The Olympics, the World Expo, the Commonwealth Games, World Youth Day, major exhibitions, soccer matches - even the Food and Wine Festival in the local community all involve managing crowds. Large numbers of people gather together and it is left to the organisers and the Police to manage the law and order situation in such events.

The first thing that organisers want to know is how many people attended an event. This helps them to market the event in the following year. Counting may also be important to prevent overcrowding. Every year at the Hajj in Mecca, large numbers of people are trampled to death due to poor crowd management. Video Analysis can provide the authorities with information on the size of the crowd and which way it is moving. This can allow them to take appropriate measures such as opening up new exits or helping to channel the crowd in new directions.

During the event the authorities have to cope with illegal parking, graffiti, hawkers and misbehaving people. After the event they have to clean up the
facilities. All the basic applications may also apply at these events. For instance athletes at the Games villages need to be protected from intruders. Special equipment or artifacts need to be protected from theft at exhibitions. A good system can help the authorities implement a safer event specially in view of the large number of people involved.

An Event may be run on a small scale such as one conducted within a hall or a small theatre. Or it could also be a city wide event (e.g. the Olympics, or the World Cups). Typical applications for different aspects of an event are shown in the table overleaf. Industry Solutions Events