WAITING TIME ESTIMATION DEVICE, WAITING TIME ESTIMATION METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM

Abstract

To provide a computer program, a waiting time estimation method, and a waiting time estimation device for improving estimation accuracy of a waiting time of a queue.SOLUTION: A waiting time estimation device includes: an acquisition unit which acquires, from captured images of people in a queue, as attribute information, at least one piece of information out of the behaviors of the people in the queue, the types of the belongings, the facial expressions, and information as to whether or not any groups have been formed; an estimation unit which estimates, as a waiting time in the queue, the time obtained by modifying a standard waiting time in the queue through the use of an adjustment time set on the basis of the attribute information; and an output unit which outputs the estimated waiting time of the queue toward an announcement device that announces the waiting time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for estimating queue waiting times. [Background technology]

[0002] Long queues can lead to dissatisfaction among users. For this reason, measures to alleviate dissatisfaction among users may be taken by estimating the waiting time of the queue and presenting the estimated waiting time information to users.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for calculating the waiting time of customers waiting in line at an automated transaction device based on the gender and age of the customers. Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for calculating the length of a queue and calculating the waiting time of the queue based on the calculated queue length. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-133372 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2007-317052 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] In the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, the transaction time required for a customer to operate an automated transaction device is calculated based on the combination of the age and gender of the customer in the queue, and the waiting time for the queue is calculated by adding up the transaction times of all the customers in the queue.

[0006] However, even if people of the same age and sex have the same transaction time, some people are quick to operate the automated teller machine, while others have difficulty, and the expected transaction time for people of the same age and sex is wide. For this reason, there is a concern that the difference between the queue waiting time calculated using the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 and the actual queue waiting time may be large. Similarly, with regard to Patent Document 2, even if the queue length is the same, the actual queue waiting time may not be the same, and there is a concern that the difference between the calculated queue waiting time and the actual queue waiting time may be large.

[0007] The present invention has been made to solve the above problems. That is, a main object of the present invention is to provide a technique for improving the accuracy of estimating a queue waiting time. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, a waiting time estimation device according to the present invention includes, as one aspect thereof, an acquisition unit that acquires, from a captured image of people waiting in line, at least one piece of information regarding the people waiting in line, including details of their behavior, types of accessories, facial expressions, and information regarding whether or not they form a group, as attribute information; an estimation unit that estimates, as the waiting time when lining up in the queue, a time obtained by adjusting a standard waiting time when lining up in the queue using an adjustment time that is set based on the attribute information; an output unit that outputs the estimated waiting time of the queue to a notification device that notifies the waiting time; Equipped with.

[0009] As one aspect of the waiting time notification system according to the present invention, A waiting time estimation device as described above, an image capturing device that provides the captured image to the waiting time estimation device; a notification device that notifies the waiting time estimated by the waiting time estimation device; Equipped with.

[0010] In one aspect, the waiting time estimation method according to the present invention includes: acquiring, from a captured image of people waiting in line, at least one piece of information related to the people waiting in line, including details of their actions, types of accessories, facial expressions, and information on whether or not they form a group, as attribute information; a time adjusted by using an adjustment time set based on the attribute information to obtain a standard waiting time when lining up in the queue, the time being estimated as the waiting time when lining up in the queue; The estimated waiting time of the queue is output to a notification device that notifies the waiting time.

[0011] A program storage medium according to the present invention includes, as one aspect thereof: A process of acquiring, from a photographed image of people waiting in a queue, at least one piece of information regarding the people waiting in a queue, including details of the actions of the people, types of accessories, facial expressions, and information regarding whether the people are in a group, as attribute information; a process of estimating a standard waiting time when lining up in the queue by adjusting the standard waiting time when lining up in the queue using an adjustment time set based on the attribute information, as the waiting time when lining up in the queue; outputting the estimated waiting time of the queue to a notification device that notifies the waiting time; The computer program for causing a computer to execute the above is stored. Effect of the Invention

