Azena announced today that the Pittsburgh Penguins, a US National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, is testing Azena’s platform for smart cameras to explore ways to improve operational efficiencies throughout the team’s home venue, PPG Paints Arena. The Penguins hope to streamline waiting times at busy concession stands on gamedays in real time, and use enhanced retail analytics in its fan stores to increase arena retail sales.
Azena’s operating platform for smart cameras integrates with existing video surveillance systems and provides ready-to-use artificial intelligence-enhanced video analytics applications designed to run simultaneously, directly on the camera, and can easily be changed based on needs, much like on a smartphone.
The upcoming implementation by the Penguins is part of a growing trend within the sports and entertainment venue market to enhance fan experience by leveraging video and data analytics and IoT technology to add value to the spectator journey, while at the same time ensuring security.
“The Pittsburgh Penguins are very excited to see the benefits of the Azena analytics in action,” said Erik Watts, chief technology officer for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Using Azena queue detection applications on smart cameras from Azena partner Vivotek, the cameras can be used to detect lines at food and beverage stands as they form and notify employees to promptly increase staffing at busy checkouts, minimising congestion and increasing sales. The Penguins can use the data gathered by the queue analytics application to help streamline their already installed touchless ordering system for mobile phones, which estimates waiting time, directs fans to the kiosk where their order is ready, and integrates with POS systems to remove the order from the queue.
These analytics have the power to improve the gameday experience in real time, but also over time, as the data can identify trends in overall traffic on specific days, or at specific times of day, enabling management to optimise staffing through actionable insights.
“Smart cameras, such as those running on the Azena platform, are making arenas and event venue experiences more enjoyable and secure for both fans and staff,” said Andrew Seymour, business development manager at Azena. “The ground-breaking analytics offered by apps available on the Azena platform have the potential to transform the gameday experience.”
Arena retail managers want to use Azena smart camera technology to increase sales at the team’s retail store at PPG Paints Arena. The cameras can analyse the popularity of certain displays using heatmapping, and enable staff to optimise merchandise placement within the store. This technology also helps arena retail operations make more informed decisions on staffing and inventory, as the analytics identify patterns in customer store traffic and purchasing behaviour.
Find out more at www.azena.com
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