Server device, system, and server device control method and program

Abstract

Provided is a server device that contributes to more reliable evacuation of a person needing support in an evacuation action. The server device includes a person-needing-support determination unit and an evacuation action control unit. The person-needing-support determination unit performs control for determining, from at least one or more persons needing support on a support recipient list of a supporter, a person needing support for which the supporter will support an evacuation action. The evacuation action control unit transmits, to a terminal owned by the supporter, a support start instruction including information relating to the person needing support and support procedure information relating to a procedure whereby the supporter will support the action of evacuating the determined person needing support.

Description

Server device, system, server device control method and storage medium

[0001] The present invention relates to a server device, a system, a method for controlling a server device, and a storage medium.

[0002] When a large-scale disaster such as a windstorm, flood, or earthquake is predicted, residents will evacuate to evacuation shelters. Various technologies applicable to evacuating residents have been developed.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 describes a system that automatically notifies evacuees in a specified area to evacuate to an evacuation site when a disaster occurs, and evacuates vulnerable individuals with the assistance of caregivers. The system also notifies relevant parties of the evacuation destination by sending a notification to the center that the evacuation is complete. The system in Patent Document 1 includes a table that registers evacuation targets, their location information, information on whether or not the target is vulnerable, and, if vulnerable, a caregiver. It also includes a means for receiving notification of a disaster. The system also includes a means for extracting evacuation targets within a specified area from the table based on the location of the disaster that has been received. Furthermore, if the extracted evacuation target is vulnerable, the system notifies the evacuation target of the details of the disaster, the evacuation site, and that a caregiver is on the way to provide assistance. It also includes a means for notifying the caregiver of the location of the vulnerable individual and a request for assistance.

[0004] Patent Document 2 describes a welfare support system that can quickly provide appropriate supporter welfare services to a person in need of support. The welfare support system of Patent Document 2 includes a storage means, a selection means, and a support request transmission means. The storage means stores map information of a predetermined area including location information of the person being supported and location information of the supporter. The selection means selects a supporter who should support the supportee from among the supporters included in the map information of the predetermined area based on the location information of the person being supported and the supporter. The support request transmission means transmits a support request message to the selected supporter requesting them to support the supportee.

[0005] Patent Literature 3 describes a support system that is deployed in a complex facility and can support disaster prevention efforts in the event of a disaster. The support system of Patent Literature 3 is deployed in a complex facility where residents affected by a disaster are evacuated to support disaster prevention efforts. The support system includes a database in which supporter attribute information related to the attributes of supporters who provide disaster prevention support is stored in advance, a disaster situation acquisition means, and a support content information generation means. The disaster situation acquisition means acquires the disaster situation as disaster situation information when a disaster occurs. The support content information generation means generates support content information indicating the content of disaster prevention support to be provided by the supporters based on the disaster situation information acquired by the disaster situation acquisition means and the supporter attribute information stored in the database.

[0006] JP 2004-118702 A JP 2009-140252 A JP 2020-077072 A

[0007] As mentioned above, when a large-scale disaster is predicted, residents will evacuate to evacuation shelters. At that time, each resident of the area is required to evacuate to an evacuation shelter, etc. However, among these residents there are people who require assistance with evacuation (hereinafter referred to as "people requiring assistance") who have difficulty evacuating on their own due to illness or other reasons. It is necessary to ensure that these people who require assistance with evacuation can evacuate safely.

[0008] A primary object of the present invention is to provide a server device, a system, a method for controlling a server device, and a storage medium that contribute to enabling people who require assistance in evacuation to evacuate more reliably.

[0009] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a server device comprising: an assistance-requiring person determination unit that performs control to determine an assistance-requiring person for whom the supporter will assist in evacuation actions from at least one or more assistance-requiring persons listed in the support recipient list of the supporter; and an evacuation action control unit that transmits, to a terminal carried by the supporter, an assistance start instruction that includes information about the determined assistance-requiring person and assistance procedure information regarding the procedure for the supporter to assist the determined assistance-requiring person in evacuation actions.

[0010] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system including a terminal carried by a support person and a server device, wherein the server device is equipped with an assistance needing person determination unit that performs control to determine a person requiring assistance that the supporter will assist in evacuation actions from at least one or more persons requiring assistance listed in the support recipient list of the support person, and an evacuation action control unit that transmits to the device carried by the support person an assistance start instruction that includes information about the determined person requiring assistance and assistance procedure information regarding detailed procedures that the supporter will follow to assist the determined person requiring assistance in evacuation actions.

[0011] According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method for a server device, in which the server device performs control to determine a person requiring support for which the supporter will assist in evacuation actions from at least one or more persons requiring support listed on the support recipient list of the supporter, and transmits to a terminal carried by the supporter an instruction to start support, the instruction including information about the determined person requiring support and support procedure information regarding detailed procedures that the supporter will follow to assist the determined person requiring support in evacuation actions.

[0012] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium that stores a program for causing a computer mounted on a server device to execute the following processes: a process for determining a person requiring support for which the supporter will assist in evacuation actions from at least one or more persons requiring support listed on the supporter's support recipient list; and a process for sending, to a terminal carried by the supporter, a support start instruction that includes information about the determined person requiring support and support procedure information regarding detailed procedures that the supporter will follow to assist in evacuation actions for the determined person requiring support.

[0013] According to each aspect of the present invention, a server device, a system, a method for controlling a server device, and a storage medium are provided that contribute to enabling people requiring assistance in evacuation to evacuate more reliably. Note that the effects of the present invention are not limited to those described above. The present invention may achieve other effects instead of or in addition to the effects described above.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an evacuation support system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the evacuation support system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the evacuation support system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a support recipient list according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the evacuation support system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the evacuation support system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display on a supporter terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display on a supporter terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display on a supporter terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display on a supporter terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display on a supporter terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display on a supporter terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display on a supporter terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing configuration of a server device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the support-requiring person registration unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a support-requiring person database according to the first embodiment. FIG. 19 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the supporter registration unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the supporter registration unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a supporter database according to the first embodiment. FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of an evacuation behavior control unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of the processing configuration of a supporter terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the processing configuration of a support-requiring person terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 25 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the evacuation support system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 26 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the evacuation support system according to the second embodiment. FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the support-requiring person registration unit according to the third embodiment.Fig. 28 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a server device according to the present disclosure. Fig. 29 is a diagram showing an example of a display on a terminal according to a modified example of the present disclosure. Fig. 30 is a diagram showing an example of a display on a terminal according to a modified example of the present disclosure.

[0015] First, an overview of one embodiment will be described. Note that the reference numerals in the drawings are added to each element for convenience as an example to facilitate understanding, and the description of this overview is not intended to be limiting in any way. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the blocks shown in each drawing represent functional units, not hardware units. Connection lines between blocks in each drawing include both bidirectional and unidirectional lines. Unidirectional arrows are used to schematically indicate the flow of the main signal (data) and do not exclude bidirectionality. Note that in this specification and drawings, elements that can be similarly described may be assigned the same reference numerals to avoid redundant explanation.

[0016] The server device 100 according to one embodiment includes a support needer determination unit 101 and an evacuation behavior control unit 102 (see FIG. 1 ). The support needer determination unit 101 performs control to determine a support needer for whom the supporter will support evacuation behavior from at least one or more support needers listed in the support recipient list of the supporter (step S1 in FIG. 2 ). The evacuation behavior control unit 102 transmits a support start instruction to a device carried by the supporter, the support start instruction including information about the determined support needer and support procedure information regarding the procedure for the supporter to support the evacuation behavior of the determined support needer (step S2).

[0017] When a disaster occurs or when a disaster is expected to occur, the server device 100 notifies the supporter that a person requiring assistance with evacuation (person requiring assistance) needs assistance. Specifically, the server device 100 controls the determination of a person requiring assistance to be supported by the supporter from a support recipient list containing multiple people requiring assistance registered in advance. Once the person requiring assistance to be supported is determined, the server device 100 instructs the supporter to begin supporting the determined person requiring assistance. The server device 100 transmits a support start instruction to the supporter's terminal, including the name of the person requiring assistance and assistance procedure information. The supporter supports the evacuation of the person requiring assistance in accordance with the assistance procedure information. Such operation of the server device 100 allows the person requiring assistance with evacuation to evacuate more reliably.

[0018] Specific embodiments will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0019] First Embodiment The first embodiment will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

[0020] [System Configuration] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of the evacuation support system according to the first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 3, the evacuation support system includes a disaster prevention center and at least one evacuation shelter. Although not shown in Fig. 3, neighborhood associations (voluntary disaster prevention organizations) existing in each area may also be included in the evacuation support system.

[0021] Disaster prevention centers are managed and operated by local governments. Disaster prevention centers are set up in city halls, for example. Local schools, community centers, and other facilities are considered evacuation shelters. Schools, community centers, and other facilities are used as "evacuation shelters" in the event of a disaster.

[0022] The disaster prevention center operates and manages the server device 10. The server device 10 is responsible for managing disaster prevention measures for local residents, operating evacuation shelters, supporting evacuees, etc. The server device 10 may be installed in the same building as the disaster prevention center, or may be installed on a network (on the cloud).

[0023] Among the local residents are people who require assistance in evacuation. These people are residents who have difficulty evacuating without the help of others due to illness or other reasons.

[0024] In addition, local residents include supporters who assist those in need of assistance. When disasters such as heavy rain, typhoons, and earthquakes occur, supporters rush to the aid of those in need and help them evacuate.

[0025] Each of the supporters and the support-requiring persons has a terminal. For example, supporters A1 to A3 have supporter terminals 20-1 to 20-3, respectively. Support-requiring persons B1 to B3 have support-requiring person terminals 30-1 to 30-3, respectively.

[0026] The server device 10 and the support provider terminal 20 are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a communication means such as wireless communication. Similarly, the server device 10 and the support-requiring person terminal 30 are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a communication means such as wireless communication.

[0027] In the following description, unless there is a particular reason to distinguish between the supporter terminals 20-1 to 20-3, they will simply be referred to as the "supporter terminal 20." Similarly, unless there is a particular reason to distinguish between the support-requiring person terminals 30-1 to 30-3, they will simply be referred to as the "support-requiring person terminal 30."

[0028] 3 is an example, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. For example, a disaster prevention center may include multiple server devices 10.

[0029] [Outline of Operation] Next, an outline of the operation of the evacuation support system according to the first embodiment will be described.

[0030] <Registration of Person Requiring Support> A person requiring support pre-registers his / her own information in the disaster prevention center (server device 10) (see FIG. 4). In the following description, the information that the person requiring support registers in the server device 10 will be referred to as "information about the person requiring support."

[0031] The person requiring support registers support-requiring person information in the server device 10 by any means. For example, the person requiring support operates the support-requiring person terminal 30 that he or she possesses to register as a person requiring support. For example, the person requiring support operates the support-requiring person terminal 30 to access the server device 10. More specifically, the person requiring support accesses a WEB page provided by the server device 10.

[0032] For a person requiring support who has difficulty registering information by himself / herself, a representative (for example, a parent, a child, or a welfare officer) may register the information about the person requiring support in the server device 10. That is, in the evacuation support system disclosed herein, people in a position to support the person requiring support, such as local governments and welfare officers, can create an evacuation plan (individual evacuation plan) for each person requiring support together with the person requiring support.

[0033] The support-requiring person information includes attribute information of the support-requiring person. More specifically, the support-requiring person information includes personal information, health information, family information, and the like.

[0034] Personal information includes the so-called four basic pieces of information (name, sex, address, age), as well as contact information (telephone number, email address, etc.), routes within the home, the structure of the home, etc.

[0035] Health information is information about the body, health condition, etc. of the person requiring support. Examples of health information include height, weight, blood type, medical history, chronic illnesses, commonly used medications, care level (disability level), and disability details. Examples of disability details include the type of disability (e.g., difficulty walking, visual impairment) and associated information (e.g., whether a wheelchair is required, etc.).

