French sensor solutions technology company, Terabee, who manufacture their flagship people counting sensors in the EU, have partnered with FIPOI, the Foundation for buildings for International Organisations in Geneva, on a major people counting project as part of FIPOI’s strategy to reduce energy consumption and expenditure.
Image Credit: International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG)
“As part of its larger goal to reduce the electrical and thermal consumption of Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems across its estate by an estimated 350,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, FIPOI has introduced Terabee’s people counting system at the International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG),” said Max Ruffo, Terabee CEO.
By integrating the Terabee people counting system with the CICG Building Management System (BMS), FIPOI hopes to reduce the conference center’s energy consumption by automatically adjusting its HVAC system according to real time, accurate room occupancy numbers.
For FIPOI, data privacy and anonymity were a crucial part of this project. FIPOI must be able to reassure visitors that their privacy is fully protected and their movements will not be recorded. Terabee’s GDPR compliant people counting solution was therefore the only option for the FIPOI.
With 12 conference rooms over three floors, with capacity from 20 to 2,200 people, as well as 4,000 m2 of exhibition space, 60 offices, a post office, two bars and a restaurant, the CICG required a very comprehensive people counting system. Terabee was able to configure the optimal system, which included a total of 56 sensors, using plans of the building provided by the FIPOI. See more about the FIPOI CICG project here.
Data Protection and Privacy Protection by Design
Terabee Time-of-Flight people counting solutions emit a beam of light, typically in the form of infrared (IR) or laser pulses. Then the time it takes for the beam light to travel to an object and back again is measured. By calculating the time-of-flight of each pulse, Time-of-Flight sensors create a depth map of the surrounding environment, detecting objects within it, including people.
Terabee Time-of-Flight technology works in a completely non-camera, non-intrusive, anonymous way. As they don’t use camera technology, Terabee people counting sensors cannot capture any personal data, images or videos of individuals. Rather, Time-of-Flight technology simply detects presence and movements within a defined area.
Moreover, Terabee ToF sensors do not rely on capturing images, which is a key difference from camera-based technologies. They gather data related to three points when someone passes into the people counting area: head and both shoulders, nothing more. In addition, Terabee people counters cannot measure the height of someone passing into or out of the counting area, nor can they gather any information about gender, physical appearance, clothing or other personal data.
Gain Better Insights into Visitor Traffic
Terabee has also announced enhanced features for the People Counting L-XL device (which is available in both Power over Ethernet (PoE) and LoRaWAN-enabled modes).
Heatmapping for More Insights
For the People Counting L-XL PoE device, customers can now use the Terabee-supplied anonymous people counting data to build heatmaps and quickly identify areas where there is high foot traffic. This allows businesses to optimize their layouts, improve signage and allocate resources appropriately. Staffing can be optimized based on the number of people moving through given areas. With heatmap technology it is possible to see how people move through a space so businesses can identify areas where customers may experience bottlenecks or other issues, and make changes to improve their overall experience.
Zone heatmaps can be created in front of Point of Sales displays, museum or trade show exhibits, for example, to gather accurate, anonymous data to understand the impact of marketing campaigns. By seeing which displays attract higher numbers of visitors, and those that are less popular, adjustments can be made.
Dwell-time and Occupancy Measurement
Terabee have also announced the dwell-time feature for the People Counting L-XL PoE model. Dwell-time refers to the amount of time a person spends in a specific zone or designated area. This feature can be applied in high security and limited access environments, for example, if there is a very valuable art gallery or museum exhibition and the security service wishes to see if someone is loitering in the area.
Other new features, such as notification when someone enters or leaves a designated area can be used in retail stores, to trigger digital signage when customers enter the area. Similarly, in a high-security area, a virtual curtain can be put in place with people counting sensors to detect intrusion in a zone, such as a ‘Staff only’ area.
For hospitality applications, senior care, coffee corners, cubicles and small meeting rooms, a new Room Occupancy mode can provide facilities managers with accurate insights on occupancy levels, allowing resources to be adapted based on actual occupancy of the area, which can improve user experience and optimize budgets.
System Integrators and Solution Providers will have access to new Device Management features for the People Counting L-XL device, so they can remotely manage people counting devices through their administration dashboard. This can improve customer satisfaction, as well as saving resources.