Monitoring the Movement of Pedestrians Using Low-cost Infrared Detectors: Initial Findings

Monitoring the movement of pedestrians in everyday environments is difficult, especially if accurate data are required. Typically, data pertaining to the origins and destinations of pedestrians as they move around a space can be obtained only by either locating many observers in the area that is under surveillance or analyzing closed-circuit television footage. The former is error prone and perturbs the space being analyzed; the latter is expensive in regard to the technology and time required. Technical advances in low-cost infrared detectors provide an opportunity to observe pedestrian spaces unobtrusively and determine individual pedestrian trajectories automatically. The underpinning detector technology is described, and the way arrays of such detectors can be used to monitor larger spaces is shown. An outline of the algorithm used to create complete trajectories as pedestrians move between detectors is presented. A series of experiments is described: pedestrians were asked to move in a set of defined patterns in a controlled environment. Initial results from these experiments are discussed. It was found that at Fruin Levels of Service A to C, 93% of pedestrian trajectories could be tracked; that count dropped to 79% at Level of Service D.