System for determining number of visitors to park and control method thereof

Abstract

A system for determining the number of visitors to a park and a control method thereof are provided. The control method of the system for determining the number of visitors to a park according to the present invention comprises the steps of: calculating an average stay duration of visitors within a park on the basis of connection statistics of short-range wireless communication devices located in the park; periodically determining the number of persons present in the park on the basis of captured images of inside the park; and calculating a daily number of visitors to the park using the calculated average stay duration and the calculated number of persons present in the park by time period.

Description

Park visitor count determination system and control method thereof

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for determining the number of park visitors and a control method thereof, and more specifically, to a system for determining the number of visitors to a park by period and a control method thereof.

[0002] Parks, especially urban parks, are composed of various trees and grasses, serving to enhance psychological and physical satisfaction by providing visitors with the beauty and comfort of green spaces.

[0003] Therefore, many local governments are creating parks for citizens and managing them by adding or relocating various facilities for the convenience of citizens.

[0004] However, since the actual number of citizens visiting these parks is not properly determined, there are currently no accurate statistics on park usage rates.

[0005] (Prior Art Literature) Korean Registered Patent No. 10-2373468

[0006] The present invention has been devised to solve the aforementioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to provide a system and a control method thereof that determine the number of visitors to a park and verify the park utilization rate.

[0007] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, a control method for a park visitor count determination system according to the present invention may include: a step of calculating the average stay time of visitors within the park based on statistics of a short-range wireless communication device connected within the park; a step of periodically determining the number of people within the park based on a captured image taken within the park; and a step of calculating the daily number of visitors to the park using the calculated average stay time and the calculated number of people within the park per hour.

[0008] Here, a visitor terminal whose initial connection is detected through a pre-configured short-range wireless communication device at the entrance is tracked, and if the tracked visitor terminal connects to and then disconnects from the pre-configured short-range wireless communication device at the entrance, the time from when the initial connection is detected to when the connection is disconnected can be determined as the time the visitor stayed within the park.

[0009] Here, after collecting multiple images of major areas within the park taken at the same time, the number of people within the park can be determined from the collected multiple images.

[0010] Here, after distinguishing between people and animals in each of the aforementioned multiple captured images, the number of people in the park can be determined.

[0011] Here, the collected images may include at least one of an image taken by a CCTV camera and an image taken by a drone shooting device.

[0012] In addition, to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the park visitor count determination system according to the present invention may include: a stay time determination unit that calculates the average stay time of visitors within the park based on statistics of a short-range wireless communication device connected within the park; a park person count determination unit that periodically determines the number of people within the park based on a captured image taken within the park; and a park visitor count determination unit that calculates the daily number of visitors to the park using the average stay time calculated by the stay time determination unit and the number of people within the park by time calculated by the park person count determination unit.

[0013] Here, the dwell time determination unit tracks a visitor terminal whose initial connection is detected through a pre-set short-range wireless communication device near the entrance, and if the tracked visitor terminal connects to and then disconnects from the pre-set short-range wireless communication device near the entrance, the time from when the initial connection is detected to when the connection is disconnected can be determined as the time the visitor has stayed in the park.

[0014] Here, the park population determination unit can determine the number of people in the park from the collected multiple images, each of which was taken of a major area within the park at the same time.

[0015] Here, the park population determination unit can determine the number of people in the park after distinguishing between people and animals in each of the plurality of captured images.

[0016] Here, the images collected by the park population determination unit may include at least one of an image taken by a CCTV camera and an image taken by a drone shooting device.

[0017] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an overall system including a park visitor count determination system according to one embodiment of the present invention, and

[0018] FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the park visitor count determination system of FIG. 1, and

[0019] FIG. 3 is a drawing showing an example of how the imaging device of FIG. 1 is arranged, and

[0020] Figure 4 is an overall control flow diagram of the park visitor count determination system of Figure 1.

[0021] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings.

[0022] Each of the embodiments according to the present invention described below is merely an example to aid in understanding the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to such embodiments. In particular, the present invention may be composed of a combination of at least one of the individual components, individual functions, or individual steps included in each embodiment.

[0023] In particular, for convenience, some claims in the scope of claims have included alphabets such as '(a)', but these alphabets do not define the order of each step.

