AR Exit Route Planning and Navigation via Camera Overlay
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Solution Overview
Problem
In emergency situations, individuals may struggle to remember and follow planned exit routes from premises, leading to increased safety risks due to inadequate practice and familiarity with the routes.
Innovation Solution
A computing device equipped with a camera is used to facilitate the planning and traversal of exit routes. Users interact with user interfaces to identify objects like stairs and doors, and graphical or textual information can be displayed to assist in navigating the exit route, with data stored for later use and potential sharing with others.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a person plans and practices an exit route under normal circumstances, then the person's ability to exit quickly in an emergency is improved, but the person may still fail to remember or follow the route correctly due to insufficient practice
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses augmented reality to create a virtual copy of the exit route that overlays the physical environment. This allows users to practice following the route multiple times without leaving their location, effectively copying the navigation experience repeatedly to reinforce memory and improve reliability of route recall during emergencies.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-planning and visualizing the exit route before an emergency occurs. Users can practice following the route in advance using the augmented reality guidance, ensuring the path is committed to memory and can be executed automatically during actual emergencies without requiring active decision-making under stress.
2Reliability
If graphical or textual information is displayed to assist navigation, then user familiarity with the exit route is enhanced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes a smartphone or similar portable computing device that serves multiple functions: capturing images of the physical environment, processing augmented reality overlays, providing navigation guidance, and storing exit route data. By leveraging an existing multi-functional device rather than designing a specialized system, the solution enhances navigation reliability without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The augmented reality display acts as an intermediary between the user and the physical exit route. Instead of requiring complex memorization or detailed study of route plans, the AR interface mediates the navigation process by providing real-time visual guidance that overlays directional information onto the actual environment, simplifying the interaction while improving navigation reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
A computing device equipped with a camera may be used to assist a person in planning and traversing exit routes for a premises. For example, a user may be able to interact with one or more user interfaces generated by the computing device to determine an exit route for the premises. The user may be able to identify various objects, such as stairs or doors, along the exit route. The user may be able to identify graphical or textual information that can be displayed at certain points along the exit route. After determining the exit route, a data structure for the exit route may be shared with other users and/or be used to assist a user in traversing the exit route. For example, the data structure may be used as a basis for overlaying graphics and/or text on a real-time video display as the user traverses the exit route.