Observing Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic using Worldwide Network Cameras

Authors

isha Ghodgaonkar, Purdue University
Abhinav Goel, Purdue University
Fischer Bordwell, Purdue University
Caleb Tung, Purdue University
Sara Aghajanzadeh, Purdue UniversityFollow
Noah Curran, Purdue University
Ryan Chen, Purdue University
Kaiwen Yu, Purdue University
Sneha Mahapatra, Purdue University
Vishnu Banna, Purdue University
Gore Kao, Purdue University
Kate Lee, Purdue University
Xiao Hu, Purdue University
Nick Elliopolous, Purdue University
Akhil Chinnakotla, Purdue University
Damini Rijhwani, Purdue University
Ashley Kim, Purdue University
Aditya Chakraborty, Purdue University
Mark Daniel Ward, Purdue University
Yung-Hsiang Lu, Purdue University
George K. Thiruvathukal, Loyola University ChicagoFollow

Document Type

Technical Report

Publication Date

5-18-2020

Publication Title

ArXiv

Abstract

COVID-19 has resulted in a worldwide pandemic, leading to "lockdown" policies and social distancing. The pandemic has profoundly changed the world. Traditional methods for observing these historical events are difficult because sending reporters to areas with many infected people can put the reporters' lives in danger. New technologies are needed for safely observing responses to these policies. This paper reports using thousands of network cameras deployed worldwide for the purpose of witnessing activities in response to the policies. The network cameras can continuously provide real-time visual data (image and video) without human efforts. Thus, network cameras can be utilized to observe activities without risking the lives of reporters. This paper describes a project that uses network cameras to observe responses to governments' policies during the COVID-19 pandemic (March to April in 2020). The project discovers over 30,000 network cameras deployed in 110 countries. A set of computer tools are created to collect visual data from network cameras continuously during the pandemic. This paper describes the methods to discover network cameras on the Internet, the methods to collect and manage data, and preliminary results of data analysis. This project can be the foundation for observing the possible "second wave" in fall 2020. The data may be used for post-pandemic analysis by sociologists, public health experts, and meteorologists.

Identifier

arXiv:2005.09091v1

Recommended Citation

Isha Ghodgaonkar, Abhinav Goel, Fischer Bordwell, Caleb Tung, Sara Aghajanzadeh, Noah Curran, Ryan Chen, Kaiwen Yu, Sneha Mahapatra, Vishnu Banna, Gore Kao, Kate Lee, Xiao Hu, Nick Eliopolous, Akhil Chinnakotla, Damini Rijhwani, Ashley Kim, Aditya Chakraborty, Mark Daniel Ward, Yung-Hsiang Lu, George K. Thiruvathukal, Observing Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic using Worldwide Network Cameras, ArXiv, https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.09091

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.