Walking support system

Abstract

To provide a walk assist system capable of guiding a user such as a visually impaired person to a vacant seat of a transportation facility.SOLUTION: When a user holding a white stick boards a transportation facility, whether a vacant seat exists among seats which are installed in the transportation facility is determined based on a camera image taken by a camera incorporated in the white stick. When a vacant seat exists, position information on the vacant seat is acquired. A guide route along which the user's walk is guided to the position of the vacant seat is designated. Guide information for use in guiding the user's walk along the guide route is generated. The guide information is transmitted to a vibration generator and loudspeaker incorporated in the white stick. Using the vibration of the vibration generator and voice from the loudspeaker, the user is guided to the vacant seat.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a walking support system. In particular, the present invention relates to an improvement in walking support for a user who uses a walking support device.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a system has been proposed for preferentially seating a specific person (priority seat occupant) in an empty seat in a shared vehicle such as a bus or a train. In Patent Document 1, the position of an empty seat among the seats in a vehicle is acquired, and it is detected by the passenger's IC card that the passenger boarding the vehicle is a priority seat occupant, and the existence of an empty seat is shown to the priority seat occupant. Specifically, a seat guidance system is disclosed in which an indicator light is installed above each seat and the indicator light corresponding to the empty seat is blinked, or a display unit capable of displaying a seat layout diagram is provided near the boarding entrance of the vehicle and the position of the empty seat is shown on the seat layout diagram, so that the priority seat occupant can recognize the position of the empty seat.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, Patent Document 1 is a technology premised on the priority seat occupant visually recognizing the position of the empty seat shown by the indicator light or the seat layout diagram, and the priority seat occupant who visually recognizes the position of the empty seat walks toward the empty seat while recognizing the empty seat with his or her own eyesight and then takes a seat. Therefore, it is a system that cannot be applied to a person who cannot visually recognize the position of the empty seat shown by the indicator light or the seat layout diagram, such as a visually impaired person, and who cannot recognize the empty seat with his or her own eyesight.

[0005] Generally, when visually impaired people use buses or trains, they cannot visually check for empty seats, so they currently search for seats by feeling their way around or using a white cane. As a result, the act of searching for an empty seat is not only a great burden for the visually impaired person, but there are also concerns about trouble arising from the visually impaired person or their white cane coming into contact with other passengers. To avoid this, visually impaired people sometimes give up on searching for an empty seat (give up on sitting down), so there was room for improvement.

[0006] These challenges are not limited to visually impaired individuals; they also apply to elderly people with poor eyesight and others.

[0007] Therefore, there was a need for a walking assistance system that could guide users of walking assistance devices such as white canes to empty seats on public transportation such as buses and trains.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and its objective is to provide a walking assistance system that can guide users to vacant seats. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present invention provides a solution to achieve the above objective, which is based on a walking support system capable of performing walking support actions to assist a user walking when the user of the walking support device is on public transport. This walking support system is based on the premise that The system comprises a passenger detection unit, an empty seat location information acquisition unit, a guidance route setting unit, a guidance information generation unit, and a guidance information transmission unit mounted on the transportation vehicle, and a guidance information receiving unit and guidance means provided on the walking support device. The passenger detection unit detects that the user has boarded the transportation vehicle by recognizing the walking support device held by the user, and the empty seat location information acquisition unit, If there are vacant seats among the seats installed in the aforementioned transportation vehicle, the location information of those vacant seats will be acquired. The guidance route setting unit, on the condition that the passenger detection unit has detected that the user has boarded the transportation, uses the location information of the empty seat acquired by the empty seat location information acquisition unit. A guidance path is set to guide the user to the location of the vacant seat. Furthermore, the guidance information generation unit, Generate guidance information to guide the user's walking along the aforementioned guidance path. The guidance information transmission unit wirelessly transmits the guidance information to the guidance information receiving unit provided in the walking support device. The guidance information receiving unit receives the guidance information, and the guidance means, The system executes a guidance operation to guide the user toward the location of the vacant seat according to the guidance information. , is considered to be the composition .

