3D View of the Crowd Sensor. Interact with the model (rotate, zoom, or click) to explore the sensor design

The crowd sensor is a portable, battery-powered device designed to estimate crowd density in real time through privacy-preserving wireless sensing. It passively captures Wi-Fi probe requests emitted by nearby mobile devices and applies advanced fingerprinting techniques at the edge to infer the number of individuals present, while addressing challenges such as MAC address randomization. By processing data locally and transmitting only aggregated information via adaptive multi-RAN communication (e.g., Wi-Fi or LoRaWAN), the sensor ensures GDPR-compliant operation without collecting personal data. This approach enables flexible, low-cost deployment in dynamic environments such as public spaces, cultural sites, and temporary events, supporting informed decision-making through real-time crowd insights.