Methods of estimating a throughput of a resource, a length of a queue associated with the resource and/or a wait time of the queue

A method of estimating a wait time of a queue associated with a resource within a venue, wherein the queue comprises a plurality of segments, the method comprising:

• determining, by a server, a throughput of the resource;
• receiving, from one or more cameras present in the venue, a plurality of images of the queue, wherein each image corresponds to a segment of the queue;
• estimating, by a server, a number of venue guests in the queue, based on the plurality of images of the queue, wherein estimating the number of venue guests in the queue comprises:
• for each of a first subset of the plurality of images, estimating a number of venue guests in the corresponding segment of the queue by estimating a number of pixels of the image that correspond to venue guests in the queue, wherein for each of the first subset of images, estimating the number of venue guests in the corresponding segment of the queue further comprises applying a weighting to each pixel, wherein the weighting is based on:
• a gradient mask applied to the image, wherein the gradient mask causes a lower weighting to be applied to pixels corresponding to areas that are closer to a corresponding camera and a higher weighting to pixels corresponding to areas that are further from the corresponding camera, to account for perspective effects in the image;
• for each of a second subset of the plurality of images, estimating a number of venue guests in the corresponding segment of the queue by detecting and counting individual venue guests visible in the image;
• summing, for each of the plurality of images, the estimated number of venue guests in the corresponding segment of the queue;
• estimating a current wait time of the queue, based on the number of venue guests in the queue and the throughput of the resource;
• and
• sending, to one or more of a front-end device and mobile devices corresponding to venue guests, a notification comprising one or more of:
• the estimated current wait time;
• and
• a time at which a venue guest joining the queue is permitted entry to the resource, based on the estimated current wait time.

A server configured to estimate a length of a queue, wherein the queue is associated with a resource within a venue, wherein the server is configured to:

• receive, from one or more cameras present in the venue, a plurality of images of the queue, wherein each image corresponds to a segment of the queue;
• and
• estimate a number of venue guests in the queue, based on the plurality of images of the queue, wherein estimating the number of venue guests in the queue comprises:
• for each of a first subset of the plurality of images, estimating a number of venue guests in the corresponding segment of the queue by estimating a number of pixels of the image that correspond to venue guests in the queue, wherein for each of the first subset of images, estimating the number of venue guests in the corresponding segment of the queue further comprises applying a weighting to each pixel, wherein the weighting is based on:
• a gradient mask applied to the image, wherein the gradient mask causes a lower weighting to be applied to pixels corresponding to areas that are closer to a corresponding camera and a higher weighting to pixels corresponding to areas that are further from the corresponding camera, to account for perspective effects in the image;
• for each of a second subset of the plurality of images, estimating a number of venue guests in the corresponding segment of the queue by detecting and counting individual venue guests visible in the image;
• and
• summing, for each of the plurality of images, the estimated number of venue guests in the corresponding segment of the queue;
• send, to one or more of a front-end device and mobile devices corresponding to venue guests, a notification comprising one or more of:
• the estimated number of venue guests in the queue;
• an estimated current wait time based on the estimated number of venue guests in the queue;
• and
• a time at which a venue guest joining the queue is permitted entry to the resource, based on the estimated number of venue guests in the queue.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program that, when executed by a processor of a computing system, causes the computing system to estimate a length of a queue associated with a resource within a venue by performing the following steps:

• receiving, from one or more cameras present in the venue, a plurality of images of the queue, wherein each image corresponds to a segment of the queue;
• estimating a number of venue guests in the queue, based on the plurality of images of the queue, wherein estimating the number of venue guests in the queue comprises:
• for each of a first subset of the plurality of images, estimating a number of venue guests in the corresponding segment of the queue by estimating a number of pixels of the image that correspond to venue guests in the queue, wherein for each of the first subset of images, estimating the number of venue guests in the corresponding segment of the queue further comprises applying a weighting to each pixel, wherein the weighting is based on:
• a gradient mask applied to the image, wherein the gradient mask causes a lower weighting to be applied to pixels corresponding to areas that are closer to a corresponding camera and a higher weighting to pixels corresponding to areas that are further from the corresponding camera, to account for perspective effects in the image;
• for each of a second subset of the plurality of images, estimating a number of venue guests in the corresponding segment of the queue by detecting and counting individual venue guests visible in the image;
• summing, for each of the plurality of images, the estimated number of venue guests in the corresponding segment of the queue;
• sending, to one or more of a front-end device and mobile devices corresponding to venue guests, a notification comprising one or more of:
• the estimated number of venue guests in the queue;
• estimated current wait time based on the estimated number of venue guests in the queue;
• and
• a time at which a venue guest joining the queue is permitted entry to the resource, based on the estimated number of venue guests in the queue.