[0036] Family information is information about the family of the person requiring support. Examples of family information include names of blood relatives, names of family members living together, and names of relatives.

[0037] When the server device 10 acquires support-requiring person information (personal information, health information, etc.) from the support-requiring person, it generates a support-requiring person ID for identifying the support-requiring person. The server device 10 associates the generated support-requiring person ID with attribute information, etc., and stores them in a support-requiring person database. The support-requiring person database will be described in detail later.

[0038] The server device 10 issues the generated support-requiring person ID to the support-requiring person. More specifically, the server device 10 transmits the generated support-requiring person ID to the support-requiring person terminal 30. The support-requiring person terminal 30 stores the support-requiring person ID internally.

[0039] <Supporter Registration> A supporter pre-registers his / her information in the disaster prevention center (server device 10) (see FIG. 5). In the following description, the information that a supporter registers in the server device 10 will be referred to as "supporter information."

[0040] A supporter registers supporter information in the server device 10 by any means. For example, the supporter operates the supporter terminal 20 that the supporter possesses to perform supporter registration. For example, the supporter operates the supporter terminal 20 to access the server device 10. More specifically, the supporter accesses a WEB page provided by the server device 10.

[0041] The supporter information includes attribute information of the supporter and a list of support recipients. More specifically, the supporter information includes personal information, health information, family information, ability information, etc. of the supporter. Note that the personal information, health information, family information, etc. of the supporter can be the same as the corresponding information of the person requiring support, so explanation will be omitted.

[0042] The ability information is information about the abilities, skills, qualifications, etc. of a supporter. Examples of ability information include a driver's license, a medical license, and foreign language ability. The supporter information may also include information accompanying the ability information. For example, the type of vehicle owned by a user who has a driver's license (e.g., sedan, minivan, etc.) and the languages ​​that the user can speak (e.g., English, Chinese) may be included as accompanying information in the supporter information.

[0043] The support recipient list (list of people requiring support) is a list of people requiring support who are the targets of support provided by each supporter (see Figure 6). Figure 6 is a diagram summarizing (extracting) the support recipient lists for each of the supporters A1 to A3 shown in Figure 3. Referring to Figure 6, for example, supporter A1 is registered to support the evacuation of people requiring support B1 to B3 in the event of a disaster. Similarly, supporter A2 is registered to support the evacuation of people requiring support B1 and B2.

[0044] In this way, a supporter registers at least one or more persons requiring support in the server device 10 as a support target. In other words, it is registered in the server device 10 that one person requiring support will receive (or may receive) support from at least one or more supporters during evacuation. The relationship between the support target and the supporter is a many-to-many relationship. The server device 10 stores that each of multiple supporters has multiple people requiring support as support targets. In other words, it can be registered that different supporters will support the same person requiring support.

[0045] When the server device 10 acquires supporter information (personal information, support recipient list, etc.) from a supporter, it generates a supporter ID for identifying the supporter. The server device 10 associates the generated supporter ID, attribute information, support recipient list, etc. and stores them in a supporter database. The supporter database will be described in detail later.

[0046] The server device 10 issues the generated supporter ID to the supporter. The server device 10 transmits the generated supporter ID to the supporter terminal 20. The supporter terminal 20 stores the supporter ID internally.

[0047] <Evacuation Support> With reference to FIG. 7, the operation of the system when a supporter supports the evacuation of a person requiring support will be described.

[0048] When a disaster occurs or is expected to occur, a disaster prevention officer of a local government inputs an "evacuation information transmission instruction" to the server device 10 (step S01). More specifically, the disaster prevention officer of the local government specifies the alert level and the area (e.g., ward, district, etc.) for which the evacuation information is to be transmitted, and instructs the server device 10 to transmit the evacuation information. For example, the server device 10 acquires the evacuation information transmission instruction through a GUI (Graphical User Interface) as shown in FIG. 8.

[0049] When the server device 10 receives the instruction to transmit evacuation information, the server device 10 prompts residents of the designated area to take evacuation action. Specifically, the server device 10 transmits evacuation information including evacuation shelter information to terminals (not shown) carried by residents of the area. Alternatively, the server device 10 may prompt residents to take evacuation action via disaster prevention radio or the like.

[0050] The server device 10 also transmits evacuation information to the support-requiring person and the supporter in the designated area (step S02 in FIG. 7).

[0051] Here, the information transmitted from the server device 10 to the supporter terminal 20 includes a supporter ID assigned to the owner of the supporter terminal 20. Similarly, the information transmitted from the server device 10 to the support-requiring person terminal 30 includes a support-requiring person ID assigned to the owner of the support-requiring person terminal 30.

[0052] Furthermore, the information transmitted from the supporter terminal 20 to the server device 10 includes the supporter ID issued by the server device 10. Similarly, the information transmitted from the support-requiring person terminal 30 to the server device 10 includes the support-requiring person ID issued by the server device 10.

[0053] The server device 10 transmits evacuation information including information for supporters to the supporter terminal 20. Upon receiving the evacuation information, the supporter terminal 20 displays a screen as shown in Fig. 9. Upon seeing the screen shown in Fig. 9, the supporter recognizes that support is required for the person requiring support.

[0054] The server device 10 transmits evacuation information including information for the person requiring support to the terminal 30 of the person requiring support. Upon receiving the evacuation information, the terminal 30 of the person requiring support displays a screen as shown in Fig. 10. Upon seeing the display shown in Fig. 10, the person requiring support recognizes that at least one supporter will rush to help them evacuate to a shelter.

[0055] 9, if the supporter is in a position to support the person in need of support, the supporter notifies the server device 10 of that fact. A supporter who is able to support the person in need of support presses the "Support Available" button shown in Fig. 9. In response to the button being pressed, the supporter terminal 20 transmits a "Support Available Notification" to the server device 10.

[0056] Furthermore, a supporter who is unable to support the person in need of support because he or she is located far from the disaster area or for other reasons presses the "Support Unavailable" button shown in Fig. 9. In response to the pressing of this button, the supporter terminal 20 transmits a "Support Unavailable Notification" to the server device 10.

[0057] The server device 10 reflects the status of the supporter in the supporter database in response to the "support available notification" or "support unavailable notification" received from the supporter terminal 20.

[0058] The server device 10 determines the person in need of support to whom the supporter should go to provide support. Specifically, the server device 10 transmits a "request for selecting a person in need of support" to the supporter terminal 20 of the supporter who responded that they are available for support. In response to receiving the request, the supporter terminal 20 displays a GUI that allows the supporter to select a person in need of support.

[0059] For example, the supporter terminal 20 displays a GUI as shown in Fig. 11. For example, a supporter who sees the display as shown in Fig. 11 selects which of the support-requiring persons B1, B2, and B3 to support. For example, supporter A1 selects to support support-requiring person B2.

[0060] The supporter terminal 20 notifies the server device 10 of the selected person requiring support. Specifically, the supporter terminal 20 transmits a response (response to the support-requiring person selection request) including information about the selected person requiring support to the server device 10. In this way, the supporter operates the supporter terminal 20 to select a person requiring support that the supporter will support (go to support) from among the previously registered people requiring support (step S03 in FIG. 7).

[0061] The server device 10 reflects the confirmed combination of the person requiring support and the supporter in both the database of the person requiring support and the database of the supporter. The server device 10 reflects information about the supporter and information about the person requiring support for whom the supporter has selected to provide support in the two databases.

[0062] Specifically, the server device 10 sets information about the supporter who will provide support (e.g., a supporter ID) in the support-requiring person database. The server device 10 also updates the status of the support-requiring person for whom a supporter who will provide support has been determined. Specifically, the server device 10 sets the status of the support-requiring person to "supporter determined."

[0063] The server device 10 also sets information about the support-requiring person who is the target of support (for example, the support-requiring person ID) in the supporter database.

[0064] Once the person requiring support is determined, the server device 10 notifies the person requiring support of information about the supporter who will provide support. Specifically, the server device 10 transmits a "supporter information notification" to the support-requiring person terminal 30 (step S04 in FIG. 7). In the above example, the support-requiring person B2 is notified that supporter A1 will be on his way to provide support.

[0065] In this case, the support-requiring person terminal 30 displays a screen as shown in Fig. 12. After confirming the name of the supporter who will come to provide support, the support-requiring person terminal 30 operates to press the "OK" button. In response to the pressing of this button, the support-requiring person terminal 30 transmits a "supporter confirmation notice" to the server device 10 (step S05 in Fig. 7).

[0066] In the above example, the person requiring support B2 operates the support-requiring person terminal 30 to notify the server device 10 that he / she has confirmed that the supporter A1 will come to provide support.

[0067] Upon receiving the notification, the server device 10 instructs the supporter to go to support the person requiring support. In the above example, the server device 10 instructs the supporter A1 to support the evacuation of the person requiring support B2.

[0068] Specifically, the server device 10 transmits a "support start instruction" to the support provider terminal 20 (step S06 in FIG. 7). The support start instruction includes information about the support-requiring person to be supported (e.g., name, address, support-requiring person ID), support procedure information, etc.

[0069] The support procedure information is information relating to detailed procedures when a supporter supports the support-requiring person in evacuation behavior. The server device 10 generates the support procedure information based on attributes of the support-requiring person and / or the supporter.

[0070] For example, if a person requiring assistance needs a wheelchair, the server device 10 generates assistance procedure information that includes points to note, such as how to interact with a person requiring assistance who is in a wheelchair and how to get a person requiring assistance who is in a wheelchair into a vehicle.

[0071] The support provider terminal 20 displays a display such as that shown in Fig. 13 based on the information included in the support start instruction. The support provider terminal 20 displays a display such as that shown in Fig. 13 based on information about the person requiring support (e.g., name) and support procedure information. The content described in "Notes" in the display shown in Fig. 13 corresponds to the support procedure information. The server device 10 determines that the person requiring support B2 needs a wheelchair to move around based on the attribute information of the person requiring support B2 (details of the disability of the person requiring support B2 and associated information). The server device 10 generates support procedure information including content such as "Notes" shown in Fig. 13 based on this fact.

[0072] 13 is merely an example, and various display contents are possible. For example, the support procedure information generated by the server device 10 may include the content and order of support to be performed by the supporter. The support provider terminal 20 may display the support contents in chronological order according to the support procedure information.

[0073] In response to receiving the instruction to start support, the support person heads toward the person requiring support.

[0074] The server device 10 also updates the status of the supporter who sent the support start instruction. Specifically, the server device 10 sets "supporting" in the status field of the supporter database.

[0075] When the supporter arrives at the site (such as the home of the person requiring support), the supporter operates the supporter terminal 20 to report the situation at the site to the server device 10. For example, if the supporter is able to support the evacuation of the person requiring support alone, the supporter reports this to the server device 10. Alternatively, if the whereabouts of the person requiring support are unknown, the supporter reports this to the server device 10. Alternatively, if it is difficult for the supporter to provide support alone, the supporter reports this to the server device 10.

[0076] For example, the supporter terminal 20 acquires the on-site situation using a GUI such as that shown in Fig. 14. The supporter terminal 20 transmits a "on-site situation report" including the support-requiring person ID and the acquired on-site situation to the server device 10 (step S07 in Fig. 7).

[0077] The server device 10 takes action according to the situation at the scene obtained from the supporter. If the supporter does not need support and can provide support alone, the server device 10 does not take any special action. On the other hand, if the whereabouts of the support-requiring person are unknown, the server device 10 notifies the voluntary disaster prevention organization of this fact. Alternatively, if support alone is not possible, the server device 10 requests support (backup) from other supporters.