[0010] Based on these specifications, when a user of a walking assistance device boards a mode of transport, the vacant seat location information acquisition unit acquires information on the location of vacant seats on the transport. The guidance route setting unit sets a guidance route to guide the user to the location of the vacant seat. Based on this, the guidance information generation unit generates guidance information to guide the user along the guidance route. The guidance means provided in the walking assistance device then performs guidance actions to guide the user toward the location of the vacant seat according to the guidance information. This makes it possible to guide users who cannot recognize vacant seats with their own eyesight, such as visually impaired individuals, to vacant seats.

[0012] Also, When a user boards a vehicle, the passenger detection unit detects this boarding. Based on this, the guidance route setting unit sets a guidance route to guide the user to an empty seat. In other words, the walking assistance system is activated and the guidance route is set only when a user boards a vehicle. This allows for optimization of the timing of the walking assistance system's activation.

[0013] Furthermore, the guidance route setting unit is configured to identify the vacant seat closest to the user or the vacant seat that is most likely to be occupied by the user as the guided vacant seat when there are multiple vacant seats, and to set a guidance route to the location of the guided vacant seat.

[0014] If the system identifies the nearest available seat as the target seat, it can guide the user to that seat (the target seat) quickly. Furthermore, if the system identifies the seat that is easiest for the user to sit in as the target seat, it can safely guide the user to that seat (the target seat). These improvements enhance the practicality of the walking assistance system.

[0015] Furthermore, the system includes a seating request information receiving unit that receives seating request information transmitted when the user operates the walking support device, and the guidance route setting unit sets the guidance route using the location information of the vacant seat acquired by the vacant seat location information acquisition unit, provided that the seating request information receiving unit has received the seating request information. It's okay to be there .

[0016] When a user boards a mode of transport and requests to be seated, the user operates a walking assistance device (performing a predetermined operation for requesting to be seated), thereby transmitting seating request information, which is received by the seating request information receiving unit. Based on this, the guidance route setting unit sets a guidance route to guide the user to an empty seat. In other words, the walking assistance system is activated and the guidance route is set only after the aforementioned operation has been performed. This allows for optimization of the timing of the walking assistance system's activation.

[0017] Furthermore, the user is visually impaired, and the walking assistance device is a white cane used by the visually impaired person. be . [Effects of the Invention]

[0019] In this invention, when a user boards a mode of transport, a guidance path is set to guide the user to an empty seat. Guidance information is generated to guide the user along this guidance path, thereby guiding the user towards an empty seat. Therefore, it is possible to guide users who cannot recognize empty seats with their own eyesight, such as visually impaired individuals, to empty seats. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0020] [Figure 1] This figure shows the external appearance of a white cane incorporating a walking assistance system according to an embodiment, and a schematic diagram of the internal structure of the grip portion of the white cane. [Figure 2]It is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control system of a walking support system according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] It is a flowchart showing a procedure of a guiding operation to an empty seat in an embodiment. [Figure 4] It is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control system of a walking support system according to Modification 1. [Figure 5] It is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control system of a walking support system according to Modification 2.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0021] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. In this embodiment, a case where the walking support system according to the present invention is incorporated in a white cane (walking support device) used by a visually impaired person will be described. Incidentally, hereinafter, a visually impaired person may sometimes be simply referred to as a user. Further, the user in the present invention is not limited to a visually impaired person.

[0022] - Schematic Configuration of White Cane - FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external appearance of a white cane 1 incorporating a walking support system 10 according to this embodiment and a schematic configuration inside a grip portion 3 of the white cane 1. As shown in this FIG. 1, the white cane 1 includes a shaft portion 2, a grip portion 3, and a tip portion (stone prodding) 4. The shaft portion 2 has a rod shape with a hollow substantially circular cross section. The grip portion 3 is provided at a base end portion (upper end portion) of the shaft portion 2. A cover 31 made of an elastic body such as rubber is attached to the grip portion 3. The tip portion 4 is made of a substantially bottomed cylindrical member formed of a hard synthetic resin or the like. The tip portion 4 is externally inserted into the tip end portion of the shaft portion 2 and fixed by means such as adhesion or screwing.

[0023] - Configuration of Walking Support System - The feature of this embodiment lies in the walking support system 10 incorporated in the white cane 1. Hereinafter, this walking support system 10 will be described.

