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Density raises $51M Series C led by Kleiner Perkins

density.io

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Re: Density raises $51M Series C led by Kleiner Perkins

#21

Post by afar »

heyflyguy wrote: post #2

I have to admit, more and more I read about things on HN and just reason "ah this is tech beyond my grasp, and it makes sense to someone somewhere but not me". Lots of developer tools for languages I've not heard of or libraries that seem so remote and arcane I wonder who is using them. Now in this case, it is solving a real problem, with a clear way to make money. Go Density Go.

Thank you. Fwiw, our eng team has deeply benefited from all those dev tools and libraries. The stack to result in real-time, accurate count is nuts. I think one of our devs, Gus, was on the thread. Maybe he can weigh in.

Re: Density raises $51M Series C led by Kleiner Perkins

#22

Post by texasbigdata »

Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #7

Oh man, I remember about 10 years I got so annoyed with my buys-ass gym and having to wait in line to use a machine that I came up with the idea to track real-time gym attendance and machine usage. It was going to be called WaitLift. It never went further than that awesome name.

NoLinePump, ZeroLatencyGains, etc. A marketing person would have a field day naming your idea!

Re: Density raises $51M Series C led by Kleiner Perkins

#23

Post by oli_b »

afar wrote: post #18
oli_b wrote: post #13

From density.io: > Unlike other systems, Density is anonymous at source. We can't fingerprint or track you if we wanted to. I wonder how true this statement is, given how accurately we can now identify people based on just their walking gait – see "Human Gait Recognition Based on Gait Energy" paper[1]. The 'sensor' view on density.io that attempts to illustrate this point appears to convey just as much as the sample…

We get this question from time to time. It may be possible with some systems but it's not feasible at our resolution. You can see more of our depth data here -- https://medium.com/density-inc/ai-is-not-magic-its-manual-la...

I'll have to take your word for it – I'm curious if you have tried it though. I can certainly imagine that it might be feasible (even at lower resolutions) with enough stirring of the 'linear algebra pile'.

Not meaning to rain on your parade though – congratulations on a great idea!

Re: Density raises $51M Series C led by Kleiner Perkins

#24

Post by guscost »

afar wrote: post #21
heyflyguy wrote: post #2

I have to admit, more and more I read about things on HN and just reason "ah this is tech beyond my grasp, and it makes sense to someone somewhere but not me". Lots of developer tools for languages I've not heard of or libraries that seem so remote and arcane I wonder who is using them. Now in this case, it is solving a real problem, with a clear way to make money. Go Density Go.

Thank you. Fwiw, our eng team has deeply benefited from all those dev tools and libraries. The stack to result in real-time, accurate count is nuts. I think one of our devs, Gus, was on the thread. Maybe he can weigh in.

Right now our production backend relies on Postgres, Django, Kafka, Docker, Nomad, Celery (yes, those queues probably should be folded back into Kafka eventually), and lots of other open-source tech. I'm not sure if I should share much, and can't talk in depth anyway, about the embedded stack. And then there are the tools for developing the algorithm, and custom systems for assembly/test/pack in Syracuse.

Our web application is mostly TypeScript, React, RxJS.

Re: Density raises $51M Series C led by Kleiner Perkins

#26

Post by afar »

oli_b wrote: post #23
afar wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We get this question from time to time. It may be possible with some systems but it's not feasible at our resolution. You can see more of our depth data here -- https://medium.com/density-inc/ai-is-not-magic-its-manual-la...

I'll have to take your word for it – I'm curious if you have tried it though. I can certainly imagine that it might be feasible (even at lower resolutions) with enough stirring of the 'linear algebra pile'. Not meaning to rain on your parade though – congratulations on a great idea!

No rain! It's a great callout. We'll see what we can do if for no other reason than to understand risk.

Re: Density raises $51M Series C led by Kleiner Perkins

#27

Post by Edmond »

Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #7

Oh man, I remember about 10 years I got so annoyed with my buys-ass gym and having to wait in line to use a machine that I came up with the idea to track real-time gym attendance and machine usage. It was going to be called WaitLift. It never went further than that awesome name.

I went further, setup a landing page and sent out some customer validation emails...most responded that they didn't have the problem.

Ultimately I didn't pursue it mainly because I had no real passion for the idea itself; it was a problem only when I was traveling and staying at busy hotels with many other business travelers wanting to use the gym at the same time.

Re: Density raises $51M Series C led by Kleiner Perkins

#28

Post by heyflyguy »

guscost wrote: post #24
afar wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you. Fwiw, our eng team has deeply benefited from all those dev tools and libraries. The stack to result in real-time, accurate count is nuts. I think one of our devs, Gus, was on the thread. Maybe he can weigh in.

Right now our production backend relies on Postgres, Django, Kafka, Docker, Nomad, Celery (yes, those queues probably should be folded back into Kafka eventually), and lots of other open-source tech. I'm not sure if I should share much, and can't talk in depth anyway, about the embedded stack. And then there are the tools for developing the algorithm, and custom systems for assembly/test/pack in Syracuse. Our web app…

The hardware is yours?

Re: Density raises $51M Series C led by Kleiner Perkins

#29

Post by blklane »

Great team with an excellent product that was able to re-position extremely well during the current COVID era. Hats off to all at Density.

Worked with this team ~8 years ago when in college at my first startup and they were a consultancy. Smart people who I learned lots from when starting out and always enjoy hearing their continued success.

Re: Density raises $51M Series C led by Kleiner Perkins

#30

Post by shard »

I wonder how much more accurate this solution is compared to a simple IR beam across the entry. Is the extra HW and SW complexity needed to implement a computer vision solution worth the increase accuracy? I suppose the answer would depend on the use case. Mom-and-pop shops might only need an IR beam, if that, while megacorps that optimize costs down to the penny might have use for exact customer trends so they can decide how much human workforce and/or automation they need.
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