[0078] The supporter moves to an evacuation shelter together with the person requiring support, and when the support for the person requiring support is completed, the supporter notifies the server device 10 of this fact. More specifically, the supporter operates the supporter terminal 20 to notify the server device 10 of the completion of support (see FIG. 15 ). The supporter terminal 20 transmits a "support completion notification" including the ID of the person requiring support to the server device 10 (step S08 in FIG. 7 ).

[0079] In response to the notification, the server device 10 reflects the fact that the evacuation of the person requiring support has been completed in the database of people requiring support. The server device 10 excludes the person requiring support for whom support has been completed from the list of people eligible for support. Specifically, the server device 10 sets "evacuation completed" in the status field of the person requiring support for whom evacuation has been completed. In the above example, the status of person requiring support B2 is stored as "evacuation completed," and the person requiring support is excluded from the list of people eligible for evacuation support. The server device 10 may also register information regarding the evacuation destination of the person requiring support for whom evacuation has been completed (for example, the name and address of the evacuation shelter) in the database of people requiring support.

[0080] The server device 10 also updates the supporter database with the status of the supporter who has completed the support action. Specifically, the server device 10 sets "Support Available" in the status field of the supporter who has completed the support action.

[0081] When support for one person requiring support is completed, the supporter can then support another person requiring support. For example, in the above example, if supporter A1 has not yet completed the evacuation of support recipients B1 and B3, supporter A1 can decide which person requiring support to support and support the evacuation behavior. Specifically, the server device 10 sends a support recipient selection request to the supporter terminal 20 of the supporter who has completed support, allowing the supporter to select a new support recipient. The system operation after the supporter selects a new person requiring support can be the same as that described above, and therefore will not be described here.

[0082] As described above, a person requiring support who has been set to "Supporter determined" or "Evacuation completed" is excluded from support recipients. For example, when supporter A1 selects a person requiring support, if "Supporter determined" has already been set for support recipient B2, support recipient B2 will be excluded from support recipients. This approach avoids the inefficiency of multiple supporters going to support one person requiring support.

[0083] Next, details of each device included in the evacuation support system according to the first embodiment will be described.

[0084] 16 is a diagram showing an example of a processing configuration (processing module) of the server device 10 according to the first embodiment. Referring to Fig. 16, the server device 10 includes a communication control unit 201, a support-requiring person registration unit 202, a supporter registration unit 203, an instruction acquisition unit 204, an evacuation information transmission unit 205, a support-requiring person determination unit 206, an evacuation action control unit 207, and a storage unit 208.

[0085] The communication control unit 201 is a means for controlling communication with other devices. For example, the communication control unit 201 receives data (packets) from terminals (the support provider terminal 20, the support-requiring person terminal 30). The communication control unit 201 also transmits data to the terminals (the support provider terminal 20, the support-requiring person terminal 30). The communication control unit 201 passes data received from other devices to other processing modules. The communication control unit 201 transmits data acquired from other processing modules to other devices. In this way, other processing modules transmit and receive data to and from other devices via the communication control unit 201. The communication control unit 201 has a function as a receiving unit that receives data from other devices and a function as a transmitting unit that transmits data to other devices.

[0086] The support-requiring person registration unit 202 is a means for realizing the above-mentioned support-requiring person registration. The support-requiring person registration unit 202 acquires information on support-requiring people who are residents who may become evacuees in the future and who require support from others. More specifically, the support-requiring person registration unit 202 acquires support-requiring person information (attribute information) such as personal information, health information, and family information of the support-requiring person by any means.

[0087] For example, the support-requiring person registration unit 202 may acquire the support-requiring person information from the support-requiring person terminal 30. Alternatively, the support-requiring person may send a document containing the support-requiring person information or an external storage device storing the support-requiring person information to a disaster prevention center, and a staff member of the center may input the support-requiring person information into the server device 10.

[0088] The support-requiring person registration unit 202 may provide the support-requiring person with a GUI or an input form for inputting support-requiring person information. For example, the support-requiring person registration unit 202 may display a GUI such as that shown in FIG. 17 on the support-requiring person terminal 30.

[0089] The person requiring support operates the support-requiring person terminal 30 to input the information shown in Fig. 17. When the support-requiring person has completed inputting the information, he or she presses the "OK" button and inputs personal information (such as name, age, contact information) into the server device 10. When health information or family information is to be registered (when the corresponding button is pressed), the support-requiring person registration unit 202 may display a GUI and input form similar to that shown in Fig. 17 for inputting this information.

[0090] When the support needing person information is acquired, the support needing person registration unit 202 generates a support needing person ID for identifying the support needing person. The support needing person ID may be any information that can uniquely identify a support needing person registered in the server device 10. For example, the support needing person registration unit 202 may assign a unique value each time a support needing person is registered, and use this as the support needing person ID.

[0091] The support-requiring person registration unit 202 associates the generated support-requiring person ID with the attribute information of the support-requiring person and stores them in the support-requiring person database (see FIG. 18).

[0092] As shown in Fig. 18, the database of persons requiring support includes a status field indicating the status of each person requiring support, and a supporter field indicating the supporter who will support each person requiring support. For ease of understanding, in the drawings including Fig. 18, the supporter's name is written in the supporter field, but in reality, the supporter's supporter ID is set in this field. The initial value of the status field is "before evacuation."

[0093] The database for persons requiring support shown in FIG. 18 is an example and is not intended to limit the items to be stored. For example, biometric information of the person requiring support (a facial image, features generated from the facial image) may be registered in the database for persons requiring support. The health information and family information shown in FIG. 18 include physical information such as height and weight, and specific details such as the number of family members living together and their relationships. In addition, although not shown in FIG. 18, contact information for the person requiring support and information about the home (routes within the home, the structure of the home) are also registered in the database for persons requiring support.

[0094] The support-requiring person registration unit 202 issues the generated support-requiring person ID to the support-requiring person (support-requiring person terminal 30).

[0095] The supporter registration unit 203 is a means for realizing the supporter registration described above. The supporter registration unit 203 acquires information about supporters who support others. The basic operation of the supporter registration unit 203 can be the same as the operation of the support-requiring person registration unit 202, so detailed explanation will be omitted.

[0096] The supporter registration unit 203 acquires a list of support recipients in addition to the supporter's attribute information (personal information, ability information, etc.). For example, the supporter registration unit 203 displays a GUI such as that shown in Fig. 19 on the supporter terminal 20. When the supporter selects "register person requiring support" (when the support-requiring person registration button is pressed), the supporter registration unit 203 displays a GUI or the like for acquiring information on the person requiring support who is the target of support on the supporter terminal 20 (see Fig. 20).

[0097] The supporter registration unit 203 acquires information (e.g., name) of the support recipient (person requiring support) using a GUI such as that shown in Fig. 20. For example, the supporter inputs the names of their parents, children, relatives, acquaintances, and friends as people requiring support.

[0098] When the supporter information is acquired, the supporter registration unit 203 generates a supporter ID for identifying the supporter. The supporter ID may be any information that can uniquely identify a supporter registered in the server device 10. For example, the supporter registration unit 203 may assign a unique value each time a supporter is registered as the supporter ID.

[0099] The supporter registration unit 203 stores the generated supporter ID, supporter attribute information, and support recipient list in the supporter database in association with each other (see FIG. 21).

[0100] As shown in Fig. 21, the supporter database includes a status field indicating the status of each supporter and a support-requiring person field indicating the person receiving support. For ease of understanding, in the drawings including Fig. 21, the name of the person requiring support is written in the support-requiring person field, but in reality, the support-requiring person ID of the person requiring support is set in that field. The initial value of the status field is "blank (not set)."

[0101] For ease of understanding, in the drawings including Fig. 21 , the names of the persons requiring support are listed in the support recipient list, but in reality, the support needer IDs of the persons requiring support are listed. The supporter registration unit 203 searches the support needer database using the names included in the support recipient list as a key to obtain the corresponding support needer IDs. The supporter registration unit 203 stores the obtained support needer IDs in the support recipient list of the supporter database.

[0102] The supporter database shown in Fig. 21 is an example and is not intended to limit the items to be stored. For example, biometric information of supporters (face images, features generated from the face images) may be registered in the supporter database. Furthermore, the supporter database may also register priorities (order in which support is provided to those requiring support; planning priorities) and support recipients when supporters enter a support recipient list.

[0103] Alternatively, the supporter database may have fields for storing the number of support plans and the number of support completed by the supporter. The number of support plans field stores the number of people requiring support listed in the support recipient list. The number of support completed stores the number of people requiring support for which the supporter has completed support.

[0104] The supporter registration unit 203 issues the generated supporter ID to the support-requiring person (supporter terminal 20).

[0105] The instruction acquisition unit 204 is a means for acquiring an instruction to transmit evacuation information from a disaster prevention officer of a local government. The instruction acquisition unit 204 acquires an instruction to transmit evacuation information from the disaster prevention officer of a local government using a GUI such as that shown in FIG. 8. The disaster prevention officer of a local government specifies the alert level to be issued and the area to which the evacuation information is to be transmitted. The area to which the evacuation information is to be transmitted may be a relatively small area such as a hamlet or a small hamlet, or a relatively large area such as the entire local government.

[0106] The evacuation information transmission unit 205 is a means for transmitting evacuation information to residents in an area designated by a disaster prevention officer of the local government. The evacuation information transmission unit 205 transmits evacuation information to terminals carried by residents in the designated area. In this case, the evacuation information transmission unit 205 transmits evacuation information including information according to the alert level input by the disaster prevention officer of the local government to normal residents (residents who are neither persons requiring support nor supporters). For example, the evacuation information transmission unit 205 transmits evacuation information to the residents' terminals with content such as "An evacuation order has been issued for elderly people and others. Please take appropriate evacuation action." The addresses, etc. of the terminals to which the evacuation information is to be sent are registered in advance.

[0107] The evacuation information transmitting unit 205 transmits evacuation information to the supporter including information (message) that makes the supporter aware that he or she is a "supporter." Specifically, the evacuation information transmitting unit 205 transmits evacuation information including a message that makes the supporter aware of the need to be registered as a supporter in the disaster prevention center (server device 10) and to support the person in need of support.

[0108] The evacuation information transmission unit 205 accesses the supporter database and transmits evacuation information including the content shown in Figure 9 to the addresses of supporters registered in the database (addresses that can be received by the supporter terminal 20).

[0109] The evacuation information transmitting unit 205 receives a "support available notification" or a "support unavailable notification" from the supporter's supporter terminal 20. The support available notification is sent to the server device 10 when the "support available" button shown in FIG. 9 is pressed. The support available notification includes the supporter ID of the supporter. The evacuation information transmitting unit 205 searches the supporter database using the supporter ID as a key to identify the corresponding entry (supporter). The evacuation information transmitting unit 205 sets "support available" in the status field of the identified entry.

[0110] The support unavailable notification is sent to the server device 10 when the "support unavailable" button shown in FIG. 9 is pressed. The support unavailable notification includes the supporter ID of the supporter. The evacuation information transmission unit 205 searches the supporter database using the supporter ID as a key to identify the corresponding entry (supporter). The evacuation information transmission unit 205 sets "support unavailable" in the status field of the identified entry.

[0111] The evacuation information transmitting unit 205 transmits evacuation information to the person requiring support, the evacuation information including content (message) that allows the person requiring support to recognize that he or she has been registered as a "person requiring support" in the disaster prevention center (server device 10) and that a supporter will assist him or her in evacuation. For example, the evacuation information transmitting unit 205 accesses a database of people requiring support, and transmits evacuation information including content such as that shown in Fig. 10 to addresses of people requiring support registered in the database (addresses that can be received by the support-requiring person terminal 30).

[0112] The support needer determination unit 206 is a means for determining a supporter who will support the support needer. The support needer determination unit 206 performs control to determine a first support needer who will be supported in evacuation behavior by a first supporter from at least one support needer listed in a support recipient list of a first supporter among multiple supporters. For example, in the example of Fig. 7 , the support needer determination unit 206 performs control to determine a support needer who will be supported in evacuation behavior by the supporter A1 from support needers B1 to B3 listed in the support recipient list of the supporter A1 among multiple supporters A1 to A3.

