How innovations facilitate the safe gathering of people in times of corona

The first results offer experiences and concrete solutions that potentially allow a growing number of visitors to go to museums, theaters and events safely and comfortably. Recently, the organizations involved explained the results during a webinar, click here to watch this .

Promising results

The central question in the Rijksmuseum's research is how you can create an environment in which a museum visit is safe and responsible for all target groups. Everyone is different and each group shows different behavior. How can one respond to these differences and allow more visitors? A behavioral model of the museum visitor of the Rijksmuseum has been developed with the aid of expert knowledge and various data sources. This model provides insights into the behavior of a visitor in the museum and its consequences.

How is the inflow going? Where does a visitor first go to? Which route does he or she follow? What kind of bottlenecks arise? Based on this, various measures can be simulated, such as opening more or fewer entrances and exits, indicating (alternative) walking routes or other options for ticket sales. The simulation model has been set up in such a way that the model can be applied generically with the help of data and insights from other museums. In addition to museums, the model is also suitable for use in theaters, cinemas and hospitals.

Safe theater and stadium visit

In the Johan Cruijff ArenA, TNO researchers looked at how automatic video analysis can provide insights for locations where people gather within 1.5 meters distance of each other. The duration that people are within a space of 1.5 m from each other was measured as well as the group size. ,This was researched during the different phases of a football match (inflow, 1st half, rest, 2nd half, outflow).

Being able to keep a distance of 1.5 meters is an important part of the risk assessment of (football) events. Therefore this technology offers insights that can be used for policy-making prior to and event, during an event for enforcement or adjustment and evaluation afterwards.

The pilot in the Beatrix theater in Utrecht, part of Stage Entertainment, has explored how a theater visit could be safe, fun and economically profitable. The experience and behavior of visitors during the so-called “customer journey” of the theater visit is central to this study.

What is the effect of corona measures on the behavior of the visitors and how do they ensure that they have a pleasant theater experience? The study has yielded a range of measures and associated behavioral interventions, which can now be further tested. The Fieldlab Events pilots will make use of the insights about behavior and perception gained in this pilot.

The experiences and results of the pilot projects have been shared with national representatives of the sectors involved, to enable potential deployment of the scalable solutions in other parts of the country. Together with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and Fieldlab Events, TNO, the municipality of Amsterdam and the living labs are looking at next steps.