Live video and instrument monitoring feeds, brought in via transport networks that link traffic cameras and road monitoring equipment across the state, allow operators to instantly monitor and optimize traffic flow based on current conditions. The operations center is crammed with monitoring terminals, with three NEC GT5000 and GT6000 projectors - flown in from overseas at a cost of over A$30,000 each - casting floor-to-ceiling video feeds across one wall of the room.

The center is about more than just diagnosing traffic snarls, however: as a cutting-edge technology center, it is intended as a center of gravity where Australia's previously fragmented ITS industry can unite to develop and commercialize innovative transport-related products.

It is also a technology showcase for NEC, which has made the center home to Australia's first implementation of its SmartCatch real-time image processing software e.Designed by the boffins in NEC's Japanese R&D center, SmartCatch is built around four image analysis algorithms that, when combined in various measures, instantly analyzes video images for suspicious activities. Complex change-detection algorithms can, for example, notify operators if a person leaves a backpack on a train platform or removes an item from the camera's field of vision.

The system isn't limited to spotting lost bags; tuned to the idiosyncrasies of human movement, it can just as easily spot someone jumping over a turnstile; a person piggybacking another person to bypass a security door; or someone walking backwards through one-way airport security checks.

With resolution good enough to make out a pack of cigarettes at 40 meters, SmartCatch could eventually be linked with face scanning software to pick out persons of interest as they pass security cameras - but this capability hasn't yet been perfected or implemented.