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Cops Will Soon ID You Via Your Roof Rack (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: On Tuesday, one of the largest license plate reader (LPR) manufacturers, ELSAG, announced a major upgrade to "allow investigators to search by color, seven body types, 34 makes, and nine visual descriptors in addition to the standard plate number, location, and time." Such a vast expansion of the tech now means that evading such scans will be even more difficult.
"Using advanced computer vision software, ELSAG ALPR data can now be processed to include the vehicle's make, type -- sedan, SUV, hatchback, pickup, minivan, van, box truck -- and general color -- red, blue, green, white and yellow," ELSAG continued. "The solution actively recognizes the 34 most-common vehicle brands on US roads." Plus, the company says, the software is now able to visually identity things like a "roof rack, spare tire, bumper sticker, or a ride-sharing company decal."
"Using advanced computer vision software, ELSAG ALPR data can now be processed to include the vehicle's make, type -- sedan, SUV, hatchback, pickup, minivan, van, box truck -- and general color -- red, blue, green, white and yellow," ELSAG continued. "The solution actively recognizes the 34 most-common vehicle brands on US roads." Plus, the company says, the software is now able to visually identity things like a "roof rack, spare tire, bumper sticker, or a ride-sharing company decal."
If you RTFA, Subarus are not supported. Interestingly, the system is only able to support up to 10 bumper stickers.
sig: sauer
Actually, it's ALPR, and it stands for Automatic License Plate Recognition. We've sold several systems to police forces in Canada, including ELSAG's products.
Recognition is not 100% accurate though, especially in Canada with our more often than not dirty plates, and those funky polar bear shaped plates from the Northwest Territories, and Alberta's non-reflective plates.
They're great for patrolling parking lots where the officer can drive up and down the rows of vehicles looking for outstanding warrants and stolen vehicles automatically.