[0024] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the control system of the walking support system 10. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the walking support system 10 includes a camera 20, a short-range wireless communication device 40, a vibration generator (guidance means) 50, a speaker (guidance means) 55, a battery 60, a charging socket 70, an inertial measuring device (hereinafter referred to as IMU) 90, a control device 80, and the like.

[0025] Camera 20 is embedded in the front surface (the side facing the user's direction of travel) of the grip portion 3 at its base and captures images of the area in front of the user's direction of travel (forward in the walking direction). This camera 20 is, for example, a depth camera and is capable of detecting the distance (depth) to each object in the image by acquiring an image (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the camera image) in front of the user's direction of travel. Furthermore, this camera 20 is configured as a wide-angle camera so that it can capture a relatively wide area inside a vehicle when the user is riding in a bus, train, or other means of transport. The camera 20 may be a CCD or CMOS, etc. Also, a mechanism for rotating the camera 20 around a vertical axis may be incorporated, and the camera 20 may be configured to acquire an image of the user's entire surroundings by rotating the camera 20 with this mechanism.

[0026] The short-range wireless communication device 40 is a wireless communication device for short-range wireless communication between the camera 20 and the IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) 90 and the control device 80. For example, it is configured to wirelessly transmit information about the image captured by the camera 20 and the information acquired by the IMU 90 (information on 3-axis acceleration and 3-axis angular velocity) to the control device 80 using a communication means such as the well-known Bluetooth®. The vibration generator 50 vibrates in conjunction with the operation of its built-in motor, and transmits this vibration to the grip part 3, thereby enabling various notifications (instructions) to be given to the user holding the grip part 3. The speaker 55 emits voice to the user to provide various notifications (instructions and warnings) to the user. The battery 60 is a secondary battery that stores the power supplied to each of the above devices. The charging socket 70 is the part to which the charging cable is connected when storing power in the battery 60. The IMU90 is equipped with a 3-axis gyroscope and a 3-directional accelerometer, which are used to measure the three-dimensional acceleration (3-axis acceleration) and angular velocity (3-axis angular velocity) of the IMU90 at its placement position on the white cane 1.

[0027] The control device 80 includes, for example, a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read-Only Memory) for storing the control program, a RAM (Random-Access Memory) for temporarily storing data, and input / output ports. Furthermore, the control device 80 includes the functional units 81 to 86 shown in Figure 2, which are implemented by the control program. The general functions of each of these units will be described below.

[0028] The information receiving unit 81 is capable of receiving information from the camera image captured (acquired) by the camera 20, as well as information from the 3-axis acceleration and 3-axis angular velocity measured by the IMU 90, via the short-range wireless communication device 40.

[0029] The passenger detection unit 82 is a functional unit for detecting when a user holding the white cane 1 boards a mode of transport (e.g., a bus). Specifically, this passenger detection unit 82 is capable of communicating with an IC card reader CR installed near the entrance of the mode of transport. When this communication occurs, it detects that a user has boarded the mode of transport and transmits this information (hereinafter referred to as passenger information) to the vacant seat location information acquisition unit 83, which will be described later. In this embodiment, the IC card reader CR used for fare payment is used to detect when a user has boarded the mode of transport. However, this is not the only way to do so. Alternatively, a dedicated NFC (Near Field Communication) tag or RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag or other individually identifiable tag and reader device may be provided on the white cane 1 and near the doors of the mode of transport (e.g., near the entrance of a bus or near the doors of a train) to detect when a user has boarded the mode of transport.

[0030] The vacant seat location information acquisition unit 83 receives the camera image taken by the camera 20 when it receives boarding information from the boarding detection unit 82. For this camera image reception operation, the camera 20 may be activated on the condition that boarding information is transmitted from the boarding detection unit 82, and the camera image may be transmitted from the information receiving unit 81 to the vacant seat location information acquisition unit 83 via the short-range wireless communication device 40. Alternatively, the camera image from the camera 20 may be constantly transmitted to the control device 80, and the camera image may be transmitted to the vacant seat location information acquisition unit 83 on the condition that boarding information is transmitted from the boarding detection unit 82.

