Elevator system and information providing method

Abstract

To present improvement measures for elevator operation taking into consideration the feelings of elevator users. [Solution] An elevator system of an embodiment comprises an image analysis unit that analyzes images from a camera installed at the elevator landing or inside the elevator car to determine at least the emotion of each elevator user shown in the image; an information storage unit that stores in a memory device the judgment results of the image analysis unit and various features indicating the corresponding elevator status for each elevator user; a factor judgment unit that judges the cause of a particular emotion based on a combination of the judgment results and the various features stored in the memory device for each elevator user; and an improvement proposal support unit that presents improvement measures for elevator operation based on the judgment results of the factor judgment unit.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to an elevator system and an information providing method. [Background technology]

[0002] There have been attempts to improve elevator operation from various perspectives, such as proposing optimal elevator specifications in consideration of service performance goals and traffic demand, and proposing appropriate measures to address the decline in elevator operation efficiency. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 03-288777 [Patent Document 2] JP 2021-070564 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, there are still few proposals for improving elevator operation that take into consideration the feelings of elevator users, and there is room for further study.

[0005] The problem to be solved by the invention is to provide an elevator system and an information providing method that can present elevator operation improvement measures that take into account the feelings of elevator users. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The elevator system of the embodiment includes an image analysis unit that analyzes an image from a camera installed at the elevator hall or inside the elevator car to determine at least the emotion of each elevator user captured in the image, an information storage unit that stores in a storage device the determination results of the image analysis unit and various feature amounts indicating the corresponding elevator status for each elevator user, a factor determination unit that determines the cause of a particular emotion based on a combination of the determination results and the various feature amounts stored in the storage device for each elevator user, and a factor determination unit that provides an improvement plan for elevator operation based on the determination results of the factor determination unit. For users of information terminals and an improvement proposal support unit that presents the improvement proposal. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an elevator system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a hall. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a combination of information in which the emotion in the user information indicates "anger" from among combinations of the user information for each elevator user and various feature amounts. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of correlation coefficient values ​​for the emotion value of "anger" (=1) and each of "distance to assigned car", "waiting time", and "live load". [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an arithmetic expression for the correlation coefficient. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying information including improvement measures presented by the improvement proposal support unit. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating an example of the operation of the user information management device. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating an example of the operation of the user information management device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0009] <Elevator system configuration> FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an elevator system according to an embodiment.

[0010] The elevator system shown in FIG. 1 is a system for managing a group of elevators, and includes an elevator group management control device 20, elevator control devices 11a-11c and cars 12a-12c that constitute a plurality of elevators, as well as a hall call registration device 15 and cameras (imaging devices) 16a-16c installed in a hall (elevator hall) 14 on each floor.

[0011] Here, an example is shown in which three elevators, A to C, are managed as a group. The elevators A to C correspond to three elevator control devices 11a to 11c, three cars 12a to 12c, and three cameras 16a to 16c, respectively.

[0012] The elevator control devices 11a to 11c are provided for each of the elevator cars 12a to 12c, and control the operation of the corresponding elevator cars. Specifically, the elevator control devices 11a to 11c control motors (hoists) (not shown) for raising and lowering the elevator cars 12a to 12c, and control the opening and closing of doors. These elevator control devices 11a to 11c are configured using a computer.

[0013] The cars 12a to 12c are driven by motors to move up and down in the elevator shaft. The cars 12a to 12c are provided with load sensors 13a to 13c for detecting the load inside the cars, respectively. Load data detected by the load sensors 13a to 13c is transmitted to the group management control device 20 via the elevator control devices 11a to 11c.

[0014] In addition, cameras (imaging devices) 18a to 18c are installed in the elevator cars 12a to 12c, respectively. The cameras 18a to 18c photograph elevator users in the elevator cars. The images obtained by photographing (photographed images) are transmitted to a user information management device 22 in the group management control device 20 via the elevator control devices 11a to 11c.

