OpenNCC Nighthawk – A face blurring AI camera based on Myriad X VPU

We’ve just written about OpenCV Ai Kit Lite computer vision camera based on Intel Myriad X VPU, and OpenNCC Nighthawk is another such programmable camera based on the Intel AI accelerator, but with an IR filter for night vision, and working with OpenNCC-SDK notably supporting real-time face blurring for enhanced privacy.

OpenNCC Nighthawk specifications:

• VPU – Intel Movidius Myriad X MA2085 up to 4 TOPS
• RAM – 8 Gbits (1GB) LPDDR4
• Camera
  • 2MP camera up to 1920 x 1080 @ up to 30fps
  • ~114° Field of View (DFOV)
  • 2.2mm focal length
  • Lens TTL (through the lense) – 24mm
  • Mount – M12 x 0.5mm thread size
• Day&Night IR Filter – Solenoid excitation type, automatically switch between 0.1~2 lux
• IR LED – 850nm up to 5m
• Output Data format – YUV420, YUV422, MJPG, H.264
• Misc – Reset, GPIO
• Host Interface – USB 3.1 TYPE-C port
• Temperature Range – 0°- 50°

The camera is compatible with OpenVINO and works with Caffe, TensorFlow, MXNet, Kaldi, Paddle, and ONNX frameworks/formats. Supported operating systems and platforms include Linux, Windows, Raspberry Pi, NVIDIA, NXP, and other Arm Linux-based platforms.

The company, Eyecloud AI,  provides the OpenNCC-SDK together with bilingual documentation in English and Chinese on Github. They also published a write-up specific to face blurring, where they explain a face detection model from Intel OpenVINO open model zoo is used before applying an efficient and simple pixel substitution algorithm to realize face pixel blurring on the video streaming from the OpenNCC camera. It also works in the dark thanks to the IR LED and filter.

OpenNCC Nighthawk is sold for $249, which is quite a jump compared to the sub-$100 OpenCV AI Kit Lite we’ve just written about, but maybe the higher price is warranted with some of the features like night vision, and the fact that the company may focus on niche applications like face blurring. EdgeCloud.AI also mentions “anti-magnetism, anti-vibration” features, and that the camera is especially well-suited to the healthcare industry where you’d want to protect patients’ privacy.

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