[0031] The vacant seat location information acquisition unit 83 then recognizes the presence of vacant seats from the received camera image. For example, it recognizes whether or not there are vacant seats, and if so, their location, by using a well-known image matching process. This information on the location of vacant seats is transmitted to the guidance route setting unit 84, which will be described later. In addition, when recognizing whether or not there are vacant seats, and if so, their location, panoptic segmentation as a deep learning method of AI may be used. Panoptic segmentation is a method that combines known instance segmentation and semantic segmentation to assign an annotation label indicating the category of each pixel in a specific image, as well as an instance ID.

[0032] The guidance route setting unit 84 receives information about the location of an empty seat from the empty seat location information acquisition unit 83 and sets a guidance route from the user's current location to the location of the empty seat. For example, since the lowest position on the camera image is close to the user's feet, the route from this lowest position on the camera image to the location of the empty seat is set as the route to guide the user (target guidance line). As a means of detecting the user's current location, the white cane 1 may be equipped with a GPS module, and the current location may be estimated by the GPS signal received by the GPS module.

[0033] Specifically, for example, if there is only one vacant seat, guidance points are intermittently defined on the guidance trajectory that represents the shortest path to the location of the vacant seat on the camera image, and a guidance path is set by connecting these guidance points. The guidance path set in this way will then be used to guide (assist with walking) the user to the location of the vacant seat. The method for setting the guidance path is not limited to the one described above.

[0034] Furthermore, if there are multiple vacant seats, one of these vacant seats is designated as the target seat for guidance, and guidance points are intermittently defined on the guidance trajectory that is the shortest path to the location of the designated seat for guidance. A guidance path is then established by connecting these guidance points. In identifying the target seat for guidance, the vacant seat closest to the user or the vacant seat that is easiest for the user to sit in is designated as the target seat for guidance. For example, each of the multiple vacant seats is scored, and the vacant seat with the highest score is designated as the target seat for guidance. The conditions for setting this score are that vacant seats closer to the user are given a higher score than vacant seats further away from the user. Also, vacant seats closer to the entrance / exit of the transportation facility (especially the boarding entrance) are given a higher score than vacant seats far from the entrance / exit of the transportation facility (an example of a vacant seat close to the user in this invention). In addition, single seats (an example of a vacant seat that is easy for the user to sit in in this invention) are given a higher score than two seats. Furthermore, a vacant seat without a step (an example of a vacant seat that is easy for a user to sit in, as defined in this invention) will be given a higher score than a vacant seat with a step (a step in the floor) on the path from the entrance of the transportation vehicle to the vacant seat. Also, in a row of two seats, a seat with both seats empty (an example of a vacant seat that is easy for a user to sit in, as defined in this invention) will be given a higher score than a seat with only one seat empty. The score assigned to each vacant seat may be determined by adopting only one of the aforementioned score setting conditions, or multiple score setting conditions may be combined to identify the vacant seat with the highest overall score as the seat to guide passengers to.

[0035] The memory unit 85 stores information from the camera 20 received by the information receiving unit 81, as well as guidance paths set by the guidance path setting unit 84.

[0036] The guidance information generation unit 86 generates guidance information to guide the user's walking along the guidance path. In other words, it generates information to guide the user to walk along the guidance path, and also recognizes whether the user is walking along the guidance path, and updates the guidance information to be provided to the user in real time.

[0037] Specifically, the guidance information generation unit 86 determines whether the user's walking direction deviates from the direction of the guidance path. Specifically, it determines whether the user's walking direction deviates from the direction of the guidance path by comparing the user's walking path obtained from the camera image with the guidance path. If the user's walking direction is in line with the direction of the guidance path, it generates guidance information to continue moving forward, and this guidance information is transmitted to the vibration generator 50 and speaker 55. The vibration generator 50 and speaker 55 then provide the user with information to move forward (vibration from the vibration generator 50 and sound from the speaker 55).