[0015] The group management control device 20 is a device for group management control of the operation of a plurality of cars 12a-12c, and is configured using a computer similar to the elevator control devices 11a-11c. The group management control device 20 is provided with a call storage unit 21, a user information management device 22, and an operation control unit 23. Note that, although an example in which the user information management device 22 is provided inside the group management control device 20 is shown here, a part or all of the functions of the user information management device 22 may be provided in the server 30.

[0016] The call storage unit 21 stores hall calls registered by operating the hall call registration device 15.

[0017] The user information management device 22 is a device that presents elevator operation suggestions that take into consideration the feelings of elevator users. The user information management device 22 is configured to be able to communicate with the information terminal 10A and the server 30.

[0018] The server 30 stores the information generated by the user information management device 22 in a predetermined storage device, and provides a part or all of the information stored in the storage device to the information terminal 10A. A part or all of the functions of the user information management device 22 may be provided in the server 30.

[0019] The information terminal 10A uses applications and various information provided from the user information management device 22 or the server 30 to complete an improvement proposal for the operation of the elevator, and provides the completed improvement proposal to an information terminal 10B or a designated server, etc., of the owner or manager of the building in which the elevator is installed.

[0020] The user information management device 22 is configured using one or more computers, and various functions of the user information management device 22 are realized as programs executed by the one or more computers. The various functions of the user information management device 22 will be described in detail later.

[0021] The operation control unit 23 controls the operation of multiple elevators through the elevator control devices 11a to 11c. If there is no instruction from the user information management device 22, the operation control unit 23 performs general group management control, but if the operation control unit 23 is instructed by the user information management device 22 to perform a certain control, the operation control unit 23 gives priority to the execution of that control.

[0022] When a new hall call is registered, the operation control unit 23 selects an elevator from among the elevators 12a to 12c to which the hall call should be assigned, and causes the elevator to respond to the corresponding hall 14 (causing the elevator to head toward the hall 14 at the floor where the hall call is registered).

[0023] 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the hall 14. However, this is just an example, and the present invention is not limited to this example.

[0024] A hall call registration device 15 for registering hall calls is installed at a hall (elevator hall) 14 on each floor. In the example of FIG. 2, a hall call registration device 15 installed on an arbitrary floor is shown for convenience, but in reality, at least one hall call registration device 15 is installed on each floor. The hall call registration device 15 is connected to the group management control device 20 via a transmission cable (not shown). The hall call registration device 15 has a direction button (also called a "hall call button") that allows an elevator user to specify a destination direction (upward / downward).

[0025] Here, a "hall call" is a call signal registered by operating a direction button at a platform, and includes information on the registered floor and destination direction. On the other hand, a "car call" is a call signal registered by operating a destination floor button in a car, and includes information on the car and the destination floor.

[0026] In addition, cameras 16a-16c are installed for each elevator car in the landing (elevator hall) 14 on each floor. The cameras 16a-16c are installed near the landing doors 17a-17c, respectively, and capture an image including the faces of multiple elevator users waiting in front of the arrival gates of the cars 12a-12c. The captured image is transmitted to a user information management device 22 in the group management control device 20.

[0027] <Functional configuration of the user information management device 22> 1 has, as various functions, an image analysis unit 22a, an information collection unit 22b, a situation determination unit 22c, an information storage unit 22d, a cause determination unit 22e, and an improvement proposal support unit 22f. These functions will be described below in order.

[0028] Image analysis unit 22a The image analysis unit 22a separately collects images taken by the cameras 16a to 16c installed for each elevator car at the landing of each floor, and separately collects images taken by the cameras 18a to 18c for each elevator car, and analyzes each of the collected images to detect each elevator user appearing in the image and periodically repeats a process of determining at least the emotion of each elevator user.

[0029] Specifically, the image analysis unit 22a analyzes the face or whole body image of the elevator user to determine the type of emotion of the elevator user (for example, joy, anger, sadness, or happiness, or positive emotion and negative emotion), as well as the degree of each emotion (emotion value), and further to determine the estimated age of the elevator user. In addition, the gender may be determined.