[0113] Hereinafter, a case will be described in which the support-requiring person determining unit 206 determines a support-requiring person to be supported by a supporter based on the supporter's intention.

[0114] The support requiring person determining unit 206 identifies an entry in the supporter database whose status field is set to "support available." The support requiring person determining unit 206 reads out a support recipient list from the identified entry. For example, in the example of FIG. 21 , a support recipient list including support requiring persons B1 and B2 is read out from the entry of supporter A2.

[0115] The support requiring person determination unit 206 searches the support requiring person database using the support requiring person ID listed in the read support recipient list as a key, and checks the status field of the corresponding entry. The support requiring person determination unit 206 extracts support requiring people whose status field is set to "before evacuation" (people who have not completed evacuation and have not been assigned a supporter).

[0116] The support needer determining unit 206 transmits a "support needer selection request" including a list of the extracted support needers (a list of the names of the support needers and the support needer IDs) to the support provider terminal 20. The support needer determining unit 206 acquires the support needers (support needer IDs) determined by the support provider in response to the request.

[0117] In this way, the support needing person determination unit 206 transmits the support recipient list to the support provider terminal 20 (first terminal), and determines the support needing person selected by the supporter from the support recipient list as the support recipient (first support needing person). The support needing person determination unit 206 also transmits to the support provider terminal 20 a support recipient list excluding support needing people who have completed evacuation from among the support needing people listed in the initially registered support recipient list. Furthermore, when the supporter is in a state where they can support the support needing person, the support needing person determination unit 206 transmits the support recipient list to the support provider terminal 20 and prompts the support needing person to select a support needing person.

[0118] The combination of the supporter and the support-requiring person is confirmed when the supporter selects the support-requiring person, and the support-requiring person determining unit 206 reflects the confirmed information in the supporter database and the support-requiring person database.

[0119] Regarding the supporter, the support needer determining unit 206 searches the supporter database using the supporter ID of the supporter as a key to identify the corresponding entry. The support needer determining unit 206 sets the support needer ID in the support needer field of the identified entry.

[0120] Furthermore, with regard to a person requiring support, the support needer determining unit 206 searches the support needer database using the support needer ID of the person requiring support as a key, and identifies a corresponding entry. The support needer determining unit 206 sets the supporter ID in the supporter field of the identified entry. Furthermore, the support needer determining unit 206 sets "supporter determined" in the status field of the identified entry. Note that in the drawings including FIG. 18, "supporter determined" is written as "determined".

[0121] The evacuation behavior control unit 207 is a means for controlling the evacuation behavior of the support-requiring person by the supporter. The operation of the evacuation behavior control unit 207 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0122] When the combination of the supporter and the person requiring support is determined, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 notifies the person requiring support of information about the supporter. The evacuation behavior control unit 207 transmits a "supporter information notification" including the name of the supporter and the like to the support-requiring person terminal 30 (step S101).

[0123] The evacuation behavior control unit 207 waits for reception of a response to the notification (step S102, No branch).

[0124] When a "supporter confirmation notification" that is a response to the supporter information notification is received (step S102, Yes branch), the evacuation behavior control unit 207 instructs the corresponding supporter to start support.

[0125] First, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 generates a support start instruction including the name of the person requiring support, the address of the person requiring support, support procedure information, etc. (Step S103). At this time, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 generates the support procedure information based on at least either the attribute information of the person requiring support or the attribute information of the supporter.

[0126] For example, consider a case where a person requiring assistance who needs a wheelchair is the support target. In this case, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 generates support procedure information that describes precautions for handling the wheelchair that the person requiring assistance will be riding in. In this way, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 may generate support procedure information based on attribute information of the person requiring assistance.

[0127] Alternatively, consider a case where the supporter has a driver's license. In this case, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 generates support procedure information that describes an instruction to drive a vehicle to the person requiring assistance. In this way, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 may generate support procedure information based on the attribute information of the supporter.

[0128] Alternatively, consider a case where the support target is a person requiring assistance who needs a wheelchair, and the supporter has a vehicle (such as a minivan) that can accommodate the wheelchair. In this case, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 generates support procedure information that describes precautions to take when loading the wheelchair into the vehicle. For example, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 generates support procedure information that includes, for example, a method for securing the wheelchair to the vehicle. In this way, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 may generate support procedure information based on attribute information of the person requiring assistance and the supporter.

[0129] Alternatively, consider a case where the support recipient is a person requiring assistance who does not need a wheelchair but has difficulty walking independently, and the supporter does not own a vehicle. In this case, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 generates support procedure information that instructs the supporter to use a means of transportation such as a taxi to reach the person requiring assistance. Alternatively, the support procedure information may include contact information for a taxi company. In other words, the evacuation support system may cooperate with a vehicle dispatch service by, for example, notifying the supporter of the contact information for the taxi company.

[0130] For example, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 references table information that stores attribute information of the person requiring support, attribute information of the supporter, and content to be described in support procedure information in association with each other, and generates the support procedure information.

[0131] If there is no particular information to be written in the support procedure information, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 may generate support instruction information including map information that allows the address of the person requiring support (the destination to which the supporter is heading) to be easily recognized. For example, if the person requiring support has no walking problems and will evacuate to an evacuation shelter within walking distance from the current location of the person requiring support, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 may generate support instruction information that includes the map information.

[0132] The evacuation behavior control unit 207 transmits information about the support-requiring person who is the support target (information including the support-requiring person ID) and a support start instruction including support procedure information to the supporter terminal 20 (step S104).

[0133] In this way, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 transmits a supporter information notification including the name of the supporter, etc. to the support requiring person terminal 30 (second terminal) carried by the support requiring person. After receiving a supporter confirmation notification indicating that the support requiring person has confirmed that they will receive support from a supporter from the support requiring person terminal 30, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 transmits a support start instruction to the supporter terminal 20 (first terminal). The evacuation behavior control unit 207 transmits a support start instruction including information about the support requiring person determined by the support requiring person determination unit 206 (name, address, support requiring person ID, etc.) and support procedure information to the supporter terminal 20 carried by the supporter.

[0134] The evacuation behavior control unit 207 updates the status of the supporter who sent the support start instruction by setting "supporting" in the status field of the supporter database.

[0135] Based on the instruction to start support, the supporter heads to the person requiring support. Upon arriving at the person requiring support, the supporter reports the situation at the scene to the disaster prevention center (server device 10).

[0136] The evacuation behavior control unit 207 receives a "site situation report" indicating the situation of the site where the supporter has arrived from the supporter terminal 20 (step S105). The site situation report includes the support-requiring person ID of the support-requiring person.

[0137] The evacuation behavior control unit 207 handles the site situation report (step S106).

[0138] For example, if a notification that "there is no problem with providing support" is received from the supporter, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 does not take any particular action.

[0139] Alternatively, when a notification that "the whereabouts of the person requiring support are unknown" is received from a supporter, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 notifies the voluntary disaster prevention organization of this fact. Specifically, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 searches the database of people requiring support using the ID of the person requiring support as a key, and acquires the name, address, etc. of the person requiring support. The evacuation behavior control unit 207 notifies the voluntary disaster prevention organization (such as the server of the organization) of the acquired name, address, etc. of the person requiring support.

[0140] Alternatively, when a notification that "support alone is not possible" is received from a supporter, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 selects a supporter to be sent to provide support from among supporters who have not yet begun support action, and instructs the selected supporter to provide support. Specifically, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 searches the supporter database and extracts supporters who have not yet begun support activities (supporters whose status field is set to "available for support"). The evacuation behavior control unit 207 selects a supporter to be sent to provide support from among the extracted supporters. The evacuation behavior control unit 207 transmits a "support support instruction" including the name, address, etc. of the person requiring support to the supporter terminal 20 of the selected supporter.

[0141] The evacuation behavior control unit 207 can select a supporter to send to provide support by various methods. For example, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 selects a supporter who lives near the support-requiring person who needs support. Alternatively, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 selects a supporter who has the support-requiring person who needs support listed in a support recipient list.

[0142] The supporter moves to an evacuation shelter together with the person requiring support. When the supporter has completed the evacuation, the supporter reports this to the disaster prevention center (server device 10). Specifically, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 receives a "support completion notification" from the supporter terminal 20 (step S107). The support completion notification includes the support-requiring person ID of the person requiring support who has completed the evacuation.

[0143] The evacuation behavior control unit 207 reflects in the database that the supporter has completed the support behavior (updates the database; step S108). Specifically, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 sets "support available" in the status field of the corresponding entry in the supporter database. In addition, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 sets "evacuation completed" in the status field of the corresponding entry in the support-requiring person database.

[0144] In this way, the evacuation behavior control unit 207 receives a support completion notification indicating that the evacuation of the person requiring support has been completed from the support provider terminal 20. The evacuation behavior control unit 207 sets the status of the support provider who has completed supporting the person requiring support to a status (support available) where the support provider can support another person requiring support (a second person requiring support different from the first person requiring support).

[0145] The support-requiring person determination unit 206 accesses the support-requiring person database periodically or at a predetermined timing to determine whether there is a support-requiring person whose status field is set to "before evacuation." If such a support-requiring person is present, the support-requiring person determination unit 206 sends a "support-requiring person selection request" to the supporter who has the support-requiring person on their support recipient list. The supporter who receives the request selects the support-requiring person to support and heads out to provide support. By repeating this operation, the evacuation of all support-requiring people is completed.

[0146] The storage unit 208 is a means for storing information necessary for the operation of the server device 10 .

[0147] [Supporter Terminal] Examples of the supporter terminal 20 include mobile terminal devices such as smartphones, mobile phones, game consoles, and tablets.

[0148] Fig. 23 is a diagram showing an example of the processing configuration (processing module) of the supporter terminal 20. Referring to Fig. 23, the supporter terminal 20 includes a communication control unit 301, a registration unit 302, an evacuation information processing unit 303, a support-requiring person selection unit 304, a support action control unit 305, and a storage unit 306.

[0149] The communication control unit 301 is a means for controlling communication with other devices. For example, the communication control unit 301 receives data (packets) from the server device 10. The communication control unit 301 also transmits data to the server device 10. The communication control unit 301 passes data received from other devices to other processing modules. The communication control unit 301 transmits data acquired from other processing modules to other devices. In this way, other processing modules transmit and receive data to and from other devices via the communication control unit 301. The communication control unit 301 has a function as a receiving unit that receives data from other devices and a function as a transmitting unit that transmits data to other devices.

[0150] The registration unit 302 is a means for registering supporter information in the disaster prevention center (server device 10). The registration unit 302 displays a GUI such as that shown in Fig. 19 and Fig. 20 and acquires supporter information (personal information, health information, family information, and support recipient list).

[0151] The registration unit 302 transmits the acquired supporter information to the server device 10. The registration unit 302 receives the supporter ID from the server device 10. The registration unit 302 stores the received supporter ID in the storage unit 306.

[0152] The evacuation information processing unit 303 is a unit that processes evacuation information received from the server device 10. When the evacuation information processing unit 303 acquires evacuation information from the server device 10, it displays a GUI as shown in FIG.

[0153] The evacuation information processing unit 303 acquires the supporter's intention (whether or not they are willing to support the person requiring support) via the GUI. The evacuation information processing unit 303 notifies the server device 10 of the acquired supporter's intention. If the supporter indicates their intention to provide support, the evacuation information processing unit 303 transmits a support available notification to the server device 10. If the supporter indicates their intention not to provide support, the evacuation information processing unit 303 transmits a support unavailable notification to the server device 10.

