Density lets you keep track of foot traffic in real-time

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Yelp tells you about the quality of a restaurant, Density tells you how long the wait will be.

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When you’re in a hurry or you’re starving, a long line is the last thing you want to see when you arrive at a business or restaurant. Let’s face it, a device that would tell you how crowded a place is would save a lot of time and trouble. One Bay Area startup has developed a “people counter” that does just that in a surprising way.

Density sensors are installed at a customer’s network of locations, such as a college campus, a gym or a coffee shop. The device then detects anonymous activity and foot traffic when someone passes in front of its sensors, allowing data from visitors going through entryways to be collected, combined and made available to developers through the Density API. This enables generated real-time and historical information to be integrated anywhere.

Density is comprised of two components — a base and a sensor — and uses infrared light to measure movement. With its specific design, it can’t capture personally identifiable information (like surveillance cameras do) about people that it tracks. Not to mention, it’s much cheaper and more compact.

Once a business, museum or university has signed on to Density, it can create an app using the location data that best suits their customers’ needs to help drive business in their direction, at no cost to the consumer. In fact, it has already been deployed at Sacramento-based startup Requested to allow users to ask for discounts at food stops, Workfrom to keep tabs on seating capacity information at remote working spaces, and fitness centers on the campus of UC Berkeley to monitor equipment usage.

The possibilities are truly endless: a restaurant could detect and broadcast open tables, bars can distribute coupons when foot traffic is low or supermarkets can be better prepared for congested checkout counters.

Those wishing to purchase location data from Density can do so for $25 per month, per location while the hardware and installation are free. Interested? Check out Density’s official page here for more.