Sequenced Evacuation Audio Alerts for Directional Exit Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Occupants in large facilities often take unsafe evacuation routes during emergencies, leading to potential bodily injury or death due to unfamiliarity with the building layout.
Innovation Solution
Event notification devices equipped with speakers and controllers that broadcast audio messages and/or emit lights to indicate the direction of evacuation, sequenced along an evacuation route to guide occupants safely out of the building.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional audio and visual alarms are used to warn occupants of an emergency, then the alarm can be broadcast throughout the facility, but occupants may take unsafe evacuation routes and head towards danger
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing directional audio and visual cues at specific locations along evacuation routes. Instead of uniform alarms throughout the facility, the system emits directed signals (e.g., audio messages saying 'exit to the left', visual indicators on specific walls) that guide occupants toward safe egress points based on their location and the emergency situation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces directional audio and visual indicators as intermediary elements between the alarm and the occupant's evacuation action. These intermediaries provide specific directional guidance (left, right, straight ahead) that mediate the decision-making process and guide occupants along predetermined safe evacuation routes rather than allowing them to choose routes independently.
2Reliability
If occupants are provided with detailed directional evacuation guidance, then they can be guided to safe exits, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the facility into multiple zones with designated evacuation routes, and divides the directional guidance into discrete, simple cues (left, right, straight ahead) at specific locations. This segmentation allows complex evacuation guidance to be delivered through simple, localized signals rather than requiring a monolithic complex system.
Solution Approach 2:
The directional audio and visual indicators operate in a coordinated sequence, with different locations providing guidance in turn as occupants move through the facility. The system uses periodic activation of directional cues at different positions along evacuation routes, creating a flowing guidance pattern that directs occupants step-by-step toward safety without requiring all systems to operate simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
Devices, methods, and systems for an event notification device are described herein. A first event notification device can include a first speaker and a first controller configured to receive a first command to broadcast an audio message indicating a direction of evacuation in response to the first event notification device being the first event notification device along an evacuation route and broadcast the audio message sequenced with a number of event notification devices to indicate the direction of evacuation in response to receiving the first command. The number of event notification devices can each comprise a speaker and a controller configured to receive a second command to broadcast the audio message indicating the direction of evacuation and broadcast the audio message sequenced with the number of event notification devices to indicate the direction of evacuation via the speaker in response to receiving the second command.