[0154] The support-requiring person selection unit 304 is a means for enabling a support provider to select a support-requiring person. The support-requiring person selection unit 304 receives a support-requiring person selection request from the server device 10. In response to receiving the request, the support-requiring person selection unit 304 displays a GUI such as that shown in FIG. 11 .

[0155] Note that even a supporter who has expressed an intention to support a person requiring support may wish to cancel the support for that person after checking the support recipient list (list of people requiring support) as shown in FIG. 11. In this case, the supporter presses the "Cancel" button shown in FIG. 11. In response to the button being pressed, the support-requiring person selection unit 304 transitions again to the screen shown in FIG. 9. A supporter who wants to cancel "Support available" can simply press the "Support not available" button on the screen of FIG. 9.

[0156] The support-requiring person selection unit 304 transmits to the server device 10 a response (response to the support-requiring person selection request) including the support-requiring person ID of the support-requiring person selected by the supporter.

[0157] The assistive behavior control unit 305 is a means for controlling the assistive behavior of the supporter.

[0158] The support behavior control unit 305 receives a support start instruction from the server device 10. In response to receiving this instruction, the support behavior control unit 305 displays a screen as shown in Fig. 13. As shown in Fig. 13, the support behavior control unit 305 displays information based on the name, address, support procedure information, etc. of the person requiring support. The support start instruction includes the support needer ID of the person requiring support, so the support behavior control unit 305 stores this ID in the storage unit 306.

[0159] Alternatively, the assistive behavior control unit 305 may display a button (for example, a confirmation button) for the supporter to confirm that he / she has confirmed the display, and may continue the display as shown in Fig. 13 until the button is pressed. Alternatively, upon receiving an instruction to start assistance, the assistive behavior control unit 305 may notify the supporter of the receipt of the instruction by sound such as an alarm.

[0160] When the supporter performs a predetermined action (for example, when the supporter presses a site status report button displayed on the menu screen), the support behavior control unit 305 displays a GUI for reporting the site status. The support behavior control unit 305 displays a GUI such as that shown in FIG.

[0161] 14, the support behavior control unit 305 may provide an interface for the supporter to describe the situation in detail in addition to predetermined options (for example, no hindrance to support, etc.). The support behavior control unit 305 transmits the on-site information entered by the supporter to the server device 10 as a "on-site situation report." The on-site situation report includes the support-requiring person ID of the support-requiring person (the support-requiring person to whom the supporter rushed to the site; the support-requiring person specified by the support start instruction).

[0162] When the supporter performs a predetermined action (for example, when the supporter presses a support completion button displayed on the menu screen), the support action control unit 305 displays a GUI to notify the support completion. The support action control unit 305 displays a GUI such as that shown in Fig. 15. When the supporter presses the "Complete" button, the support action control unit 305 transmits a support completion notification to the server device 10, which includes the support-requiring person ID of the support-requiring person who evacuated together.

[0163] The storage unit 306 is a means for storing information necessary for the operation of the supporter terminal 20 .

[0164] [Support Requiring Person Terminal] Examples of the support requiring person terminal 30 include mobile terminal devices such as smartphones, mobile phones, game consoles, and tablets.

[0165] Fig. 24 is a diagram showing an example of the processing configuration (processing module) of the support-requiring person terminal 30. Referring to Fig. 24, the support-requiring person terminal 30 includes a communication control unit 401, a registration unit 402, an evacuation information processing unit 403, a supporter information notification processing unit 404, and a storage unit 405.

[0166] The communication control unit 401 is a means for controlling communication with other devices. For example, the communication control unit 401 receives data (packets) from the server device 10. The communication control unit 401 also transmits data to the server device 10. The communication control unit 401 passes data received from other devices to other processing modules. The communication control unit 401 transmits data acquired from other processing modules to other devices. In this way, other processing modules transmit and receive data to and from other devices via the communication control unit 401. The communication control unit 401 has a function as a receiving unit that receives data from other devices and a function as a transmitting unit that transmits data to other devices.

[0167] The registration unit 402 is a means for registering information about a person requiring support in the disaster prevention center (server device 10). The registration unit 402 displays a GUI as shown in Fig. 17 and acquires information about the person requiring support (personal information, health information, and family information).

[0168] The registration unit 402 transmits the acquired information on the support-requiring person to the server device 10. The registration unit 402 receives the support-requiring person ID from the server device 10. The registration unit 402 stores the received support-requiring person ID in the storage unit 405.

[0169] The evacuation information processing unit 403 is a unit that processes evacuation information received from the server device 10. When the evacuation information processing unit 403 acquires evacuation information from the server device 10, it displays the information as shown in FIG.

[0170] The supporter information notification processing unit 404 is a means for processing the supporter information notification received from the server device 10. In response to receiving the supporter information notification from the server device 10, the supporter information notification processing unit 404 displays a display as shown in Fig. 12. As shown in Fig. 12, the supporter information notification processing unit 404 displays the name and other information of the supporter who will come to support the evacuation action.

[0171] As shown in Fig. 12, the supporter information notification processing unit 404 displays an "OK" button to confirm that the person in need of support has confirmed the display. When the button is pressed, the supporter information notification processing unit 404 transmits a supporter confirmation notification to the server device 10. Although Fig. 12 illustrates the "OK" button, the supporter information notification processing unit 404 may also display a button (for example, a "Reject" button) that allows the person in need of support to request support from another supporter. When the reject button is pressed, the supporter information notification processing unit 404 requests the server device 10 to assign another supporter.

[0172] The storage unit 405 is a means for storing information necessary for the operation of the support-requiring person terminal 30 .

[0173] [System Operation] Next, the operation of the evacuation support system according to the first embodiment will be described. Note that a description of the operation relating to supporter registration and support-requiring person registration will be omitted. Fig. 25 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the evacuation support system according to the first embodiment.

[0174] In response to an instruction from a disaster prevention officer of a local government, the server device 10 transmits evacuation information to the supporter terminal 20 and the support-requiring person terminal 30 (step S11).

[0175] In response to receiving the evacuation information, the supporter terminal 20 notifies the server device 10 of the supporter's intention regarding the support action (whether or not to provide support) (step S12). The supporter terminal 20 transmits a support available notification or a support unavailable notification to the server device 10.

[0176] The server device 10 transmits a request for selecting a person requiring support to the supporter who responded that they are available for support (step S13). The server device 10 transmits the request for selecting a person requiring support, which includes a list of people requiring support who are listed on the support recipient list of the supporter and who were in need of support before the evacuation (a list of people requiring support that has been narrowed down to include only the support recipients).

[0177] The supporter terminal 20 accepts the supporter's selection of the person requiring support, and transmits information about the selected person requiring support to the server device 10 (transmitting a response to the support-requiring person selection request; step S14).

[0178] When the supporter has finished selecting the support-requiring person, the server device 10 transmits a supporter information notification to the support-requiring person terminal 30 of the support-requiring person who will receive support (step S15).

[0179] When the person requiring support confirms the name and the like of the supporter, the support-requiring person terminal 30 transmits a supporter confirmation notice to the server device 10 (step S16).

[0180] In response to receiving the notification, the server device 10 transmits a support start instruction to the supporter terminal 20 (step S17).

[0181] In response to the instruction, the supporter heads to the person requiring support and arrives at the site. When the supporter arrives at the site, the supporter terminal 20 transmits a site status report including the site status to the server device 10 (step S18).

[0182] The server device 10 takes appropriate measures in response to the report.

[0183] When the supporter arrives at the evacuation shelter with the person requiring support, the supporter terminal 20 transmits a support completion notification to the server device 10 (step S19). In response to the notification, the server device 10 changes the status of the supporter from "supporting" to "support available" and sets the supporter to be able to assign a new person requiring support.

[0184] <Modification of First Embodiment> In the above embodiment, the server device 10 selects a supporter while taking into consideration the supporter's situation on the day of evacuation (whether the supporter is able to support the person in need of support). However, the server device 10 may select a supporter without taking into consideration the supporter's situation.

[0185] Specifically, the supporter terminal 20 does not transmit a "support available notification" or a "support unavailable notification" to the server device 10. In other words, the server device 10 does not grasp the situation of the supporter when a disaster occurs.

[0186] The server device 10 may determine the supporter who will support the support-requiring person according to the support recipient list of each supporter. Specifically, the server device 10 transmits to the supporter terminal 20 a request for selecting a support-requiring person, which includes a list of support-requiring people who actually need to evacuate (list of support-requiring people) extracted from the support recipient list.

[0187] The supporter selects a person requiring support to be supported from the list of people requiring support displayed on the supporter terminal 20 .

[0188] In this way, the evacuation support system according to the first embodiment does not need to consider whether the supporter is available to provide support on the day of evacuation. However, from the viewpoint of system efficiency, it is preferable to consider the situation of the supporter as described in the first embodiment.

[0189] As described above, in the first embodiment, a supporter selects one person requiring support from among those registered in advance and notifies the server device 10. The server device 10 notifies the selected person requiring support of the supporter's information, and when an acknowledgement (ACK) is returned from the person requiring support, instructs the supporter to begin support. When support is completed, the supporter notifies the server device 10 of support completion. In response to this notification, the supporter can select another person requiring support as a support recipient. As described above, in the evacuation support system according to the first embodiment, the server device 10 closely communicates with the supporter and the person requiring support, accurately grasps the respective conditions and circumstances, and then takes necessary measures. Therefore, the server device 10 does not instruct a supporter who is unable to provide support to require support or instruct multiple supporters to support the same person requiring support. In other words, more accurate and efficient support instructions are given to supporters, thereby more reliably achieving the evacuation of the person requiring support. Furthermore, the server device 10 notifies the person requiring support in advance of information about the supporter who will be on his way to provide support, thereby eliminating unnecessary worries (worrying about whether someone will come to help). Furthermore, when requesting support from a supporter to provide support to the person requiring support, the server device 10 according to the first embodiment notifies the supporter of procedures for providing support to the person requiring support. The supporter supports the evacuation of the person requiring support according to the notified procedures. For example, the person requiring support may need a wheelchair. In such a case, even if the supporter is not familiar with using a wheelchair, the supporter can accurately support the evacuation of the person requiring support who needs a wheelchair by referring to the support procedure information. As a result, the person requiring support can evacuate safely and reliably.

[0190] Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0191] In the first embodiment, a case where a supporter selects a person requiring support has been described. In the second embodiment, a case where the server device 10 selects a person requiring support will be described.

[0192] The configuration of the evacuation support system according to the second embodiment can be the same as that of the first embodiment, and therefore the description corresponding to Fig. 3 will be omitted. The processing configurations of the server device 10, the supporter terminal 20, and the support-requiring person terminal 30 according to the second embodiment can also be the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0193] The following description will focus on the differences between the first and second embodiments.

[0194] In the second embodiment, the support needer determining unit 206 automatically determines a support needer who will be a support recipient for the supporter. The support needer determining unit 206 can determine a support needer in accordance with various methods and various rules. In other words, the support needer determining unit 206 matches a supporter with a support needer by various methods.

[0195] For example, the support-requiring person determining unit 206 automatically selects a support-requiring person who will be a support recipient from among at least one support-requiring person listed in the support recipient list of the supporter.

[0196] For example, the support needer determining unit 206 may select a person requiring support according to the order in which the persons requiring support are listed in the support recipient list. For example, if the supporter inputs the names of the persons requiring support in the order of B1, B2, and B3, the person requiring support B1 may be selected first. That is, in the second embodiment, the order in which the persons requiring support are listed in the support recipient list may be used as the priority order of support.

[0197] For example, when multiple support recipients are listed in the support recipient list, the support needer determining unit 206 may prioritize selecting a blood relative of the supporter on the list. If the support recipient's family information includes a name listed in the support recipient list (a name corresponding to the support recipient ID), the support needer determining unit 206 determines the support recipient listed in the family information as the support recipient. In this way, the support needer determining unit 206 may select a support recipient based on information about the supporter's family (family information).

