Optex social distancing store

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way we manage and control the numbers and access of people into and out of our shops and offices, or indeed any building open to the public.

Until now, people access has been managed by the simple use of floor guides and tape, with staff or security guards issuing verbal instructions and direction. Very rarely, however, is the traffic inside the building (e.g the number of people per aisle or per room) being monitored. The enforcement of social distancing is therefore left to the self-discipline of individuals or to the occasional control of a member of staff, some with the use of a loud hailer.

Real time people counting solution could prove a far more efficient and accurate way to control the situation. Three of our technology partners - the Spanish company Vaelsys and the UK companies IAconnects and Xenometric – believe they have the answer by integrating our Akribos people counter and MQTT protocol together with their own software platforms to provide a workable solution.

Social distancing Room Management by IA Connects

IAconnects provides smart building control systems and is now offering a Social Distancing Room Management technology. Its solution works by monitoring the number of people and occupancy level of common areas such as waiting rooms, meeting rooms, office lobbies, washrooms etc and displaying the appropriate instruction. It might, for example, state ‘do not enter’, ‘free to go’, “cleaning required” or any other such status that the customer defines. The solution can be used for any commercial building including retail outlets with the option to display the instruction on a third-party screen and to integrate with other devices (traffic light, door, booking / office management systems) . The solution comprises our OPTEX people counting sensor VC-1020, WiFi Gateway including IAconnects MobiusFlow software and display units mounted by the doors. A web-based dashboard also provides an instant overview of the overall building status.

IA Connects waiting room

For more information about Social Distancing Room Management download the brochure here

Or contact IAconnects here

EasyCount and Datacenter by Vaelsys

Vaelsys is a software development company and video analytics provider which has developed several systems using our Akribos technology. Among the most recent are two types of people counting and traffic monitoring solutions: EasyCount – which enables smaller retail outlets to display the number of people allowed in and the average waiting time; and Datacentre – which is a scalable people counting and retail analytics solution suited for larger and multi-site retailers. Datacentre can generate elaborate dashboards and charts, as well as row data reports (CSV) for comparative pruposes and data analytics. Both solutions can manage and activiate I/O modules to connect with other devices such as trafiic lights, speakers and doors.

Vaelsys customer facing display

The EasyCount solution includes the storage hardware, the permanent software license to receive the count data and transform it in GO / WAIT dashboard that can be displayed on any existing monitor/ TV. It also includes the HDMI cable and Vesa mount. The Akribos people counter has to be purchased separately, as does the network switch.

For more information on EasyCount please visit https://easy-count.com/ or download the brochure

For Vaelsys DATACENTER solution please download the brochure

Xenoview and X-Server by Xenometric

The third of the new solutions comes from Xenometric, a software development company which has a particular specialism in people counting and occupancy level solutions. It has developed software packages designed to work specifically with the OPTEX Akribos people counter to suit different sizes of application and need. The entry-level solution, Xenoview, is suited to independent retailers or smaller buildings. It collects the real time count data from up to four Akribos, displays the occupancy levels on an integrated dashboard, and issue instructions to GO or WAIT. The count data is stored locally and can also be used for retail analysis purposes.

For larger or multisite applications, Xenometric has developed the X-Server. Similar to Xenoview in terms of its functionality, it differs in that it is fully scalable and includes an SQL database and full reporting functionalities. It can be hosted on the customer’s server or on the Cloud.

Xenometric dashboards

Xenoview is designed to be hosted on a Windows-based PC at the customer’s site. It includes a permanent license. A network switch, Akribos counter(s) and the monitor displaying the occupancy dashboard should be purchased separately. The system has the ability to manage an I/O module to interact with other devices (traffic light, audio systems etc)

To contact Xenometric please click here

Why are they using OPTEX Akribos (VC1020) people counter?

OPTEX VC-1020 with MQTT protocol

OPTEX Akribos VC-1020 is a real-time and multi-directional indoor people counter that provides up to 98% accuracy. It ignores trollies and baskets, and manages groups of individuals by tracking the direction or every individual, even if they are loitering. The counting sensor now has the ability to have the MQTT protocol embedded. The Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) is a lightweight messaging open protocol, which manages telemetry information, and is used in Man-to-Machine M2M and IoT devices for real-time analytics, preventive maintenance monitoring etc. (source https://internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/definition/MQTT-MQ-Telemetry-Transport)

The MQTT protocol allows the people count to be immediately transmitted to the integrated occupancy software platform and gives an exact picture on how many people are in the shop, room or a specific area.

If you would like to know more about our Akribos people counter visit the product page or contact us.