Finding video footage quickly and easily through AI-powered search is one of the biggest reasons customers choose Spot AI. Attribute and people search takes that speed to the next level by letting users describe what they need—“person in a red jacket,” “white pickup truck”—and retrieving the exact moments that matter in seconds.
What is Attribute and People Search?
Attribute and people search are advanced capabilities in the Spot AI camera system that let teams filter and retrieve video by specific visual details or by following an individual across cameras. Instead of manually scrubbing hours of footage, users type or select attributes such as clothing color or vehicle make, or upload a reference image to track a person’s appearances. By indexing footage in real time, the system delivers targeted results with unmatched speed and accuracy.
How attribute search works
Every frame recorded by connected cameras is analyzed by Spot AI’s computer-vision models running on GPU-accelerated hardware. The models detect and tag upper and lower clothing colors, vehicle colors, makes, and body styles. Those tags are stored in a searchable index, so operators can filter video by selecting attributes—“blue shirt,” “black sedan,” “pickup truck”—and instantly view all matching clips from any camera without leaving the cloud dashboard.
Because the platform integrates with most existing IP and analog cameras, organizations can add powerful AI search without a costly hardware replacement, and systems are typically live in less than a week.
How people search with faces works
People search combines facial and appearance features to locate or track a specific individual across multiple cameras. Security teams can confirm entries and exits, audit repeat visits, or trace a person’s path through a facility by uploading or selecting a reference image. The AI continuously refines matches, returning accurate, chronologically ordered clips that eliminate the guess-and-check approach of legacy CCTV systems.
Key features of Attribute And People Search
- Attribute-based search: Find people or vehicles by upper-body color, lower-body color, vehicle color, make, or body style.
- People search by face or appearance: Track an individual’s movements across cameras to validate timelines and uncover patterns.
- Real-time analytics and alerts: Receive live notifications when a defined attribute or person appears, enabling rapid response.
- Seamless integration: Works with existing cameras, cabling, and networks to avoid rip-and-replace projects.
- Fast deployment: Most systems are operational in less than a week, delivering immediate value.
- Collaborative workflows: Share links to specific clips, add comments, and download only the footage you need.
- Continuous improvement: New search filters and AI capabilities roll out automatically, expanding functionality over time.
Industry applications and use cases
"It’s fun to play around with attribute search. And it makes it easier to find specific vehicles, so we save even more time reviewing footage."
Heath Owsley, Director of Operations, Glide Xpress Car Wash
The ability to search by attribute and people accelerate investigations and improve safety across many sectors:
- Retail: Identify suspected shoplifters by clothing description or quickly locate a lost child by tracing their path through the store.
- Manufacturing: Audit employee movement in restricted zones to support safety compliance without disrupting production.
- Logistics: Resolve vehicle damage claims by searching for a specific color, make, or body style.
- Education: Monitor for unauthorized visitors on campus and confirm if the same person returns at different times of day.
- Healthcare: Verify staff rounds and patient safety events by tracking appearances in hallways or entryways.
- Construction: Check personal protective equipment compliance and investigate near-miss incidents by filtering for high-visibility vests or hard-hat colors.
- Public safety: Support incident response by rapidly locating persons of interest across municipal cameras.
Benefits and considerations
Organizations that use our attribute and people search functionality can resolve incidents faster, spend far less time on manual video review, and improve overall safety and operations. The ability to answer questions in minutes rather than hours delivers measurable ROI through labor savings and risk reduction.
As with any vision-based system, results depend on camera placement, lighting, and image quality. Highly crowded scenes can produce occasional false positives, and periodic human oversight keeps search parameters tuned to the environment.
*“It’s fun to play around with attribute search, and it makes it easier to find specific vehicles, so we save even more time reviewing footage.”* — Heath Owsley, Director of Operations, Glide Xpress Car Wash
Ready to see this functionality in action? Book a demo to discover how Spot AI can transform safety and efficiency across your operations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is attribute and people search and how is it different from traditional video search?
Attribute and people search functionality lets users find footage by describing visual details or selecting an individual instead of manually reviewing timelines. The system indexes video in real time, returning results almost instantly, whereas traditional video search relies on slow, manual playback.
Which industries benefit from attribute and people search?
Retail, manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, education, construction, and public safety agencies all gain faster investigations, enhanced safety, and streamlined operations from these capabilities.
How does Spot AI’s attribute and people search technology work?
Spot AI’s Intelligent Video Recorder processes footage with deep-learning models running on GPU hardware, tags visual attributes or unique appearances, and stores that metadata in the cloud dashboard for rapid querying.
Can these features be integrated with existing camera systems?
Yes. Spot AI works with most IP and analog cameras, allowing organizations to add advanced AI search without replacing current infrastructure.
What are the main benefits for organizations?
Key benefits include faster incident resolution, significant time savings on video review, more effective investigations, and improved operational safety and efficiency.
Are there any limitations or challenges with using attribute and people search?
Performance can vary based on camera quality, field of view, and lighting. Complex or crowded scenes may occasionally generate false matches, so human verification remains important.
How quickly can Spot AI’s system be implemented?
Most deployments are completed in less than a week, thanks to plug-and-play hardware and cloud-based configuration tools.
About the author: Amrish Kapoor is VP Technology at Spot AI, where he leads the development of AI-powered video analytics that help organizations transform security and operations.