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the accuracy of estimating the waiting time of a queue. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a waiting time notification system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a waiting time estimation device constituting a waiting time notification system of a first embodiment. [Diagram 3]11 is a diagram showing a specific example of attribute information and adjustment time. FIG. [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the waiting time estimation device according to the first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating functions of a waiting time estimation device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a waiting time notification system according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a waiting time estimation device according to a third embodiment. [Figure 8] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the waiting time estimation device according to the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] First Embodiment 1 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a waiting time notification system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The waiting time notification system 1 of the first embodiment is a system that notifies a user of a waiting time when standing in a queue 7 (when the user reaches the end of the queue 7). In the first embodiment, the queue 7 is assumed to be a queue that is generated when people line up at an inspection counter 8 at an immigration gate (immigration) at an airport.

[0016] The waiting time notification system 1 of the first embodiment includes a waiting time estimation device 3, a photographing device 4, and a notification device 5. The photographing device 4 is, for example, a video camera, and has a function of generating a moving image using visible light and outputting an image obtained by photographing (photographed image). In the first embodiment, the photographing device 4 is a photographing device that photographs a queue that occurs at an inspection counter 8 of an immigration inspection gate. When there is one inspection counter 8, the photographing device 4 is installed in a position where it can photograph the entire queue that is expected to occur at the inspection counter 8 while taking into consideration the field of view of the photographing device 4. When multiple inspection counters 8 are arranged side by side, multiple photographing devices 4 corresponding to each of the multiple inspection counters 8 are each installed in a position where it can photograph the entire queue that is expected to occur at the corresponding inspection counter 8. Alternatively, when multiple inspection counters 8 are arranged side by side, the lined-up inspection counters 8 are divided into multiple sections, and multiple photographing devices 4 corresponding to each section are installed in a position where it can photograph the entire queue that is expected to occur at the inspection counter 8 of the corresponding section. Alternatively, when multiple inspection windows 8 are arranged side by side, a camera 4 common to all of the inspection windows 8 is installed in a position where it can photograph the entire queue that is expected to form at all of the inspection windows 8.

[0017] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the photographing device 4 has a zoom function, a pan function, and a tilt function to capture a close-up image of people waiting in line. The zoom performance of the photographing device 4 is assumed to satisfy requirements determined in consideration of the processing related to the captured image executed by the waiting time estimation device 3. The movable range of the movable part that realizes the pan function and tilt function of the photographing device 4 is a range in which the photographing range can be moved from the head of the line to the expected end of the line while capturing an image of people waiting in line in a predefined enlarged state by the zoom function.

[0018] As described above, the photographing operation of the photographing device 4 includes an overall photographing operation for photographing the entire queue, and an individual photographing operation for photographing people in a queue by moving the photographing range from the front of the queue to the rear. Such photographing operation of the photographing device 4 is controlled by, for example, the waiting time estimation device 3. Information used to control the photographing operation of the photographing device 4 includes, for example, information on the length of the period during which the overall photographing operation is performed and the period during which the individual photographing operation is performed. In addition, information used to control the photographing operation of the photographing device 4 includes information on the number of times that the moving photographing operation is repeated, in which the photographing range is moved from the front of the queue to the rear during the period during which the individual photographing operation is performed. Such information used for photographing control is appropriately set in consideration of the processing related to the photographed image by the waiting time estimation device 3. There are various methods for controlling the photographing operation of the photographing device 4, and any method may be adopted here, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0019] In the above example, the camera 4 has a function of photographing the entire queue and a function of photographing the people waiting in line in a magnified manner. However, depending on the performance of the device and the expected length of the queue, it may be difficult to provide both functions to one camera. In such a case, the waiting time notification system 1 may be provided with two types of camera devices: one that photographs the entire queue and one that photographs the people waiting in line in a magnified manner. In this case, the two types of camera devices are referred to as the camera 4 without distinction.

[0020] The photographing device 4 is connected to the waiting time estimation device 3, and an image captured by the photographing device 4 is output in real time to the waiting time estimation device 3. The photographed image output from the photographing device 4 to the waiting time estimation device 3 is associated with, for example, information on the photographing time, information indicating the photographing position (such as identification information for identifying the photographing device 4), and information indicating whether the photographing was performed by a whole photographing operation or an individual photographing operation.

