An estimated two million pilgrims will be in Turin for the Exposition of the Shroud, in the city’s cathedral from April 19 to June 24. As in 2010, the Enzo Hruby Foundation, with Samsung Techwin, is helping protect the relic and the route taken by visitors with video surveillance.
Turin based Centro Sistemi Antifurto designed and installed the video system to monitor the areas dedicated to the Exposition, as well as the routes for visitors and the surrounds. The Samsung Techwin cameras are recorded and transmitted in real time, to an operations centre at the police headquarters in Turin, to enable a response, if required, to any incidents.
Legnago based Riello UPS has supplied the emergency power supply units for the system.
Maurizio Baradello, director-general of the Organizing Committee for the Exposition, said: “The Committee was firmly dedicated to ensuring absolute peace of mind for everyone involved while the event took place. It was an objective that all the parties involved in the project aimed to meet within a climate of positive cooperation between partners.”
Surveillance and security services provided by law enforcement agencies are in place in the Exposition area and they are supported in their task by the CCTV made available by the Committee.
Carlo Hruby, Vice President of the Enzo Hruby Foundation, said: “We are proud to have been able to offer our support in protecting the Exposition of the Holy Shroud for the second time. The project is gratifying not only because of the object on which it is focused, but also due to the excellent cooperation that has been forged between public entities and the companies that joined us. This project is unique, being dedicated to an event with a global reach and very high symbolic value.
“However, it is also part of our Foundation’s commitment to protecting ecclesiastical treasures, which alone make up about 70pc of Italy’s entire cultural heritage. A heritage which, together with the most important and well-known treasures and monuments, consists of a myriad of churches and oratories scattered throughout the country, very often without adequate protection against theft and vandalism. As a matter of fact, in 2014, as in previous years, churches were the places that saw the greatest number of thefts of cultural objects. Our hope is that a project focused on protection on such a large scale may also represent a stimulus to communicate the possibilities that technology offers us today with affordable costs to protect these buildings.”
Samsung Techwin SNP-5430H 1.3MP high definition weatherproof PTZ auto-tracking speed domes are among the cameras deployed. The 43x zoom of the SNP-5430H comes with an auto-tracking feature which lets operators monitor the movement of people or vehicles, while remaining hands-free to control other cameras. SNO-6084RP 2MP Full HD Bullet cameras have also been installed. Part of the Samsung Techwin WiseNetIII range, the SNO-6084RP comes with a motorized varifocal lens; and with built-in IR illuminators, is able to capture quality images whatever the lighting conditions, according to the makers.
Images are recorded onto a Samsung Techwin SRN-1000 NVR. With 24TB of on-board video storage capacity, the Linux based SRN-1000 is more than capable of storing all the images captured by the cameras during the event, as well as providing operators with the ability to search and review video of any incidents.
Fabio Andreoni, Samsung Techwin Europe Ltd’s Country Manager for Italy, said: “Samsung Techwin’s technological contribution to this project is part of a wider context that sees our company involved in making the latest innovative security and video surveillance technology generally accessible. This philosophy is fully consistent with the intentions and goals of the Hruby Foundation with which we are pleased to cooperate with in order to offer our expertise and our advanced technology for these important projects. Our contribution to protecting the immense Italian artistic and cultural heritage is also supported by the idea that all this can be of help in feeding a virtuous circle which is able to generate benefits for all involved, including the institutions, law enforcement agencies and private companies, and especially the visitors to the Exposition who are able to safely enjoy the experience with peace of mind.”
Image courtesy of www.sindone.org.
