People Counting Dashboard

January 18, 2023 19:42 Updated

The People Counting solution utilizes Irisys Vector 4D sensors combined with the Enlighted sensor network. Sensors placed at entrances and exits count people as they enter or leave spaces, floors, or rooms. The people counting data is available for analysis and reporting via the cloud, allowing users to analyze data and understand workspace utilization. Space utilization measures how many people use a space compared with how many it was designed for. Understand how often people use spaces and when and where they visit spaces and make adjustments for effective space utilization.

The data is displayed in real-time in the Dashboard for an organization when buildings and spaces are added to it from the Settings tab. Comfy will release APIs so users can access data and generate reports in the future.

Check with your admin for your username and password. Log in to the Dashboard, and configure buildings and spaces to view data in the Dashboard. https://counton.alpha.enlightedinc.com/dashboard/ - PLACEHOLDER

Prerequisites

To configure the Dashboard for a customer:

Discuss with the customer and obtain the list of buildings and spaces they would need, such as conference rooms, cafeterias, open areas.
Identify the capacity limit of the floor, room, or space.
Irisys Vector 4D sensors installed at all entrances, exits and configured and connected to the Enlighted Gateway over MQTT, and powered via the PoE switch.
All sensor Device IDs and their corresponding spaces names saved or written down.
Set up buildings, and add spaces from the Dashboard Settings tab.

Analytics

The Analytics tab of the Dashboard displays insights for occupancy, and people count for any floor, space, or room. This information helps users make real-time decisions such as enabling or disabling rooms' entrances and managing occupancy levels based on the capacity limit. You can also view metrics over time and by space type like average occupancy, percent of capacity, and busiest times.

Configuring Graph Display

Control what data appears using the fields and controls in the left sidebar and above the graph.

Configure the Dashboard display using the following fields:

Tag – Tags are keywords added to spaces in a building categorized based on characteristics, function, or requirements. Users find and filter data with a tag. For example, lobby and corridor spaces are categorized to be under the tag 'common area.' Therefore, when a user searches for a common area, the results are based on all lobby and corridor spaces in the building tagged as the common area.
Metric – Use the dropdown above the graph to change the graph data between Occupancy or Number of People occupying a space.
Date – Change the reporting period using the fields in the left sidebar. The default is a 24-hour day; but this can be changed to any length up to 30 days. Select a date range from the calendar, making sure not to exceed 30 days. Selecting more than 30 days will not work.
Facilities – Select the organization’s buildings and spaces to include in the graph using the checkboxes. Choose everything by checking the top-level box, or expand parent items to select space types or specific spaces.
Aggregation – Choose how the data is aggregated, all events, or by day, month, or hour. Changing this to day, month or hour will reveal additional filtering options above the charts.
Auto Update – Turn this on to have Dashboard data refresh automatically every couple of minutes.
Live View – Turn this on to displays real-time occupancy of the overall capacity and current capacity for a space.
Update – Apply changes after altering the above options.
CSV – Export data for all spaces into a CSV file.

Over Time Graph

The Over Time graph shows how the number of people fluctuates over a period of time for a space, so users can optimize space allocation by identifying over and under utilized-areas. In addition, you can view metrics over time and by space type like average occupancy, percent of capacity, and busiest times.

Users can visualize the information in the Dashboard and detect an increase in occupancy or the number of people occupying a space. For example, in the graph below, the Storage room (purple line) with a capacity of five people, shows max. occupancy of three people. In comparison, the Denali conference room, which could accommodate 15 people, has only two people using the room. Users can infer that if the room capacity is not being utilized, they are probably not making the most of their conference rooms.

The days and hours are represented on the x-axis, and the Metric, on the y-axis. Hovering over the trend line shows occupancy or number of people for that day by the hour for a space.

The table below the graph shows the Capacity (maximum allowed number of people in the area), Max, Min, the Average occupancy, the Busiest time, and Latest count from the sensor.

Frequency

Understand how often people use spaces and when and where they meet to make effective space design decisions. Frequency shows how spaces are utilized monthly, weekly, or daily.

Frequency breaks down space usage for conference rooms by occupancy to understand the relative value of spaces. The map uses different colors to represent occupancy or people count; refer to the legend on the side. Darker shades of orange and red indicate a higher number of people counted than lighter shades.

