Taiwan IT firm sees prospects in Phl retail

TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan - Optimistic about the consumption growth prospects in the Philippines, internet protocol (IP) surveillance solutions provider Vivotek launched top-ofthe line technologies used by retailers in this city.

“The sustained strong economy in the Philippines led to an increase in consumer spending, which was felt across all retail channels. Hence, Vivotek is introducing its 3D people counting solution, SC8131 to optimize retail operations in the Philippines,” Vivotek regional sales manager Jerry Lu said in an interview during the just concluded Smart City Brands media tour hosted by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) for foreign journalists.

The expansion reflects Vivotek’s confidence in the growth of the retail sector amid a fast-growing economy. These products and solutions automate the monitoring of store traffic and provide metrics for optimizing store operations.

The camera for this surveillance system features a duallens design with the firm’s self-developed 3D depth technology which provides precise tracking and a counting accuracy of as high as 98 percent.

It can differentiate between children and adults as well as individuals and groups. It can also distinguish between human and non-human objects moving around the store like shopping

carts. It is also not distracted by shadows, glare, and reflections.

The data collected is exported to a computer dedicated to running the analytics software.

VIVOTEK’s surveillance systems provide store owners the metrics that can assist in making business decisions with the goal of fast-tracking the return on investment.

Lu said the company is keen on introducing this system to shopping malls and independent retailers.

“When retailers recruit security staff or part-time employees to manually count traffic, they tend to produce a less than satisfactory result. With VIVOTEK’s SC8131, these valuable human resources now can be managed more efficiently while producing far higher levels of accuracy. And the dedicated count- ing reports can be exported by schedule or for areas in a line chart, bar graph or pie chart,” he said.

Vivotek’s Philippine partner in the Philippines is Zenshin Systems Corp.

Last year, the Philippine market contributed 15 to 20 percent of the group’s total revenues in the Asia-Pacific region.

For this year, Lu expects sales to grow by five to 10 percent from 2017.

Vivotek’s new smart cameras are also being enhanced with cybersecurity features that prevent cyber attacks by automatically detecting and blocking security events.

“The highlight of Vivotek this year is cybersecurity,” said Shengfu Cheng, director of brand research and development division,

“Never before has the camera become the preferred tool for cyber hackers,” Cheng said.