[0024] The schematic configuration of the entire system including the park visitor count determination system (100) according to one embodiment of the present invention is as shown in FIG. 1.

[0025] In the drawing, the short-range wireless communication device (300) is provided within the park and means forming a communication channel with a visitor's communication terminal (e.g., a smartphone) who has visited the park, such as a public Wi-Fi device.

[0026] There are no restrictions on the short-range wireless communication protocol performed by the short-range wireless communication device (300), except that it is sufficient to communicate with the visitor's communication terminal and receive basic information related to each communication terminal (e.g., terminal MAC address).

[0027] In addition, the shooting device (400) is provided within the park and performs the function of shooting and storing within a defined range.

[0028] Meanwhile, the park visitor count determination system (100) determines the number of park visitors based on information received from the above-described short-range wireless communication device (300) and the shooting device (400) or images taken, and Figure 2 shows an example of a specific functional block of such park visitor count determination system (100).

[0029] As illustrated in the drawing, the park visitor count determination system (100) may be configured to include a stay time determination unit (110), a number of people determination unit (120) within the park, and a park visitor count determination unit (130).

[0030] Here, the dwell time determination unit (110) determines the dwell time of park visitors, and, for example, may calculate the average dwell time of visitors who have visited a specific park by averaging the dwell times of individual visitors.

[0031] Specifically, the stay time determination unit (110) can calculate the average stay time of visitors in the park based on statistics from the short-range wireless communication device (300) connected in the park.

[0032] That is, with the recent advancement of communication technology, various short-range wireless communication devices (300) that provide wireless communication channels at short range are being provided, and in this embodiment, such devices can be used.

[0033] Using connection statistics means, for example, using the time from the time of connection to the time of termination of connection, and in particular, when multiple short-range wireless communication devices (300) are provided within the park, it is preferable to use whether a wireless communication device at a specific location is connected.

[0034] For example, the dwell time determination unit (110) tracks a visitor terminal (200) whose initial connection is detected through a pre-set entrance-side short-range wireless communication device (300), and when the tracked visitor terminal (200) is connected to and then disconnected from the pre-set entrance-side short-range wireless communication device (300), the time from when the initial connection is detected to when the connection is disconnected can be determined as the time the visitor has stayed in the park.

[0035] That is, for convenience of explanation, FIG. 3 shows a state in which multiple short-range wireless communication devices (300) are arranged in a row within the park.

[0036] Referring to FIG. 3, it can be seen that a short-range wireless communication device (300) for the entrance is provided on the far left, and a short-range wireless communication device (300) for the entrance is also provided on the far right.

[0037] In other words, Figure 3 is simplified based on the premise that there are two entrances to the park.

[0038] At this time, when a visitor enters the park through the first entrance, the visitor terminal (200) carried by the visitor forms a communication channel with the first short-range wireless communication device (301).

[0039] Here, not all visitor terminals (200) can form a communication channel with the short-range wireless communication device (300). For example, if the short-range wireless communication device (300) is a Wi-Fi device, and Wi-Fi communication is not enabled on the visitor terminal (200), a communication channel cannot be formed between the visitor terminal (200) and the short-range wireless communication device (300).

[0040] However, this embodiment is described under the assumption that a visitor terminal (200) with a short-range wireless communication function enabled exists partially.

[0041] In other words, since people who normally have Wi-Fi enabled are highly likely to keep it turned on even while visiting the park, these visitors are tracked based on Wi-Fi signals to determine their duration of stay.

[0042] When a park visitor moves to the right after entering the park through the first entrance, they can sequentially form a communication channel with the second short-range wireless communication device (302) and the third short-range wireless communication device (303).

[0043] When a visitor terminal (200) forms a communication channel with a short-range wireless communication device (300), device information of the visitor terminal (200), such as a MAC address, device serial number, etc., may be transmitted.

[0044] The dwell time determination unit (110) is connected to the short-range wireless communication device (300) and temporarily stores information received from each short-range wireless communication device (300), so the movement path within the park of the visitor terminal (200) that has entered through a specific entrance can be known.

