After more than a year, V911 still in need of funding

A university professor showcased technology yesterday that can let police watch live streaming video from mobile devices, an application University Police have been looking to implement. However, university funding is not yet in place to see the project through, researchers said.

The program, called V911, has been in development for more than a year and would allow mugging victims and others witnessing crime to stream live video and audio to police as a crime takes place. 911 dispatchers could then send video and the exact location of a crime straight to a squad car's computer.

Computer science professor Ashok Agrawala, whose team developed the program as part of a broader application called MyeVyu, talked about V911 yesterday at the A.V. Williams building.

University Police Maj. Jay Gruber said the department has been looking for technology similar to V911.

"We've been using the 911 and telephone system for the past 50 years," Gruber said. "We're looking for new ways to get information from the public about emergencies, about crime, about crises, and the MyeVyu system and V911 is really a good next step for us."

While no cell phone companies have yet adopted the technology and the university isn't ready to completely fund the implementation of the project, the technology is largely ready, Agrawala said. The team is still working out small problems like preventing accidental calls and making V911 easier to use.

The program will only work on cell phones that can stream live video - there are about 130 models that do, Agrawala said. Once downloaded, the user would be able to press a button and automatically send video to a 911 dispatcher.

He said the new technology might even make parents of incoming students more comfortable about safety in College Park. And since only fancier cell phone models can use the application, it might also be an incentive for parents to buy their children a nicer graduation present.

"We've been thinking about these kinds of problem solutions for quite some time," Agrawala said. "I am convinced that this would put our campus on the map as one of the safest campuses."

Once completed, MyeVyu will have several other applications.

Computer science graduate student Christian Almazan, who is currently working on the project, demonstrated the tentatively named MyeMaps, MyeTransit, MyeSpot and MyeUMServices applications. With them, a student would be able to check movie showings at the Hoff Theater, see dining hall menus and navigate a building floor plan to see where a professor's office is, among other functions.

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