The City of Vaughan announced EAIGLE as one of the winners of their Activate!Vaughan Smart City Challenge this year for the Intelligent Placemaking category.
According to the news release, the search for groundbreaking smart city solutions started earlier this year. The city of Vaughan called on tech companies to present innovative solutions that will integrate smart city technologies within the city and beyond.
As an emerging smart city leader, the city of Vaughan continues to find new ways to adapt to change while improving the quality of life of its community.
“In February 2021, we launched a first-of-its-kind program in Ontario – the Activate!Vaughan Smart City Challenge – to connect high-potential startups and scaleups with market-driven entrepreneurship opportunities and mentorship from industry leaders,” wrote Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua in the press release.
“From improving infrastructure and roads to recreation and healthcare, taking a Smart City approach is fundamental to delivering efficient, reliable and innovative city-building.”
For the Intelligent Placemaking category, the city of Vaughan called for solutions on how to collect and leverage crowd data to make intelligent decisions about the design, creation and activation of public spaces in the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC).
How EAIGLE can help Vaughan
EAIGLE presented its computer vision-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology for crowd monitoring solutions to draw occupancy data from public spaces and work areas.
Mahdi Marsousi, CTO and co-founder of EAIGLE, said that the company’s technology uses AI to monitor the stream of foot traffic and provide information on planning for better space utilization.
“We can provide a map showing the density of people across each part of the street or park or any outdoor area,” Marsousi said. “We provide information for people to utilize and plan their activities ahead of time—where to go, how to get there and when to go”
“Getting this information right into your phone…provides you with many options to enjoy the time with your family much better.”
”“We provide information for people to utilize and plan their activities ahead of time—where to go, how to get there and when to go”
How the technology works
The systems are installed around a public place and detect the movement of people within that area. According to Marsousi, “We are just interested to know the movement and the density of people in each area.”
All of the data is collected in real-time and is visualized into an easy-to-use dashboard through a cloud-based system. With the aggregated information, EAIGLE’s AI technology answers questions such as: How many people are at a specific park at a certain time? Does the city need more sidewalks? Which areas require bike lanes?”
By collecting data on the amount of people who visit public spaces, decision-makers can better understand how factors such as weather, accessibility and design impact residents’ quality of life in shared areas such as sports arenas, parks and transit hubs.
Once the data is interpreted, decision-makers can make intelligent decisions about the design of current and future spaces to ensure they facilitate opportunities for social interactions, health and wellness and cultural activities.
As the city needs to change, so does EAIGLE
EAIGLE’s technology is expandable and can be implemented to address the city’s future needs. As an emerging downtown hub that fosters innovation, VMC is on track to meet a population of 63,000 residents, 1.5 million square feet of office space and 750,000 square feet of new retail space by 2031.
The data helps cities like Vaughan to understand people’s demographics such as children and seniors to ensure their needs are met in the present and beyond.