[0030] In addition, the image analysis unit 22a can determine the emotion of an elevator user from an image captured by a camera at a certain hall, and then track and grasp the change in emotion of the elevator user from when he or she gets on to the car until when he or she gets off, from the image captured by the camera inside the car. If there is a change in emotion, the change in emotion may be reflected in information stored in a storage device, which will be described later.

[0031] AI (Artificial Intelligence) may be applied to the image analysis performed by the image analysis unit 22a. In this case, by having the AI ​​learn the relationship between various facial features and the type and degree of emotion, estimated age, etc., it becomes possible to determine the type and degree of emotion, estimated age, gender, etc. with high accuracy from any facial feature.

[0032] Information Gathering Unit 22b The information collection unit 22b collects various information indicating the operation status of the elevator (such as the position of each elevator, running condition, load weight, presence or absence of a hall call, floor where the hall call was made, and information indicating the assigned elevator that responded to the hall call).

[0033] Situation determination unit 22c The status determination unit 22c determines whether the elevator (assigned elevator) responded to a call from any of the halls, and if so, determines various features indicating the state of the assigned elevator (for example, the distance from the elevator user detected by the image analysis unit 22a to the assigned elevator, the waiting time of the assigned elevator for that elevator user (the waiting time from when the elevator user appears at the hall until the assigned elevator arrives at that hall), and the load of the assigned elevator). Each of these various features can be said to be information (candidates) that can be a cause of "anger."

[0034] ·Information storage department 22d The information storage unit 22d stores in a storage device a combination of the determination result of the situation determination unit 22c and the corresponding determination result of the image analysis unit 22a for each elevator user.

[0035] Specifically, the information storage unit 22d stores, for each elevator user, a combination of the above-mentioned various feature quantities (e.g., the distance from the elevator user to the assigned car, the waiting time of the assigned car for that elevator user, and the load capacity of the assigned car) and information indicating the type and degree of emotion of that elevator user and information indicating an estimated age (hereinafter referred to as "user information") in a predetermined storage device. In this case, the storage device may be inside the group management control device 20 or outside the group management control device 20 (e.g., in the server 30), but in this example, the storage device is assumed to be inside the server 30.

[0036] That is, the information storage unit 22d uploads and stores a combination of the user information for each elevator user and various feature amounts in the storage device of the server 30. At least a part of the information stored in the storage device of the server 30 can be downloaded and used by the user information management device 22 or the information terminal 10A.

[0037] ·Factor determination unit 22e The factor determination unit 22e determines the factor of a particular emotion (for example, the emotion of "anger" (among joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, or the emotion of "negative" (among positive and negative emotions)) based on a combination of user information and various characteristic quantities stored for each elevator user in the storage device of the server 30. The emotion of "anger" or the emotion of "negative" can be considered as an expression of dissatisfaction of the elevator user with the operation of the elevator.

[0038] A user of the information terminal 10A can specify a specific emotion to be the target of factor determination among various emotions by operating the information terminal 10A. The user information management device 22 or the server 30 provides the information terminal 10A with an application that realizes a UI (User Interface) that can display the result of the factor determination on the screen of the information terminal 10A and can specify on the screen the specific emotion to be the target of factor determination. Note that the operation of specifying a specific emotion is not necessarily required. The specific emotion to be the target of factor determination may be set in advance on the user information management device 22 side.

[0039] In the following description, it is assumed that the specific emotion is “anger.” When the specific emotion to be the subject of the factor determination is designated as “anger,” the factor determination unit 22e determines the factor of “anger.”

[0040] Specifically, the factor determining unit 22e extracts a combination of information indicating the emotion "anger" in the user information from among combinations of user information for each elevator user stored in the storage device of the server 30, and determines, based on the extracted combination of information, that the feature having the highest correlation with "anger" among the various feature amounts (for example, any one of "distance from the elevator user to the assigned car," "waiting time of the elevator user for the assigned car," and "load capacity of the assigned car") corresponds to the factor of "anger." How to calculate the correlation will be described later.

