Indoor Wayfinding via Elevator Call Processing and Beacon Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing building infrastructure relies on unreliable indoor location technologies like GPS, making it difficult for users to navigate within buildings effectively, as they need to read physical signs for wayfinding, and there is no service arrangement for users outside these signs.
Innovation Solution
An intelligent building system that processes elevator calls to determine source and target floors, using proximity beacons and user devices to provide dynamic wayfinding instructions, including visual and audio cues, to guide users to their destinations without manual interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If GPS and traditional location technologies are used for indoor navigation, then users can access location-based services, but the location information becomes unreliable and inaccurate indoors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses beacons as intermediary devices installed throughout the building to mediate between the user's mobile device and the building infrastructure. These beacons transmit location information that the mobile device can use to determine precise indoor position, replacing the unreliable GPS system with a building-specific intermediary location network.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the GPS satellite-based mechanical system with an electronic beacon-based system. Instead of relying on satellite signals that penetrate poorly through buildings, the system substitutes GPS with locally-generated radio frequency signals from beacons that are reliably received indoors.
2Ease of operation
If physical signs are installed throughout the building for wayfinding, then users can find their destination, but the system lacks automated service arrangement and requires manual user interaction
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service wayfinding by automatically detecting the user's location via beacons and providing turn-by-turn directions without requiring the user to manually search for signs or ask for directions. The mobile device autonomously determines the user's position and calculates the optimal path to the destination.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback by monitoring the user's movement through the building via beacon detection and dynamically updating navigation instructions in real-time. This feedback loop allows the system to adjust directions based on the user's current position and provide ongoing guidance until the destination is reached.
3Ease of operation
If the system provides comprehensive wayfinding services with dynamic indicators and real-time updates, then user navigation experience improves, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal beacon infrastructure that serves multiple functions: location detection, navigation guidance, and wayfinding information delivery. This multi-functional approach consolidates what could be separate complex systems into a single integrated platform, reducing overall system complexity while providing comprehensive wayfinding services.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method that processes a destination to derive a target floor based on receiving an elevator call that indicates a source floor and the destination. Further the system and method causes an elevator to travel between the source floor and the target floor in response processing the destination and performs at least one of a plurality of wayfinding operations upon arrival of the elevator at the target floor.