[0021] The waiting time estimation device 3 is configured, for example, by a computer device (server), and has a function of estimating the waiting time of a queue by using a captured image when the captured image is received from the photographing device 4. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the waiting time estimation device 3. The waiting time estimation device 3 includes a calculation device 10 and a storage device 11. The storage device 11 is a storage medium that stores data and a computer program (hereinafter also referred to as a program) 12. There are various types of storage media, and the storage device 11 may be configured by any of the storage media. The waiting time estimation device 3 may also be provided with multiple types of storage media, in which case the multiple types of storage media will be collectively represented as the storage device 11. A description of the configuration and operation of the storage device 11 will be omitted.

[0022] The arithmetic device 10 includes a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The processor can have various functions based on a program stored in the storage device 11 by reading and executing the program. For example, in the first embodiment, the arithmetic device 10 includes functional units such as a detection unit 21, a standard time calculation unit 22, an acquisition unit 23, an estimation unit 24, and an output unit 25.

[0023] The detection unit 21 has a function of detecting the queue and the number of people waiting in the queue or a value corresponding to the number of people as a detected number of people from a captured image in which the entire queue is captured. When multiple examination counters 8 are installed side by side and multiple queues are formed, the detection unit 21 detects each queue and the detected number of people for each queue. An example of a value corresponding to the number of people as the detected number of people is the area (or number of pixels) that the queue occupies in the image.

[0024] The above-mentioned detection operation of the detection unit 21 is executed at preset time intervals. Note that the method of detecting a queue from a captured image and the method of detecting the number of people in the queue (the number of people or a value corresponding to the number of people) are not limited here. These detection methods are appropriately set in consideration of various factors such as the location where the queue occurs (the background shown in the captured image) and the resolution of the captured image, and a description thereof will be omitted.

[0025] The information on the number of people in a queue detected by the detection unit 21 is associated with, for example, information identifying the captured image from which the information was detected (image identification information (e.g., information on the time of capture or the frame image number)) and information identifying the queue (queue identification information). As the information identifying the queue, for example, information identifying the examination counter 8 at the origin of the queue is used.

[0026] The standard time calculation unit 22 has a function of calculating a standard waiting time when queuing (when joining the end of the queue) as a standard waiting time by using the number of people detected by the detection unit 21 and the standard time data stored in advance in the storage device 11. The standard time data is data that indicates a standard waiting time when queuing in a queue where the detected number of people are lined up, and is data in which the detected number of people and the standard waiting time are associated. For example, if the number of people lined up in a queue (detected number of people) is 8 and the standard waiting time is 32 minutes, the standard time data includes data in which the detected number of people "8 people" (or a value corresponding to 8 people) and the standard waiting time "32 minutes" are associated. The standard time data is data that is generated based on a large amount of data on actual waiting times when queuing in a queue where the detected number of people are lined up, for example.

[0027] The information on the standard waiting time calculated by the standard time calculation unit 22 is associated with information associated with the information on the number of detected people used for the calculation, that is, the image identification information and the queue identification information.

[0028] The acquisition unit 23 has a function of detecting people waiting in a queue from a captured image in which the people are captured (in the first embodiment, an image captured by an individual capturing operation of the photographing device 4). Information identifying a person detected by this function is associated with information identifying the captured image in which the information is detected (image identification information) and identification information of the queue in which the detected people are waiting (queue identification information).

[0029] Furthermore, the acquisition unit 23 has a function of acquiring attribute information about each person in the queue. The attribute information here is information that represents the characteristics of the people in the queue, and that represents the characteristics related to the time required for the service at the inspection counter 8. For example, as people get older, the time required for the service at the inspection counter 8 tends to become longer. Therefore, age is considered to be one of the attribute information. In addition, if a person looks around anxiously, it is considered that the person is unfamiliar with immigration inspection, and such an unfamiliar person tends to take a long time to pass through immigration at the inspection counter 8. As a result, it is assumed that the content of the behavior and the facial expression are related to the time required for the service at the inspection counter 8, and therefore the content of the behavior and the facial expression are each considered to be attribute information.

