Okay, so I’ve been messing around with this idea of counting people in real-time, you know, like for stores and malls. It’s kinda cool, and I figured I’d share how I got it working, ’cause why not?
The Basic Idea
The whole point is to track how many folks are coming in and out. This can be super useful for businesses to figure out busy times, staff accordingly, and all that jazz. I wanted something that worked live, not just reviewing footage later.
Getting Started
First thing I did was grab a camera. Nothing fancy, just a regular webcam I had lying around. I figured I’d start simple and upgrade later if needed. The important part was to get it positioned so it had a good view of the entrance/exit I wanted to monitor.
Next, I needed some software to do the actual counting. I played around with a few different libraries,OpenCV is pretty popular. It’s open-source, which is always a plus in my book. It’s got a bunch of pre-trained models, which means I didn’t have to start from absolute zero.
The Process
I installed the software, and then using this software, I’ve wrote these codes.
- Setting up the camera: This was pretty straightforward. Just pointing the camera at the door and making sure the lighting wasn’t totally messed up.
- Choosing a model: This took a little trial and error. I tried a few different pre-trained models for object detection. Some were better at picking out people than others. I ended up going with one that seemed pretty reliable, even when people were kinda bunched up.
- Detecting people: So, the model basically draws a box around each person it sees. This is the “detection” part. It’s not always perfect, but it’s surprisingly good.
- Counting the crossings: This is where I had to get a little clever. I basically drew an imaginary line across the doorway in the video feed. Then, I wrote a bit of code that checked if the center of a person’s bounding box crossed that line. If it did, I incremented (or decremented) a counter, depending on which direction they were going.
The Results (So Far)
Honestly, it works better than I expected! It’s not 100% accurate, especially if the area is super crowded or the lighting changes drastically. But it gives a pretty good estimate of the traffic flow. I’ve got a little display that shows the current count, and it updates in real-time. It’s kinda mesmerizing to watch.
What’s Next?
I ended up going with one that seemed pretty reliable, even when people were kinda bunched up, and after testing with the model, I realized I’ve done it!
I’m thinking of adding some features, like:
- Better tracking: Right now, it just counts crossings. I’d like to actually track individuals as they move through the space.
- Heatmaps: It would be cool to visualize where people are congregating within the store.
- Data logging: Saving the counts over time so I can analyze trends.
It’s a work in progress, but it’s been a fun project. If anyone else is playing around with this stuff, I’d love to hear about it!