Methods and apparatus to count people in an audience

Abstract

Example apparatus disclosed herein are to determine a location of a portable device based on location data collected by the portable device, determine whether a person is within a threshold distance of the portable device based on proximity data collected by the portable device, and, when the person is determined to be within the threshold distance of the portable device: (i) infer at least one of a presence or an absence of the person in a media exposure environment based on the location of the portable device, (ii) determine a confidence level that the person corresponds to a member of the panelist household, and (iii) determine an accuracy of presence information collected by a people meter based on the confidence level and the inference of the at least one of the presence or the absence of the person, the people meter different than the portable device.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . A base metering device comprising:
 memory;   machine readable instructions; and   programmable circuitry to execute the machine readable instructions to:
 obtain media identifying data associated with media presented on a media presentation device; 
 obtain engagement information corresponding to usage of a portable device by a person present in a media exposure environment of the media presentation device; and 
 analyze the engagement information to determine a level of engagement of the person with the media. 
   
     
     
         3 . The base metering device of  claim 2 , wherein the programmable circuitry is to:
 associate the level of engagement of the person with media measurement data including the media identifying data; and   send the media measurement data and the level of engagement to a data collection facility.   
     
     
         4 . The base metering device of  claim 2 , wherein the programmable circuitry is to detect a presence of the person in the media exposure environment based on image data collected by a camera separate from the base metering device. 
     
     
         5 . The base metering device of  claim 2 , wherein the programmable circuitry is to detect a presence of the person in the media exposure environment based on an input from the person. 
     
     
         6 . The base metering device of  claim 2 , wherein the engagement information is indicative of usage of one or more applications executing on the portable device. 
     
     
         7 . The base metering device of  claim 2 , wherein the programmable circuitry is to compare first subject matter corresponding to the usage of the portable device to second subject matter corresponding to the media to determine the level of engagement of the person. 
     
     
         8 . The base metering device of  claim 7 , wherein the programmable circuitry is to:
 determine the person is present in the media exposure environment based on a detection of a presence of the person in the media exposure environment; and   determine the person is not engaged with the media based on the first subject matter being unrelated to the second subject matter.   
     
     
         9 . The base metering device of  claim 2 , wherein the programmable circuitry is to determine the level of engagement based on activity information corresponding to an amount of activity of the person during a presentation of the media. 
     
     
         10 . The base metering device of  claim 9 , wherein the programmable circuitry is to:
 determine the level of engagement corresponds to a first level of engagement based on the activity information indicating movement of the person during a period of time; and   determine the level of engagement corresponds to a second level of engagement based on the activity information indicating no movement of the person during the period of time, the second level of engagement lower than the first level of engagement.   
     
     
         11 . The base metering device of  claim 2 , wherein the base metering device is to identify the person based on the engagement information. 
     
     
         12 . A system comprising:
 a base metering device to:
 obtain media identifying data associated with media presented on a media presentation device; 
 obtain engagement information indicative of usage of a portable device by a person present in a media exposure environment of the media presentation device; and 
 transmit media measurement data and the engagement information to a data collection facility, the media measurement data indicative of a presence of the person in the media exposure environment, the engagement information indicative of a level of engagement of the person with the media. 
   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the base metering device is to:
 collect image data via a camera coupled to the portable device, the camera separate from the base metering device; and   detect the presence of the person in the media exposure environment based on the image data.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the engagement information corresponds to usage of an application running on the portable device. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the base metering device is to:
 compare a first subject matter of the application to a second subject matter of the media; and   determine a level of engagement of the person with the media based on the first subject matter relative to the second subject matter.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the base metering device is to estimate an identity of the person based on the usage of the application. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the engagement information includes activity information associated with the person, the activity information indicative of movement of the person detected via a motion sensor coupled to the portable device. 
     
     
         18 . A non-transitory machine readable storage medium comprising instructions to cause programmable circuitry to at least:
 obtain media identifying data associated with media presented on a media presentation device;   obtain engagement information indicative of usage of a portable device by a person present in a media exposure environment of the media presentation device; and   determine a level of engagement of the person with the media based on the engagement information.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions are to cause the programmable circuitry to determine an amount of activity of the person based on movement detected from a sensor of the portable device, the level of engagement based on the amount of activity of the person. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of  claim 18 , wherein the instructions are to cause the programmable circuitry to:
 associate the level of engagement of the person with media measurement data including the media identifying data; and   cause transmission of the level of engagement and the media measurement data to a data collection facility.   
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory machine readable storage medium of  claim 20 , wherein the instructions are to cause the programmable circuitry to remove the person from the media measurement data when the level of engagement indicates the person is not engaged with the media.