- Blickfeld and EvoCount deepen collaboration and realize several joint projects.
- Current people counting projects enable accurate and privacy-compliant determination of visitor numbers to derive effective protective measures.
Munich and Kaiserslautern. Blickfeld, a Munich-based manufacturer of LiDAR sensor solutions, deepens its collaboration with EvoCount, a leading expert in real-time digital visitor counting for events, fairs, festivals, concerts, stadiums, and tourism, based in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Blickfeld’s LiDAR sensors were already successfully used in people counting projects with EvoCount at IAA Mobility 2021. The two companies are currently working together on projects for the protection of popular tourist resorts at the North Sea. Here, more than 100 LiDAR sensors including our Percept software have already been scheduled to date and the majority have already been installed. The two companies are now developing numerous other application scenarios.
More sustainable tourism at the North Sea
Blickfeld and EvoCount have installed Blickfeld Cube 1 sensors in the communities of Butjadingen and Wangerland on the North Sea to measure the number of visitors on site and to direct the flow of people in a Corona-compliant and environmentally friendly manner. LiDAR sensors are particularly well suited for this application because they detect objects and their direction of movement very reliably, largely independent of weather and lighting conditions, and do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the identity of people. The analysis of the LiDAR data, which complies with data protection regulations, demonstrates the strength of the cooperation: the classification of the detected objects is carried out using the recently released Blickfeld Percept software. The data provided by the sensors is further processed by EvoCount’s specialized crowd management software to gain an overview of the current number of visitors at any time and to restrict them in case of overcrowding. The solution thus makes an important contribution to protecting the health of people in the pandemic and also to protecting the sensitive environment from the consequences of over-intensive tourist use.
Safe visit to the trade show even in times of pandemic
The combination of EvoCount’s people counting expertise and Blickfeld’s 3D LiDAR sensor solutions had already shown enormous potential in several projects at IAA Mobility 2021: To make the trade fair as safe as possible for visitors in pandemic times, Blickfeld Cube-1 sensors recorded streams of visitors in downtown Munich, whose movement data was analyzed using Blickfeld and EvoCount software. In addition, during the IAA Mobility 2021, the two companies worked together to create so-called “heat maps” of various trade show booths based on LiDAR data, which use color gradations to indicate how the public traffic is distributed there in real time.
Dr. Florian Petit, co-founder of Blickfeld, says: “Partnerships with specialized solution providers like EvoCount are very important for us. Through them, we gain additional valuable insight into where our LiDAR sensors can enable new solutions or improve existing applications – for example, to classify vehicles in parking lots. I am very much looking forward to the implementation of the further planned projects. “
Tim Mertel-Blinn, CEO at EvoCount, says, “We see LiDAR sensors as the best way to capture occupancy rates. Their biggest advantage is their independence from light and weather, which allows LiDARs to deliver results under virtually any conditions – and in a GDPR-compliant manner. In combination with our own analysis tools, we can thus very reliably obtain valuable information for counting and directing visitor flows. We still see great potential here in many application areas.”
