Zenus AI has developed a new solution for attendance monitoring that can be connected with its face analysis tools. This new solution is a plug-and-play hardware kit coupled to a real-time analytics dashboard that is designed to scan and monitor attendance credentials around the event venue. Usage cases include of targeted follow-ups, path mapping, customisation of the attendance experience, and intelligent lead creation.
What is it?
Combining a camera-based system for tracking participant movements (through badge scans) and evaluating sentiment (by face analysis) with a secure first-party data analysis platform, Zenus' event data solution provides insight into event attendees' behaviour and degree of interest.
Using camera equipment to read barcodes on badges, the system watches how participants travel around the event area, when and for how long they stop, and where they halt. It may also quantify the experience of attendees by pooling face analysis data driven by AI to assess positive sentiment and other engagement indicators.
Although the badge scanning function tracks attendee movements, it includes numerous measures to secure personally identifiable information (personally-identifying information). The PII connected with each participant ID is accessible only to the event organizer, and there is always the opportunity to opt out. In addition, all video recordings are analyzed locally using the Zenus AI hardware kit, with just the anonymized data analysis being sent to the cloud.
Furthermore, this attendance monitoring capability may be coupled with Zenus' face analysis data to provide an additional degree of market segmentation knowledge. It may monitor, for instance, if C-Suite guests exhibited high levels of “joy” at a particular display and where they went next.
Exhibition floor applications include monitoring of audience interest in certain exhibitor booths or speaker sessions, data collection on attendee journeys, customization of material shown on live display displays, access management, and enhanced lead tracking. Zenus' solutions for attendance monitoring and face analysis may be licensed as a bundle or separately.
Main Features
Plug-and-Play Set Up:
The Zenus AI hardware may be installed in a short amount of time, on average 15 minutes per sensor, and without the need for technical knowledge. Each package, which ships at 13x9x2.5 inches and 4 pounds, includes the required wires and cellular connectivity. The package contains a webcam and is compatible with any digital camera.
Depending on the quality of the camera, the minimum distance at which a face or badge may be caught and scanned will vary. The kit's high-resolution webcams generally have a six-foot range for badge scanning, although better cameras may be accurate from a distance of 12 to 15 feet. The range for face analysis is much greater, with the kit's webcam recording features from up to 30 feet away and more accurate cameras capturing details from up to 80 feet away. The equipment is capable of QR/barcode scanning and face analysis.
Tracking Session Attendance and Automatic Access Control:
By scanning badges at entrance points, many large-scale events collect important analytics, such as session attendance, utilizing QR-code badges. Zenus's solution can provide a comparable level of data collecting without needing human badge scanning. This technology may also be used for access control when paired with turnstiles or weakly monitored soft check-in tablets.
Lead Generation and Scoring Supported by High-Value Data:
Unlike rival attendance monitoring systems, Zenus's offering combines data on unique visits, repeat visitors, and stay time with an analysis of attendees' sentiment levels as they navigate an event. This provides an additional dimension. This multifaceted strategy allows the event organizer to measure the interests of guests by categorizing data by individual attendee or by broader professional/demographic groups. This kind of first-party data may provide more accurate lead scoring and more customized follow-ups.
AI-Driven Face Analysis for Emotion Recognition:
Zenus collects aggregate face analysis of positive emotion and other important expressions, with the ability to segment the data by demographic group (e.g., by biological sex, age bracket). By measuring “positive sentiment,” a measure that evaluates emotional indicators on a person-by-person basis, the software of Zenus avoids the potential issue of varied degrees of facial expression across people.
In order to determine the baseline standard for each attendance, it monitors the face characteristics of each participant as they change over time. (For example, some individuals may routinely employ a closed-mouth grin to communicate modest attention, while more reserved listeners may only sometimes make a comparable expression to signal strong interest.) Due to the anonymization and aggregation of this data by an AI program, it enables event organizers to combine privacy safeguards with a more precise evaluation of attendee involvement than many other available measurement technologies.
Behavioral Analytics in Real-Time and Attendee Tracking:
The combination of QR badge scanning and face analysis delivers a detailed and real-time representation of the attendee experience. Measurements such as stop-rate, dwell-time, mood, and intent may be concurrently tracked and evaluated in close to real-time. Based on your data strategy, the Zenus system may support bespoke first-party data collecting activities.
