Movable Information Terminal Evacuation Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
In commercial facilities like shopping centers, the decreasing number of store clerks due to labor shortages and efficiency concerns makes it challenging for them to safely guide customers during emergencies.
Innovation Solution
An evacuation guidance apparatus and method that includes a server and movable information terminals capable of communicating with the server. The system uses beacons to specify the position of information terminals, determines evacuation routes based on emergency signals, and transmits these routes to the terminals for display to customers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If store clerks are used to guide customers during emergencies, then customer safety can be ensured through human guidance, but the system becomes unreliable when labor shortages reduce the number of available clerks
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables customers to receive evacuation guidance autonomously through information terminals that automatically determine optimal routes and display guidance information, eliminating the need for store clerks to manually guide customers during emergencies
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical human guidance system with an automated information terminal system that uses servers, communication units, and display units to provide evacuation guidance, substituting human physical presence with technological infrastructure
2Reliability
If automated information terminals are deployed throughout the commercial facility, then evacuation guidance can be provided to all customers regardless of clerk availability, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The information terminals serve multiple functions: they provide evacuation guidance during emergencies, display store information during normal operations, and communicate with the server system for real-time updates, making the system versatile and justifying the investment through multiple use cases
Solution Approach 2:
The system is divided into independent modular components including servers, information terminals, communication units, and display units that can be deployed incrementally and maintained independently, reducing the overall complexity burden
Data Source
AI summary
An evacuation guidance apparatus includes a server and one or a plurality of information terminals capable of moving in a commercial facility and capable of communicating with the server. The information terminal includes an emitting unit configured to emit specifying information for specifying a position of the information terminal including the emitting unit. The server includes a specifying unit configured to specify a position of the information terminal in the commercial facility, a receiving unit configured to receive an emergency signal emitted from an emission apparatus, a determining unit configured to determine evacuation guidance routes for each of the information terminals, and a transmitting unit configured to transmit evacuation guidance route information including information concerning the determined evacuation guidance routes to the information terminals, and the information terminal includes a displaying unit configured to display an evacuation guidance route included in the evacuation information received from the server.