[0030] Also, since it is assumed that the accessories of people waiting in line are related to the time it takes to be served at inspection counter 8, such as people with walking sticks or strollers, the accessories can also be considered to be a type of attribute information. Furthermore, in the case of groups such as families or people on school trips, the time it takes per person to be served at inspection counter 8 tends to be shorter, and information on whether or not people waiting in line are part of a group can also be considered to be a type of attribute information.

[0031] As described above, there are several types of attribute information that the acquisition unit 23 acquires from the image captured by the image capture device 4, and appropriate information related to the progress of people in the queue from the front of the queue is set as the attribute information. However, the attribute information here includes at least one of the following information: the content of the actions of people in the queue, the type of accessories, facial expressions, and information on whether or not they form a group. Also, attribute information is not necessarily acquired for all people in the queue.

[0032] In addition, the methods by which the acquisition unit 23 acquires attribute information from a captured image, such as a method for detecting a person's facial expression from a captured image, a method for detecting a person's accessories, a method for detecting the content of a person's behavior, or a method for determining whether or not a group is present, are not limited here, and a description thereof will be omitted.

[0033] The attribute information acquired by the acquisition unit 23 is associated with information identifying a person corresponding to the attribute information. That is, the attribute information acquired by the acquisition unit 23 is associated with information identifying a person in data in which the image identification information, the information identifying the queue (information identifying the examination counter 8), and the information identifying the people waiting in the queue are associated with each other.

[0034] Furthermore, an infrared camera 6 as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 2 may be installed in the same manner as the photographing device 4, and the acquiring unit 23 may also have a function of acquiring attribute information of people waiting in line from an image photographed by the infrared camera 6. That is, the infrared camera 6 has a function of photographing people waiting in line for which a waiting time is to be estimated using infrared rays and outputting the infrared image as a photographed image. The infrared image taken by the infrared camera 6 includes information on heat emitted by people. The infrared camera 6 is connected to the waiting time estimation device 3, and the infrared image taken by the infrared camera 6 is output to the waiting time estimation device 3.

[0035] In this way, when the waiting time estimation device 3 receives an infrared image, the acquisition unit 23 has a function of detecting people who are emitting a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined body temperature (e.g., 37.5 degrees) from among people captured in the infrared image. The method of detecting such people with a fever from the infrared image, for example, by using infrared frequency, is not limited, and a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0036] The acquisition unit 23 has a function of acquiring, when a person with a fever as described above is detected, information indicating that the person has a fever as attribute information.

[0037] FIG. 3 shows a specific example of attribute information acquired by the acquisition unit 23. The attribute information in FIG. 3, "Standing in a queue for non-ESTA applicants despite having stopped at an ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) processing machine" is a specific example of attribute information related to an immigration gate in the United States. The attribute information "wanted criminal" is information indicating that the person is a wanted criminal, and when acquiring this attribute information, the waiting time estimation device 3 has a function of, for example, periodically acquiring and updating data of a facial photograph of the wanted criminal from the National Police Agency. Furthermore, the acquisition unit 23 has a function of extracting features of the person standing in line and collating the extracted facial features with facial features extracted from the facial photograph of the wanted criminal to determine whether the person standing in line is a wanted criminal or not. Furthermore, when the acquisition unit 23 detects a wanted criminal, it not only associates the attribute information "wanted criminal" with the identification information of the person detected as a wanted criminal, but also has a function of reporting the detection of the wanted criminal to a predetermined reporting device. As an example of the reporting device, a monitoring device (desktop computer device, mobile terminal, etc.) used by a surveillance officer monitoring the airport may be made to function as the reporting device.

[0038] The acquisition operation of the acquisition unit 23 may have pause periods. For example, when it is determined that there is almost no queue or that the queue is short by using information on the detection result by the detection unit 21, the acquisition unit 23 may pause the acquisition operation. In this way, by pausing the acquisition unit 23, the load on the waiting time estimation device (server) 3 can be reduced.

