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

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10726688-B2
Application number	US-201916540515-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 14, 2019
Priority date	Jun 20, 2017
Publication date	Jul 28, 2020
Grant date	Jul 28, 2020

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 the path and the distress level data; and
generating, by the computing device, signaling instructions of the selected type of signaling instructions based on the path and the distress level data.

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; and
updating, by the computing device, the signaling instructions based on the monitoring the location of the individual.

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 color;
audio output rate;
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:
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 object detection sensor 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 the path and the distress level data; and
generate signaling instructions of the selected type of signaling instructions based the path and the distress level data.

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; and
update the signaling instructions based on the monitoring the location of the individual and the location of the obstacles or hazards.

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 of a responder or relative to a location of an exit of the building;
program instructions to determine locations of obstacles or hazards within the building;
program, instructions to determine distress level data representing a distress level associated with the individual;
program instructions to determine a path from the individual to the responder or a path from the individual to the exit based on determining the location of the individual and the location of the obstacles or hazards;
program instructions to select a type of signaling instructions based on the path and the distress level data; and
program instructions to generate signaling instructions of the selected type of signaling instructions based on the path and the distress level data,
wherein the program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium for execution by the CPU via the computer readable memory.

20. The system of claim 19 , further comprising:
program instructions to 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, the responder to the

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

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

Classifications

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title

• A62B3/005

  Rescue tools with forcing action · CPC title

• A61B5/0205

  Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition · CPC title

• G08B27/001

  Signalling to an emergency team, e.g. firemen · 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