[0038] On the other hand, if the user's walking direction deviates by a predetermined amount from the direction of the guidance path, guidance information is generated accordingly and transmitted to the vibration generator 50 and speaker 55. The vibration generator 50 and speaker 55 then provide the user with information to correct the deviation. The user is aware in advance of the relationship between the vibration pattern of the vibration generator 50 and the guidance direction. For example, the user is aware in advance of vibration patterns that indicate to continue moving forward, vibration patterns that indicate to change the walking direction to the right, vibration patterns that indicate to change the walking direction to the left, and vibration patterns that indicate that the user has reached an empty seat. By having the user walk according to the vibration pattern of the vibration generator 50, the system can guide the user to an empty seat or correct situations where the user's walking direction deviates from the direction of the guidance path. Furthermore, the speaker 55 emits voice messages indicating that the user should continue moving forward, change their walking direction, or reach an empty seat. This also helps to guide the user to an empty seat and prevents the user's walking direction from deviating from the direction of the guidance path. In this embodiment, both the vibration from the vibration generator 50 and the voice from the speaker 55 are used, but only one of them may be used. The white cane 1 may also be connected to a terminal device carried by the user. For example, the guidance information may also be transmitted to the terminal device, and the user may be guided to an empty seat using both the vibration from the vibration generator 50 on the white cane 1 and the voice from the terminal device.

[0039] - Guiding people to empty seats - Next, the guidance operation to an empty seat by the walking support system 10 configured as described above will be explained. Figure 3 is a flowchart of the procedure for the guidance operation to an empty seat. First, in step ST1, it is determined whether or not the user holding the white cane 1 has boarded the transportation. This determination is made by the boarding detection unit 82. In other words, it is determined that the user has boarded the transportation when communication occurs with the IC card reader CR installed at the entrance of the transportation.

[0040] If the user is not on a mode of transport and the result in step ST1 is NO, the user is returned. On the other hand, if the user is determined to be on a mode of transport and the result in step ST1 is YES, the user proceeds to step ST2 to search for available seats. This search for available seats is performed by the available seat location information acquisition unit 83. In other words, the existence of available seats is recognized from the camera image captured by the camera 20.

[0041] Step ST3 determines whether or not there are any vacant seats. If there are no vacant seats and the result in ST3 is NO, the process moves to Step ST12, where the user is notified that there are no vacant seats. For example, the notification that there are no vacant seats may be given through the vibration pattern of the vibration generator 50 or through voice from the speaker 55.

[0042] On the other hand, if there are vacant seats and the result in step ST3 is YES, the process moves to step ST4 to determine whether there are multiple vacant seats. If there are multiple vacant seats and the result in step ST4 is YES, the aforementioned scoring is performed on each vacant seat in step ST5. For example, the vacant seat closest to the user is scored to receive the highest score. In step ST6, the vacant seat with the highest score is identified as the target vacant seat, and the process moves to step ST7. Also, if there is only one vacant seat and the result in step ST4 is NO, the process moves to step ST7. In this case, this single vacant seat will be identified as the target vacant seat.

[0043] In step ST7, the guidance route to the destination vacant seat is set. This setting operation is performed by the guidance route setting unit 84. In other words, the guidance route from the user's current location to the destination vacant seat is set.

[0044] In step ST8, guidance to the destination vacant seat is initiated based on the guidance path set in step ST7. This guidance operation follows the guidance information generated by the guidance information generation unit 86, and while determining whether the user's walking direction deviates from the direction of the guidance path, the vibration generator 50 and speaker 55 provide the user with information instructing them to continue moving forward or information to correct the deviation.

[0045] In this state, once guidance to the designated empty seat has begun, step ST9 determines whether the designated empty seat remains empty. That is, it determines whether the seat remains empty without any other passengers occupying it. This determination is made based on the camera image captured by camera 20.

[0046] If another passenger takes a seat in the designated empty seat, and the seat is no longer considered empty, and the result in step ST9 is NO, the process returns to step ST2, and the search for empty seats is repeated. In other words, it is determined whether or not there are other empty seats, and the actions described above from step ST2 onwards are performed.

[0047] If the designated vacant seat remains vacant and a YES determination is made in step ST9, the process moves to step ST10 to determine whether the user has taken a seat in the designated vacant seat. This determination is also made based on the camera image captured by camera 20. Steps ST9 and ST10 are repeated until the user takes a seat in the designated vacant seat.

[0048] Then, if the user sits in the vacant seat they were guided to, and a YES result is obtained in step ST10, the process moves to step ST11 and the guidance operation ends. In other words, the guidance operation using the vibration generator 50 and speaker 55 is terminated.

[0049] The above process is repeated each time the user boards a mode of transport.