In the image below, the Storage room seems to have the highest occupancy on all weekdays compared to other rooms.

Aggregation Over Time

Identify patterns and trends to determine how the number of people fluctuate in a space type with aggregated data over time. Users can aggregate and view data by Hour, Day or Month over a period of time for a given space.

Information is filtered and summarized for all events for a space, such as conference rooms, by average occupancy, percent of capacity, and busiest times. Users will be able to identify peak conference room usage vs. non-peak hours and manage occupancy levels based on the capacity limit. Notifications can be created to alert when a space breaches the capacity limit.

Example of Hourly Aggregation and Statistics for Conference Room Space Type

Example of Daily Aggregation and Statistics for Conference Room Space Type

Devices

The Devices tab lists all Vector 4D People Count sensors installed at the site for data collection. Users can view live occupancy data remotely and receive notifications when limits are exceeded.

People Counting sensors are identified with the prefix V4D-xxxxxxxx in the Device ID. The Device Name indicates the name of the entrance to a building or room. Other sensor details include IP Address, MAC Address, and time when the data was last updated. The Last Data Point and Last Update provide quick sensor health checks. Users can sort the table by Device, Device ID, or Device Name.

The list of Data Source sensors match the Device ID configured in the Remote Estate Manager UI, under Settings > Site Details, starting with V4D-XXXXX.

Settings

The Settings tab displays the organization facility structure containing one or more buildings in the left panel. Admin users can add, edit, or delete buildings within a portfolio.

Adding a Building

To add a building:

Click the Settings tab, and click Add Building.

In the Add Building popup, enter a Building Name. The building name appears in the facilities left panel of the Dashboard; hence, short, descriptive names are recommended for building names.

Select the Time zone for the building from the dropdown.
In the Reset Time field, enter the time the sensors must reset their count to 0. This resets the building's 24-hour data collection time.
Click Submit. The building is added to the facility.

Editing or Deleting a Building

On the Settings page, click the Edit Building button.
In the Edit Building popup, choose a building from the dropdown.
To edit a building, make the needed changes and click Submit to save.
To delete a building, click the Delete button. CAUTION: There is no confirmation message, and this action cannot be undone.

Adding a Space

Spaces in a building are categorized based on characteristics, function, or requirements. For example, lobby and corridor spaces are categorized to be under the space type 'common area'.

To add a space, click Settings, select a Building from the dropdown list and click Add Space in the Spaces panel. The Add Space popup opens.
Type a Space Name. Space names can be unique based on the characteristics or function of a space or department.
Specify the Capacity of the space, which is the maximum number of people allowed in the space at one time. Estimate the maximum occupancy based on the room's dimensions or social distancing norms.
Select a Tag for the space from the dropdown or create a new tag. Tags are assigned to spaces based on common characteristics or function, which are then used to filter data.
Select the sensor Data Source from the dropdown list of configured Irisys Vector 4D sensors. If you are unsure which sensor to select, go to the Devices tab and locate the sensor based on Device ID and name. Write down the name and come back to link the sensor to the space. The Data Source must match the Device ID from the Vector 4D Remote Estate Manager UI, under Settings > Site Details, starting with V4D-XXXXX.
Choose the duration to retrieve Historical Data for the space.
Click Submit to save. The new Space Name is displayed in the table.

Add Notification

Configure notifications to receive an email when an event is triggered based on the capacity threshold set for the floor, room, or space.

To add a notification,

Click Settings, and select a Building.
Click the Add Notification button.
In the Add Notification popup, select the Space from the dropdown to which a notification needs to be added.
Select the Threshold percent from the dropdown. Once the threshold value is reached, the user will be notified via email.
Select the Trigger to be either above or below the threshold.
Select the Notification type through which you need to be notified.
Add one or more Subscribers from the list or add a new subscriber email address.
Click the Submit button.

Security

Generating API Key

Users can generate an API key from the Security tab in the Dashboard which is valid for the duration you select from the Expiration dropdown list. The new API key will be generated and displayed, please store it somewhere safe as you will need to update any API calls with your new key. Your existing API key will become invalid and will no longer work after expiration.

Comfy will support standard REST-based APIs, including XML and JSON message formats in the future for end-users to access data. Developers can write applications using REST APIs to query and retrieve information. Users must be authenticated to send or receive API requests to and from the server.

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