TIP Students Develop App That Can Detect Criminal Activities Through CCTVs

What if closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras are equipped with an alarm that can detect criminal activities and not only serve as tools for documentation? 

This was what five senior Computer Engineering students of the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) – Quezon City thought when they developed SulyApp, an application that monitors and alerts CCTV operators of unwanted activities real-time.  

The SulyApp – invented by Jarod Augustus Austria, Adrian Galit, Joaquin Tyrone Guevarra, Kathleen Jogno, and Franklin Nazareno – uses artificial intelligence (AI) to read body movements typically associated with criminal assaults.  

Once it detects a person doing a suspicious pose or stance, SulyApp classifies the scene as an emergency and immediately sounds an alarm, then sends out an email notification to the nearest police desk. 

“SulyApp can be run anywhere in areas that have CCTVs – may it be in schools, homes, or small neighborhoods. Rather than relying on manpower and mere evidence retrieval, the app detects crimes as they happen, changing the way we do surveillance and permitting faster response time,” TIP said in a statement. 

The students’ invention also won third prize at the second “Hackathon” contest organized by the Philippine National Police - Information Technology Management Service (PNP-ITMS) held on Oct. 12 to 13, 2021. 

Brainstorming  

In an online interview with The Philippine STAR / OneNews.PH on Jan. 3, Guevarra said the idea was a product of brainstorming among the five of them, after their thesis adviser, Verlyn Nojor, urged them to join the contest.  

“The PNP provided a set of problems which it needs to solve, with the help of the contestants in the ‘Hackathon.’ One of them was ensuring the security of the police camp which was what we chose,” Guevarra said in Filipino.  

“Then we had a brainstorming on the possible solution to the problem based on the technology that we know of, hence the SulyApp,” he added.  

After the concept was done, the group then presented it to their thesis adviser and then to their department head,  engineer Cecilia Vinal. 

“What we liked about the idea of creating this app is it addresses the issue of monitoring CCTVs, how time-consuming it is. They have to monitor footages 24/7 to see whether a crime is happening,” Guevarra explained. 

With SulyApp,  the use of CCTVs in preventing and solving crimes is maximized through the alert notification system. 

Guevarra said since the pandemic made it impossible for them to meet face to face, they had to rely on virtual means. He and his five groupmates had to video call every day for a week for ideas to create the SulyApp. One of them, Austria, served as the app’s main programmer and coded the system used.  

“The technology used in this app is MediaPipe, which utilizes post-estimation,” Austria said. “MediaPipe predicts the person’s position, that’s why we used this to classify what the person is doing.”  

This technology can also be used in other apps such as those for workouts. “If you want to count how many push ups you’ve already done, MediaPipe can help you with that,” he said. 

More improvements  

While the app may be considered as one of a kind, Austria acknowledged that the SulyApp still needs to be improved. At present, the app can only detect punching. 

Guevarra expressed hope that he and his groupmates can further work on the app’s improvements after graduation. The group is currently focused on finishing the requirements for their final semester in TIP, such as their thesis defense. 

They also want to cover ethical issues in making their app better, Guevarra said. 

“The use of this app is serious, one time someone asked us about the ethical issues that may arise when using this app since the detection of someone’s actions also involves data privacy,” Guevarra noted. “Perhaps that’s an area that we may explore after graduation.”