[0198] The support needer determination unit 206 may determine whether the supporter can truly support the support-requiring person. The support needer determination unit 206 deselects support needers determined to be incapable of support by the supporter. In other words, the support needer determination unit 206 may select, as a support recipient, a support needer for whom the supporter can provide support. The above determination by the support needer determination unit 206 can be made using a learning model prepared in advance. Specifically, the learning model is generated by machine learning using training data in which labels (support available, support unavailable) are assigned to physical information (e.g., height, weight, gender) of the supporter and the support-requiring person. For example, the learning model is generated using training data indicating that a lighter supporter cannot provide support to a heavier support-requiring person. The learning model can be generated using any algorithm, such as a support vector machine, boosting, or neural network. Since known technologies can be used for the algorithms, such as the support vector machine, a description thereof will be omitted. In this way, the support needer determining unit 206 may determine whether a supporter can support a support needer, and select the support needer who can be supported by the supporter as a support recipient.

[0199] The support needer determination unit 206 acquires the physical characteristics from health information of the supporter and the support needer, and inputs them into the learning model. The support needer determination unit 206 can acquire a determination result from the learning model. When the determination result indicates a combination for which support is possible (a combination of a supporter and a support needer), the support needer determination unit 206 selects the support needer as a support recipient for the supporter. In this way, the support needer determination unit 206 may select a support needer based on the height, weight, and age of the supporter and the support needer.

[0200] Alternatively, the support needer determination unit 206 may use a learning model that, when the physical characteristics of a supporter are input, outputs the attributes of support needers who can be supported by the supporter. Specifically, when the support needer determination unit 206 inputs the supporter's height, weight, and gender into the learning model, it acquires the attributes (height, gender, etc.) of support needers who can be supported by the support needer. The support needer determination unit 206 searches a support needer database using the requirements as a key to identify the corresponding support needer. The support needer determination unit 206 may select the identified support needer as a target for support.

[0201] The support needer determining unit 206 may select a support needer based on the support needer's health information (information on past illnesses, medications, etc.). For example, if the supporter is a doctor or a nurse, the support needer determining unit 206 may select a support needer with a past illness as a target for support from the supporter. In this case, the server device 10 may acquire the qualification information, etc. of the supporter when the supporter is registered. In this way, the support needer determining unit 206 may select a support recipient based on the qualification information of the supporter.

[0202] The support needer determining unit 206 may select a support needer based on information about the support needer's home (housing information). For example, the support needer determining unit 206 may select a support needer who lives (is recuperating) on ​​the second floor as a support needer to be assigned to a well-built male. In other words, the support needer determining unit 206 may determine a supporter to provide support based on the location of the support needer's home where the support needer usually resides.

[0203] The support needer determining unit 206 may select a support needer based on the positional relationship between the supporter and the support needer. For example, the support needer determining unit 206 may select the support needer closest to the supporter as the support recipient. Alternatively, the support needer determining unit 206 may select the support needer farthest from the supporter as the support recipient. In this way, the support needer determining unit 206 may select a support needer to be assigned to a supporter based on the positional relationship (distance between the two, travel distance, and travel time).

[0204] Alternatively, the support requiring person determining unit 206 may select a support requiring person based on the location (current location or address) of the evacuation shelter and the support requiring person. The support requiring person determining unit 206 may preferentially select a support requiring person who is farthest from the evacuation shelter as a target for evacuation.

[0205] The support needer determining unit 206 may select a support needer based on the ability of the supporter. For example, the support needer determining unit 206 may select a support needer who has difficulty walking by himself / herself as a support recipient, in comparison with a supporter who can drive a vehicle.

[0206] The support needing person determination unit 206 may calculate a priority for support for at least one or more support needing persons listed in the support recipient list. Based on the calculated priority, the support needing person determination unit 206 may select a support needing person for whom a supporter will support evacuation behavior from among the support needing persons listed in the support recipient list.

[0207] For example, the support needer determining unit 206 may determine the priority of the support needers based on attribute information of the support needers or the supporters, and select the support needers based on the determined priority. For example, the support needer determining unit 206 may select the support needers based on the mental and physical condition (care level, disability level, etc.) of the support needers. For example, the support needer determining unit 206 may preferentially select support needers with a high care level or support needers with severe disabilities as support recipients. Alternatively, the support needer determining unit 206 may select the support needers taking into account the walking speed of the support needers. The support needer determining unit 206 estimates the walking speed of the support needers based on the gender, age, etc. of the support needers. The support needer determining unit 206 may preferentially select support needers with a slow walking speed as support recipients.

[0208] Alternatively, the support needer determining unit 206 may select a support needer taking into consideration the operating time of the support equipment worn by the support needer. Specifically, the support needer determining unit 206 may preferentially select a support needer who requires equipment such as an artificial respirator as a support recipient. Taking into consideration a power outage or the like that occurs due to a disaster, the support needer determining unit 206 preferentially sets a support needer who requires support equipment that requires a power source as a support recipient.

[0209] Alternatively, the support needer determination unit 206 may select a person requiring support based on an expected risk on the day of evacuation. For example, the support needer determination unit 206 calculates a priority for support for the person requiring support based on the flood risk at the address of the person requiring support. The support needer determination unit 206 may select a person requiring support based on the calculated priority. Specifically, the support needer determination unit 206 assigns a priority to each person requiring support based on a hazard map of the evacuation area (map information showing the expected range and extent of flooding) and the address of each person requiring support.

[0210] For example, the support needer determination unit 206 assigns a high priority to support needers who live in areas with a high risk of flooding, and assigns a low priority to support needers who live in areas with a low risk of flooding. The support needer determination unit 206 selects support needers to be the support recipients based on the priority assigned to each support needer. In other words, when multiple support needers are registered as support recipients for one supporter, the support needer determination unit 206 may select support recipients based on the priority of the support needers calculated based on the flood risk.

[0211] Alternatively, the support needer determining unit 206 may calculate the priority of the support needer based on the location of the evacuation shelter and the address of the support needer. Specifically, the support needer determining unit 206 may assign a higher priority to a support needer who lives far from the evacuation shelter and a lower priority to a support needer who lives close to the evacuation shelter. The support needer determining unit 206 may select a support needer to be a target for support based on the priority assigned to each support needer.

[0212] Alternatively, the support needer determination unit 206 may calculate the priority of support for each person requiring support based on a combination of the flood risk and the location of the evacuation shelter (the evacuation shelter and the address of the person requiring support). Specifically, the support needer determination unit 206 assigns the highest priority to a person requiring support who lives in a place where the flood risk is high and far from an evacuation shelter. The support needer determination unit 206 assigns the lowest priority to a person requiring support who lives in a place where the flood risk is low and close to an evacuation shelter. The support needer determination unit 206 selects a person requiring support to be the target of support based on the priority assigned to each person requiring support.

[0213] Alternatively, the support needer determination unit 206 may calculate the priority of support for a person requiring support based on flood risk and information about the person's home (information about the floor on which the person requiring support lives). The support needer determination unit 206 may assign a low priority to a resident who lives in an area with a high risk of flooding, if the floor on which the resident lives is higher than the flood depth estimated from the hazard map. In this way, the support needer determination unit 206 may determine the priority to be assigned to the person requiring support based on the flood depth on the hazard map and the floor on which the person requiring support lives. In other words, the support needer determination unit 206 may correct the flood depth on the hazard map by taking into account the height equivalent to the floor on which the person requiring support lives.

[0214] The support needer determination unit 206 may determine a support needer by taking into consideration the geographical conditions of the residence of the support needer. Specifically, the support needer determination unit 206 calculates the distance between the address of the support needer and the actual evacuation route to the evacuation shelter. The support needer determination unit 206 calculates the distance on the actual evacuation route by taking into consideration detours due to bridges and closed roads that exist between the residence of the support needer and the evacuation shelter. The support needer determination unit 206 may prioritize support needers who are located along a long calculated distance and select them as support recipients. Alternatively, the support needer determination unit 206 may select support needers by taking into consideration factors that reduce walking speed, such as slopes and stairs, on the evacuation route. The support needer determination unit 206 may prioritize support needers along an evacuation route that have many factors that reduce walking speed and set them as support recipients.

[0215] In the second embodiment, if the server device 10 cannot find a suitable person requiring support in the support recipient list, it may go beyond the list to match the supporter with the person requiring support. In other words, if the number of supporters with qualifications such as doctors or nurses is limited, a person requiring support who has not been registered in advance as a person requiring support by these supporters (a person requiring support who is not on the support recipient list of the supporter) may be selected as a support recipient.

[0216] [System Operation] Next, the operation of the evacuation support system according to the second embodiment will be described. Fig. 26 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the operation of the evacuation support system according to the second embodiment. The same processes in Fig. 25 and Fig. 26 are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0217] In the second embodiment, the server device 10 automatically selects a person requiring support to be assigned to a supporter (step S13a). The server device 10 (the support-requiring person determining unit 206) notifies the selected person requiring support to the evacuation behavior control unit 207, and performs the same operation as in the first embodiment.

[0218] As described above, in the second embodiment, the server device 10 automatically selects (matches) a person requiring support. At that time, the server device 10 selects the person requiring support using location information, attribute information, etc. of the supporter and the person requiring support. As a result, a person requiring support that is more appropriate for the supporter is selected, and more reliable evacuation can be achieved.

[0219] Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0220] In the third embodiment, a case where the server device 10 verifies the suitability of a supporter will be described.

[0221] The configuration of the evacuation support system according to the third embodiment can be the same as that of the first embodiment, and therefore the description corresponding to Fig. 3 will be omitted. The processing configurations of the server device 10, the supporter terminal 20, and the support-requiring person terminal 30 according to the third embodiment can also be the same as those of the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

[0222] The following description will focus on the differences between the first and third embodiments.

[0223] The support-requiring person registration unit 202 according to the third embodiment acquires information on supporter candidates from the support-requiring person and verifies whether the supporter candidates are able to support the support-requiring person. If the support-requiring person candidate is able to support the support-requiring person, the support-requiring person registration unit 202 operates as a "registration unit" that registers the supporter candidate in the system.

[0224] 27 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the support-requiring person registration unit 202 according to the third embodiment. The operation of the support-requiring person registration unit 202 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0225] The support-requiring person registration unit 202 acquires supporter candidates who will support the support-requiring person from the support-requiring person terminal 30 (step S201).

[0226] The support-requiring person registration unit 202 verifies the suitability of the acquired supporter candidate (step S202). The support-requiring person registration unit 202 verifies whether the supporter candidate can appropriately support the support-requiring person.

[0227] Specifically, the support-requiring person registration unit 202 verifies whether the support candidate can support the support-requiring person based on the attributes of the support-requiring person and the attributes of the support candidate. For example, if a support-requiring person who has a severe disability or serious illness and has difficulty moving around on his or her own selects a woman or an elderly person as a support candidate, the support-requiring person registration unit 202 determines that the selection is inappropriate.

[0228] On the other hand, if a person requiring support who has difficulty moving around on his / her own selects a male person who owns a vehicle as a support candidate, the support-requiring person registration unit 202 determines that the selection is appropriate.

[0229] The support-requiring person registration unit 202 can obtain a judgment result (whether the support candidate is suitable or inappropriate; whether the support candidate is able to support the support-requiring person or not) by inputting the attributes of the person requiring support and the attributes of the supporter into a pre-prepared learning model.

[0230] If the supporter selection is appropriate (step S203, Yes branch), the support-requiring person registration unit 202 registers information about the supporter selected by the support-requiring person (for example, supporter ID) in the support-requiring person database (step S204).

[0231] If the supporter selection is inappropriate (step S203, No branch), the support-requiring person registration unit 202 does not take any particular action. Alternatively, the support-requiring person registration unit 202 may notify the support-requiring person that the support candidate is inappropriate, or may urge the support-requiring person to register another person as a supporter.

