Thermal Imaging Finds Its Way to The London Eye

Major visitor attraction becomes even safer than before. Paris has the Eiffel Tower, New York the Empire State, Sydney its Opera House, Rome the Coliseum and London has the London Eye. An extraordinary symbol for an extraordinary city. The world's largest cantilevered observation wheel offers a spectacular way to take in over 55 of London's most famous landmarks in just 30 minutes!

The London Eye stands on the south bank of the Thames near Westminster Bridge. During a 30-minute flight, up to 800 visitors at a time experience unrivalled views of London on a 135 meter high revolving observation wheel.

Since its opening in 2000, an average of 3.75 million visitors have experienced London's favorite attraction each year, proving it more popular than renowned historical landmarks such as St Paul's Cathedral(2 million per year) and even more popular than some internationally renowned tourist attractions. The London Eye receives more visitors annually than the Taj Mahal in India (2.4 million per year), Stonehenge in the UK (850,000 per year) and even the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt (3 million per year).

Since the opening, and even during construction, security measures have been extremely tight at the London Eye. Also today, the Merlin Entertainments Group, sole owner of the London Eye, owning 51 attractions in 12 countries, takes security extremely serious.

(Left) Being next to a tidal river makes security at the London Eye even more challenging. (Right) Thermal imaging produces crisp images in total darkness..

Major visitor attraction becomes even safer than before. Paris has the Eiffel Tower, 

Our job is to make sure that the London Eye is an extremely safe place day and night," comments Mr. Eric Dench, Security Manager The London Eye. "If something unusual happens, we want to know this immediately. Security staff guard the site continuously and people in a control room look at the images produced by numerous cameras around the perimeter. We have also installed a Video Analytics System."

(Left) Being next to a tidal river makes security at the London Eye even more challenging. (Right) Thermal imaging produces crisp images in total darkness..

Major visitor attraction becomes even safer than before. Paris has the Eiffel Tower, 

"Although not always visible to the public, security measures have always been extremely tight. We are however constantly looking at new and better ways to make our security network even tighter than it is.", explains Mr. Dench. "A new tool for us at the London Eye is thermal imaging cameras."