Asset monitoring software from Fortecho integrates with Dallmeier HEMISPHERE platform to protect works of art
James Thorpe
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Dallmeier has recently announced that its open software platform, HEMISPHERE, will support the RFID-based “Art Protection” system from Fortecho Solutions, the preeminent provider of secure conservation technology.
Museums, galleries and private clients can thus manage their alarms conveniently via a 3D map and check on incidents in a matter of seconds with the aid of video cameras. The many other advantages also include convenient “three-click search” and a comprehensive understanding of the security situation.
Nowadays, many gallery and museum operators use RFID-based tracking solutions to protect their works of art from being touched, stolen or otherwise exposed to unwanted environmental influences.
Autonomous systems lack the oversight made possible by intelligent VMS integrations. This is exactly where the joint solution from Dallmeier and the British IoT security provider, Fortecho, comes into its own.
The right camera image for every work of art
Fortecho’s own suite of powerful active RFID tags gather data at object level and transmit this via encrypted RFID signal to Fortecho’s bespoke enterprise software Aspect Arts.
Based on predefined rules and custom set parameters, the software evaluates the information and, if appropriate, triggers alarms. Movement, tamper, proximity, attack, temperature, relative humidity and lux all present as unique customisable alerts in Fortecho’s enterprise software.
“With the intuitive HEMISPHERE user interface, security personnel at museums and other facilities can verify alarms from RFID tags on artworks visually in just a few moments.
Celso Prieto, Head Engineer, Fortecho Solutions
The smart integration with the Dallmeier’s HEMISPHERE software links the RFID tag alarm messages to the relevant viewing angles of the cameras. If an RFID tag registers an incident, the Dallmeier HEMISPHERE software processes the alarm with the aid of the open message broker “Apache ActiveMQ”, and the user sees the camera location in question light up on a 2D or 3D map of his environment – in a colour defined according to the priority of the alarm.
At the same time, all events are listed in the “Alarm Inbox” together with all associated information, such as the name and image of the work of art in question, to enable them to be assigned unmistakably. Users can verify the alarm with just one mouse click – for example by switching to the live feed or viewing a playback loop which begins five seconds before the alarm is triggered and ends five seconds thereafter.
The alarm can also be forwarded to other users or comments can be added to it.
“By integrating the Fortecho RFID tracking solution in the Dallmeier software completely, we can offer our customers the perfect user experience,” explains Celso Prieto, Head Engineer, Fortecho Solutions.
“With the intuitive HEMISPHERE user interface, security personnel at museums and other facilities can verify alarms from RFID tags on artworks visually in just a few moments. We were particularly astonished at how easy it was to integrate our solution in the Dallmeier software with just a few lines of code. The systems work together flawlessly.”
“The integration of Fortecho is a textbook example of how easily alarm messages from third party applications can be integrated in the Dallmeier HEMISPHERE software platform with the aid of Apache ActiveMQ,” adds Ep Smit, Senior Enterprise Solutions Manager, Dallmeier.
“Through the interactive dashboard of the HEMISPHERE software, users in the museum or art sectors can access all information relating to all incidents within a given timeframe in seconds with three clicks of the mouse or less.”