Real-life robo-cops could be used to tackle crime in Colchester

Council chiefs and Essex University boffins are set to join forces on a cutting-edge project, the first of its kind in Britain.

It would see robots trained to spot suspicious behaviour on CCTV footage and alert police or security guards.

The technology could potentially allow police to be at the scene of a crime before it had even happened.

Computer science researcher Dr Ulrich Nehmzow said the scheme would involve using footage from High Street cameras to teach the robots, already built for another project, how to recognise what was normal behaviour in the town centre.

He said once they had learnt to expect to see people walking up and down, going in and out of shops and parking cars, they could then be programmed to look out for unusual movements.

Published Wednesday June 9, 2004

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