[0045] That is, since the location where each short-range wireless communication device (300) is installed is predetermined, the path through which each visitor terminal (200) enters and moves within the park can be determined by using the device information of the visitor terminal (200) that forms a communication channel with each short-range wireless communication device (300).

[0046] When a visitor walks through the park toward the second entrance, the visitor terminal (200) forms a communication channel with the second short-range wireless communication device (300), and when the visitor passes through the second entrance and exits the park, the communication channel between the second short-range wireless communication device (300) and the visitor terminal (200) is deactivated.

[0047] At this time, the dwell time determination unit (110) can determine that the visitor has left the park if the visitor terminal (200) has not formed a communication channel with any short-range wireless communication device (300) within the park for a preset time after the communication channel with the second short-range wireless communication device (300) has been released.

[0048] Accordingly, the dwell time determination unit (110) can determine the time when the specific visitor terminal (200) described above first forms a communication channel with the first short-range wireless communication device (300) as the time when the visitor enters the park, and determine the time when the specific visitor terminal (200) forms a communication channel with the second short-range wireless communication device (300) and then releases it as the time when the visitor leaves the park, thereby determining the time from the time of entry to the time of exit as the time of the visitor's stay in the park.

[0049] In determining the park stay time, for example, if a specific visitor terminal (200) forms a communication channel with a first short-range wireless communication device (300), then moves to form a communication channel with a third short-range wireless communication device (303), releases it after a predetermined time has elapsed, and then forms a communication channel with the first short-range wireless communication device (301) again and releases it, it can be determined that the visitor visited up to an intermediate point within the park and then exited through the park entrance from which they entered, and this can be reflected in the calculation of the statistics (average stay time).

[0050] On the other hand, for example, if a specific visitor terminal (200) forms a communication channel with a first short-range wireless communication device (300), then moves to form a communication channel with a third short-range wireless communication device (303), then releases it after a predetermined time has elapsed, and then does not form a communication channel with any short-range wireless communication device (300) within the park for a preset time, it is preferable to exclude it from the calculation of statistics, as the visitor has manually disabled the Wi-Fi function of the visitor terminal (200).

[0051] The park population determination unit (120) performs the function of periodically determining the number of people in the park based on a captured image of the park captured by the capturing device (400).

[0052] In particular, the park population determination unit (120) can determine the number of people in the park from the collected multiple images of major areas within the park taken at the same time.

[0053] For example, if a shooting device (400) is provided at each major location where people gather within the park, by checking and summing the number of people included in the images captured by each shooting device (400) at a given time, the number of people in the park at that time can be determined.

[0054] These captured images may include at least one of an image captured by a CCTV camera and an image captured by a drone shooting device (400).

[0055] In other words, due to the recent development of drone technology, a camera can be mounted on a drone to take aerial shots, and such a drone shooting device (400) can be periodically flown to take aerial shots of the park, thereby generating photographic images for determining the number of people.

[0056] Distinguishing a person from other natural / artificial objects (trees, benches, etc.) and pets (dogs, cats) in a captured image can be easily determined using recent machine learning-based artificial intelligence technology.

[0057] Determining the number of people in such captured images falls under known technology, so a more detailed explanation is omitted.

[0058] The park visitor count determination unit (130) performs the function of calculating the daily number of visitors to the park using the average stay time calculated by the stay time determination unit (110) and the number of people in the park per hour calculated by the park number determination unit (120).

[0059] For example, the park visitor count determination unit (130) can determine the number of visitors for a day by checking the average stay time of visitors determined by the stay time determination unit (110) and then adding up the number of people in the park that have the average stay time on a daily basis.

[0060] Specifically, assuming that the number of people in the park is determined at 10-minute intervals by the park number determination unit (120) and the average stay time is determined to be 1 hour by the stay time determination unit (110), the park visitor number determination unit (130) can determine the number of people in the park at hourly intervals based on a specific point in time and then sum them all up to determine the number of park visitors for one day.

[0061] Hereinafter, the overall control process of a park visitor count determination system (100) according to one embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIG. 4.

[0062] First, the park visitor count determination system (100) stores the connection status of visitor terminals (200) connected to a short-range wireless communication device (300) installed in the park and manages connection statistics (step S1).