Adaptive, Personalized Content:
Zenus' credential scanning and face analysis services may be used to customise the attendee's experience at the venue. If, for instance, fundamental professional information are attached with the attendee badge, exhibitor booth displays may display material that is most relevant to a particular attendee's work position when they stand in front of a badge-scanning sensor. In a similar manner, facial analysis may detect a person's demographic group, such as their approximate age range, and give customized messages appropriately.
Several Backup Protections and Disconnection Notifications:
Although cellular connection eliminates dependence on your venue's bandwidth, WiFi connectivity may also be configured as a backup alternative. Notably, because no video material is ever transferred over the internet, the system uploads around 1MB of data every hour (less than what is typically required for a single photo).
All of these variables reduce the probability that internet connection would fail during a high-traffic event. Also, it reduces the expenses involved with running the Ethernet lines needed by other options. It can even function offline and with an extra battery pack (optional add-on), and it maintains two local encrypted data backups (on the device's internal storage and a USB stick). If all else fails, data will not be lost. And if a wire linking the camera to the system is manually disconnected, the designated data manager — often the event organizer or their team — is promptly alerted via email and text message.
Robust Privacy Safeguards:
Zenus does not keep or send any recordings over the internet despite the fact that its technology depends on camera captures. The camera streams are instead linked via wires to an onsite data-processing device (a “smart box” or “AI box”). After processing the live stream into essential metrics (such as dwell duration and intent level scores), the data is transferred to the cloud through the cellular network. The event organizer may then cross-reference these metrics with participant IDs, but Zenus workers and servers will never have access to any personally identifiable information gathered via the system's video scans.
In addition, Zenus offers and promotes protocols that allow participants to opt in or out at the time of registration, similar to the pop-ups that seek permission to utilize cookies on a website. The use of traditional signs may also enhance awareness and assure permission.
Review
The system from Zenus is more cost-effective than other choices for monitoring attendees, and it needs less setup. Zenus is cautious to preserve PII (personally identifiable information) and does not keep or transmit video recordings, despite the fact that its dependence on camera captures may create privacy issues among certain users.
Data for Lead Capture, ROI Reporting, and Content Analysis
Considering its unique mix of attendee trip tracking and face analysis, it is a viable tool for event organizers seeking to advance their data strategy with more sophisticated reporting on return on investment (ROI) for stakeholders, exhibitors, and sponsors. The breadth of accessible first-party data may be particularly valuable for lead collection and scoring.
The capacity for targeted follow-ups also satisfies another essential requirement: the ability to make educated judgments on the sort of post-event material most likely to interest participants. These findings may be used to cultivate a year-round online community or to fine-tune the content of future events.
Logistical Pros and Cons
Also, this technology provides a possible solution for the logistical challenges that larger-scale events have when managing point-of-access. Automating access management improves efficiencies for event organizers and may reduce friction for guests.
It is essential to remember, however, that cameras cannot scan around corners or directly behind guests. Particularly at entrance points, event organizers will need to be clever about traffic flow management and camera positioning. Working directly with the technology supplier, using their best practices, and beginning with a modest test helps reduce unwarranted anxiety.
Privacy and Identity Concerns
The level of data acquisition that Zenus's system provides may also make guests uncomfortable. Notably, neither the video clip itself nor its metadata are kept or transferred. Although the system does monitor the movements of attendees, it does not vary from conventional RFID, NFC, or BLE systems in this regard. For recurrent occurrences, the opt-out percentage for RFID monitoring often falls to less than 1 percent, according to statistics given by an industry expert. This data set is completely anonymised, despite the fact that Zenus' face analysis is driven by AI and gives unique audience insights.
To prevent knee-jerk responses to camera-enabled surveillance, if any, event organizers must carefully consider how to describe the purpose and operation of the technology, the privacy measures in place, and the opt-out alternatives – preferably before participants enter the venue.
Intelligent marketers must walk a narrow line between giving individualized information and exposing themselves to charges of stereotyping. Thus, organizers would also need to exercise care when using Zenus' AI-enabled responsive technologies that depend on demographic categories such as age and biological sex, such as onsite displays that show distinct messages to distinct groups. This kind of customized information may be most suited for addressing professional groups, such as displaying a different set of product specifications to a CFO vs a CTO on a booth screen.