[0039] The estimation unit 24 has a function of estimating a time changed from the standard waiting time when queuing up using an adjustment time calculated based on attribute information as the waiting time when queuing up. For example, when the acquisition unit 23 acquires attribute information from the captured image, the estimation unit 24 compares the attribute information with adjustment time data in which attribute information and adjustment time information are associated as shown in FIG. 3. That is, since it is assumed that the time required for serving at the examination window 8 varies depending on the attributes of the people in the queue, it is preferable to change the standard waiting time using a time according to the attributes of the people in the queue in order to improve the accuracy of estimating the waiting time of the queue. In consideration of this, it is assumed here that the standard waiting time is changed using a time according to the attributes of the people in the queue. The adjustment time is a time used to change the standard waiting time, and is a time that is set in advance according to the attributes of the people in the queue.

[0040] The estimation unit 24 obtains information on the adjustment time associated with the attribute information by collating the attribute information with the adjustment time data. When there is a plurality of pieces of attribute information associated with the same queue, the estimation unit 24 obtains information on the adjustment time associated with each piece of attribute information from the adjustment time data. In addition, the estimation unit 24 obtains information on the standard waiting time by the detection unit 21 and the standard time calculation unit 22 using one of the captured images of the entire queue captured within a predetermined time range including the capture time of the captured image used to obtain the attribute information.

[0041] Furthermore, the estimation unit 24 estimates, as the waiting time of the queue, the time obtained by adding the adjustment time to the acquired standard waiting time. Specifically, for example, when "32 minutes" is calculated as the standard waiting time and "-1 minute" is acquired as the adjustment time, the estimation unit 24 estimates "31 minutes", which is obtained by adding the adjustment time "-1 minute" to the standard waiting time "32 minutes", as the waiting time of the queue. When there are a plurality of adjustment times for the same queue, all of those adjustment times are added to the standard waiting time.

[0042] The output unit 25 has a function of outputting, toward the notification device 5, the information on the waiting time of the queue estimated by the estimation unit 24.

[0043] The notification device 5 is a device that notifies the waiting time of the queue estimated by the waiting time estimation device 3. The notification device 5 is, for example, a display device and is installed at a position where it is easily visible to the people standing in the queue. When it is assumed that a plurality of queues occur, a plurality of notification devices 5 corresponding to those respective queues may be installed, or a notification device 5 that collectively displays the information on the waiting times of those queues may be installed. Also, for example, a speaker that audibly notifies the information on the waiting time of the queue may be installed as the notification device 5.

[0044] An example of the operation related to the estimation and notification of the waiting time of the queue in the waiting time estimation device 3 will be described below using the flowchart of FIG. 4.

[0045] For example, the waiting time estimation device 3 receives a photographed image obtained by the overall photographing operation from the photographing device 4 (step S101). The detection unit 21 of the arithmetic device 10 detects, from the photographed image, the number of people standing in the queue or a value corresponding to the number of people as the detected number of people (step S102). Then, the standard time calculation unit 22 calculates the standard waiting time of the queue corresponding to the detected number of people (step S103).

[0046] On the other hand, when the waiting time estimation device 3 receives an image captured by an individual photographing operation from the photographing device 4 following the image captured by the whole photographing operation, the acquisition unit 23 of the calculation device 10 acquires attribute information on people waiting in line (step S104). Furthermore, the estimation unit 24 acquires information on an adjustment time associated with the attribute information from the adjustment time data (step S105). Furthermore, the estimation unit 24 adds the acquired adjustment time and the standard waiting time of the queue calculated by the standard time calculation unit 22, thereby estimating the time adjusted for the standard waiting time as the waiting time of the queue (step S106).

[0047] Thereafter, the output unit 25 outputs the estimated waiting time to the notification device 5 (step S107). The series of operations from step S101 to step S107 as described above is repeatedly executed at a preset timing (for example, at every preset time interval).