[0050] -Effects of the embodiment- As explained above, in this embodiment, when a user boards a vehicle, a guidance path is set to guide the user to an empty seat, and guidance information is generated to guide the user along this guidance path, thereby guiding the user toward an empty seat. Therefore, it is possible to guide users who cannot recognize empty seats with their own eyesight, such as visually impaired individuals, toward an empty seat.

[0051] -Experimental Variation 1- Next, we will describe Modification 1. In the embodiment described above, the walking support system 10 was built into the white cane 1. In this modification, some of the components of the walking support system 10 are mounted on a vehicle.

[0052] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating the schematic configuration of the control system of the walking support system 10 according to this modified example. In Figure 4, components with the same function as the components of the walking support system 10 in the previously described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

[0053] As shown in Figure 4, in the walking assistance system 10 according to this modified example, the control device 80 is mounted on the transport vehicle V. The functional units of the control device 80 mounted on the transport vehicle V include an information receiving unit 81, a passenger detection unit 82, an empty seat location information acquisition unit 83, a guidance route setting unit 84, a storage unit 85, a guidance information generation unit 86, and a guidance information transmission unit 87.

[0054] In addition, an in-vehicle camera 91 is installed inside the vehicle V. This in-vehicle camera 91 photographs the area around the entrance of the vehicle V and transmits images of people boarding from the entrance to the control device 80. Furthermore, each seat in the vehicle V is equipped with a seating sensor 92. This seating sensor 92 detects when a passenger is seated in a seat and transmits the seating information to the control device 80.

[0055] The passenger detection unit 82 detects a person (user) holding the white cane 1 from the image received from the in-vehicle camera 91. For example, it recognizes the white cane 1 using a well-known image matching process. The vacant seat location information acquisition unit 83 receives seating information from seating sensors 92 provided on each seat and determines the location of vacant seats based on this information. The functions of the guidance route setting unit 84, the storage unit 85, and the guidance information generation unit 86 are the same as those of the embodiment described above. The guidance route setting unit 84 sets a guidance route from the user's current location (for example, the user's current location recognized by the image received from the in-vehicle camera 91) to the location of a vacant seat (the location of a vacant seat recognized by the seating information from the seating sensor 92). The guidance information generation unit 86 generates guidance information to guide the user's walking along the guidance route. The guidance information generated by the guidance information generation unit 86 is wirelessly transmitted from the guidance information transmission unit 87 to the guidance information receiving unit 88 provided on the white cane 1. The guidance information received by the guidance information receiving unit 88 is transmitted to the vibration generator 50 and the speaker 55. As in the embodiment described above, vibrations from the vibration generator 50 and sound from the speaker 55 are provided to the user, thereby guiding the user to an empty seat.

[0056] According to this modified example, since the control device 80 that constitutes the walking support system 10 is mounted on the transport vehicle V, the configuration of the white cane 1 can be simplified and made lighter.

[0057] In this modified example, the seating sensor 92 detects whether a passenger is seated in a seat, thereby recognizing whether there are empty seats and, if so, their locations. However, the presence or absence of empty seats and, if so, their locations may be recognized using images from the in-vehicle camera 91. In this case, the seating sensor 92 can be made unnecessary.

[0058] -Variation 2- Next, we will describe Modification 2. In this modification, the walking support system 10 is built into the white cane 1, and the walking support system 10 is activated by user operation. Except for the configuration and operation for activating the walking support system 10, it is the same as that of the previously described embodiment. Therefore, only the differences from the previously described embodiment will be explained here.

[0059] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating the schematic configuration of the control system of the walking support system 10 according to this modified example. In Figure 5, the same reference numerals are used for components with the same functions as those in the walking support system 10 described above.

[0060] As shown in Figure 5, in the walking support system 10 according to this modified example, the control device 80 includes a seating request information receiving unit 89 in addition to an information receiving unit 81, a seating location information acquisition unit 83, a guidance route setting unit 84, a storage unit 85, and a guidance information generation unit 86. The seating request information receiving unit 89 receives information as seating request information when a user performs a predetermined operation with the white cane 1 and activates the walking support system 10. Specifically, when a user taps the floor or seat of the transport vehicle twice in a row with the white cane 1, the resulting change in acceleration is detected by the IMU 90, and the seating request information receiving unit 89 receives the seating request information emitted from the IMU 90, thereby activating the walking support system 10. In other words, the guidance route setting unit 84 sets a guidance route using the seating location information acquired by the seating location information acquisition unit 83, provided that the user has tapped the floor or seat of the transport vehicle twice in a row with the white cane 1. Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the embodiments described above.

