Pedestrian Alert System for Crowd Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Pedestrians often become distracted while using mobile devices and may be unaware of nearby crowd activity or safety concerns, such as large crowds or hazards, which can lead to safety issues.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and electronic device system that alerts pedestrians to nearby crowd activity or safety concerns by receiving indications of crowd size and position, triggering alerts only when the crowd exceeds a threshold size and is within a certain distance, and ceasing alerts when the crowd is no longer nearby or dismissed by the pedestrian.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the pedestrian uses a mobile device continuously, then the pedestrian can access information and communicate, but the pedestrian becomes distracted and unaware of surrounding safety concerns
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors the pedestrian's location and crowd conditions, then provides real-time feedback through alerts when safety concerns are detected. This feedback loop allows the pedestrian to remain engaged with their device while still receiving critical safety information about surrounding conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The mobile device acts as an intermediary between the pedestrian and the safety monitoring system. It receives location data, processes safety information from crowd monitoring, and delivers alerts to the pedestrian, bridging the gap between the pedestrian's focused attention on the device and the need for environmental awareness.
2Reliability
If the system triggers alerts for all crowd activity, then the pedestrian receives comprehensive safety information, but the pedestrian experiences alert fatigue and ignores important warnings
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the parameters for alert triggering based on crowd characteristics. Instead of alerting for all crowd activity, it monitors multiple parameters simultaneously (crowd size thresholds, density metrics, movement patterns) and only triggers alerts when specific dangerous conditions are met, reducing false positives while maintaining reliability.
3Measurement precision
If the system monitors crowd size and position continuously, then the pedestrian receives accurate real-time safety information, but the system consumes excessive energy and processing resources
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic monitoring instead of continuous monitoring. It checks crowd conditions at regular intervals and only triggers alerts when changes exceed predefined thresholds. This periodic approach maintains measurement precision for safety-critical decisions while significantly reducing energy consumption and processing requirements during normal operation.
Data Source
AI summary
An alert may be initiated for a pedestrian when the pedestrian approaches nearby crowd activity (e.g., parade, protest, concert, etc.). Crowd activity may be indicated by real time crowd data, and/or by accessing means such as popular social media posts, local news, and/or local event calendars. The alert may be generated when a pedestrian comes within a certain threshold distance of the crowd activity (e.g., as determined by a mobile device GPS). A pedestrian who may be inattentive in some way (e.g., looking down at a mobile device) may become attentive to the nearby crowd activity, and may choose to take an alternative route. In additional or alternative embodiments, the alert may be initiated when the pedestrian approaches a nearby safety concern (e.g., fire, crime, etc.). Safety concerns may be indicated by accessing local news, popular social media posts, and/or public safety communications.