[0232] The support-requiring person registration unit 202 accesses the support-requiring person database periodically or at a predetermined timing to acquire combinations of support-requiring persons and supporters. The support-requiring person registration unit 202 generates a support recipient list as shown in FIG. 6 based on the acquired combinations (step S205).

[0233] The support-requiring person registration unit 202 registers the generated support recipient list in the supporter database (step S206).

[0234] For example, when a person requiring support who has difficulty moving on their own and requires a special vehicle for transportation is unable to find a supporter, the support-requiring person registration unit 202 may register a fire department, local government, or other entity that has a special vehicle as a "supporter."

[0235] As described above, the server device 10 according to the third embodiment verifies the suitability (appropriateness) of a supporter selected by a person requiring support. The server device 10 registers in the system supporters who can reliably support the person requiring support. This configuration prevents a situation in which a supporter is unable to support the evacuation of the person requiring support on the day of evacuation. Furthermore, if the supporter selected by the person requiring support is determined to be inappropriate (if it is difficult to select a supporter from the general public), the server device 10 selects a public institution such as a local government as the supporter. This configuration prevents a situation in which a supporter is not assigned to a person requiring support who needs support.

[0236] Next, the hardware of each device constituting the evacuation support system will be described. Fig. 28 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the server device 10.

[0237] The server device 10 can be configured by an information processing device (so-called computer), and has the configuration exemplified in Fig. 28. For example, the server device 10 includes a processor 311, a memory 312, an input / output interface 313, and a communication interface 314. The components such as the processor 311 are connected by an internal bus or the like, and are configured to be able to communicate with each other.

[0238] However, the configuration shown in Fig. 28 is not intended to limit the hardware configuration of the server device 10. The server device 10 may include hardware not shown, and may not include the input / output interface 313 as necessary. Furthermore, the number of processors 311 and the like included in the server device 10 is not intended to be limited to the example shown in Fig. 28, and for example, the server device 10 may include multiple processors 311.

[0239] The processor 311 is a programmable device such as a central processing unit (CPU), a micro processing unit (MPU), or a digital signal processor (DSP). Alternatively, the processor 311 may be a device such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The processor 311 executes various programs including an operating system (OS).

[0240] The memory 312 is a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), etc. The memory 312 stores an OS program, application programs, and various data.

[0241] The input / output interface 313 is an interface for a display device and an input device (not shown). The display device is, for example, a liquid crystal display, etc. The input device is, for example, a device that accepts user operations, such as a keyboard or a mouse.

[0242] The communication interface 314 is a circuit, module, etc. that communicates with other devices. For example, the communication interface 314 includes a network interface card (NIC).

[0243] The functions of the server device 10 are realized by various processing modules. The processing modules are realized, for example, by the processor 311 executing a program stored in the memory 312. The program can be recorded on a computer-readable storage medium. The storage medium can be a non-transitory medium such as a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, a magnetic recording medium, or an optical recording medium. That is, the present invention can also be embodied as a computer program product. The program can be downloaded via a network or updated using a storage medium storing the program. Furthermore, the processing modules can be realized by semiconductor chips.

[0244] The supporter terminal 20 and the support-requiring person terminal 30 can also be configured using information processing devices similar to the server device 10, and their basic hardware configuration is no different from that of the server device 10, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[0245] The server device 10, which is an information processing device, is equipped with a computer, and functions of the server device 10 can be realized by causing the computer to execute a program. The server device 10 also executes a control method for the server device 10 by the program.

[0246] [Modification] The configuration, operation, etc. of the evacuation support system described in the above embodiment are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the configuration, etc. of the system.

[0247] The server device 10 may provide the safety and evacuation status of persons requiring support to a disaster prevention officer of a neighborhood association (township association). For example, the server device 10 may transmit information to a terminal carried by a disaster prevention officer of a neighborhood association, enabling the terminal to display the information shown in FIG. 29 . In this case, the server device 10 may display the name, address, etc. of a person requiring support whose safety cannot be confirmed, as well as the status of the supporter of that person requiring support. In the example of FIG. 29 , two of the five supporters scheduled to support "Yamada Taro" are capable of providing support. Using the display (evacuation information dashboard) shown in FIG. 29 , a disaster prevention officer can grasp the safety of persons requiring support whose safety is unknown or who have not yet completed evacuation, and can take prompt and reliable action.

[0248] Alternatively, the server device 10 may generate information for a local government (evacuation information dashboard) and provide the evacuation information dashboard to a disaster prevention officer of the local government. For example, the server device 10 may generate an evacuation information dashboard including information such as that shown in FIG. 18 and provide it to a disaster prevention officer of the local government. The disaster prevention officer of the local government can check the status of people requiring support throughout the area by referring to the evacuation information dashboard. The disaster prevention officer of the local government can discover neighborhood associations that are in a situation where some kind of action is required but have not taken the necessary measures, and can provide support to the neighborhood associations. In other words, in order to enable the disaster prevention officer of the local government to check the evacuation status of people requiring support, the server device 10 may provide the information stored in the database of people requiring support shown in FIG. 18 to the disaster prevention officer or the chairman of the neighborhood association.

[0249] Furthermore, the server device 10 may provide an interface that allows a neighborhood association disaster prevention officer to select a supporter to assist a person requiring support who has not yet completed evacuation (a person requiring support whose safety is unknown). For example, when a disaster prevention officer selects a person requiring support by tapping on information indicating the supporter's status (in the figure, "Supporters 2 / 5" or "Supporters 3 / 5") shown in FIG. 29, the server device 10 displays a list of supporters for the selected person requiring support (see FIG. 30). In this case, the server device 10 may display each supporter's name, relationship, and status (available or unavailable). When a disaster prevention officer selects a supporter marked "available," the server device 10 requests that supporter to provide support to the person requiring support. In this way, the server device 10 can confirm in advance whether supporters previously registered as supporters are actually available to provide support and, based on the confirmation results, request support from an appropriate supporter. In addition, when a person other than a supporter (such as a disaster prevention officer or neighborhood association president of a local government or neighborhood association) selects a supporter to assign to an individual in need of support, the server device 10 may provide the person other than the supporter with information indicating the status of each supporter (for example, the number of planned support attempts, the number of support attempts completed).

[0250] The server device 10 may extract local residents who are assumed to be in need of support but have not registered as those in need of support (residents who have not created individual evacuation plans), and provide information on the extracted residents to a disaster prevention officer of the local government, etc. For example, the server device 10 may extract residents who are over a certain age or who require nursing care but have not registered as those in need of support, and transmit a list of the extracted residents to a terminal used by the disaster prevention officer. The disaster prevention officer may request the residents to register as those in need of support directly or through a person in charge of the neighborhood association to which the residents belong.

[0251] Information about residents who have not registered as persons requiring assistance (residents who have not created individual evacuation plans) may be shared among related parties (e.g., supporters, persons requiring assistance, relatives, welfare officers, neighborhood association presidents, etc.). Alternatively, information about persons requiring assistance after they have been registered as persons requiring assistance and individual evacuation plans registered in the system may be shared among related parties. The server device 10 may set the scope of viewing of the above information by granting appropriate viewing rights to each related party. This configuration ensures the privacy of residents and the security of the system.

[0252] The server device 10 may request preventive dispatch (advance mobilization) of firefighters and fire corps to prevent delays in the evacuation of persons requiring support. The server device 10 may identify an area where many persons requiring support who have a high priority for evacuation live, and notify the fire corps or the like of information about the identified area. The fire corps may head to the notified area to support the evacuation of persons requiring support.

[0253] In the above embodiment, it has been described that the person requiring support registers various information and performs various operations using the support-requiring person terminal 30. However, depending on the state or situation, the person requiring support may not be able to operate the support-requiring person terminal 30. Therefore, in the evacuation support system disclosed herein, the person requiring support does not need to possess the support-requiring person terminal 30. In other words, the evacuation support system does not need to perform operations or processes that require the support-requiring person terminal 30. Specifically, the support-requiring person registration may be performed by a proxy, and the operations related to the supporter information notification (steps S04 and S05 in FIG. 7 ) may be omitted.

[0254] In the above embodiment, the case where a supporter registers as a supporter has been described. However, supporter registration may also be performed by a person requiring support (a representative of the person requiring support). That is, when the person requiring support (a representative of the person requiring support) inputs the support-requiring person registration (individual evacuation plan), the supporter's information may be registered in the system.

[0255] When an external server operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency or the like issues a weather warning or advisory, the server device 10 may receive the issued information from the external server. The server device 10 may treat the received information as an "evacuation information transmission instruction" input by a disaster prevention officer of a local government. The server device 10 may automatically transmit evacuation information (an inquiry about whether or not assistance is available) in response to receiving information from the external server.

[0256] Supporters and people requiring support may register as supporters or people requiring support using applications provided by local governments or the like (for example, disaster prevention applications, circular notice applications, etc.).

[0257] The server device 10 may not urge residents in a designated area who are at low (or no) risk from a disaster to take evacuation action. The server device 10 may not urge residents who live on high ground, etc., where evacuation is not deemed necessary even in the event of a flood or the like. In other words, people in need of support who are in a safe location may be excluded from support targets, and may be excluded from selection by supporters or matching by the server device 10.

[0258] The server device 10 may successively notify the family of the person requiring support who is the target of evacuation of the status of the evacuation. For example, the server device 10 (evacuation behavior control unit 207) may report to the family (pre-registered contact information of the family) the status of when a supporter was selected, when the supporter arrived at the site, when support was completed, etc.

[0259] The person requiring support (support-requiring person terminal 30) may notify the server device 10 of additional information such as their own health condition at the timing of transmitting the support provider confirmation notification. The support-requiring person terminal 30 (support provider information notification processing unit 404) displays a GUI for acquiring the health condition of the person requiring support, and acquires the health condition of the person requiring support. The support-requiring person terminal 30 transmits a support provider confirmation notification including the acquired health condition to the server device 10. When transmitting an instruction to start support to the supporter, the server device 10 may notify the supporter of the acquired health condition. The supporter may make preparations for heading out to provide support based on the notified information. For example, the supporter may take measures such as bringing a wheelchair.

[0260] The server device 10 may store biometric information (e.g., facial images) of each of the supporters and the persons requiring support. For example, when each of multiple supporters registers that they will provide support to multiple persons requiring support, the server device 10 may also acquire facial images of the supporters and the persons requiring support. When sending a supporter information notification to the person requiring support, the server device 10 may also send a facial image of the supporter who will be providing support to the support-requiring person's terminal 30. By taking such measures, the person requiring support can receive evacuation support with peace of mind even if the person requiring support does not know the supporter personally.

[0261] The server device 10 may transmit a support start instruction including the current location of the person requiring support to the support provider terminal 20, instead of the address of the person requiring support. In this case, the server device 10 may acquire location information (location information calculated using a GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like) from the support-requiring person's terminal 30, and transmit a support start instruction including the location information to the support provider terminal 20. That is, the server device 10 may issue a support start instruction using location information calculated by the support-requiring person's terminal 30 using a GPS or the like, instead of the address of the person requiring support. By taking such measures, the supporter can reliably go to the person requiring support even if the pre-registered address has changed or if the person requiring support is located somewhere other than their home when a disaster occurs.

[0262] If the person requiring support fails to return a supporter confirmation notification (so-called ACK), the server device 10 may request the voluntary disaster prevention organization to confirm the safety of the person requiring support after a predetermined period of time has passed since the supporter information notification was sent. A person in charge of the voluntary disaster prevention organization will visit the person requiring support to confirm their safety. If the person's safety cannot be confirmed, the person in charge will wait a while and then check their safety again.

