Axess: Artificial Intelligence Protects Against Ticket Fraud

Axess SMART GUARD is an efficient and easy-to-implement solution for preventing the unauthorized transfer of ski tickets. This cloud-based software integrates seamlessly with existing Axess access systems and does not utilize biometric facial recognition. It is continuously optimized through artificial intelligence (AI).

The unauthorized sharing of lift tickets and ski passes have long been a challenge for ski resorts, leading to significant revenue loss—a problem likely to worsen as ticket prices continue to rise. Additionally, the illegal exchange of ski passes on parking lots or social media (particularly within semi-public chat groups and forums) is growing with little ability to put a stop to this common practice.

Resource-Saving Solution for the Ski Industry

The detection of ticket fraud in ski resorts has traditionally been extremely tedious and labor-intensive. With the new software SMART GUARD, Axess is now offering an easy-to-implement solution. “With SMART GUARD, we have developed a powerful yet resource-saving solution that is perfectly tailored to the needs of ski companies. It was particularly important to us that SMART GUARD can be seamlessly integrated into our existing system architecture,” explains Martin Bernroider, who is responsible for product development in the ski sector at Axess.

Automated Comparison of Images

The functional principle of SMART GUARD is relatively straightforward: each time a person passes through the gate to access the ski lift, a photo is taken and assigned to the corresponding ski ticket. Axess SMART GUARD then compares the stored photos and uses a scoring system to define the degree of similarity between the images. The resort staff receive a pre-sorted list with the “critical” alerts at the top, directing attention to the most concerning cases and enabling them to take appropriate measures. Ultimately, with SMART GUARD, it is the employees of the ski resort who decide whether fraud is being committed and how to address any rule violations.

No Biometric Data Required

Axess developed the new SMART GUARD product in close partnership with the Italian software company VIDEAM, which specializes in computer vision and artificial intelligence. When analyzing images for SMART GUARD, AI converts the images into sequences of 512 digits, extracting specific feature vectors. The more similar the individuals in the images, the more alike the corresponding number sequences will be. A key advantage of SMART GUARD is that it does not rely on biometric facial recognition—especially important since skiers' faces are often obscured by helmets or ski goggles. Instead, SMART GUARD evaluates the overall appearance of a person and compares non-invasive features such as colors, recurring patterns in ski clothing, types of equipment (ski or snowboard), and body shapes. To enhance the system's accuracy, images unsuitable for evaluation are filtered out, for instance, those containing multiple unidentified individuals or those affected by poor weather conditions that obscure visibility.

Self-Learning Neural Network

Axess SMART GUARD's AI is built on an artificial neural network that facilitates machine learning. In practical terms, this means that SMART GUARD continuously optimizes itself, particularly through interactions with ski resort employees, who have the final authority in determining access validity. For instance, SMART GUARD can learn that a specific skier frequently switches between several jackets and adjust its evaluations of image similarity accordingly. “At the start of the project, we trained the model using publicly available data sets. To adapt it to skiing, we then employed a technique called transfer learning, which allows the model to generalize effectively with a small amount of ski-specific data,” explains Tommaso Scuccato, Telecommunication Engineer at VIDEAM.

Effortless Integration into Axess Architecture

Axess SMART GUARD was developed as a cloud solution and is fully integrated into the ticketing and Axess Control System. Alongside the Axess LANE CONTROL MONITOR management unit, the DATACENTER, SMART GATE, and GATE CAMERA hardware elements are essential components of any Axess architecture for ski resorts. For existing Axess customers, the software can be easily added as an additional module, and if the Axess access hardware and GATE CAMERAS are already in place, no additional hardware is required. The photos of skiers are stored in the cloud and deleted after a predefined period, with each ski resort having its own client.

“We are proud to have brought Axess SMART GUARD to market maturity in close cooperation with our partner VIDEAM. The systematic detection of ticket fraud through comprehensive checks—rather than occasional spot checks—provides ski companies with noticeable additional revenue. An extensive practical test in the Italian ski resort of Le Melette during the 2023/24 winter season underscores the effectiveness of our new product development. We look forward to the results from other partners who will use Axess SMART GUARD to combat the illegal transfer of ski tickets in the coming season,” concludes Martin Bernroider.