Introduction

This quick guide discusses the Zone counting functionality available on the Irisys Vector units and how to configure it. A full understanding of the below settings is essential in order to ensure high accuracy that the Vector 4D devices are capable of.

In order to access these settings, you must first make an initial connection to the Vector unit; see separate guide: Irisys Vector 4D - Making a Setup Connection.
The Zone counting register type is a Vector Analytic Only function.

Counting Settings

Once you are connected to your Vector, the Counting settings are accessed via the ‘Settings’ tab, then ‘Counting’:

If connected to a Vector via an Estate Manager connection, make sure you select the ‘Live View’ option to make changes.

Zone Counting Basics

A 'Zone' register provides an ongoing, ever incrementing, count total, of the number of people who have entered a configurable zone within the available field of view. It is essentially a total count of everyone that has been in that zone.

Enabling Zone counting involves adding a Zone Register. This will show a configurable area on the ground plane and the corresponding register.

People who stand in the zone for long enough will generate a count increment on that register.

If you prefer an instantaneous count of the number of people who are in a zone, 'right now', you should use the Zone Occupancy register instead.

Note that it is common to use both the Zone and Zone Occupancy registers at the same time to provide both an ongoing total and live count. In this case the two configurable zone areas will most likely need to be positioned in the same place in the field of view.

Once you have added a Zone and configured it to count correctly, you may also want to add a Current Wait Time Histogram. This logs the various times that the people currently in the zone have been there for.

Instructions

Click the plus symbol (+) on the Register dialog window, then choose he ‘Zone Occupancy’ type register.

 

Then choose the ‘Zone’ register type, and click Next:

 

Give the register a meaningful name and click 'Next':

 

There are a number of settings, but some are optional:

 

The Min Dwell Duration is a required setting. This is the time that a person must be present inside the configured zone before they can generate an increment on the register. This should be set appropriately so that people who simply walk straight through without stopping will not be included in the total:

 

The Max Dwell Duration is an optional setting, which is only available when the Zone count mode is set to 'On Exit' (the default setting see further below):

If it is enabled, a maximum dwell duration time needs to be entered. Anyone who stays in the zone longer than the maximum duration will not be counted.

 

The Height Filter is an optional setting. When enabled you can configure min and max height filters and only people who fits within those limits will be counted. This provides a rudimentary adult/child counting method. When disabled, everyone is counted equally:

For more details of the register height filtering is separate section here.

 

The Staff Detection is also an optional setting. The default is Off, meaning everyone is counted equally, but you can choose to Exclude Staff or count Staff Only. Staff must be wearing the Irisys Staff Detection lanyard for this functionality to work correctly:

For more details of the staff detection functionality see separate section here.

 

The Zone count mode is a required setting, the default is 'On Exit':

When set to 'On Exit', a person will be counted as long as they are preset in the dwell zone for longer than the Minimum Duration setting and less than the Maximum Duration setting (if enabled), and only at the time they exit/leave the zone.
When set to 'On Enter', a person will be counted as long as they are present in the dwell zone for longer than the Minimum Duration, as soon as that Duration setting is met/exceeded.

 

The Height Histogram is an optional additional function, whereby everyone counted will contribute to histogram data of their heights:

The above example settings will effectively store the number of people between the heights os 75cm and 204cm into 13 different 'bins' for use later. Those bins will include counts for people 75-84cm, 85-94cm, 95-104cm, 105-114cm, 115-124cm, 125-134cm, 135-144cm, 145-154cm, 155-164cm, 165-174cm, 175-184cm, 185-194cm, & 195-204cm.

It should be noted that if you have height filters configured, these may prevent some of the histogram data bins from accumulating data. For example height filters of 125 - 200cm, will mean that bins 75-84cm, 85-94cm, 95-104cm, 105-114cm, & 115-124cm from the above example will stay empty.
See here for more details of the Height Histograms.

 

The Total Wait Time Histogram is also an optional setting. Similarly to the Height histogram, a number of data bins can be configured which will store the various 'Wait Times' of everyone in the dwell zone:

The above example settings will effectively store the number of people who are in the dwell zone between 0 - 19 seconds, 20 - 39 seconds, 40 - 59 seconds, 60 - 79 seconds, 80 - 99 seconds, and between 100 - 119 seconds.

Note that the min and max duration settings can affect the data bin storage. For example, if a maximum duration of 100seconds is set, then the bin 100-119 seconds will stay empty. 

When all settings have been configured click Next.

A summary of the chosen settings will be shown. Click 'Back' to make changes, or 'Add Register' to finish.

 

When the register has been added, the dwell zone within the field of view must then be configured, see below.

 

Configuring the Zone

By default a small 1m x 1m square zone will be created:

The zone must be positioned over the area of interest that you want to monitor.

You can also delete the default two counting lines if required.

The zone must be positioned within the active part of the field of view. Note that the video view is slightly larger than the Vectors active, trackable, field of view. 

Note also that if doing any kind of height filtering as part of the zone functionality, the zone should ideally be positioned wholly within the inner region of the field of view - the height measuring zone.

Switch from Video Mode, to Line Edit Mode, in order to configure the zone associated with your Zone Occupancy register.

The zone is moved and shaped by clicking and dragging the various points. Additional ‘drag’ points can be created by clicking on the smaller circles in the middle of a straight-line segment.

Remember that the zone should be positioned across the floor where people can physically stand/walk, in the location that you want to monitor. Enabling the Vectors path map view may assist you with this step.