[0041] Fig. 3 shows an example of a combination of information in which the emotion in the user information indicates "anger" from among the combinations of the user information for each elevator user and various feature amounts. The information shown in Fig. 3 can be displayed on the screen of the information terminal 10A.

[0042] The table in Figure 3 shows various items such as "number," "date" and "time" indicating the date and time, "estimated age," "emotion," and "emotion value (%)" corresponding to user information, and "distance to assigned car (m)," "waiting time (seconds)," and "load capacity (%)" corresponding to various features.

[0043] The "number" indicates that the information is for each elevator user. The "date" and "time" indicate the date and time when the elevator user was detected from the image of one of the landing cameras 16a to 16c. The "estimated age" indicates the estimated age of the elevator user. The "emotion" indicates the judgment result of the elevator user's emotion ("anger" in this example). The "emotion value (%)" indicates the degree of emotion ("anger" in this example). The "emotion value (%)" is expressed as a value within the range of 0 to 100 (%), and the higher the value, the higher the degree of the emotion. The "distance to assigned car (m)" indicates the distance from the elevator user to the assigned car. The "waiting time (seconds)" indicates the waiting time from when the elevator user appears at the landing until the assigned car arrives at the landing. The "load (%)" indicates the load of the assigned car.

[0044] For example, if the feature that has the highest correlation with "anger" among "distance to the assigned car (m)," "waiting time (seconds)," and "load capacity (%)" is "distance from the elevator user to the assigned car," the factor determination unit 22e determines that "distance from the elevator user to the assigned car" corresponds to a factor of "anger."

[0045] The causes of anger may differ depending on the generation. For example, for older people who do not have the physical strength of younger people, the long distance to the assigned car may be a cause of anger. For younger people, a large load (i.e., crowded with many people on board) may be a cause of anger.

[0046] The user of the information terminal 10A can narrow down the search to a specific age group by operating the information terminal 10A, and obtain the result of the determination of the cause of "anger" of the specific age group. For example, when "50s" and "60s" are specified, the cause determination unit 22e determines the cause of "anger" for elevator users who belong to the "50s" and "60s" age groups (for example, only for information on "estimated age" of "60", "55", "65", and "50" in the table of FIG. 3).

[0047] The degree of correlation between the specific emotion "anger" and the "distance to assigned car," "waiting time," and "load capacity" in the table of Figure 3 can be determined using an index called the "correlation coefficient."

[0048] Figure 4 shows examples of correlation coefficient values ​​for "distance to assigned locomotive," "waiting time," and "load weight" for the emotion value of "anger" (=1). The correlation coefficient is a value between -1 and +1. A correlation coefficient value of 0 means that there is absolutely no correlation between the two. A correlation coefficient value of 1 means that there is a proportional relationship. A correlation coefficient value of -1 means that there is an inversely proportional relationship. A larger positive value means that the correlation is greater in the positive direction. A larger negative value means that the correlation is greater in the negative direction.

[0049] In the example of Figure 4, "distance to assigned car" has the largest correlation coefficient value with the emotion value of "anger" (i.e., the longer the distance from the elevator user to the assigned car, the greater the degree of "anger" tends to be). In this case, it can be determined that "distance to assigned car" is the cause of "anger."

[0050] FIG. 5 shows an example of a formula for calculating the correlation coefficient.

[0051] rxy on the left side of the arithmetic formula shown in Fig. 5 represents the correlation coefficient between x and y. In this case, x corresponds to the emotion value of "anger" in the table of Fig. 3, and y corresponds to "distance to assigned car", "waiting time", or "live load" in the table of Fig. 3. In other words, the arithmetic formula can be used to calculate the correlation coefficient representing the degree of correlation between the emotion value of "anger" and the "distance to assigned car", the correlation coefficient representing the degree of correlation between the emotion value of "anger" and the "waiting time", and the correlation coefficient representing the degree of correlation between the emotion value of "anger" and the "live load".

