COVID-19: Canon Software For Counting People And Crowds In Real Time

Not photography related but never the less an interesting news concerning Canon. A software to keep up with social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Press release:

Canon U.S.A. Announces Crowd People Counter Software to Capture Crowd Sizes in Real Time

Software Aids in Social Distance Monitoring, City Planning and Crowd Control at Stadiums, Airports, Train Stations, Houses of Worship and Other Large Venues

MELVILLE, NY, June 1, 2020 – Canon U.S.A. Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, today introduced the Crowd People Counter, a video content analysis software which can quickly provide event management teams and law enforcement agencies the ability to gather crowd size data in real-time. The gathering and analysis of this data can help detect overcrowding and potentially prevent accidents at a variety of locations, including stadiums, airports, train stations, houses of worship, and other venues. An additional application of the software is the ability to support city planning projects.

“Now more than ever, cities and venues are extremely conscious about crowd control and social distancing,” said Tatsuro “Tony” Kano, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Canon U.S.A.’s Imaging Technologies and Communications Group. “With the current COVID-19 pandemic, it has become extremely important to be able to monitor the density of crowds. Our new Crowd People Counter software can help to manage crowds in real time and will provide valuable data to help keep people safe once large gatherings and events return.”

The Crowd People Counter software can detect humans using as little as 15 pixels and is capable of detecting up to approximately 88,000 people in maximum resolution (5472 x 3648) and 9,000 people in Full HD (1920 x 1080), respectively. Designed to aid with event management by identifying trends in crowds, the software data can help to determine the appropriate number of police officers, security guards, emergency medical personnel, and ambulances needed in a given area. Because of the real-time crowd analysis, security and event staff can be re-positioned to ensure appropriate staffing as events take place within large venues, helping to increase safety all while managing crowd size. The crowd data also supports staff optimization for future event planning.

The Crowd People Counter software works in tandem with Canon and Axis Network Cameras and Windows-supported devices using both Webview and VAPIX protocol for live streaming. For greater flexibility a separate plug-in version of the software, Crowd People Counter for Milestone XProtect^®, is available and supports live streaming and recorded data from Milestone XProtect^®.

The Canon Crowd People Counter software Version 1.0, and Crowd People Counter for Milestone XProtect^® software Version 1.0 are currently available. To learn more about the software, click here.

Covid-19