Toshiba has developed a new kind of image-analyzing algorithm to detect persons in photographs with double the speed of existing software. The company claims the software is able to identify human forms against difficult backgrounds, such as dark areas.

Users will be able to detect people and their position in the image and Toshiba claims the software is able to process feeds of up to 30 FPS in real time, meaning that security cameras can detect burglars or car-mounted cameras can warn drivers who are about to collide with pedestrians.

Toshiba is planning to demonstrate during the Pacific-Rim Symposium on Image and Video Technology (to be held in Tokyo next week). The company hopes to commercialize the technology within two to three years.

Via Nikkei [regisration required, subscription]