[0048] The waiting time notification system 1 and the waiting time estimation device 3 of the first embodiment have the above-mentioned configuration. That is, the waiting time estimation device 3 adjusts the standard waiting time using the number of people in line (number of people) or the detected number of people, which is a value corresponding to the number of people in line, with an adjustment time according to the attribute information of the people in line, and outputs the adjusted time as the waiting time of the queue. The attribute information of the people used to adjust the waiting time includes at least one of information on the content of the behavior, the type of accessory, facial expression, and information on whether or not the people form a group. The content of the behavior, the type of accessory, facial expression, and whether or not the people form a group are information effective for estimating the speed of the movement of the people related to the matter that is the source of the queue. Acquiring such information as attribute information and estimating the waiting time by adjusting the standard waiting time with an adjustment time according to the attribute information can improve the estimation accuracy of the waiting time compared to the case where the waiting time is simply estimated based on the detected number of people in the queue.

[0049] <Second embodiment> A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In the description of the second embodiment, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same components as those in the waiting time notification system and waiting time estimation device of the first embodiment, and the description of the common components will be omitted.

[0050] The waiting time notification system of the second embodiment includes a configuration that enables information on queue waiting times to be notified to mobile terminals in addition to the configuration of the waiting time notification system 1 of the first embodiment. That is, in the waiting time notification system 1 of the second embodiment, the calculation device 10 of the waiting time estimation device 3 includes a distribution unit 26, as shown in Fig. 5. Note that in Fig. 5, the storage device 11, and the detection unit 21, standard time calculation unit 22, and acquisition unit 23 of the calculation device 10 in the waiting time estimation device 3 shown in Fig. 2 are omitted.

[0051] In the second embodiment, the information on the queue waiting time obtained by the estimation unit 24 is output from the output unit 25 to the notification device 5, similarly to the first embodiment.

[0052] Meanwhile, the distribution unit 26 has a function of distributing the information on the queue waiting time obtained by the estimation unit 24 to the mobile terminal 15. The mobile terminal 15 is, for example, a terminal carried by a support staff member who maintains the queue, and includes a display device and a speaker for reporting information.

[0053] Furthermore, the distribution unit 26 has a function of distributing an application (app) 18 for endowing the mobile terminal 15 with a function of receiving such information on the queue waiting time from the waiting time estimation device 3 and outputting the received information on a display screen or the like. The mobile terminal 15 to which information is distributed from the distribution unit 26 is a terminal in which the app 18 from the distribution unit 26 is installed. In other words, the mobile terminal 15 has an arithmetic device 16 including a processor such as a CPU, and a storage device 17, and the arithmetic device 16 executes the app 18 stored in the storage device 17 to receive information on the queue waiting time from the distribution unit 26 and notify the received information.

[0054] The waiting time notification system 1 of the second embodiment has a configuration similar to that of the waiting time notification system 1 of the first embodiment, and can therefore obtain the same effects as the waiting time notification system 1 of the first embodiment. Furthermore, the waiting time notification system 1 of the second embodiment also has a configuration for distributing information about the waiting time in the queue to the mobile terminal 15, and therefore the information about the waiting time in the queue can also be notified from the mobile terminal 15, thereby improving the convenience of the system.

[0055] Furthermore, in the waiting time notification system 1 of the second embodiment, in a place where multiple queues are generated, the support personnel who maintain the queues can know the waiting time of each queue by using the mobile terminal 15. This makes it easy for the support personnel to guide people who will be waiting in queue or who are waiting in queue so that the waiting times of the multiple queues are similar. It is expected that the similarity of the waiting times of the multiple queues will reduce the dissatisfaction of the people waiting in queues compared to a case where the waiting times of the multiple queues vary.

[0056] In the second embodiment, the distribution unit 26 distributes information on the waiting time of the queue by the estimation unit 24 to the mobile terminal 15. In addition, the waiting time estimation device 3 may further include a configuration for notifying the mobile terminal 15 that a person who needs support is waiting in the queue. That is, here, as attribute information of the person waiting in the queue, attribute information representing the characteristics of the person who is assumed to need support (for example, old age, wheelchair or cane as an accessory) is set as attribute information of the person who needs support. When the acquisition unit 23 acquires attribute information of the person who needs support as attribute information of the person who is waiting in the queue, the acquisition unit 23 associates the attribute information of the person who needs support with information identifying the person corresponding to the attribute information and information identifying the queue. The distribution unit 26 outputs the associated information to the mobile terminal 15. In the mobile terminal 15, the calculation device 16 based on the application 18 notifies the information of the person who needs support.

