Facilitating a search of individuals in a building during an emergency event

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10445997-B2
Application number	US-201715627971-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 20, 2017
Priority date	Jun 20, 2017
Publication date	Oct 15, 2019
Grant date	Oct 15, 2019

Abstract

A computer-implemented method includes: determining, by a computing device, a location of an individual in a building relative to the location of an exit of the building; determining, by the computing device, the location of obstacles or hazards within the building; determining, by the computing device, a path from the individual to the exit based on determining the location of the individual relative to the exit and the location of the obstacles or hazards; generating, by the computing device, signaling instructions based on the path; and outputting, by the computing device, the signaling instructions to one or more signaling devices, wherein the outputting the signaling instructions control operations of the one or more signaling devices to guide the individual to the exit based on the path.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
determining, by a computing device, a location of an individual in a building relative to the location of an exit of the building;
determining, by the computing device, locations of obstacles or hazards within the building;
determining, by the computing device, distress level data representing a distress level associated with the individual;
determining, by the computing device, a path from the individual to the exit based on determining the location of the individual relative to the exit and the locations of the obstacles or hazards;
selecting, by the computing device, a type of signaling instructions based on user device power consumption resulting from the type of signaling instructions, user device battery level, the path, and the distress level data;
generating, by the computing device, signaling instructions of the selected type of signaling instructions based on the path and the distress level data; and
outputting, by the computing device, the signaling instructions to one or more signaling devices, wherein the outputting the signaling instructions controls operations of the one or more signaling devices to guide the individual to the exit based on the path.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
monitoring, by the computing device, the location of the individual relative to the location of the exit of the building;
updating, by the computing device, the signaling instructions based on the monitoring the location of the individual; and
outputting, by the computing device, the updated signaling instructions to the one or more signaling devices.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the signaling instructions control at least one operation of the signaling devices selected from the group consisting of:
light blinking rate;
light blinking pattern;
light illumination intensity;
light color;
audio output rate;
audio output volume;
audio output tone;
audio output speech or spoken words;
audio output speech; and
displayed content.

4. The method of claim, 1 wherein the one or more signaling devices include at least one from the group consisting of:
lighting devices;
audio output devices; and
electronic display devices.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location of the individual is determined based on at least one selected from the group consisting of:
global positioning system (GPS) data from a user device of the individual;
signal strength analysis from signals emitted by the user device of the individual;
object detection sensor data;
heat sensor data;
audio sensor data; and
visual camera data.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location of the obstacles is determined based on at least one selected from the group consisting of:
heat sensor data;
object detection sensor data;
audio sensor data; and
visual camera data.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the computing device, a path from the individual to a responder, wherein the generating the signaling instructions is further based on the path between the individual to the responder.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining respective locations of a plurality of different individuals; and
generating respective signaling instructions for each of the plurality of different individuals based on the respective locations.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising: determining, by the computing device, distress level data that indicates a distress level associated with each of the plurality of different individuals, wherein the generating the signaling instructions is further based on the distress level data of the plurality of different individuals.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining, by the computing device, a rescue priority based on the distress level data of the plurality of individuals, wherein the generating the signaling instructions is further based on the rescue priority.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising detecting, by the computing device, an emergency event based on sensor data reported by one or more sensor devices, wherein the generating the signaling instructions is based on detecting the emergency event.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein a service provider at least one of creates, maintains, deploys and supports the computing device.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing device includes software provided as a service in a cloud environment.

14. A computer program product for assisting with rescue operations during a building emergency, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to:
determine a location of an individual in a building relative to the location of a responder;
determine locations of obstacles or hazards within the building;
determine distress level data representing a distress level associated with the individual;
determine a path from the individual to the responder based on determining the location of the individual relative to the responder and the locations of the obstacles or hazards;
select a type of signaling instructions based on user device power consumption resulting from the type of signaling instructions, user device battery level, the path, and the distress level data;
generate signaling instructions of the selected type of signaling instructions based the path and the distress level data; and
output the signaling instructions to one or more signaling devices, wherein the outputting the signaling instructions controls operations of the one or more signaling devices to guide the individual to the responder or the responder to the individual based on the path.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to:
monitor the location of individual relative to the location of the responder;
monitor the location of the obstacles or hazards;
update the signaling instructions based on the monitoring the location of the individual and the location of the obstacles or hazards; and
output the updated signaling instructions to the one or more signaling devices.

16. The computer program product of claim 14 , wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to:
determine respective locations of a plurality of different individuals; and
generate respective signaling instructions for each of the plurality of different individuals based on the respective locations.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to determine distress level data representing a distress level associated with each of the plurality of different individuals, wherein the generating the signaling instructions is further based on the distress level data of the plurality of different individuals.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the program instructions further cause the computing device to determine a rescue priority based on the distress level data of the plurality of individuals, wherein the generating the signaling instructions is further based on the rescue priority.

19. A system comprising:
a CPU, a computer readable memory and a computer readable storage medium associated with a computing device;
program instructions to determine a location of an individual in a building relative to the location

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Molloy Christopher L
• Pierson Bernadette A
• Vaidyanathan Jayashree
• Zamora Duran Edgar A

Classifications

• G06F3/0484

  for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range · CPC title

• G01C21/34

  Route searching; Route guidance · CPC title

• G01C21/26

  specially adapted for navigation in a road network · CPC title

• G01C21/20

  Instruments for performing navigational calculations (G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence) · CPC title

• A61B5/0295

  using plethysmography, i.e. measuring the variations in the volume of a body part as modified by the circulation of blood therethrough, e.g. impedance plethysmography · CPC title