[0052] In the right side of the equation shown in Figure 5, the denominator indicates the product of the "standard deviation of each value of x" and the "standard deviation of each value of y", and the numerator indicates the "covariance between each value of x and each value of y". n indicates the number of target elevator users. xi and yi respectively indicate the data of the i-th elevator user. x and y with bars indicate the average of x and the average of y, respectively.

[0053] ·Improvement proposal support department 22f The improvement proposal support unit 22f presents an improvement measure for elevator operation to the user of the information terminal 10A based on the result of the factor determination by the factor determination unit 22e. The user of the information terminal 10A can complete an improvement proposal for the customer by operating the information terminal 10A and editing the information of the improvement measure presented by the improvement proposal support unit 22f through the screen as necessary. The user information management device 22 or the server 30 provides the information terminal 10A with an application that realizes a UI that can display the information of the improvement measure presented by the improvement proposal support unit 22f on the screen of the information terminal 10A and edit the information of the improvement measure on the screen.

[0054] In addition, the improvement proposal support unit 22f can instruct the operation control unit 23 to carry out operation based on the improvement proposal that has been approved by the customer.

[0055] FIG. 6 shows an example of a screen displaying information including the improvement measures presented by the improvement proposal support unit 22f.

[0056] The example screen in Figure 6 displays the building name, the verification period, and information on the two improvement measures. The information on the two improvement measures includes items such as "detected user dissatisfaction phenomenon," "cause," and "improvement measures," along with the corresponding specific content.

[0057] In the information on the first improvement measure, the content of the "detected user dissatisfaction phenomenon" is described as "dissatisfaction detected from people in their 50s to 60s." The content of the "cause" is described as "estimated dissatisfaction due to the long distance to the assigned elevator." The content of this "cause" is based on the result of the cause determination of "anger" performed by the cause determination unit 22e on elevator users whose "estimated age" is in the 50s to 60s, and means that the "distance to the assigned elevator" in FIG. 3 described above showed the highest correlation coefficient. Here, it may be simply displayed as "the distance to the assigned elevator is long." In that case, the user of the information terminal 10A may edit the message by adding words as necessary.

[0058] The content of the "improvement measure" is described as "When allocating elevators to people in their 50s to 60s, prioritize the elevator closest to the user by using the XX operation." At least a major part of the content of this "improvement measure," "prioritize allocation of elevators to the closest user," at least a major part of the content of the above-mentioned "cause," "the distance to the assigned elevator is long," and the "distance to the assigned elevator" in FIG. 3 described above are stored as pre-associated information in a database in the storage device of the server 30. Therefore, the improvement proposal support unit 22f is capable of presenting the contents of the above-mentioned "cause" and "improvement measure" based on the information in this database.

[0059] In the information on the second improvement measure, the content of the "detected user dissatisfaction phenomenon" is described as "dissatisfaction detected from people in their teens to their twenties." The content of the "cause" is described as "estimated to be due to congestion in the assigned elevator." The content of this "cause" is based on the result of the cause determination of "anger" performed by the cause determination unit 22e on elevator users whose "estimated age" is in their teens to twenties, and it means that the "load" in FIG. 3 mentioned above showed the highest correlation coefficient. Here, it may be simply displayed as "the assigned elevator is crowded." In that case, the user of the information terminal 10A may edit the message by adding words as necessary.

[0060] The content of the "improvement measure" is described as "When assigning elevators to people in their teens and twenties, prioritize the elevator with a lower car load value for the designated age group by XX operation." At least a major part of the content of this "improvement measure," "prioritize the elevator with a lower car load value," at least a major part of the content of the above-mentioned "cause," "the assigned elevator is crowded," and the above-mentioned "live load" in FIG. 3 are stored as pre-associated information in a database in the storage device of the server 30. Therefore, the improvement proposal support unit 22f is capable of presenting the contents of the above-mentioned "cause" and "improvement measure" based on the information in this database.