[0057] In the first and second embodiments, the configurations and operations of the waiting time notification system and the waiting time estimation device are described assuming that the queue is a queue that occurs at the inspection counter of the immigration gate, but the queue is not limited to a queue that occurs at the inspection counter of the immigration gate. In other words, the waiting time notification system and the waiting time estimation device in the first and second embodiments can be applied to estimating and notifying the waiting time of queues other than those that occur at the inspection counter of the immigration gate. In addition, for example, if a device that calculates a standard waiting time for queuing based on the number of people in the queue counted by a support staff member who maintains the queue is provided separately from the waiting time estimation device, the waiting time estimation device may obtain the standard waiting time from the device. In this case, the waiting time estimation device may omit the detection unit and the standard time calculation unit. In addition, the waiting time estimation device estimates the waiting time of the queue by adjusting the obtained information on the standard waiting time using attribute information obtained from the captured image by the acquisition unit.

[0058] In the first and second embodiments, the photographing device 4 is installed so as to photograph the entire queue that is expected to occur at the examination window 8, and is equipped with a zoom function or the like to photograph people waiting in line in a magnified manner. Alternatively, for example, a configuration may be adopted in which multiple photographing devices 4 are installed so as to photograph different parts of one queue that is expected to occur at the examination window 8, and the entire queue is photographed by the multiple photographing devices 4. In this case, the waiting time estimation device 3 has a function of obtaining a photographed image of the entire queue by synthesizing photographed images output from the multiple photographing devices 4 that photograph different parts of one queue. Furthermore, the detection unit 21 detects the queue and the number of people waiting in the queue or a value corresponding to the number of people as the detected number of people from the photographed image of the entire queue obtained by such synthesis. Furthermore, the acquisition unit 23 detects people waiting in the queue from the photographed image obtained by such synthesis, and further acquires attribute information of the detected people. As described above, by configuring a queue to capture images of different locations using multiple camera devices 4, it is possible to capture images of people in the queue clearly enough to obtain attribute information such as their facial expressions, even if the camera devices 4 do not have a zoom function. This type of configuration is also effective in cases where it is assumed that one camera device 4 cannot capture an image of the entire queue.

[0059] <Third embodiment> A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

[0060] 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a waiting time notification system according to the third embodiment. The waiting time notification system 30 is a system that estimates the waiting time when a user joins a queue (when the user reaches the end of the queue) and notifies the user of the estimated waiting time. The waiting time notification system 30 includes a photographing device 31, a waiting time estimation device 32, and a notification device 33.

[0061] The photographing device 31 is installed in a position where it can photograph people waiting in the queue for which the waiting time is to be estimated, and has a function of photographing the people waiting in the queue and outputting the photographed image of the people. A specific example of the photographing device 31 is a video camera.

[0062] The waiting time estimation device 32 is configured by, for example, a computer device. Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the waiting time estimation device 32. The waiting time estimation device 32 includes an acquisition unit 35, an estimation unit 36, and an output unit 37 as functional units.

[0063] The acquisition unit 35 has a function of acquiring at least one of the following information as attribute information from the captured image received from the photographing device 31: the content of the behavior of people waiting in line, the type of accessories, facial expression, and information on whether they are part of a group.

[0064] The estimation unit 36 ​​has a function of estimating a standard waiting time when queuing by adjusting the time using an adjustment time set based on attribute information as the waiting time when queuing.

[0065] The output unit 37 has a function of outputting the estimated queue waiting time to the notification device 33.

