Crowd Vision's work at Mecca attracts attention

This month Crowd Vision is once again working with the Saudi authorities at the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. 

Since 2006 our technology has helped keep pilgrims safe during what is one of the largest human gatherings on the planet. 

This year we are introducing further innovations to help make crowd management easier, some of which have received media coverage.  You can read more here at the On Islam website: http://bit.ly/S7CJbU

Crowd Vision successfully raises investment for growth

Press Release: 27 July 2012

London-based crowd analytics software specialist, Crowd Vision, has closed a substantial funding round which will enable the business to expand international sales activities and execute product development plans. Investors comprise the UK Government sponsored Angel CoFund and a number of UK and overseas investors.

 
The company offers a highly innovative software product that extracts crowd insights from video feeds in busy locations, enabling customers to understand and intervene in their crowds. The software has already been deployed at scale in Mecca where it helps to keep millions of pilgrims safe as they attend the Hajj. Beyond crowd safety it can provide accurate crowd counts, improve pedestrian flows and help businesses optimise their operations based on live and accurate crowding data.

Fiona Strens, Crowd Vision CEO said “Crowding is a global phenomenon of our time. Whether struggling through commuter crowds or soaking up a festival atmosphere, we all experience crowding in everyday life. Crowd Vision provides unique, actionable data on crowd numbers, patterns and dynamics helping our customers turn a challenge into a business opportunity. Crowd Vision is committed to enabling our customers to deliver Safer Crowds and Smarter Cities across the globe. We were delighted that funding offers exceeded our target, as this investment provides us with the means to execute aggressively to address increasing demand.”

Crowd Vision demonstrates the science of crowds on BBC1

Crowd Vision’s Anders Johansson and Andrew Beddard featured in an episode of the BBC popular science programme ‘Bang goes the theory’, broadcast on 2 April 2012.  Thanks to BBC iPlayer, you can see Anders and Andrew demonstrating some of the principles behind our analytic techniques here http://t.co/C3OJiH0Y.  Due to BBC restrictions this access is time-limited and only works within the UK.  We hope to be able to share a version with those of you outside the UK in due course.

The BBC producers were particularly interested in how our scientific research into crowds could lead to practical interventions to make cities more liveable, and selected a very rainy London Bridge as an illustration of how large groups of people can exhibit signs of self-organisation, even at relatively high densities.  In these settings, it doesn’t take much for a disruption to cause problems, and we used Crowd Vision software to analyse commuter crowds during morning rush hour and highlight key dynamics.  We then helped the BBC stage a classic demonstration of how planners can use building design to influence crowd movement and improve flow – aided by some cake-related incentives.

More seriously, we’ve been encouraged at the growing interest in the media and mainstream debate about the challenges of crowds, and the recognition that these challenges cut across many different market sectors and professional disciplines.  So, even if we have to simplify the explanations for a prime time family audience, we’re happy to be able to help the BBC share the ideas more widely.