An examination of applicability of face recognition sensors in public facilities.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the usability and applicability of face recognition sensors in public spaces to collect customer footfall data, which could then be analysed and evaluated for facility design and planning Methodology: Nine OMRON sensors were provided for the project and installed at five locations in a public facility for three months. The project was carried out by a local consortium with the cooperation of local technology-based Small Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs), business organisations, and a local university. Collected data was analysed using data-mining software to develop a result report with diagrams, and reveal issues and potential for practical application in the future. Findings: It has been found that this technology could be applied for further consumer behavioural analysis, for example, analysing the relationship between product displays and purchasing behaviour, or looking at the link between consumers’ attributes and their buying behaviour. Moreover, the collected data can be further studied to develop a more detailed analysis of the relationships between the data collected from different points of installation. A critical issue found was about how to protect the privacy of the people whose data the sensors collected (i.e., image rights, and other privacy-related issues), which suggests the need for guidelines on ethical data collection and raises questions on how to get agreement from potential participants in the experiment. Implication and limitation: Although it was acknowledged that this project remained at pilot level and would need to expand before more robust implications and recommendations could be developed, the experimental outcome suggests that face recognition sensors have the potential for commercial use. Collecting and analysing customers’ behavioural data can contribute to marketing strategy and planning. The study also discusses the necessity of enhancing business opportunities through open innovation, in this case based on a consortium inviting local technology-oriented SMEs, universities, and other stakeholders to support the local economy. The implications of this study could inspire others to start new businesses and to support the local economy and small enterprises.