[0061] According to this modified version, by activating the walking support system 10 only after the aforementioned operation has been performed, the system will no longer guide the user to an empty seat even if the user has not requested guidance to an empty seat. For example, if the user is accompanied by a caregiver, guidance to an empty seat by the walking support system 10 is unnecessary, and in this case, the system will not perform the guidance action. This allows for optimization of the activation timing of the walking support system 10.

[0062] In this modified example, the walking support system 10 was activated by the user tapping the floor or seat of the transport vehicle twice in a row with the white cane 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the walking support system 10 may be activated by other operations. For example, the white cane 1 may be equipped with a seating request switch, and the walking support system 10 may be activated when this seating request switch is pressed.

[0063] Furthermore, the configuration in which the walking support system 10 is activated by user operation, as in this modified example, is not limited to cases where the walking support system 10 is built into the white cane 1, but can also be applied to cases where some of the components of the walking support system 10 are mounted on the transport vehicle V, as in the modified example 1.

[0064] -Other Embodiments- Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and their respective modifications, and all modifications and applications encompassed within the scope of the claims and equivalents thereof are possible.

[0065] For example, in the above embodiments and their respective modifications, guidance to an empty seat was performed by vibration or sound. The present invention is not limited to this, and for visually impaired persons with low vision, the walking support system 10 may be mounted on a device worn on the face, such as goggles, and guidance to an empty seat may be performed by projecting onto the retina of the visually impaired person (user).

[0066] Furthermore, the above embodiments and their respective modifications were described using the case where the walking assistance device is a white cane 1 as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the walking assistance device may also be a cane in the case of an elderly user.

[0067] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a camera 20 was used as a means of recognizing the environment around the user. The present invention is not limited to this, and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) may also be used. [Industrial applicability]

[0068] The present invention is applicable to a walking assistance system for guiding visually impaired persons on public transport to an empty seat. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0069] 1…White cane (walking assistance device) 10…Walking assistance system 50...Vibration generator (induction means) 55...Speaker (induction means) 80...Control device 82... Passenger detection unit 83... Empty seat location information acquisition unit 84... Guidance route setting unit 86... Guidance information generation unit 89... Seating request information receiving unit

Claims

1. A walking assistance system capable of performing walking assistance actions to assist a user walking when the user of a walking assistance device is on public transport, The aforementioned transportation system includes a passenger detection unit, an empty seat location information acquisition unit, a guidance route setting unit, a guidance information generation unit, and a guidance information transmission unit, The walking assistance device includes a guidance information receiving unit and a guidance means, It is composed of including, The passenger detection unit detects that the user has boarded the transportation vehicle by recognizing the walking assistance device held by the user. The vacant seat location information acquisition unit acquires the location information of a vacant seat when there is a vacant seat among the seats installed in the transportation facility. The guidance route setting unit, on the condition that the passenger detection unit detects that the user has boarded the transportation, sets a guidance route to guide the user to the location of the empty seat using the location information of the empty seat acquired by the empty seat location information acquisition unit. The guidance information generation unit generates guidance information for guiding the user to walk along the guidance path, The guidance information transmitting unit wirelessly transmits the guidance information to the guidance information receiving unit provided in the walking support device. The guidance information receiving unit receives the guidance information, A walking assistance system characterized in that the guidance means is configured to perform guidance operations to guide the user toward the location of the vacant seat in accordance with the guidance information.

2. In the walking support system according to Claim 1, The walking assistance system is characterized in that, when there are multiple empty seats, the guidance route setting unit identifies the empty seat closest to the user or the empty seat that is easiest for the user to sit in as the destination empty seat, and sets a guidance route to the location of the destination empty seat.

3. In the walking support system according to claim 1 or 2, A walking assistance system characterized in that the user is visually impaired, and the walking assistance device is a white cane used by the visually impaired person.

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