Elevator Lobby Audio Guidance for Visually Impaired Passengers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Individuals with disabilities affecting their eyesight, such as blindness or low vision, face challenges in locating elevator call stations within a lobby.
Innovation Solution
An elevator system equipped with a call station, a device controller, a proximity sensor, and a speaker, which detects the presence of a passenger requiring assistance and issues audible guidance to help them locate the call station, and optionally uses machine learning to identify characteristics like guide dogs or walking canes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional visual call stations are used in the lobby, then the system structure remains simple, but visually impaired passengers cannot locate the call station
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces proximity sensors as intermediaries between the call station and visually impaired passengers. These sensors detect passenger presence and characteristics without requiring visual contact, mediating the interaction between the system and users with disabilities. The sensor data serves as an intermediary information channel that enables the controller to provide targeted assistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces purely visual mechanical interfaces with an automated detection and response system. Instead of relying on visual signage or physical guidance, the system uses proximity sensors and automated audio announcements to guide passengers, substituting mechanical/visual interaction with sensor-based detection and acoustic guidance.
2Ease of operation
If the system provides automated audio guidance to passengers, then accessibility is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs periodic sensing and conditional audio announcement rather than continuous operation. The proximity sensor periodically detects passenger presence, and audio announcements are triggered only when passengers requiring assistance are detected. This periodic activation pattern reduces energy consumption compared to continuous operation while maintaining guidance capability when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables passengers to self-identify their needs through their presence and characteristics detected by the sensor. The automated system responds to their specific situation without requiring manual activation, allowing passengers to receive assistance on-demand while the system consumes energy only when service is actually required.
3Measurement precision
If the system detects and responds to all passenger characteristics, then service accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different detection and response strategies based on local characteristics of individual passengers. Rather than using a single complex detection method for all passengers, the system adapts its response to the specific characteristics detected (e.g., presence of guide dog, use of cane, loitering behavior), applying appropriate assistance only where needed based on local passenger conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters based on detected passenger characteristics. When specific conditions are detected (such as presence of accessibility aids or unusual loitering patterns), the system modifies its behavior by providing audio guidance or holding elevator doors, thereby achieving high service accuracy through parameter adaptation rather than through uniformly complex detection hardware.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances accessibility by guiding visually impaired passengers to elevator call stations, ensuring they can easily board the elevator car with doors remaining open until they do so.
Implementation Method 1
a proximity sensor, operationally coupled to the device controller, and located in the lobby, and configured to generate proximity sensor data utilized by the device controller
Implementation Method 2
a speaker, operationally coupled to the device controller, and located in the lobby, wherein the device controller, from the proximity sensor data, is configured to: detect the presence of a passenger
Data Source
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AI summary
An elevator system, having: a call station located in a lobby; a device controller; a proximity sensor, operationally coupled to the device controller, located in the lobby, and configured to generate proximity sensor data utilized by the device controller, a speaker, operationally coupled to the device controller, and located in the lobby, wherein the device controller, from the proximity sensor data, is configured to: detect the presence of a passenger; determine the passenger requires assistance to locate the call station in the lobby; and issue an audible sound from the speaker to guide the passenger to the call station.