This seems really neat. Would love to see how this progresses!
A while back I built something that helped solve problem for me: going to a coffee shop to work and finding out that it was packed or there weren't any seats. (http://arethereseats.com/). Perhaps there's an opportunity to integrate or work together some how. I just want to find places with an empty seat to work from :)
@iwaffles You should really check out @darrenbuckner and @juellez 's product http://www.producthunt.com/posts...
re: Are there seats - that's awesome! We'd be happy to install in several of those locations and kick the data back to you. Particularly Jane. That place can get crazy.
I should also mention that measuring the number of seats requires hyper-accurate count. A place might feel quiet even when all the seats are taken. Know what I mean?
@iwaffles RE: "I just want to find places with an empty seat to work from" — I know this feeling well. We've partnered with Density to give folks that inside look at select venues in Portland (to start). https://workfrom.co/live
This is a fantastic idea. I'd love to see the hardware... How is it powered? POE? How granular could it get, multiple rooms w/in a single location? Is it available to be privately/internally used?
This could be so cool for public transit as well, how many people went through a turnstile? Maybe I should just walk... etc.
So many questions! Can't wait to play.
GREAT job @andrewfarah
@jsneedles At the moment, we run 18 AWG wire to the closest outlet (through super suave and discreet channeling). Until, of course, @meredithperry let's us include uBeam with all our installs. And we use wifi for data transfer. Eventually, we'll just use @amirhaleem's Helium :) cc @pharkmillups.
- One sensor is bi-directional. So for any standard 36-42in doorframe, we get pretty much every entrance and exit with a single sensor. Double doors, we'll do one on each side and then normalize.
- As granular as the number of sensors you deploy. Multi-room, sure. There are limitations to the system, like we need to install at all main entrances / exits for a location but the sensor is so cheap that it allows us to do so sustainably.
- Private usage. Sure. For example, we've had conversations with some companies that have corporate campuses and a shit time trying to schedule who gets what conference room... would be nice to show them all rooms in real time. Actually, UC Berkeley is doing some Density installs so their students can see their gym and possibly their libraries live "busyness." Eventually we'll get to some fun predictive stuff.
- Public Transit. Exactly. Too many places. The tough part has been where to start.
Sensor --
@benredfield thanks for the quick response! Apparently I already had an account...
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This is incredible! I've been looking for an app like this for a while. When you have enough historical data, will you show how traffic varies at locations over time?
Here's a sample use case where that would be helpful. When I'm picking lunch/dinner/coffee places to meet someone in an unfamiliar area, I'll often use Yelp. But I also want to get a sense of how the busy the place is at that time so we're not waiting too long. To do this, I'll cmd+f the yelp reviews page for "wait" or "line", and read what people say, which isn't a great experience.
It would be awesome to look at quantitative historical data and pick places which aren't generally busy at times I'm interested in, or vice versa. Just giving a single use case data point here, not sure how broadly it applies :)
@malinkawal Yeah. We even think there's a market for segmented historical traffic. Like... I'm a real estate developer, "Show me the foot traffic for calendar year 2015 January through March in San Francisco's Financial District."
re: cmd+f-ing the yelp reviews, I do this for the wifi at places. What we'd really like to do is just give Yelp our data. Much like SinglePlatform does for Foursquare's menus.
this is really cool - i haven't read the previous comments, but you did a really good job with using a simple solution to a common problem/issue. with hoothere, i was kind of trying to do this with events/parties, but this is even more simplified/more useful in everyday life and requires pretty much no effort (because, like you said, it travels human movement in and out, and no one needs to have the app for it to be useful).
like the fact that if a coffee shop here in NC installed this and i was the only one who knew about it, and that id still benefit so much from it, makes this awesome.
I just hunted this SceneTap (http://scenetap.com/).. similar but you can see the Guy-to-girl ratios at the bar before you go @rrhover.So if you are going out with your guys you don't end up at a sausage fest.. hahah
I love these types of apps super useful, Density has pretty simple design too well done @andrewfarah!
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@rrhover@andrewfarah@jackosutherland I don't think SceneTap is operating anymore. I loved the premise but it's difficult to scale that business considering they install cameras in every location.
@adamarice@andrewfarah Yeah I wasn't sure. Was cool when it was introduced before but you are right definitely hard to scale. Good luck with Density will be waiting patiently for it to be on Android and in Chicago!
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