Head of Marketing
An Alternative to Xovis? Discover the Future of Airport People Counting
In 2012, airports focused on minimizing queues. In 2025, they’re optimizing journeys.
People counting has evolved from a tactical tool to a strategic necessity. Today’s airports are no longer satisfied with simply knowing how many people pass through a security checkpoint. Rather, they want to understand why people dwell, where bottlenecks form, what drives concession revenue, and how to act in real-time.
This shift has sparked a re-evaluation of the technologies underpinning passenger analytics. For years, Xovis has been one of the most trusted names in the space, leveraging 3D stereo-vision sensors to track people with precision. But now, a new class of intelligence is taking over which is led by Ariadne, a privacy-first platform powered by AI and Fusion Technology, designed not just to count people, but to contextualize their movement across the entire airport. This blog takes you through both systems - not to pit one against the other, but to help airport leaders choose the right platform for a world where flow, behavior, and experience are inextricably linked.
The Foundation: Xovis and the Optical Legacy
Xovis emerged at a time when structured spaces demanded structured tools. Its 3D sensors were a breakthrough which are installed overhead, capturing stereo-vision data, and processed locally to avoid privacy issues. Airports could finally understand:
- How long queues lasted at immigration
- How fast security was processing passengers
- What staffing levels worked best on Mondays vs. Fridays
It worked and still works well in controlled environments like check-in counters, security lines, and narrow concourses.
But what about non-linear spaces?
What about gates, lounges, shops, boarding bridges, or baggage belts?
The optical model started to show its limits:
- Line-of-sight dependence: No coverage if vision is blocked
- Fixed infrastructure needs: High installation cost across large terminals
- Limited commercial insight: Great at queues, weak on retail flow
Xovis was excellent at knowing “how many.” But airports needed to know “what else.”
Rethinking People Counting with Ariadne’s Passive Signal & Fusion Technology
Ariadne reimagined the problem entirely. Instead of installing cameras to see people, it uses anonymous smartphone signals to detect where passengers go, how long they dwell, and in what direction they move without video, and without PII.
The breakthrough? Ariadne Fusion Technology.
It’s not just signal-based counting. It’s the fusion of multiple data streams including Optical, Wi-Fi, BLE, and contextual AI that powers an intelligent passenger map across the entire airport.
That means:
- Tracking groups vs. individuals
- Recognizing repeat visitors
- Measuring how a marketing campaign affects actual footfall
- Triggering content on digital signage as people approach
- Delivering real-time heatmaps to operations or retailers
Ariadne’s system transforms basic movement data into passenger journey analytics, giving airports a 360° view of operational efficiency and passenger behavior.
Comparing Use Cases: Where the Difference Becomes Clear
Let’s walk through typical airport zones and see how each platform performs:
Security & Immigration Queues
Movies, with its Ceiling-mounted stereo cameras track individual heads with high spatial accuracy. Predicting wait times, measuring throughput, or SLA compliance? Xovis does the job.
Ariadne matches this with directional flow tracking, detecting how fast people move toward or away from checkpoints using anonymous signals. Plus, it integrates queue length with real-time alerts to notify staff or trigger passenger rerouting.
Verdict: Xovis leads in fixed-line tracking; Ariadne matches on accuracy and adds dynamic alerts and integrations.
Retail Zones and Food Courts
Xovis is limited. It sees how many people walk by, but not why they stop, how long they stay, or whether they return.
Ariadne dominates. It tracks dwell time, route patterns, re-engagement, and even correlates flow with sales uplift. With Ariadne’s Fusion tech, it blends behavioral data with marketing touchpoints - powering campaign attribution and dynamic promotions.
Verdict: Ariadne provides both footfall and context, essential for commercial teams and airport tenants.
Multi-Terminal Hubs & Legacy Infrastructure
Xovis requires structured planning. Each new zone demands ceiling clearance, wiring, calibration. Expansion is slow and costly.
Ariadne thrives on flexibility. Sensors can be deployed using existing Wi-Fi infrastructure or discretely mounted - covering complex layouts, temporary gates, and seasonal zones with ease.
Verdict: Ariadne wins for scalability, cost-efficiency, and retrofit simplicity.
Privacy Is the New Standard
In today’s world, GDPR isn’t optional, it’s expected. Both platforms are compliant, but their philosophies differ.
Xovis anonymizes video on-device but still involves capturing visual frames.
Ariadne never uses video at all. No faces. No images. Just signals transformed into anonymous movement maps.
This gives Ariadne a distinct advantage in markets like Europe, Canada, the Middle East, where privacy regulations are strict and expanding.
Verdict: If optics are legally sensitive, Ariadne offers built-in compliance by design, not workaround.
From Counting to Converting: A New Strategic Role
A decade ago, people counters lived in operations departments.
Today, retail teams, advertisers, and even data science units want in. Airports are becoming data-rich ecosystems, and counting people is only the start.
Xovis supports operational KPIs & Ariadne powers cross-functional impact:
- Retail revenue optimization
- Digital signage ROI attribution
- Space leasing based on true dwell zones
- Passenger journey mapping for loyalty and personalization
- Event analytics for seasonal activations or promotional zones
Verdict: Ariadne turns movement into monetization.
Conclusion: The Future Belongs to Fusion
Xovis helped airports understand lines but Ariadne helps them understand lives. While one platform counts passengers, the other connects operations, commerce, and experience into a unified intelligence layer real-time, scalable, and privacy-first.
If your airport is planning for the future - a future where every journey counts and every square meter matters, Ariadne’s Fusion Technology is the edge you need.
🔗 Ready to Explore What Ariadne Can Do?
