The added value of accurate people counting

How many people visit the library hourly, daily, weekly or at peak times? Is the data collection function continuous, reliable and automatic? Are decisions regarding staff deployment, opening hours, room design, allocated budgets, etc. taken on the basis of this data?

The technologies for accurate people recording have developed considerably in recent years. Data protection and the high demand for comprehensive visitor statistics require intelligent technologies that avoid the use of traditional photographic cameras that have associated privacy concerns.

Outdated: conventional data collection

Many methods are no longer up to date and hardly efficient, such as manual counting by click, which is time-consuming and staff intensive. Conventional electronic data collection is also not accurate enough to produce meaningful statistics. Our research shows that a light beam counter across the entrance can be as low as 23% accurate. If several people enter at the same time or the entrance is too wide, these technologies only provide inaccurate results. In many cases, these measurement methods underestimate the actual use of space or the recording of peak times. But how useful is an evaluation based on only approximate data?

Nex.Count is different. Why?

The key point is a super-modern technology based on the principle of Time-of-Flight (ToF): the running time of infrared light emitted by the ceiling sensor is measured. The people under this light cone reflect the light back to the sensor. The measured time of flight provides information about how many people have passed through the light cone. Meaningful 3D images are created in real time. This explains why the system can distinguish between children, adults, wheelchairs, pushchairs and groups. ToF technology provides 99 per cent accuracy and is the preferred technology for retail and public transport passenger counting.

Benefits of Time-of-Flight

• Advanced, robust sensor technology ceiling mounted so can’t be interfered with
• Distinguishes between children and adults
• Employees can be excluded from the count
• Ignores deliveries of goods and pushchairs
• Also ideal for wide entrance areas and high ceilings
• Provides information on occupancy of rooms and defined zones and displayed to the public on screens or the website
• Real-time images of the number of people and their dwell time
• Works reliably even in poor lighting conditions
• Data protection compliant

 

Detailed data for convincing statistics

If Nex.Count is installed in the entrance area, the number of people entering and leaving the library is recorded. If the people counter is expanded to include the room occupancy tool, even more data is available. In this case, several sensors are installed in a room to specifically measure the dwell time and movement patterns of people. Room occupancy data can be displayed on information screens or the library website allowing for users to make decisions on when to visit.

• Where are the most visitors and when?

Knowing when and how busy service counters or individual technical equipment are used can help to establish rooms more customer-friendly and service-oriented. Are there queues that disperse too slowly? Which equipment locations are more popular than others? Are there peak times where the interior becomes too crowded? Questions that can be easily answered with good data material. Thermal maps provide detailed information about crowds and the occupancy of defined zones or entire interior spaces.

• How to make all visitors feel comfortable

If space utilisation is measured in real time, measures can be taken promptly to channel the flow of visitors. In times of admission restrictions due to a pandemic, these can be implemented easily and communicated promptly thanks to accurate people measurement.

• Cost-conscious planning

Customer services, staffing times, opening and cleaning times, and much more can be planned in a targeted and cost-conscious manner with intelligently recorded and differentiated interpreted visitor numbers. The current occupancy data and, if applicable, its limits can be published on screens at the entrance or on the website so that customers can consciously plan their visit.

 

Future-proof and demand-oriented

Nex.Count is designed to be scalable and successively expandable. The unobtrusive sensors are simply mounted on the ceiling. The system is configured and managed centrally and remotely. Data can be retrieved at any time and from anywhere.

The system is highly scalable, i.e., buildings or rooms can be divided into any number of observation zones. Data evaluations are correspondingly meaningful.