Navigating through an airport can often feel like a journey in itself. With the global surge in air travel over the past few decades, airports have transformed into bustling hubs teeming with passengers. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), passenger numbers are expected to reach 8.2 billion by 2037, doubling the figures from 2017. This exponential growth has led to increased congestion, longer queues, and heightened stress levels for travelers worldwide.
As airports expand and become more complex, the challenge of efficiently managing passenger flow has become a pressing concern. Traditional methods of crowd management are no longer sufficient to handle the sheer volume of travelers passing through terminals each day. Delays at security checkpoints, overcrowded lounges, and confusing signage contribute to a less-than-optimal travel experience.
In an era where technology continues to revolutionize our daily lives, there is a significant opportunity to leverage innovative solutions to enhance the airport experience. By harnessing real-time data and advanced analytics, it’s possible to transform the way we navigate airports, making journeys smoother and more enjoyable.
People Flow – Smoother Airport Navigation with Crowd Flow Data
Airports around the world are facing increasing congestion, leading to longer wait times and elevated stress levels for travelers. The vision of the People Flow project is to create an interface that leverages crowd flow data to provide travelers with real-time information about airport congestion. This allows passengers to plan their movements more efficiently and avoid the busiest areas, especially during peak travel times. Our software solutions not only provide congestion data but also identify available services at the airport, such as discounts at various service points. Our goal is to develop ethical and user-friendly tools that are truly designed to meet people’s needs – delivering significant value to both travelers and service providers.
The project aims to combine commercially successful technologies and software into practical applications that streamline daily life. Partnerships with leading industry players ensure that the result we create meets both technological and commercial standards.
People Flow App Takes the Airport Experience to the Next Level
The People Flow project focuses on improving the airport experience by using crowd flow data. This data is a combination of publicly available sources and advanced sensing technologies from our partners, such as LiDAR and computer vision systems. Our goal is to give travelers the ability to navigate the airport more efficiently, avoid congestion, and reduce time spent in queues. Among our planned deliverables is an app that assists users at key points such as security checks, check-in areas, and other bottlenecks, offering real-time notifications and suggesting the best routes for a smooth airport experience.
The app’s concept is to guide passengers through all stages of their airport journey, from arrival to boarding – “Curb to Gate.” This comprehensive approach significantly enhances the user experience and reduces travel-related stress.
Metatavu collaborates closely with several organizations, including Supersight, VTT, the University of Oulu, the University of Lapland, the University of Helsinki, Finavia, Kone, and Haltian. The expertise and technological capabilities of these partners enable us to collect and analyze data to predict congestion and improve services.
From Research to a Top-Tier User Experience – People Flow Uses Crowd Data and Prototyping Tools for Smoother Airport Navigation
At the beginning of the project, we conducted extensive background research by comparing existing airport apps and other services that use crowd flow data. This provided us with valuable insights into best practices that we could apply to the development of our own solution.
Based on these findings, we created a user-friendly app experience tailored to meet the needs of airport travelers. We are building an interactive prototype using Figma, a prototyping tool, to test and refine the user experience before final implementation.
The crowd flow data collected throughout the project allows the app to anticipate and react to congestion in real time. The data models developed in collaboration with VTT and universities enable accurate predictions of passenger flows and queues, allowing users to make faster and smarter decisions as they navigate the airport
Data-Driven Solutions: The Key to Future Efficiency
As airports face growing numbers of travelers, the need to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion becomes increasingly urgent. Fast-developing technology, such as solutions based on crowd flow data, can significantly enhance the passenger experience while helping airports operate more efficiently.
Our previous projects have shown that data-driven solutions can greatly improve service quality and user satisfaction. For example, collaboration with various industries has demonstrated that data analytics can be applied in many areas – not only in logistics but also in customer service and commercial opportunities.
An illustrative example of our expertise in data-driven solutions is the Megasense project, where we developed the GO2 app. This application harnesses scientific-grade air quality data to provide users with the cleanest air routes throughout the city. Users can monitor real-time air quality conditions, plan routes with minimal pollution exposure, and navigate them with full guidance. Handling real-time air quality data for an entire city is a significant challenge in itself. Transforming this complex data into an accessible and user-friendly format was a major achievement, effectively taming the data and making it practical for everyday use. This endeavor demonstrates how untangling complex data flows can greatly enhance people’s movement and well-being — a principle directly applicable to optimizing crowd flow in airports.
Partner with the Pioneers of Innovation
At Metatavu, we are committed to developing innovative solutions that make everyday life smoother and more efficient. People Flow is just one example of how we harness advanced technology and data analytics to create real-time solutions that improve people’s lives.
We are always looking for new projects and partnerships that push technology and user experiences forward. If you’re seeking a reliable partner to develop innovative software solutions, get in touch, and let’s discuss how we can bring your ideas to life!