[0066] The notification device 33 is a device that notifies information about the waiting time of the queue estimated by the waiting time estimation device 32. The notification device 33 is installed, for example, in a position where it can notify people who are about to join the queue. The notification device 33 is composed of, for example, a display device that visually notifies people of the waiting time, or a speaker that audibly notifies people of the waiting time.

[0067] The waiting time notification system and waiting time estimation device of the third embodiment are configured as described above. Next, an example of the operation related to the estimation and output of the waiting time in the waiting time estimation device 32 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0068] For example, when the waiting time estimation device 32 receives a photographed image of people waiting in line from the photographing device 31, the acquisition unit 35 acquires attribute information on the people waiting in line from the photographed image (step S301). The attribute information includes at least one of the following information: the content of the actions of the people waiting in line, the type of accessories, their facial expressions, and information on whether they are part of a group.

[0069] Thereafter, the estimation unit 36 ​​adjusts the standard waiting time when queuing by using the adjustment time set based on the attribute information (step S302). The estimation unit 36 ​​estimates the adjusted time as the waiting time of the queue (step S303). The output unit 37 outputs information on the estimated waiting time to the notification device 33 (step S304).

[0070] As in the first and second embodiments, the waiting time notification system 30 and the waiting time estimation device 32 of the third embodiment adjust the standard waiting time using an adjustment time that is set based on attribute information of people waiting in line, and estimate the adjusted time as the waiting time of the queue. As a result, the waiting time notification system 30 and the waiting time estimation device 32 of the third embodiment can improve the estimation accuracy of the waiting time of the queue, as in the first and second embodiments.

[0071] The present invention has been described above by taking the above-mentioned embodiment as an exemplary example. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. That is, the present invention can be applied in various aspects that can be understood by a person skilled in the art within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0072] 1,30 Waiting time notification system 3,32 Waiting time estimation device 4,31 Imaging device 5,33 Alarm device 21 Detection unit 22 Standard Time Calculation Section 23,35 Acquisition Department 24,36 Estimation part 25,37 Output section

Claims

1. A process of acquiring a body temperature of a person; A process of calculating a waiting time of the queue in which the person is waiting based on the acquired body temperature; A process of outputting the waiting time; A process for detecting the length of a queue for which a waiting time is to be calculated; a process of pausing the process of acquiring the body temperature of the person when the length of the queue is in a state in which the process of acquiring the body temperature of the person should be paused; A computer program that causes a computer to execute the following:

2. The process of calculating the waiting time of the queue includes a process of calculating the waiting time of the queue to be longer when the body temperature is equal to or higher than a threshold value than when the body temperature is not equal to or higher than a threshold value.

2. The computer program product of claim 1.

3. The person's temperature is obtained using infrared light.

2. The computer program product of claim 1.

4. By computer, Obtain the person's body temperature, Calculating a waiting time for the person in the queue based on the acquired body temperature; A waiting time estimation method for outputting the waiting time, Detect the length of the queue for which the waiting time is to be calculated; When the length of the queue is in a state in which the process of acquiring the body temperature of the person is suspended, the process of acquiring the body temperature of the person is suspended. Waiting time estimation method.

5. When calculating the waiting time of the queue, if the body temperature is equal to or higher than a threshold value, the waiting time of the queue is calculated to be longer than when the body temperature is not equal to or higher than the threshold value. The waiting time estimation method according to claim 4.

6. The person's temperature is obtained using infrared light. The waiting time estimation method according to claim 4.

7. An acquisition unit for acquiring a body temperature of a person; an estimation unit that calculates a waiting time of the queue in which the person is waiting based on the acquired body temperature; an output unit that outputs the waiting time; a detection unit that detects the length of a queue for which a waiting time is to be calculated; Equipped with When the length of the queue is in a state in which the acquisition operation of the acquisition unit is paused, the acquisition unit pauses the acquisition operation. Waiting time estimator.

8. The estimation unit calculates a waiting time of the queue to be longer when the body temperature is equal to or higher than a threshold value than when the body temperature is not equal to or higher than the threshold value. The waiting time estimation device according to claim 7.

9. The person's temperature is obtained using infrared light. The waiting time estimation device according to claim 7.

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