Crowd counting

A computer program product for counting participants in a crowd without an infrastructure, the computer program product comprising:

• one or more computer readable storage devices and program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage devices, the stored program instructions comprising:
• program instructions to receive, by a first device, an information vector over a short-range communication network established between the first device and a second device, the first information vector sent by the second device, the first device having a first identifier representing a first group, the first device associated with a first set of participants having a first count, the second device having a second identifier representing a second group, the second device associated with a second set of participants having a second count;
• program instructions to determine the first identifier does not match the second identifier;
• program instructions to merge one or more smart maps from the two or more computing devices together;
• program instructions to compare a first set of devices represented in the first set of participants and a second set of devices represented in the second set of participants;
• program instructions to identify pairs of matching devices in the first set of devices and the second set of devices;
• program instructions to generate a set of unique devices by discarding one device for each pair of matching devices identified;
• and
• program instructions to output a smart map comprising a count of participants equal to a sum of participants associated with the set of unique devices.

A computer system for counting participants in a crowd without an infrastructure, the computer system comprising:

• one or more computer processors;
• one or more computer readable storage devices;
• program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more computer processors, the stored program instructions comprising:
• program instructions to receive, by a first device, an information vector over a short-range communication network established between the first device and a second device, the first information vector sent by the second device, the first device having a first identifier representing a first group, the first device associated with a first set of participants having a first count, the second device having a second identifier representing a second group, the second device associated with a second set of participants having a second count;
• program instructions to determine the first identifier does not match the second identifier;
• program instructions to merge one or more smart maps from the two or more computing devices together;
• program instructions to compare a first set of devices represented in the first set of participants and a second set of devices represented in the second set of participants;
• program instructions to identify pairs of matching devices in the first set of devices and the second set of devices;
• program instructions to generate a set of unique devices by discarding one device for each pair of matching devices identified;
• and
• program instructions to output a smart map comprising a count of participants equal to a sum of participants associated with the set of unique devices.