Introduction

This quick guide discusses the Staff Detection functionality, available on the Irisys Vector 4D devices, and the issues that are associated with it operating correctly.

If you are having issues with the correct identification of staff, see below.

 

Staff Detection Basics

Staff are identified by the Irisys lanyards which must be worn around the neck of each staff member. These lanyards are made of a specific and distinctive material which the Vector devices can detect. Note that Lanyards sourced from other manufacturers are not guaranteed to be detected and are not supported.

When the lanyard is correctly detected, the target corresponding to the person wearing the lanyard will be shown in red:

Targets identified as staff are then either counted or ignored based on the setting for the corresponding line or zone register:

 

Issues

1. Targets not being identified as staff/red at all.

If you never see any red targets, at all, ever, and instead all targets are always yellow. This implies that no specific staff detection settings have been made.

As above check that each specific line or zone register has staff detection settings in place.

If staff detection is left as 'Off', then all targets will stay yellow, and no red targets will be seen, even when wearing the lanyard.

Also see below about wearing the lanyard correctly.

 

2. Some targets not being detected as staff/red.

The staff detection functionality relies on the lanyard being visible by the Vector. It cannot be detected if obscured.

This means it must be worn on the outside of clothes, and not under a jacket, coat or other clothing. Take care also that it does not sit underneath a shirt collar.

Additionally anyone with very long hair could obscure the lanyard.

Importantly if you cannot see the lanyard, then the Vector cannot see the lanyard either, and staff detection will not work.

 

3. Some targets not being detected as staff/red or very late detection.

As mentioned above, the lanyard must be seen by the Vector for the staff detection functionality, but this means as well as being visible and on the outside of clothing, it must also be visible inside the field of view of the Vector. That might be obvious, but don't forget that the field of view is effectively a pyramid as shown below:

So in the example above out of the three people walking through, only the one walking through the middle is fully visible by the Vector. The to people walking along the edge of the field of view are not fully visible - only their lower body and legs are inside the field of view, and because the lanyard is worn around the neck, this cannot be seen by the Vector and so the it corresponding targets could well be yellow and therefore non-staff.

It will also be observed that when you first walk into the field of view, you will be shown as a yellow target initially until the lanyard is fully inside the field of view and can also be seen. At that point the yellow target will change to a red staff target. This is normal and to be expected.

All of this behavior is a function of geometry and there is nothing that can be done to affect this behavior, but when it comes to configuring a device the advice is always to position the count lines as close to the middle of the field of view as possible in order to maximize the chance of picking people up correctly when wearing a lanyard.

Good (lines through the centre of the field of view):

or

Not ideal (lines at edges of field of view):

or

 

Notes For Validating Staff Detection

Because it is very difficult to see in the video view whether a person is wearing a lanyard, it is very difficult to validate the staff detection functionality.

It should be noted that as people are detected as staff and they become a red target, they will generally stay as a red target, and you shouldn't see any red -> yellow -> red switching behaviour. Only in certain circumstances will a Vector change a detected staff member back to a non staff target. This effectively means that once you see a red target you can be fairly confident that the person is indeed wearing a lanyard, but inversely if a target stays yellow all the time (even if walking through the middle of the field of view) it is not certain that they're not wearing a lanyard, but if they are, then they're probably not wearing it so it is properly in view to the Vector.