VCA Technology video analytics systems were used this summer at Warsaw’s Fan Zone during Euro 2012.
Fan Zones were opened in cities across Poland and Ukraine to allow fans without tickets somewhere to gather and watch the football on huge TV screens.
ARS Communication, a specialist an event and concert agency, was awarded the contract to build and operate the temporary 120 thousand square metres Fan Zone in an open area located around the Palace of Culture and Science in Parade Square, Warsaw.
Entry to the Fan Zone was free and on a first come, first served basis. It was therefore anticipated that the number of people wishing to enter could far exceed the safe level of 95,000 people at any one time.
The challenge was to find a method that could reliably, and in real time, count the number of people who entered through one of the 7 wide entrances, whilst at the same time counting those who left the site so that maximum safety capacity could be maintained. It was quickly established that it would not be viable to deploy stewards to carry out this vital task without distracting them from their normal duties. Some of the entrances were 10 metres wide and even if a large number of stewards had been positioned at each of the entrances, it would have been very difficult to coordinate their activities to achieve an accurate count.
ARS Communication took advice from specialist installers CallNet.pl who encoders equipped with VCA Technology video analytics software. As a result, CallNet.pl were commissioned to supply and install 44 of 4-ch GANZ video encoders alongside a corresponding number of high resolution video surveillance cameras manufactured by CBC.
By instantly analysing the images captured by cameras, the VCA Technology video analytics software was able to accurately detect and count the exact number of people crossing a defined zone at each of the Fan Zone’s entrances. All of the 44 GANZ encoders were integrated by CallNet.pl into one system with a central server aggregating all the metadata into a single database.
An easy to use Excel reporting tool enabled staff to monitor at all times the number of people in the Fan Zone. Stewards would be instructed to close the gates if the number of people exceeded safe levels.
VCA Technology’s software can also be used for:
- intrusion detection;
- vehicle monitoring;
- abandoned object detection;
- loitering detection.