Congestion at 20 Restaurants in JR Ueno Station and atre Ueno Visualized Using AI Cameras

VACAN, Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Takanori Kono; hereinafter "VACAN"), a company that provides services utilizing platforms to support facilities and areas with the mission of "gently connecting people and spaces through technology," is pleased to announce that it has begun visualizing congestion levels for 20 restaurants at atre Ueno as part of a demonstration experiment being conducted by JR East at Ueno Station.

Background of the Introduction Ueno Station is a terminal station visited by a diverse range of domestic and international travelers. To alleviate congestion throughout the station and reduce wait times, trial operations are underway to visualize congestion at ticket counters and reserved-seat ticket machines. Within the station's commercial facilities, it has historically been difficult for users to know whether a facility is immediately available or how long the wait might be without going there in person, which has led to lost opportunities. Given the nature of the station environment, the inability to know in advance which facilities can be used within a limited timeframe has been a challenge for how people spend their time at the station.

By distributing congestion information for 20 restaurants at atre Ueno as part of this demonstration experiment, we aim to encourage the leveling of station congestion and reduce wait times. This is expected to increase the freedom of movement and stay for users, thereby improving customer satisfaction.

This Initiative In this initiative, we are using the congestion information distribution platform "VACAN" to display congestion levels on digital signage and web pages. Congestion data is collected using "VACAN AIS," which detects and visualizes queue status via AI cameras.

Users can immediately check current congestion levels via digital signage and the "UENO TIME" web page.

Furthermore, on the "UENO TIME" web page, users can select their "current location" and "available time" to see a list of "restaurants that are easy to enter now" based on those conditions. This provides actionable options even within limited stay times.

WEB page "UENO TIME" is available here: https://pages.vacan.com/ueno-time?utm_source=press&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=uenotime

(Image) Image of digital signage display

About the Congestion Information Distribution Platform "VACAN" VACAN provides "VACAN" (https://corp.vacan.com/service), a congestion suppression platform that can visualize, manage, and distribute congestion status. VACAN integrates and analyzes data acquired from various devices such as cameras and sensors to detect and distribute information on availability and congestion in real-time. It supports a wide range of distribution methods, including digital signage and websites, and is characterized by its ability to optimize detection methods and information distribution according to the location and purpose.

About VACAN, Inc. Company Name: VACAN, Inc. Representative: Takanori Kono Address: Nakarin Auto Building 3F, 2-8-4 Shinkawa, Chuo-ku, Tokyo Established: June 2016 URL: https://corp.vacan.com/

VACAN is a company selected for the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's "J-Startup" program. With the mission of "gently connecting people and spaces through technology," the company is building a platform that updates cities and lifestyles in addition to visualizing congestion using AI.

The company provides "congestion and human flow management" and "facility and area management" services that smartly update spatial experiences, and operates "Unveil," a media service for restroom stalls.