How can people counting technology be used to make universities even smarter?

While people counting solutions have primarily been used in smart buildings to reduce costs and improve sustainability through optimised heating, air conditioning and ventilation (HVAC) systems and lighting in response to room or building occupancy, this technology is also ideally suited to universities.

The non-camera based, anonymous data from Terabee people counting solutions give insights into people traffic, such as how students and staff move around university buildings and facilities. Are some lecture halls too full? What spaces are under-utilized at present and could be maximized?

This technology helps university administration teams to quickly understand how to reshape spaces in a continuously changing environment. It provides them with objective data for informed decision making, building automation and user experience improvements.

Privacy of images and data relating to both staff, students and visitors is an absolute requirement, so people counting solutions that use Time-of-Flight technology guarantee privacy protection and GDPR compliance. The device emits a pulse of near infrared light and measures the time it takes for the pulse to reflect off the environment and back to the sensor. 

Terabee people counters calculate depth information about their surroundings, with a low resolution “depth map” where each pixel corresponds to a distance measurement produced. This provides highly accurate people counting data (typically 95% for People Counting M to 98% accuracy for People Counting L-XL) that does not capture any distinguishing features or personal identifiable information (PII). Read more about people counting devices GDPR compliance. 

As individuals walk through the sensor’s range, they reflect the emitted signal, and the sensor measures the time it takes for the signal to return. Based on the number of signals detected, the system can accurately count the number of people in the area.

As Time-of-Flight sensors only detect the presence of objects and do not capture images or audio, they do not collect any personal data. In fact, the Time-of-Flight sensors from Terabee don’t contain a camera or camera technology, so they do not recognize faces or track individuals’ movements. The signals that it uses are fully anonymous and cannot be linked to a specific individual. Therefore, ToF technology enables people counting without infringing on privacy rights or violating data protection regulations.

Efficient sensors and no need for external data processing, means that Terabee people counters provide accurate room and building occupancy data at a fraction of the cost of other systems. The People Counting L-XL LoRa device utilises LoRaWAN, which eliminates the need to install PoE cables or connect to the main IT system. This makes it an ideal solution for the historic buildings found in some universities. The LoRa-enabled solution avoids the need to retrofit Ethernet cabling, which can be both expensive and time-consuming.

With its ability to aggregate data taken from up to five separate sensors, the Terabee People Counter L-XL device offers an easy-to-install and configure, highly accurate doorway counter for monitoring large doors, entrances and indoor gates, such as university auditoriums and large lecture theatres. On the other hand, the People Counting M device is suitable for standard doors and narrow corridors, such as in meeting rooms and washrooms.