How Traffic Analyzers Step Up in Battle Against COVID-19

Strange times call for interesting solutions. All evidences on how COVID-19 spread point to two effective counter measures to minimize the spread; wearing masks in public and social distancing. Social distancing is just as important as wearing mask, and while cognizant of the problem, many people may not be even aware that they are not following social distancing rules.

InnoTech Systems with a business focus on autonomous robotics and AI systems, has the solution. In response to a request by San Diego International Airport (SAN), the company has developed a hand-held, portable, low power congregate detection system leveraging one aspect of its autonomous robot’s “brain” functions with the ability to detect, classify and track movement of people. With the aid of a hand-held camera and InnoTech proprietary Computer Vision software, this innovative solution can:

• Detect and classify people in a dynamic environment
• Measure distance between people and flag if social distancing rules are not followed
• Measure dwell time in a given area
• Report information via secure email anytime a set of social distancing metrics are violated

The system can be mounted on the screens throughout the airport already displaying a live feed of the area and show passengers whether they are maintaining social distancing guidelines. Being used as portable devices, it can easily be transferred between different areas according to traffic congestion. This way, in addition to monitoring social distancing violation, it provides environmental and situational awareness and data analytics for the airport Authority.

There are a vast number of industries that could leverage the technology including retails, malls, museums and libraries, college campuses, hotels, hospitals, etc. Although the current solution is designed solely to address the violation of social distancing, its strength relies on detecting and tracking several different objects using camera only. Using the latest advances in Computer Vision and Machine Learning, the software can classify and track up to 20 entities including people, and the analytic results can be used to generate visitor traffic and heat maps, dwell time, store conversion rate, visitor flow, etc.