; obtaining monitored object tracking data for a monitored object in the area after the initialization time period; identifying abnormal behavior of the monitored object when the monitored object tracking data for the monitored object does not follow at least one of the set of prototypical tracks in the region schema; and determining whether the object tracking data for the monitored object varies too far from each prototypical track using the variation information, wherein the monitored object trajectory must pass through each of the set of crossbars to follow the prototypical track.