Ivideon Counter 3D: who, how and why to count visitors

Visitor counting probably began with the appearance of the first stores. The main question that arose from the store owner after the start of sales required an answer: how many of the people who came came to be turned into buyers? Over time, other complex issues have been added to this task that affect conversion rates.

Today, automated systems help determine business performance, based on which data you can select sales dates, find out the best opening and closing times, and detect problems in staff performance. It seems that it is enough to put a few sensors and watch how the graphs of blissfully grow or tragically fall, but life makes adjustments: in some cases, the system generates more problems than money.

Why do you need counting

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Practice shows that in business they often follow the principle of “do like everybody’s”, forgetting that every point of sale is unique.

Guided only by previous experience or mirroring the behavior of successful competitors, it is impossible to optimally plan the operation of your store, which means that costs and lost profits are inevitable.

We need objective data to make management decisions in the field of marketing, development and HR. Such data will help collect visitor counters.

The key objectives of the scoring area include:

1. Determining the ratio of the number of visitors to the number of purchasers.
2. Calculate the growth of visitor traffic on weekends and holidays for hiring the optimal number of sellers. The solution to the eternal problem, when on some days sellers are bored and do not know what to do with themselves, while others are overloaded.
3. Detailed assessment of the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Did the promotion really bring new customers?
4. Evaluation of the attractiveness of a shop window or stand. It always seems that he did a little better or a little worse than it should be. With the counter it is easy to learn about possible problems with arrangement of goods.
5. Testing hypotheses about the seasonal workload of employees. Whether to prepare for the pre-New Year rush of buyers or sales growth will only affect the online store?

In our practice, there was a case when, according to the counter, during the week the customer’s number of visitors to the store fell. A good reason to spend time and resources to check the quality of the work of sellers. However, the owner was installed a second counter, which measured the permeability in the common corridor in front of the showcase. The counter in front of the entrance also showed a drop in traffic - fewer people began to enter the shopping center, and sellers, against the background of a general drop in human traffic, began to work even harder.

It is easy to imagine a reverse situation: if employees report low store traffic, they will automatically increase the conversion and sales bonus. Accurate attendance data will ensure that premiums are calculated correctly to motivate employees. Thus, the accuracy of the visitor counting system has an impact on retail sales.

Overview of visitor counting systems

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In the pre-digital era of people considered a special employee before entering the store. In the 70s, with the development of home video recorders in the US, videotape became available to individuals, and cameras began to be used to count visitors. The disadvantage of these systems was that it was exactly the same way to consider visitors on records as an “analog method” - manually.

Already in the 90s, infrared sensors and opening / closing counters for reed switches began to be used for counting. Then Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies were connected to the task, modern turnstiles with thermal and video sensors were added.

Cheapness of the first solutions was a big plus - the cost of one sensor started from several thousand rubles. Cons - high error, lack of protection against data tampering and the need to buy additional equipment (most often a computer).

Today there are many different counting systems on the market: from the simplest IR sensor to video stream analysis using neural networks. The quality of work of almost all decisions strongly depends on the conditions in which they are used at the object of observation.

The accuracy of the calculation is adversely affected by changes in the light background, shadows and highlights. Frames can be considered per person loaded with a cart with dimensional things, and with a very large influx of visitors often two people take people for one.

Among all the tested devices, the most effective was a 3D video meter that tracks the position, height of objects in the coverage area, the direction of movement of objects, their shape and size. One device includes all the necessary functions - collects, stores, notifies, transmits information without installing a registrar or PC.

The work of the 3D counter does not depend on the number of visitors, lighting, temperature and other factors. The meter can monitor the passage width up to three meters, so one device is enough for most objects. Today it is the most professional solution for counting visitors, characterized by high accuracy, stable operation and low error rate.

The 3D counter uses the digital signal processor ( DSP ), which in real time receives data from two graphic sensors, calculates a three-dimensional picture, converts it into a mathematical 3D model, finds the heads of passing visitors using an embedded algorithm, excluding any false objects (shadows, sun glare, grocery carts, prams, bags).

Ivideon Counter 3D: universal counter

Now we are releasing a counter integrated with the Ivideon service that connects via Ethernet to the Internet, sets up in 5 minutes in your Ivideon account and starts sending statistics to the cloud.

Main characteristics:

• built-in analytics counting visitors with an accuracy of 95%;
• span of passage width up to 3 meters;
• built-in microphone;
• Power over twisted pair (PoE) or DC 12V;
• motion detection in the direction of entry / exit;
• remote configuration and maintenance;
• flexible setting of detection zones;
• storing statistics in the Ivideon cloud archive; storing video in the NAS, locally on a PC or microSD card up to 128 GB.

Installation and Setup

The device is located at a height of 250 to 380 cm and controls the passage width up to 3 meters. The meter is easy to install without the installer and additional costs.

The method of mounting provides installation on any surfaces, including suspended ceilings, drywall, concrete, extension brackets.

Working temperature is from -10 ° C to + 45 ° C, but it is recommended to use the meter only indoors. The design of the device (white metal case), small dimensions (162.1 x 76 x 37.8 mm) and light weight (300 g) make it possible to place the meter so that it does not attract attention.

In your personal account Ivideon, the counter is added in the same way as any camera with our firmware. In addition, it is possible to add any number of counters - this is necessary if several remote points are monitored. In this case, it is convenient to watch all the statistics in one office.

Opportunities

• High accuracy

Statistics of passes is collected with an accuracy of 95%. The counting algorithms exclude the influence of the color of clothes, lighting, temperature, humidity, crowds, shadows, bags, prams, grocery carts and other factors.

• Large counting area

When placed at a height of 320 cm wide-angle lenses provide a counting area of ​​290 * 180 cm, which allows you to cover all standard entrance openings with a single sensor.

• Easy to set up and use

We made the meter as easy to connect as all the cameras integrated with the Ivideon service.

• Saving

The counter does not require a high-speed communication channel with the server.

• Cloud service

The counter stores the data in the cloud archive. You will receive an accurate counter and video surveillance in one personal account.

• Price

Until recently, the main limiting factor for the introduction of such devices was the price. The cost of Ivideon Counter 3D - 26 thousand rubles.

On the downside, too, is worth saying - you need a constant Internet channel for the transfer of statistics. Recording can be done locally, in which case traffic can be saved, but without Internet access, the counter is no better than a regular camera. The meter is still more expensive than conventional sensors - we expect that the efficiency of use and the accuracy of the data fully compensate for the difference in price.

The meter can be ordered by reference .