With COVID-19 lockdowns beginning to ease, the pace at which flying restrictions will be lifted is likely to be heavily influenced by an airport's ability to implement physical distancing measures. In support of these new requirements, Veovo has released a new addition to its stable of solutions, designed to monitor crowd density and maintain safe distancing, airport-wide.
Veovo's Virtual Queueing solution enables travellers to pre-book a time slot for processing at airport checkpoints, rather than having to wait in line. This enables airports to control queue entry, preventing too many people from congregating in one area and evenly distributing passengers across the airport's checkpoints. Available time slots are adjusted in real-time, based on queue wait times, changing arrival patterns and processing capacity so that passengers show up at the optimum time.
Its Passenger Density Management solution monitors crowd density in queues and spaces across the terminal, enabling airports to take action if social distancing limits are at risk of being breached. This solution bundles location analysis from various IoT sensors, with machine learning and an alert framework, to give a detailed view of how people move and dwell. From typical crowding zones like check-in and security to areas like gates and concessions, it continuously monitors and analyses movement to highlight the degree of risk in real-time.
Live heatmaps and dashboards show operators a reliable breakdown of the current situation, triggering tailored alarms and automated actions if density thresholds, based on current guidelines (for instance 6 feet, 1 or 2 metres), are exceeded. Recommendations to limit crowding can include capping entry to busy escalators or stairwells, adjusting security lane openings, changing call-to-gate times, updating digital signage or distributing gate and baggage belt allocations.
