LiDAR people counting
Laser-based sensors measure movement as anonymous points in 3D space: exact counts, occupancy and paths, indoors and outdoors, in daylight or total darkness. No camera, no images, nothing to blur.
Laser-based 3D measurement. No camera, no images, works in any light.
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What makes LiDAR different
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Anonymous by physics
LiDAR measures distance with laser light and sees shapes, not faces. No image ever exists, so there is nothing to store, mask or blur.
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Exact counts in 3D
Precise directional counting and live occupancy at entrances, corridors and open areas, with reliable separation of people moving close together.
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Indoors, outdoors, any light
Laser measurement is independent of lighting, so it performs the same at noon, at night and in challenging spaces like forecourts, plazas and terminals.
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One platform, every method
LiDAR data lands in the same analytics platform, dashboards and API as Wi-Fi, camera and cellular data, one source of truth across methods.
How it works
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Scan
The sensor sweeps its surroundings with eye-safe laser pulses and measures the reflections, building a live 3D point cloud of the space.
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Detect, anonymously
Software identifies human-shaped clusters of points and follows them through the zone. There is no image and no identity, only geometry in motion.
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Count & analyse
The movement becomes exact in/out counts, occupancy, dwell and path metrics for the covered area.
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Deliver
Metrics flow into the same API and dashboards as every other Bumbee Labs method, one platform, one source of truth.
What data you get from LiDAR
LiDAR is a precision method with reach: exact measurement at points and across open areas. Typical metrics from a LiDAR installation:
- Exact in / out counts (directional line-crossing)
- Real-time occupancy and capacity against safe limits
- Dwell time and queue build-up at the measured area
- Paths and flows through the covered zone
- Peaks & lows at the measured points
For whole-venue journeys and catchment beyond the sensor's reach, combine LiDAR with Wi-Fi or cellular. See the method-by-method grid.
Measurement made of light
LiDAR (light detection and ranging) measures a space by sweeping it with rapid, eye-safe laser pulses and timing the reflections. The result is a live three-dimensional map of everything that moves: not a photograph, not a video, but geometry. People appear as anonymous clusters of points with a position, a height and a direction of travel, which is exactly enough to count them precisely and nothing more.
That makes LiDAR people counting a distinctive combination: camera-grade precision without a camera. There is no image to store, no face to blur, no footage that a privacy review needs to worry about. The privacy answer is not a processing rule; it is physics.
Where LiDAR fits best
LiDAR earns its place where exactness and difficult conditions meet: entrances and gates that need reliable directional counts, wide or open areas where a single sensor can cover what would take many overhead cameras, and outdoor or low-light environments (forecourts, plazas, terminals, arenas at night) where lighting would defeat optical systems. It complements the other methods rather than replacing them: Wi-Fi covers whole venues and journeys, camera and 3D sensors remain a proven choice at defined doorways, and cellular data answers where visitors come from. In a hybrid setup, LiDAR simply becomes another precise input into the same picture.
Beyond people: vehicles, bicycles and parking
Because LiDAR measures moving geometry, it is not limited to pedestrians. The same sensors can be configured per project to count vehicles and bicycles or to measure parking occupancy, extending the measured picture of a site from the door out to the kerb. For a forecourt, a transport hub or a city environment, that means people flows and traffic flows can finally sit in the same dashboard. Each application has its own page: bicycle counting for cycle paths, bridges and streets, traffic counting for streets and site entrances, and parking occupancy measurement for car parks and forecourts. We configure every deployment for the site it will measure.
One platform, whichever method measures
However the counting is done, the data lands in the same place. LiDAR metrics arrive through the same analytics platform and API as every other Bumbee Labs method, with the same data deliverables, the same dashboards and the same delivery into your BI tools. Methods differ; the source of truth does not.
LiDAR vs other counting methods
Each method has a sweet spot. LiDAR combines point precision with open-area reach and total independence from lighting; pair it with Wi-Fi or cellular for whole-venue coverage and catchment.
| Capability | Wi-Fi | Camera & 3D | Cellular | LiDAR |
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| Whole-space coverage | Yes | Partial | Yes | Partial |
| Exact in/out at a door | Partial | Yes | No | Yes |
| Real-time occupancy | Partial | Yes | No | Yes |
| Paths & flows between zones | Yes | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Dwell time | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Catchment / origin | No | No | Yes | No |
| Works in total darkness | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Uses your existing hardware | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Privacy-first by design | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
- Full
- Partial
- Not available
Curious what this looks like for your venue?
Privacy without a workaround
Camera-based systems answer the privacy question with processing rules. LiDAR removes the question: laser measurement never produces an image of anyone. Combined with Bumbee Labs' anonymous, aggregated delivery, the output is statistics about a space, never people.
We have extensively evaluated Bumbee Labs' solution and the quality insights they produce, in combination with the efficiency of the remote installation process, make this a valuable collaboration. This alliance presents a great opportunity for our distribution ecosystem to provide a variety of service offerings to their customers, opening up new revenue streams.
Frequently asked questions
How is LiDAR different from camera-based counting?
A camera counts by interpreting a picture; LiDAR counts by measuring distance with laser light. LiDAR's output is a 3D point cloud in which people appear as moving clusters of points, so precision is high, lighting is irrelevant, and no image of anyone ever exists. Cameras remain a strong choice at defined entrances; LiDAR extends the same precision to dark, outdoor and wide-open spaces.
Is LiDAR safe and legal to use around people?
The sensors use low-power, eye-safe lasers of the same class found in consumer electronics. And because the measurement is geometry rather than imagery, it avoids the surveillance concerns that follow camera deployments in public space.
Which LiDAR sensors does Bumbee Labs use?
We deliberately stay sensor-agnostic: different environments call for different sensors, and the choice of hardware follows the venue, the coverage area and the precision required. Whatever the sensor, the data lands in the same platform, dashboards and API as every other Bumbee Labs method.
Can LiDAR count more than people?
Yes. The same laser measurement counts vehicles and bicycles and measures parking occupancy, which is exactly why forecourts, transport hubs and cities choose it: one sensor family covers the whole movement picture. Bicycle counting, traffic counting and parking occupancy each have their own page, and we configure every deployment for the site it will measure.