AI Search: Find a Person, Vehicle or Object Across Your Cameras - A Guide to Visual Similarity Search

Visual Similarity Search helps you find recorded video of people, vehicles or objects that look like a subject you select. Spot someone on a camera, draw a box around them, and the system searches your recordings for similar-looking subjects — across one camera or many. It's a fast way to retrace a subject's movements and collect the relevant video, without scrolling through hours of footage.

⚠️Beta notice: Visual Similarity Search is released as a Beta feature at this time. Currently, search accuracy, relevance and performance may vary while the feature is being developed and optimized. Results seen during Beta should not be taken as representative of the final capabilities of the feature.

⚠️Important: results are appearance-based matches. They show subjects that look similar to your selection — they are not confirmation that the same individual has been identified. Always review the video yourself before drawing conclusions.

How It Differs from Regular Event Search

Regular Event Search filters recordings by event type (for example, "person" or "vehicle"). Visual Similarity Search goes further: it matches the look of a subject, including combinations of attributes. For example, if you select a person in a grey jacket and dark pants carrying a backpack, the search can return people dressed similarly and carrying similar bags.

⚠️Note: matching on details like a backpack depends on the required person and luggage analytics being available for the cameras you search.

Quick Start: The Whole Process at a Glance

1. Open a video tile and click find similar objects.
2. Draw a selection box around the subject you want to find.
3. (Optional) Add more cameras by choosing camera Groups.
4. Choose the time range to search.
5. Adjust the Relevance slider to narrow or widen the results.
6. Choose how results are sorted and displayed.
7. Click results to review the recorded video, or send them to your layout.

Each step is explained in detail below.

Step 1: Start a Search from a Video Tile

1. Open the camera showing your subject (live or recorded video).
2. In the toolbar at the bottom-right of the video tile, click the find similar objects icon.
3. Draw a selection box around the person, vehicle or object you want to find.

Tip: draw the box around just the subject you're looking for. The search will use what's inside the box as its reference.

The search panel (titled Similar objects) opens and shows the subject you selected, with the camera name and time it was captured. Click Clear if you want to start over with a different subject.

Step 2: Choose Which Cameras to Search

By default, the search covers the camera you selected the subject from. To widen the search to other cameras — for example, to follow someone across a site or between sites:

1. Click + Add.
2. Choose Groups.

3. Tick the camera groups you want to include. Use the search box to find a group by name.

The selected groups are summarized next to the camera name (for example, 3 selected). To remove a camera or group from the search, click the x beside it.

Tip: searching several groups helps you retrace a subject's route and gather video evidence from multiple views faster — but a wider search also returns more results to review, so pick only the groups that make sense for your investigation.

Step 3: Choose the Time Range

Click the time filter (it shows Last 24h by default) and choose one of:

• Last hour
• Last 24h
• Last 7 days
• Custom range – set your own From and To date and time

Tip: if you know roughly when the subject was on site, a narrower time range keeps the results focused.

Step 4: Narrow or Widen Results with the Relevance Slider

The RELEVANCE slider sets the minimum level of similarity a result must have to be shown:

• Move it right → only closer visual matches are shown (fewer results).
• Move it left → a broader range of possible matches is shown (more results).

The result count updates automatically, and also tells you how many results are hidden by the current setting. Each result shows a similarity percentage so you can see how close the match is.

Tip — start wide, then tighten: begin with the slider on the left to see everything, then move it right gradually to cut out weaker matches. If you move it too far right you may hide a genuine match, so check the "below the relevance threshold" count if you're not seeing what you expect.

Step 5: Sort Your Results

Under SORT BY, choose:

• Relevance – closest visual matches first
• Date – most recent events first

Use Relevance when you want the best matches at the top. Use Date when you're building a timeline of where the subject went and when.

Step 6: Choose How Results Are Previewed

Under SHOW, choose how each result thumbnail is displayed:

• Object – a close-up of the detected subject with its bounding box. Best for judging appearance details such as clothing or bags.
• Frame – the full camera image with the bounding box. Best for understanding where the subject is and what's happening around them.

Shortcut: to temporarily switch between the two views without changing the setting, hold the Alt key (Option on macOS) while hovering over a result thumbnail.

Step 7: Review Results and Send Video to Your Layout

Watch a single result

1. Click a result to open its recording in the Floating Video Player.
2. Use the Preview control for a larger still image of the detected subject with its bounding box.

Add one result to your current video grid

1. Hover over the result.
2. Click Add to layout.

Review several results together

1. Tick the checkbox in the top-left corner of each result you want.
2. Click Open In Layout.

Each selected recording opens as its own tile in your current layout, so you can watch them side by side.

• Click Select all to tick every available result.
• Click the X to clear your current selection.

Tips for Better Results

• Pick a clear reference. Choose a moment where the subject is easy to see and not blocked by other people or objects, then draw the box tightly around them.
• Start broad, then refine. Begin with the Relevance slider on the left and a wide time range, then narrow down.
• Use Object view for detail, Frame view for context. Hold Alt (Option on macOS) to peek at the other view.
• Use Date sorting to follow a subject's path from camera to camera.
• Treat matches as leads. Always confirm by watching the recorded video.

Troubleshooting

Glossary

Questions about Visual Similarity Search, or want to share feedback during the Beta period? Contact 3dEYE Support📧.