IDIS Heatmap Solution

Super Admin
07 May 2026
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What is a Heatmap?

A Heatmap is a visual representation of data that uses a color scale to show the density of activity within a camera’s field of view over a specific period.

  • "Hot" colors (Red/Orange): Indicate areas with high foot traffic or where people linger the longest (dwell time).

  • "Cold" colors (Blue/Green): Indicate areas with little to no activity.

Key Sales Use Cases

  • Retail Optimization: Identify "dead zones" in a store or determine if a high-priced end-cap display is actually attracting customers. It helps managers decide where to place premium products.

  • Staffing & Queue Management: By analyzing peak activity times, businesses can optimize staff schedules—ensuring more employees are on the floor when the "heat" is highest.

  • Facility Flow: In lobbies or public spaces, heatmaps reveal "bottlenecks." This allows facility managers to rearrange furniture or signage to improve the flow of movement.

  • Marketing Validation: If a store runs a promotion, a heatmap provides physical "click-through" data, proving whether the marketing material successfully drew people to a specific aisle.

IDIS Heatmap: Implementation Architecture

To provide clients with flexible business intelligence, IDIS offers heatmapping through two primary hardware paths: Edge-based (Fisheye Cameras) and Appliance-based (DV-1304 VA Box). The setup chosen determines how data is stored and whether it can be viewed in the VA Dashboard.

1. Edge-Based: Fisheye Camera Lineup

Our entire fisheye lineup (including the DC-Y6C16WRX-W and DC-Y6516 series) supports edge heatmapping. However, the storage configuration is critical:

  • Internal Memory (No SD Card):

    • Heatmap data is stored in the camera's temporary internal memory.

    • Heatmap data can only be view in Live Tab.

    • Limitation: Data recycles every 60 minutes.

    • Limitation: Data is not recorded.

    • Limitation: This data cannot be viewed or exported via the VA Box Tab in IDIS Center or ISS Client.

  • With microSD Card (Normal Mode):

    • Full data logging is enabled.

    • Data can be viewed, analyzed, and exported via the VA Box Tab.

    • Trade-off: You must use "Normal Mode" for the SD card, which means IDIS proprietary Failover mode is unavailable.

  • NVR with SD Card inside Fisheye Camera:

    • This configuration allows for both Heatmap visibility in the VA BOX Tab AND preserves Failover protection functionality.

2. Appliance-Based: DV-1304 AI Box

For a more robust or centralized implementation, the DV-1304 specialized analytic box is the preferred option.

  • No SD Card Required: The VA Box processes the heatmap data and stores it directly on the NVR.

  • Dashboard Ready: All data is immediately available in the VA Dashboard for long-term reporting.

  • Hardware Efficiency: This offloads the intensive analytic processing from the camera to the dedicated VA Box hardware.

  • IDIS NVR is required: DR-2500, 3500, 6500. 8500 series is required with latest firmware.

  • Can add heatmap to other IDIS Cameras, not just fisheye. Must be IDIS Cameras and the camera must be registered to IDIS NVR.

 

3. VA BOX TAB - IDIS CENTER or ISS Client

The VA Dashboard is a dedicated interface available within both IDIS Center and IDIS Solution Suite (ISS) Client. It serves as the central command center for visualizing metadata generated either at the "edge" (by fisheye cameras) or by our dedicated VA analytic boxes (DV-1304/DV-1304A).

Core Capabilities

  • Multi-Metric Tracking: While widely used for Heatmaps, the dashboard also aggregates data for People Counting, Vehicle Counting, and Queue Management.

  • Granular Search: Users can filter and analyze data by the day or by the hour, allowing businesses to pinpoint peak traffic times or operational bottlenecks.

  • Integrated Dewarping: A unique feature of the dashboard is the ability to perform dewarping on IDIS fisheye cameras directly within the view. This allows managers to see a natural, "flat" perspective of the area they are analyzing for foot traffic.

Architecture & Hardware Requirements

  • Advanced Analytics: To observe metrics like People Counting or Queue Management, a DV-1304 or DV-1304A analytic box is required to process and serve that data to the dashboard.

  • Retention Period: The dashboard can search as far back as your video retention dates allow. If your NVR is configured for 90 days of storage, you can pull 90 days of historical metadata.

  • Population Limit: For Heatmaps specifically, the dashboard is optimized to populate and display data in chunks of up to 7 days at a time.

Reporting and Exporting

To share these insights with stakeholders, the VA Dashboard offers professional export options:

  • Heatmaps: These are primarily exported as high-resolution Image formats, providing a clear visual for store layout presentations.

  • Statistical Data: For counting and management analytics, data can be exported in PDF or other document formats to be included in formal business reports.

 

Storage & Retention: Metadata Link

Architectural Implementation 

ISS SYSTEM - 

A critical point for system design is that heatmap metadata follows the video retention policy of the storage device. The length of time a client can look back at historical heatmap data is directly linked to the available storage space and the video configuration.

IDIS NVR SYSTEM

If the metadata is being recorded on a IDIS NVR, there is a specific setting in the NVR that allows to control the retention of the data. The configuration can be found here:

VA Data Protect Duration, which can be configured from 0 to 90 days.

Meaning that if the Video data is no longer present within 90 days and the VA Data Protect is set to 90 days, the heatmap data will still be available even when the video is no longer present.

 

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