[0063] Based on the access statistics data managed in this way, the park visitor count determination system (100) determines the average time of stay of park visitors (step S3).

[0064] Meanwhile, the park visitor count determination system (100) periodically photographs the inside of the park (step S5).

[0065] In the captured image, the park visitor count determination system (100) distinguishes people and determines the number of people in the park by time (step S7).

[0066] The park visitor count determination system (100) calculates the number of visitors to the park for a set period (e.g., daily) by considering the average time of stay and the number of people in the park per hour (step S9).

[0067] Meanwhile, it goes without saying that the process of carrying out each of the above-described embodiments may be performed by a program or application stored on a predetermined recording medium (e.g., computer-readable). Here, the recording medium includes all types of electronic recording media such as RAM (Random Access Memory), magnetic recording media such as hard disks, and optical recording media such as CDs (Compact Disks).

[0068] At this time, the program stored on the recording medium can be executed on hardware such as a computer or a smartphone to perform each of the embodiments described above. In particular, at least one of the functional blocks of the park visitor count determination system according to the present invention described above can be implemented by such a program or application.

[0069] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but can be implemented with various modifications and variations within the scope of the essence of the invention. It will be obvious that such modifications and variations are included in the present invention if they fall within the scope of the appended claims.

[0070] As explained above, according to the present invention, the number of visitors to a park by period can be easily calculated, and appropriate services can be provided according to the number of visitors.

Claims

1. (a) A step of calculating the average time visitors stay in the park based on statistics of access to short-range wireless communication devices in the park; and (b) a step of periodically determining the number of people in the park based on captured images taken inside the park; (c) A control method for a park visitor count determination system characterized by including a step of calculating the daily number of visitors to the park using the average stay time calculated in step (a) above and the number of people in the park per hour calculated in step (b) above.

2. In Paragraph 1, A control method for a park visitor count determination system, characterized in that in step (a) above, a visitor terminal is tracked when the initial connection is detected through a pre-set short-range wireless communication device at the entrance, and when the tracked visitor terminal is connected to and then disconnected from the pre-set short-range wireless communication device at the entrance, the time from when the initial connection is detected to the time when the connection is disconnected is determined as the time the visitor stayed in the park.

3. In Paragraph 1, A control method for a park visitor count determination system, characterized in that in step (b) above, multiple captured images of major areas within the park are each captured at the same time, and then the number of people within the park is determined from the collected multiple captured images.

4. In Paragraph 3, A control method for a park visitor count determination system characterized by distinguishing between people and animals in each of the aforementioned multiple captured images and then determining the number of people in the park.

5. In Paragraph 4, A control method for a park visitor count determination system, characterized in that the captured image collected in step (b) above includes at least one of an image captured by a CCTV camera and an image captured by a drone camera.

6. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for executing the method of any one of paragraphs 1 through 5.

7. A dwell time determination unit that calculates the average dwell time of visitors within the park based on statistics of connections to short-range wireless communication devices within the park; A park population determination unit that periodically determines the number of people in the park based on captured images taken inside the park; A park visitor count determination system characterized by including a park visitor count determination unit that calculates the daily number of visitors to the park using the average stay time calculated by the stay time determination unit and the number of people in the park per hour calculated by the number of people in the park determination unit.

8. In Paragraph 7, A park visitor count determination system characterized by the above-mentioned dwell time determination unit tracking a visitor terminal whose initial connection is detected through a pre-set short-range wireless communication device at the entrance, and determining the time from the time the initial connection is detected to the time the connection is disconnected as the time the visitor has stayed in the park when the tracked visitor terminal connects to and then disconnects from the pre-set short-range wireless communication device at the entrance.

9. In Paragraph 7, A park visitor count determination system characterized by the above-mentioned park number determination unit collecting multiple captured images of major areas within the park at the same time, and then determining the number of people within the park from the collected multiple captured images.

10. In Paragraph 9, A park visitor count determination system characterized by the above-mentioned park number determination unit distinguishing between people and animals in each of the above-mentioned multiple captured images and then determining the number of people in the park.

11. In Paragraph 10, A park visitor count determination system characterized by the fact that the images collected by the park visitor count determination unit include at least one of an image taken by a CCTV camera and an image taken by a drone shooting device.

Images