5 ms·

We posted Density a while back when we used mac address tracking (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7305097 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7305097). We

We posted Density a while back when we used mac address tracking (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7305097 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7305097). We've since moved to a wirelessly connected door counter, would love some feedback.

colinbartlett 11y ago
Glad to see the change in methodology! I loved the concept then and still do, but freaked out at the thought of my MAC address being logged everywhere I go.
- afar 11y ago
  We're happy with the change too. Simplified things. Any sensor trying to mass measure foot traffic across a city needs to be accurate, real time, anonymous, and cheap.
- fennecfoxen 11y ago
  This is presumably one reason why Apple has stopped broadcasting your real MAC address while doing SSID probes, instead randomizing it.
  - afar 11y ago
    And Android followed suit. The policy change pretty much bifurcated the industry. Half died or sold themselves off - http://fortune.com/2014/10/29/after-a-blow-from-apple-nomi-sells-to-brickstream/ http://fortune.com/2014/10/29/after-a-blow-from-apple-nomi-s... The other half doubled down on MAC address tracking tech, arguing that it still generates meaningful data - http://www.euclidanalyticsblog.com/2014/08/beacons-and-wi-fi.html http://www.euclidanalyticsblog.com/2014/08/beacons-and-wi-fi... Although I've heard they've started to move toward video and facial recog. We were so small at the time of the announcement last June that we thought... "Why don't we just build a door counter. How fing hard could that be?" ...turns out it's like way, really fing hard. But here it is - http://i.imgur.com/zLUMAG8.jpg?1 http://i.imgur.com/zLUMAG8.jpg?1
baby 11y ago
I had a similar idea, I wanted to place small microphones all over the city to know which places were "quieter" than others at certain times of the day etc... I was looking for a place and I wanted to live in a street that was quiet on weeknights
- hammock 11y ago
  NYC and Chicago both have microphone arrays canvassing the city. There might be a way to get that data http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3006019/Microphones-used-New-York-City-s-effort-combat-gun-crime-picked-people-s-street-conversations-past.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3006019/Microphones-... http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-06-24/chicagos-new-high-tech-lamp-posts-will-track-everything-all-the-time http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-06-24/chicagos-new...
hammock 11y ago
SceneTap is doing something similar with facial recognition technology to layer on age and gender split http://scenetap.com http://scenetap.com

colinbartlett 11y ago

Glad to see the change in methodology! I loved the concept then and still do, but freaked out at the thought of my MAC address being logged everywhere I go.

afar 11y ago
We're happy with the change too. Simplified things. Any sensor trying to mass measure foot traffic across a city needs to be accurate, real time, anonymous, and cheap.
fennecfoxen 11y ago
This is presumably one reason why Apple has stopped broadcasting your real MAC address while doing SSID probes, instead randomizing it.
- afar 11y ago
  And Android followed suit. The policy change pretty much bifurcated the industry. Half died or sold themselves off - http://fortune.com/2014/10/29/after-a-blow-from-apple-nomi-sells-to-brickstream/ http://fortune.com/2014/10/29/after-a-blow-from-apple-nomi-s... The other half doubled down on MAC address tracking tech, arguing that it still generates meaningful data - http://www.euclidanalyticsblog.com/2014/08/beacons-and-wi-fi.html http://www.euclidanalyticsblog.com/2014/08/beacons-and-wi-fi... Although I've heard they've started to move toward video and facial recog. We were so small at the time of the announcement last June that we thought... "Why don't we just build a door counter. How fing hard could that be?" ...turns out it's like way, really fing hard. But here it is - http://i.imgur.com/zLUMAG8.jpg?1 http://i.imgur.com/zLUMAG8.jpg?1

baby 11y ago

I had a similar idea, I wanted to place small microphones all over the city to know which places were "quieter" than others at certain times of the day etc... I was looking for a place and I wanted to live in a street that was quiet on weeknights

hammock 11y ago
NYC and Chicago both have microphone arrays canvassing the city. There might be a way to get that data http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3006019/Microphones-used-New-York-City-s-effort-combat-gun-crime-picked-people-s-street-conversations-past.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3006019/Microphones-... http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-06-24/chicagos-new-high-tech-lamp-posts-will-track-everything-all-the-time http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-06-24/chicagos-new...

hammock 11y ago

SceneTap is doing something similar with facial recognition technology to layer on age and gender split http://scenetap.com http://scenetap.com