As the festival season ramps up, event organisers are turning their focus to managing the crowds swarming their sites.

Recent tragedies at festivals like this year’s Ultra Music Festival (where crowds stampeded gates, seriously injuring a security guard) and Love Parade 2010 (where 21 people were crushed to death) have made crowd management a high priority.

With this in mind, Etherlive has upgraded is smart crowd monitoring system. LEFA (Live Event Footfall Analytics) now includes dynamic and static systems and is in place for the 2014 season.

From either existing or specially installed cameras, LEFA counts and monitors the movements of festivalgoers. The system ‘sees’ one body and counts it only once in an effort to provide an accurate picture of the crowd.

LEFA can be used statically (monitoring people who pass through a specific line or within a specific zone) or dynamically (monitoring entire crowds for behavioural patterns).

“As crowds increase and site layouts become more complex, we know it’s critical for organisers to effectively monitor movement and behaviour,” said Etherlive’s director Tom McInerney. “Our LEFA platform delivers another level of event intelligence, which organisers and their security teams can use to minimise risk.”

The system has already been tested at the PSP Southampton Boat Show. Etherlive, one of the UK’s leading IT and events technology providers, is already booked for WOMAD Festival, RHS Flower Shows, Goodwood Festival of Speed, South West Four, The G8 and London World Triathlon.

Do you have news for Access All Areas? Email Emma Hudson

As the festival season ramps up, event organisers are turning their focus to managing the crowds swarming their sites.

Recent tragedies at festivals like this year’s Ultra Music Festival (where crowds stampeded gates, seriously injuring a security guard) and Love Parade 2010 (where 21 people were crushed to death) have made crowd management a high priority.

With this in mind, Etherlive has upgraded is smart crowd monitoring system. LEFA (Live Event Footfall Analytics) now includes dynamic and static systems and is in place for the 2014 season.

From either existing or specially installed cameras, LEFA counts and monitors the movements of festivalgoers. The system ‘sees’ one body and counts it only once in an effort to provide an accurate picture of the crowd.

LEFA can be used statically (monitoring people who pass through a specific line or within a specific zone) or dynamically (monitoring entire crowds for behavioural patterns).

“As crowds increase and site layouts become more complex, we know it’s critical for organisers to effectively monitor movement and behaviour,” said Etherlive’s director Tom McInerney. “Our LEFA platform delivers another level of event intelligence, which organisers and their security teams can use to minimise risk.”

The system has already been tested at the PSP Southampton Boat Show. Etherlive, one of the UK’s leading IT and events technology providers, is already booked for WOMAD Festival, RHS Flower Shows, Goodwood Festival of Speed, South West Four, The G8 and London World Triathlon.

Do you have news for Access All Areas? Email Emma Hudson