The Horizon project, developed by the Icare Institute in collaboration with Horizon SA, is designed to transform road traffic management and optimize outdoor advertising in Switzerland. An automatic license plate recognition technology, based on deep learning, has been implemented to identify the origin of vehicles passing by Horizon’s billboards. This approach determines whether the plates are Swiss, with precise identification of the canton of origin, or foreign, by specifying the country of origin.
The technology used in this project surpasses classic computer vision algorithms by offering human-comparable accuracy. To comply with the Federal Data Protection Act (FDPA) and local regulations, only information essential to the origin of the license plates is retained, thus ensuring legal compliance.
Through this solution, advertising messages can be adapted more effectively based on identified traffic flows, which improves the relevance and impact of campaigns. Increased knowledge of road traffic also enables optimized management of advertising spaces, contributing to the reduction of the environmental footprint and a more sustainable use of resources.
The system has been designed to operate in real-time, integrating 4G connectivity and a centralized web platform for data management and analysis. This project represents a significant advance in modernizing Horizon’s practices, addressing new urban mobility challenges while offering an improved advertising experience, compliant with regulatory requirements.
