Video analytics in a nutshell
Video analytics is a computer vision and processing system that has a video stream on input and metadata on output. The output data can be numeric, boolean, structured object description, etc. For example, say an input stream contains three customers in a store; the corresponding output data will be “numberOfCustomers = 3”. Also, using AI, it can detect multiple parameters of each person, so it can provide analytical data to work with.
The key takeaway is that analytical data is always text data. It requires as minimal storage and channel bandwidth as possible to keep the system running, yet it helps solve business tasks.
In essence, businesses don’t need raw video footage to make predictions. An additional benefit of video analytical text data is that it's all depersonalized, so you needn’t worry about the GDPR or other regulatory documents.
Note that video surveillance is a security domain and we’re not covering it here.
Get business insights
Video analytics can help you get a better perspective on points of growth in managing your location, whatever it is: a retail store, bank branch, or any other brick-and-mortar entity. The data will help you create and clarify your customer profile to build a solid marketing strategy, as well as manage human resources and delivery chains.
Knowing your customer behavior, tracking conversion rates, completing A/B tests, and figuring out customer habits are all key for competing in any market. Let’s sum it up together:
- Understand your client, as well as their behavior and dwell time in specific areas of your offline location.
- Learn where to allocate staff. Check bottlenecks in live service and resolve problems before they have an impact.
- For better marketing, conduct data-driven tests. Learn which ad/product gets more attention and measure the conversion.
- Capture reactions. We’re all human, and the number of people who smile at an ad can make a world of difference to your UX.
Video data example
There are endless examples of data that can be extracted from video footage: for example, people violating a perimeter in defense systems or the water level in a water lock, but we'll stick to the ones that can be of interest to owners of retail locations (shops, bank branches, gas stations, etc.):
- The number of people who passed through the main entrance.
- The time people spent shopping in a specific aisle of the store.
- Parameters of people who looked at a certain item or an ad (age, gender, skin color).
- People's reactions such as happiness, sadness, etc.
- Conversion rate: confirm if the person bought what was in the ad or not.
How to get video analytics
First, you need dedicated sensors to collect analytical video data. You need to place video sensors in places that can easily track conversion, people’s reactions, etc. The sensor’s resolution, lens characteristics, physical size, mounting capabilities, and on-board electronics – everything is designed to get a great digital video signal for processing it into data.
Surveillance cameras, on the other hand, serve anti-theft and other security purposes, and these types of cameras and their placement won’t provide accurate input video data. The main benefit of a video sensor is that it’s specifically designed and placed to collect analytical data.
There is a specialized boxed solution that you can get and use right away with close to no setup. This device can be placed close to a digital signage display to capture as many actual metrics as possible, and it can even trigger special events on the display based on who approaches it. The price per sensor is below $700.
Second, you need a system that analyzes the input video stream and fetches analytical data from it. The Displayforce system was specifically designed to be used by retailers and brands, and it’s used by well-known companies such as Bosch and Wendy’s in their brick-and-mortar locations.
Last, but not least, you need the cloud. It stores and structures all the analytical data so that business owners and brand representatives can make valuable decisions based on it. When it comes to Displayforce, all analytical tools, reports, and graphs are built into its cloud storage so you can pull up the specific data you need.
Contact us here: we'll analyse your case and offer a unique solution for your business.
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