The Attune Occupancy Sensor is a ceiling-mounted thermal sensor that counts people in a space without cameras and personally identifiable information. Detection runs on the device, and the count is sent to the Attune Cloud Platform for live occupancy and traffic data. The sensor supports two use cases: occupancy counting (people within an area) and door counting (people crossing a doorway).
Placement matters more than with our IAQ sensors, so schedule a setup call with the Attune team before mounting any devices. We'll confirm placement and walk through configuration so the count is accurate the first time.
Before you begin ensure you have
A setup call or site visit scheduled with Attune
A floor plan marked with each sensor's location and use case (occupancy or door counting)
Ceiling height measured at each location — it determines coverage (see table below)
The mounting bracket and a 5 V, ≥ 1 A power supply (provided USB cable) or PoE at each point
A clear view straight down to the floor, away from strong heat sources, direct sunlight, and reflective surfaces
Mounting & placement
Mount on the ceiling only, facing straight down, with the long axis of the sensor aligned to the long axis of the room. For occupancy counting, place the sensor in the center of the room. For door counting, mount it over the doorway at the distance shown below so people flow across the door zone. Coverage scales with ceiling height:
Ceiling height | Coverage area (L × W) | Distance from door (door counting) |
2.0 m (6.6 ft) | 5.0 × 3.0 m (16.4 × 9.8 ft) | 0.75 m (2.5 ft) |
2.5 m (8.2 ft) | 6.0 × 4.0 m (19.7 × 13.1 ft) | 1.0 m (3.3 ft) |
2.7 m (8.9 ft) | 6.4 × 4.4 m (21.0 × 14.4 ft) | 1.125 m (3.7 ft) |
3.0 m (9.8 ft) | 7.0 × 5.0 m (23.0 × 16.4 ft) | 1.25 m (4.1 ft) |
3.5 m (11.5 ft) | 8.0 × 6.0 m (26.2 × 19.7 ft) | 1.5 m (4.9 ft) |
Installing the sensor
Position the sensor. Fix the mounting bracket to the ceiling at the chosen location, oriented so that when the sensor is attached its lens hole faces away from the intended coverage zone. Then attach the sensor to the bracket and confirm it snaps gently into place and is secured.
Prepare the scene. Clear the area of people and hot objects to prepare the scene. Power on the sensor via the PoE adapter attached to the Attune enclosure. Keep the scene clear for the first 90 seconds after power-on so the sensor can capture a correct reference image.
Get the sensor on the network. Out of the box, the sensor looks for a Wi-Fi network named Attune 2.4 with password @ttuneIOT_2024!. The simplest way to bring it online for the first time is to create a phone hotspot using that exact SSID and password. The sensor will auto-connect at power-on. Once it's online, you can switch it to the site's permanent Wi-Fi from the visualiser (Step 5).
Connect and verify. Open the web visualiser at demo.thermal.ai, sign in, select your device and the Web Visualiser tool, and click Connect. Confirm a live thermal stream appears and that people register as they move through the area or doorway. To move the sensor onto the site's Wi-Fi, open the network settings in the visualiser, enter the site's SSID and password, and save. The sensor will reconnect on the new network. Note: this Wi-Fi connection is only required for the visualiser and the initial zone mapping. Once setup is complete, disconnecting the sensor from this Wi-Fi does not affect the counts that flow to the Attune Cloud dashboard.
Reading the web visualiser
Once connected, the visualiser shows the live thermal grid with detections, plus the running counts on either side.
The web visualiser (demo.thermal.ai). Headcount (top left) is the number of people currently in the area. Doorcount (below) shows entries, exits, and the net total. The grid shows live detections; the Zone panel on the right lists the count for each configured zone and lets you toggle which are shown. The Centroid / Lowest / Location buttons switch how each detection's position is reported.
Configuring zones
Zones tell the sensor which part of the scene to count and how. Use the zone editor on the visualiser to draw them, then save.
Drawing a zone. Open Select zone type and choose Door (for door counting) or an occupancy zone, then click and drag on the grid to draw the box and drag the corner handles to fit. Door zones (red, across the doorway) count crossings; occupancy zones count people inside the area. Use the toolbar to undo, save (disk icon), delete, or cancel. Set exclusion zones over reflections, direct sunlight, or very hot/cold surfaces so they don't affect the count.
Troubleshooting
No stream / no data — confirm the power cable is firmly seated, check the outlet works, verify the network credentials, and confirm the device is connected to the network.
Counts look too high or too low — reboot with an empty scene and keep it empty for 90 seconds to rebuild the reference image; update to the latest firmware; and add exclusion zones for reflections, sunlight, and hot or cold surfaces.
Device or visualiser lagging — restart the device (empty scene, 90 seconds), close other browser tabs, and remove other devices from the network.
When reporting an issue to support, include: expected vs. observed behavior, photos or video, time and date, ambient temperature, window and reflective-surface locations, use case (occupancy or door counting), room type, and installation height.