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  • 1.  Affordable automatic people counters

    Posted 09-03-2019 03:16 PM
    Hello,

    Our museum is looking into people counter technology for tracking visitation numbers. We currently use manual clickers operated by Visitor Services representatives. We were hoping the AAM community might have some affordable suggestions of technology (hardware and software) that has worked well for their institution.

    I did a preliminary search on the forums and found institutions had some success with technology that counts people's smartphones, is this still a popular option among museums?

    Thank you in advance for any suggestions you're willing to offer!

    ------------------------------
    Stephen Drury
    Security Supervisor
    Florida Museum - University of Florida
    Gainesville, FL
    ------------------------------
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  • 2.  RE: Affordable automatic people counters

    Posted 09-04-2019 08:41 AM
    Stephen,
    We have new technology that not only counts people but can provide, using AI, basic demographics as well as dwell time (how long in the space, e.g., a gallery) and pace (how quickly moving - as in are they passing by or looking at paintings).  Essentially, our camera (or your digital feed from a security camera, if you have them) provides the digital information and our Intelligent Digital Counting (IDC powered by Exteros) algorithm shows the information on a dashboard.
    I assume you want to use this on an ongoing basis - and perhaps in multiple locations.  Why don't you give me a call tomorrow or Friday to explain your needs and we'll see if we have an economical solution for you.  Paste this link in your browser to see a demo video in a museum setting.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuCYMNBPeFs&feature=youtu.be 
    George Wachtel
    Audience Research & Analysis
    www.audienceresearch.com
    212-472-2154

    ------------------------------
    George Wachtel
    President
    Audience Research & Analysis INC
    New York NY
    ------------------------------

    Original Message
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  • 3.  RE: Affordable automatic people counters

    Posted 09-04-2019 04:24 PM

    If you have a somewhat recent wifi platform you may be able to get visitor foot traffic data directly from that (basically the wifi system captures this by recording, anonymously, all the devices like smartphones that are in range of an individual access point).  From that, you could then build up a heat map / count of how many visitors (smartphones) were in a particular area at a particular time.  The caveat here is that any visitor who does not have a smart phone, or who has wifi turned off on their device, would not get captured in the count.

     

    Another alternative is just to get a dedicated "people counter" camera.  There are lots of options here; one which I know a couple museums have used is Traf-Sys (https://www.trafsys.com/)  There is a one-time charge for the hardware but no other reoccurring charges.  I used Trafsys cameras at my last museum and the vendor assisted with initial installation & configuration.  The default reporting is pretty rudimentary (basically ins & outs by hour) but was sufficient for what we needed at the time, and all of the data is stored in a SQL database so is pretty straightforward to extract.

     

     

    Shyam Oberoi

    Chief Digital Officer

    Royal Ontario Museum

    O: 416-586-7935

    E: soberoi@rom.on.ca

     

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