[0263] The server device 10 may include the route to the residence of the person requiring support in the support start instruction. Alternatively, the server device 10 may transmit to the supporter terminal 20 a support start instruction including information about the evacuation route from the residence of the person requiring support to the evacuation shelter (map information showing the evacuation route). In this case, the server device 10 may individually notify the timing of evacuation depending on the status of the evacuation route. More specifically, the server device 10 may adjust the timing of transmitting the evacuation start instruction, taking into account travel by vehicle, so that many evacuees do not use the same route in the same time period. Alternatively, the server device 10 may provide evacuation route guidance taking into account past traffic congestion records, or may disperse evacuation routes to prevent traffic congestion.

[0264] In the above embodiment, it is assumed that a person requiring support is registered on the support recipient list of at least one of multiple supporters. However, it is conceivable that there may be a person requiring support who is not listed on the list. For such a person requiring support, the server device 10 may request support for the person requiring support from a voluntary disaster prevention organization, or may request support for the person requiring support from a supporter who is not listed on the list.

[0265] In the above embodiment, the on-site situation report is transmitted to the server device 10 by explicit operation of the supporter. However, the supporter terminal 20 may estimate the on-site situation based on its own device's location information, etc., and transmit the on-site situation report to the server device 10. For example, if the supporter terminal 20's location matches the location of the support-requiring person's home and the supporter terminal 20 moves toward the evacuation shelter after a predetermined time has elapsed, the supporter terminal 20 determines that support for the support-requiring person has been completed without a hitch and notifies the server device 10 of that fact. On the other hand, if the supporter terminal 20 does not move toward the evacuation shelter even after a predetermined time has elapsed since arriving at the site, the supporter terminal 20 determines that evacuation support is not proceeding smoothly and notifies the server device 10 of that fact. In response to the notification from the supporter terminal 20, the server device 10 takes appropriate action (e.g., dispatching other supporters to provide support).

[0266] When the support provider terminal 20 recognizes that its own device has reached the evacuation shelter, it may automatically transmit a support completion notification to the server device 10. Alternatively, when the support-requiring person terminal 30 recognizes that its own device has reached the evacuation shelter, it may notify the server device 10 of this fact. When the server device 10 detects that two terminals (the support provider terminal 20 and the support-requiring person terminal 30) have moved to the evacuation shelter at substantially the same time, it may determine that support for the person requiring support has been completed.

[0267] In the above embodiment, the case where the database of persons requiring support and the database of supporters are configured inside the server device 10 has been described, but these databases may be configured on an external database server or the like. That is, some of the functions of the server device 10 may be implemented on another server. More specifically, the above-described "support requiring person determination unit (support requiring person determination means)", "evacuation behavior control unit (evacuation behavior control means)", etc. may be implemented in any of the devices included in the system.

[0268] The server device 10 may verify the identity of the resident when registering the person requiring support or the supporter. Specifically, the server device 10 acquires the resident's biometric information, personal information, etc., as well as an identification document (e.g., a passport, a driver's license, etc.) containing biometric information. The server device 10 performs one-to-one matching using the biometric information on the identification document and the biometric information acquired from the resident. If the matching is successful, the server device 10 may register the supporter or the person requiring support.

[0269] The form of data transmission and reception between the devices (server device 10, support provider terminal 20, and support-requiring person terminal 30) is not particularly limited, but the data transmitted and received between these devices may be encrypted. Residents' personal information and the like is transmitted and received between these devices, and in order to appropriately protect this information, it is desirable to transmit and receive encrypted data.

[0270] In the flow charts (flowcharts, sequence diagrams) used in the above explanation, multiple steps (processes) are described in order, but the order of execution of the steps executed in the embodiments is not limited to the order described. In the embodiments, the order of the steps shown in the drawings can be changed to the extent that the content is not affected, such as by executing each process in parallel.

[0271] The above-described embodiments have been described in detail to facilitate understanding of the present disclosure, and it is not intended that all of the above-described configurations are required. Furthermore, when multiple embodiments are described, each embodiment may be used alone or in combination. For example, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, or to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Furthermore, it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with another configuration.

[0272] From the above explanation, it is clear that the present invention has industrial applicability, and the present invention can be suitably applied to an evacuation support system that supports the evacuation of residents.

[0273] Some or all of the above embodiments can be described as, but are not limited to, the following supplementary notes. [Supplementary Note 1] A server device comprising: a support needing person determination unit that performs control to determine a support needing person for whom the supporter will assist in evacuation behavior, from at least one or more support needing persons listed in a support recipient list of the support person of the supporter; and an evacuation behavior control unit that transmits, to a terminal carried by the supporter, a support start instruction including information on the determined support needing person and support procedure information related to a procedure for the supporter to assist in evacuation behavior of the determined support needing person. [Supplementary Note 2] The server device described in Supplementary Note 1, wherein the evacuation behavior control unit generates the support procedure information based on at least either attribute information of the determined support needing person or attribute information of the supporter. [Supplementary Note 3] The server device described in Supplementary Note 2, wherein the support needing person determination unit transmits the support recipient list to the terminal and designates a support needing person selected by the supporter from the support recipient list as a support recipient. [Supplementary Note 4] The server device described in Supplementary Note 3, wherein the support needing person determination unit transmits the support recipient list to the terminal when the supporter is in a state where they can support the support needing person. [Supplementary Note 5] The server device described in Supplementary Note 2, wherein the support needing person determination unit selects a support needing person for whom the supporter will support evacuation behavior from at least one or more support needing persons listed in the support recipient list of the supporter. [Supplementary Note 6] The server device described in Supplementary Note 5, wherein the support needing person determination unit calculates a priority for support for the at least one or more support needing persons, and selects a support needing person for whom the supporter will support evacuation behavior from the at least one or more support needing persons based on the calculated priority. [Supplementary Note 7] The server device described in Supplementary Note 6, wherein the support needing person determination unit calculates a priority for support for the at least one or more support needing persons based on a flood risk at an address of the at least one or more support needing persons. [Appendix 8] The server device described in Appendix 6, wherein the support-requiring person determination unit calculates a priority for support for the at least one or more persons requiring support based on information regarding the flood risk at the address of the at least one or more persons requiring support and the floor on which they live.[Supplementary Note 9] The server device according to Supplementary Note 6, wherein the support requiring person determination unit calculates a priority for support for the at least one or more persons requiring support based on the addresses of the at least one or more persons requiring support and the location of an evacuation shelter. [Supplementary Note 10] The server device according to Supplementary Note 2, further comprising a registration unit that acquires information about the supporter candidates, verifies whether the supporter candidates are able to support the persons requiring support, and, if the supporter candidates are able to support the person requiring support, registers the supporter candidates in the system. [Supplementary Note 11] The server device according to Supplementary Note 10, wherein the registration unit verifies whether the supporter candidates are able to support the person requiring support based on attribute information of the supporter candidates and attribute information of the person requiring support. [Supplementary Note 12] A system including a terminal carried by a support person, and a server device, wherein the server device comprises: a support needing person determination unit that performs control to determine a support needing person for whom the supporter will support evacuation behavior from at least one or more support needing persons listed in the support recipient list of the supporter, and an evacuation behavior control unit that transmits, to the device carried by the supporter, a support start instruction including information on the determined support needing person and support procedure information regarding detailed procedures when the supporter will support the determined support needing person in evacuation behavior. [Supplementary Note 13] A control method for a server device, wherein the server device performs control to determine a support needing person for whom the supporter will support evacuation behavior from at least one or more support needing support listed in the support recipient list of the supporter, and transmits, to the device carried by the supporter, a support start instruction including information on the determined support needing person and support procedure information regarding detailed procedures when the supporter will support the determined support needing person in evacuation behavior. [Supplementary Note 14] A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer mounted on a server device to execute the following processes: a process for determining a person requiring support for which the supporter will assist in evacuation actions from at least one or more persons requiring support listed on the support recipient list of the supporter; and a process for transmitting, to a terminal carried by the supporter, a support start instruction including information about the determined person requiring support and support procedure information regarding detailed procedures for the supporter to assist in evacuation actions for the determined person requiring support.

[0274] The disclosures of the above-cited prior art documents are incorporated herein by reference. Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. Those skilled in the art will understand that these embodiments are merely illustrative and that various modifications are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. In other words, the present invention naturally includes various modifications and alterations that may be made by those skilled in the art in accordance with the entire disclosure, including the claims, and the technical concepts thereof.

[0275] 10 Server device 20 Supporter terminal 20-1 Supporter terminal 20-2 Supporter terminal 20-3 Supporter terminal 30 Support requiring person terminal 30-1 Support requiring person terminal 30-2 Support requiring person terminal 30-3 Support requiring person terminal 100 Server device 101 Support requiring person determination unit 102 Evacuation action control unit 201 Communication control unit 202 Support requiring person registration unit 203 Supporter registration unit 204 Instruction acquisition unit 205 Evacuation information transmission unit 206 Support requiring person determination unit 207 Evacuation action control unit 208 Memory unit 301 Communication control unit 302 Registration unit 303 Evacuation information processing unit 304 Support requiring person selection unit 305 Assistance action control unit 306 Memory unit 311 Processor 312 Memory 313 Input / output interface 314 Communication interface 401 Communication control unit 402 Registration unit 403 Evacuation information processing unit 404 Supporter information notification processing unit 405 Storage unit

Claims

1. a support-requiring person determination unit that performs control to determine a support-requiring person for whom the supporter will support evacuation behavior from at least one support-requiring person listed in the support recipient list of the supporter; an evacuation behavior control unit that transmits, to a terminal carried by the supporter, a support start instruction including information about the determined support-requiring person and support procedure information about a procedure for the supporter to support the evacuation behavior of the determined support-requiring person; A server device comprising:

2. The server device according to claim 1 , wherein the evacuation behavior control unit generates the assistance procedure information based on at least one of attribute information of the determined assistance-requiring person and attribute information of the supporter.

3. The support requiring person determination unit transmits the support recipient list to the terminal, The server device according to claim 2 , wherein the supporter selects a person in need of support from the support recipient list as the support recipient.

4. The support requiring person determination unit, The server device according to claim 3 , wherein the support recipient list is transmitted to the terminal when the supporter is in a state capable of supporting the support-requiring person.

5. The support requiring person determination unit, The server device according to claim 2 , wherein the supporter selects a person requiring support for evacuation action from among at least one person requiring support listed in the support recipient list of the supporter.

6. The support requiring person determination unit, The server device according to claim 5, further comprising: a calculation unit for calculating a priority of the at least one person requiring support; and a selection unit for which the supporter will assist with evacuation actions from among the at least one person requiring support based on the calculated priority.

7. The support requiring person determination unit, The server device according to claim 6 , further comprising: a server configured to calculate a priority for providing support to the at least one or more persons requiring support based on a flood risk at an address of the at least one or more persons requiring support.

8. A device owned by a supporter; A server device; Including, The server device includes: a support-requiring person determination unit that performs control to determine a support-requiring person for whom the supporter will support evacuation behavior from at least one support-requiring person listed in the support recipient list of the supporter; an evacuation behavior control unit that transmits, to a terminal carried by the supporter, a support start instruction including information about the determined support-requiring person and support procedure information about detailed procedures for the supporter to support the evacuation behavior of the determined support-requiring person; A system comprising:

9. In the server device, performing control to determine a person requiring support for the supporter to assist in evacuation action from at least one or more people requiring support listed on the support recipient list of the supporter; A method for controlling a server device, which transmits to a terminal carried by the support person an instruction to start support, the instruction including information about the determined person in need of support and support procedure information about detailed procedures that the support person will follow to support the evacuation actions of the determined person in need of support.

10. A computer installed in the server device A process for determining a person requiring support for which the supporter will assist in evacuation behavior from at least one person requiring support listed in the support recipient list of the supporter; A process of transmitting a support start instruction to a terminal carried by the supporter, the support instruction including information about the determined person requiring support and support procedure information about detailed procedures for the supporter to support the evacuation action of the determined person requiring support; A program for executing the above.