[0061] When a user of information terminal 10A completes a proposal for improving elevator operation using information such as that shown on the screen of Figure 6, the user transmits the data for the proposal for improving elevator operation from information terminal 10A to information terminal 10B of the owner or manager of the building in which the elevator is installed, or to a designated server, etc.

[0062] <Example of operation> An example of the operation of the user information management device 22 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

[0063] First, in step S11 of FIG. 7, based on images from a camera installed at each elevator hall, the user information management device 22 determines, at regular intervals, the waiting time of the elevator user shown in the image (the time elapsed since the elevator user appeared at the elevator hall), the emotions of the elevator user (type and degree of emotion), estimated age, the distance from the elevator user to the assigned elevator car, etc.

[0064] Next, in step S12, the user information management device 22 judges whether or not the elevator (assigned elevator) responded to a call from any of the halls. If not (NO in step S12), the process from step S11 is repeated. If it is (YES in step S12), the process proceeds to step S13.

[0065] Next, in step S13, the user information management device 22 acquires information about the elevator (various features) at the time the assigned car responded, such as the "distance from the elevator user to the assigned car," "the elevator user's waiting time for the assigned car (the waiting time from when the elevator user appears at the landing until the assigned car arrives at that landing)," and "the load capacity of the assigned car," and stores this in a storage device together with date and time information.

[0066] In step S14, the user information management device 22 acquires information (user information) about the corresponding elevator user when the assigned elevator responds, such as the emotion of the elevator user (e.g., the emotion value of "anger"), estimated age, etc., and stores them in the storage device together with date and time information. This user information is stored in combination with various corresponding feature amounts for each elevator user.

[0067] The processes in steps S11 to S14 are repeated.

[0068] In step S21 of FIG. 8, the user information management device 22 acquires combinations of user information and various feature amounts for a certain period of time stored in the storage device when an improvement proposal needs to be made or at an appropriate time.

[0069] Next, in step S22, the user information management device 22 extracts combinations of information in which the emotion determination in the user information is "anger" from among combinations of the user information and various feature amounts.

[0070] Next, in step S23, based on the combination of extracted information, the user information management device 22 determines that, among the various features, the feature having the highest correlation with "anger" (for example, any one of "the distance from the elevator user to the assigned car," "the elevator user's waiting time for the assigned car," and "the load capacity of the assigned car") corresponds to a cause of "anger."

[0071] Next, in step S24, the user information management device 22 supports the user of the information terminal 10A in creating an improvement proposal that takes into account the cause of "anger" based on the result of the cause determination. For example, information including improvement measures for elevator operation as shown in Fig. 6 is displayed on the screen of the information terminal 10A. The user of the information terminal 10A completes the improvement proposal for the customer by editing the information on the improvement measures as necessary.

[0072] Finally, in step S25, the information terminal 10A outputs information on the improvement proposal in response to an operation by the user. For example, the information terminal 10A transmits the information to the information terminal 10B of the building owner or manager or a designated server.

[0073] In this way, according to the embodiment, it is possible to present improvement measures for operation that take into consideration the feelings of elevator users.

[0074] <Modification> Below, some variations of the above-described embodiment will be described.

[0075] - Accommodating elevator users with children, wheelchairs, or walking sticks The image analysis unit 22a may be configured to be able to identify elevator users with children, elevator users in wheelchairs, and elevator users with canes that appear in the image. In this case, the improvement proposal support unit 22f may be configured to further present improvement measures for elevator operation, such as improvement measures for elevator operation (for example, "When assigning elevators to people with children, people in wheelchairs, or people with canes, use XX operation to assign elevators with priority to cars for predetermined priority users" for elevator users with children, elevator users in wheelchairs, and elevator users with canes.

[0076] By configuring in this way, it is possible to present improvement measures for elevator operation that take into consideration the feelings of elevator users with children, elevator users in wheelchairs, and elevator users with canes.