A Unique Product Offering
Zenus offers event organizers with unique insights on attendance habits and preferences via its ability to cross-reference attendee movements with a study of sentiment changes over time. As long as the company's suggested best practices surrounding attendee privacy and informed permission are front and center and clearly explained, Zenus' revolutionary technology has the ability to increase event ROI across several sectors.
Who’s it for?
Event organizers seeking aggregate data on attendee preferences, automated access control at scale, and intelligent lead tracking and scoring for exhibitors would benefit most from Zenus's offerings. For these reasons, event organizers handling large-scale events with 500 or more expected attendance, such as high-level corporate events and trade exhibits, may discover that it provides a set of answers to difficult data analytics issues. It may also be valuable for groups that want to continuously enhance a customised content strategy for both year-round community members and yearly event attendees.
Who’s it not for?
Every technology that operates at the level of aggregate data analysis requires a substantial sample size. Hence, Zenus' aggregated study of swings in attendee opinion across time would be less useful for events with tiny audiences.
Pricing and Plans
While Zenus does not disclose its pricing plans publicly, the business can affirm that both badge scanning and face analysis capabilities are offered at a far cheaper price than a standard RFID or NFC system.
Features
- Attendee score: More sophisticated data on the movements and interests of attendees may result in more intelligent lead acquisition and scoring.
- Via a pre-programmed display signal, QR code badge scans may automate admission to certain areas or sessions (or turnstile).
- AI face recognition technique can tell in near real-time how a presentation is landing and may be studied post-event to understand when attendees engage or detach with material.
- By automating credentials, conferences that grant CEUs may eliminate burdensome processes for awarding credentials to attendees who meet the requirements.
- Strong privacy practices: Event organizers may tell guests that their right to privacy is being upheld, and foreign companies can rest certain that Zenus' system functions in a variety of legal privacy countries.
- Several opt-in/opt-out procedures allow participants to feel in control of the data being collected.
- Adaptive content: Booth or event-specific screen displays may be customized to show tailored material to certain attendance groups or people.
- Customization of data collection: The Zenus staff can assist you in configuring the precise data you want to gather.
Pros
- The gear is tiny and lightweight for transportation reasons, and installation is reasonably straightforward.
- Cost-effective: It is priced comparably with current RFID and NFC systems, while gathering deeper data provided through an easily understandable dashboard interface.
- Abundant data: the multidimensional capturing of attendance activity lowers the need on survey techniques. For optimal results, the business suggests combining different data sources.
- Detail-oriented ROI reporting: In addition to facilitating and tracking leads and CEUs, data integration enables follow-ups. Measurements of sentiment may provide information into brand reach and session participation.
- Since the technology turns video recordings into anonymized data reports before anything is transferred to the cloud, no personally identifiable information is involved.
- The system functions offline, online, with cellular internet, and, in the worst-case situation, on batteries.
- Reduces participant friction: Its badge-scanning gadget helps automate the administration of access levels.
Cons
- Some guests could feel unhappy about having their credentials scanned and their facial expressions studied by camera equipment. To ensure the greatest possible opt-in rates for badge scanning and the least amount of discomfort with AI analysis, it may be necessary to communicate clearly about how the data gathering works, the privacy controls in place, and the availability of an opt-out procedure.
- In order to function, camera sensors must have an unobstructed view of badges and/or faces. Thus, organizers will need to carefully consider camera location in relation to the flow of attendees.
- Legalities: Event organizers will need to educate themselves on local implementation and privacy laws in order to adhere to best practices. The Zenus data privacy team will provide the required resources to your in-house general counsel.
In Conclusion
Zenus provides a user-friendly software capable of capturing abundant first-party data. It streamlines the logistics and drastically reduces the cost of monitoring attendance movements, while simultaneously offering a novel method for assessing real-time audience interest. This may assist presenters in determining where they are most successful and allow exhibitors to get a higher return on investment via intelligent lead creation and scoring. Furthermore, it might be a useful tool for event organizers who want to go beyond traditional surveys and attendance monitoring in order to make data-driven judgments about what resonates with guests and what does not.