[0077] - Dealing with angry elevator users when they arrive at the landing Elevator users whose level of anger is already at or above a predetermined value when they arrive at the elevator landing are not angry due to the operation of the elevator, and such elevator user information is excluded from processing.

[0078] By configuring in this way, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the cause determination and the reliability of the proposed improvement measures.

[0079] -Responding to elevator users who show happy emotions When an elevator user showing "joy" (pleasure) is detected at a certain landing, if an elevator user showing "anger" is detected at another landing, for example, an operation improvement measure may be presented, such as lowering the priority of dispatching elevator users showing "joy" while increasing the priority of dispatching elevator users showing "anger". Also, an operation improvement measure may be presented, such as dispatching elevator users showing "joy" to a car in which an elevator user showing "anger" is boarding.

[0080] By configuring in this way, it is possible to further reduce the anger of elevator users who show the emotion of "anger" and to soothe their feelings. [Explanation of symbols]

[0081] 10A, 10B...information terminal, 11a to 11c...elevator control devices, 12a to 12c...cars, 14...landing (elevator hall), 15...landing call registration device, 16a to 16c...cameras (imaging devices), 17a to 17c...landing doors, 18a to 18c...cameras (imaging devices), 20...group management control device, 21...call memory unit, 22...user information management device, 22a...image analysis unit, 22b...information collection unit, 22c...situation determination unit, 22d...information storage unit, 22e...factor determination unit, 22f...improvement proposal support unit, 23...operation control unit, 30...server.

Claims

1. an image analysis unit that analyzes an image captured by a camera installed at the elevator hall or inside the elevator car and determines at least an emotion of each elevator user shown in the image; an information storage unit that stores the determination result of the image analysis unit and various feature amounts indicating the corresponding elevator status in a storage device for each elevator user; a factor determining unit that determines a factor of a specific emotion based on a combination of the determination result and the various feature amounts stored for each elevator user in the storage device; an improvement proposal support unit that presents an improvement measure for elevator operation to a user of the information terminal based on a determination result of the factor determination unit; An elevator system comprising:

2. The specific emotion is anger or a negative emotion.

10. The elevator system of claim 1.

3. The image analysis unit further determines a degree of the specific emotion from the image of the elevator user.

10. The elevator system of claim 1.

4. Each of the various features is information that may be a factor of the specific emotion.

10. The elevator system of claim 1.

5. The various features include a distance from an elevator user to an assigned car, a waiting time of the elevator user to the assigned car, or a load of the assigned car.

5. The elevator system of claim 4.

6. the factor determination unit determines that a feature amount having a highest correlation with the specific emotion among the various feature amounts corresponds to a factor of the specific emotion; An elevator system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The image analysis unit further determines an estimated age of the elevator user.

10. The elevator system of claim 1.

8. The factor determination unit determines a factor of the specific emotion for elevator users belonging to a specific age group using the determination result of the estimated age, The improvement proposal support unit presents improvement measures for elevator operation to users of the information terminal, the improvement measures being targeted at elevator users belonging to the specific age group.

8. The elevator system of claim 7.

9. The image analysis unit identifies elevator users with children, elevator users in wheelchairs, or elevator users with canes in the images, the improvement proposal support unit presents improvement measures for elevator operation to a user of the information terminal, the elevator user with a child, the elevator user in a wheelchair, or the elevator user with a cane; 10. The elevator system of claim 1.

10. an image analysis unit that analyzes an image captured by a camera installed in the elevator hall or inside the elevator car and determines at least an emotion of each elevator user shown in the image; storing, by an information storage unit, the determination result of the image analysis unit and various feature amounts indicating the corresponding elevator status in a storage device for each elevator user; A factor determining unit determines a factor of a specific emotion based on a combination of the determination result and the various feature amounts stored in the storage device for each elevator user; presenting an improvement plan for elevator operation to a user of the information terminal based on a determination result by the cause determination unit by an improvement proposal support unit; How to provide information, including:

Images