JP7558072B2 - Information processing device, airflow control system and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device, an airflow control system and a program, and in particular to the exhaust of air containing droplets emitted from a person's mouth in a space.

In indoor spaces, for example, regular opening of windows to ventilate is considered an effective way to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as the new coronavirus and influenza. However, frequent opening of windows during times when heating and cooling are required, such as summer and winter, increases the load on the air conditioning, which is hardly a desirable method from the standpoint of energy conservation.

In light of this, a technology has been proposed in the past to detect a person who has coughed or sneezed by photographing the interior of a specified space and collecting sound within the space, and then to control the direction and volume of air from an airflow generating device to disperse droplets localized around the person and make the concentration uniform (for example, Patent Document 1).

International Publication No. 2019-239812 JP 2018-191174 A JP 2012-218466 A

To prevent airborne infection, it is preferable to exhaust air containing droplets from the mouth to the outside of the space. To achieve this, it is preferable to generate an airflow that exhausts the air containing droplets from an exhaust port. If a space is provided with multiple exhaust ports, it is generally considered effective and efficient to exhaust air from the exhaust port closest to a person who has coughed or sneezed.

However, depending on the situation of people between the person who is coughing or sneezing and the exhaust vent, it may not always be optimal to exhaust through the nearest exhaust vent in terms of preventing airborne infection.

The present invention aims to determine, taking into consideration the situation of people in a space, which exhaust outlet will exhaust air containing droplets to the outside of the space from among multiple exhaust outlets installed in the space.

The information processing device according to the present invention is characterized by having a storage means for storing spatial information including information specifying the installation positions of a plurality of exhaust ports provided in a specified space, a detection means for detecting the position of an actor who has emitted droplets from his/her mouth in the space by analyzing at least one of a sound generated in the space or a photographed image of the space, and a determination means for determining an exhaust port that will exhaust air containing droplets emitted by the actor to the outside of the space by referring to at least one of the number of people between the position of the actor and each of the plurality of exhaust ports or attribute information of the people.

The spatial information further includes information specifying the installation position of an airflow generating device that generates an airflow within the space, and the device is characterized by having an airflow control means that controls the operation of the airflow generating device to generate an airflow that causes the air containing the droplets to flow toward the exhaust port determined by the determination means.

The determination means is also characterized in that, for each of the plurality of exhaust ports, a degree of adverse effect indicating the degree of adverse effect on a person between the actor's position and the exhaust port when an air current is generated from the exhaust port to exhaust air containing the droplets, and determines the exhaust port with the smallest calculated degree of adverse effect as the exhaust port that exhausts the air containing the droplets to the outside of the space.

The determination means is also characterized in that it calculates the degree of adverse effect so that an exhaust port with a greater number of people between it and the position of the actor is less likely to be selected as an exhaust port for exhausting air containing the droplets to the outside of the space.

The attribute information also includes information that identifies age, and the determination means calculates the degree of adverse effect so that an exhaust outlet with a greater number of elderly people between it and the position of the actor is less likely to be selected as an exhaust outlet for exhausting air containing the droplets to the outside of the space.

The determination means also analyzes image information to determine whether or not the mouth and nose of each person between the actor and each of the multiple exhaust outlets is covered, and calculates the degree of adverse effect so that an exhaust outlet with a greater number of people between it and the actor's position who are not covering their mouths and noses is less likely to be selected as an exhaust outlet for exhausting air containing the droplets to the outside of the space.

The airflow control system according to the present invention is characterized by having an airflow generating device control means for controlling the operation of a plurality of airflow generating devices that generate airflows within a specified space, a storage means for storing spatial information including information identifying the installation positions of a plurality of exhaust ports and the plurality of airflow generating devices provided within the space, a sound collection means for collecting sounds generated in the space, an image capture means for capturing images of the space, a detection means for detecting the position of a person who has emitted droplets from their mouth in the space by analyzing at least one of the sound collected by the sound collection means or the captured image generated by the image capture means, a determination means for determining an exhaust port that will exhaust air containing droplets emitted by the person to the outside of the space by referring to at least one of the number of people between the position of the person and each of the plurality of exhaust ports or attribute information of the people, and an airflow control means for controlling the operation of the airflow generating device to generate an airflow that will cause the air containing the droplets to flow toward the exhaust port determined by the determination means.

The program of the present invention causes a computer that can access a storage means that stores spatial information including information specifying the installation positions of multiple exhaust ports provided in a specified space to function as a detection means that detects the position of an actor who has emitted droplets from their mouth in the space by analyzing at least one of a sound generated in the space or a photographed image of the space, and a determination means that determines an exhaust port through which air containing droplets emitted by the actor will be exhausted to the outside of the space by referring to at least one of the number of people between the position of the actor and each of the multiple exhaust ports or attribute information of the people.

According to the present invention, it is possible to determine, from among multiple exhaust ports provided in a space, an exhaust port that will exhaust air containing droplets to the outside of the space, taking into consideration the situation of people in the space.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an entire room to which an airflow control system according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied; 1 is a block diagram of an airflow control system according to an embodiment of the present invention; 1 is a hardware configuration diagram of an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart showing an airflow control process in the present embodiment. 13 is a flowchart showing an adverse effect degree calculation process according to the present embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing, in table form, a method for calculating a degree of adverse effect in the present embodiment. 11 is a diagram used to explain the process of determining a ventilation device that will exhaust air containing droplets in the airflow control system of this embodiment. FIG.

The following describes a preferred embodiment of the present invention based on the drawings.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing an entire room to which the airflow control system of this embodiment is applied. Figure 1 is a plan view of a room 1 in a facility as viewed from above. In this embodiment, the room 1 forms a closed space as a specified space, as an example. The situation within the room will be explained later, but for ease of explanation, Figure 1 shows the equipment installed on the ceiling of room 1, people standing on the floor of room 1, etc. without distinction.

Various devices, including a ventilation device 2, an air conditioner 3, a camera 4, and a microphone 5, are installed on the ceiling of the room 1 shown in Figure 1.

The ventilation device 2 serves as an exhaust port that exhausts indoor air to the outside. The operation of the ventilation device 2 is controlled to operate or stop, and when it is operated, the strength of the exhaust can be set to strong or weak. Figure 1 shows the ventilation devices 2 installed in four scattered locations.

The air conditioner 3 conditions the room 1 by blowing out warm and cold air. The air conditioner 3 is driven or stopped by controlling its operation, and when it is driven, the air volume, air speed, air direction, etc. can be set. The air conditioner 3 in this embodiment functions as an airflow generating device that generates airflow in the room. Figure 1 shows air conditioners 3 placed in two places in the room 1.

Camera 4 is a photographing means for photographing the interior of the room. Camera 4 photographs at least while people are present in room 1. There is no particular need to determine the number of cameras 4 to be installed or where to install them, but it is necessary to photograph the entire room, i.e., everyone present in the room, using one or more cameras 4. Figure 1 shows an example in which four cameras 4 are installed near the four corners of the ceiling of room 1.

The microphone 5 is a sound collection means for collecting sounds generated in the room. In this embodiment, the microphone 5 is installed for the purpose of collecting sounds generated in the room such as coughing, sneezing, and talking of people. These human actions such as coughing, sneezing, and talking may cause droplets to be emitted from the mouth. In other words, in this embodiment, as examples of human actions that may cause droplets to be emitted from the mouth, coughing, sneezing, and talking, especially vocalizations at a volume above a certain level, are assumed to be actions that may cause droplets to be emitted from the mouth. There is no need to determine the number of microphones 5 to be installed, their installation locations, or their performance, but it is necessary to collect sounds that may cause droplets to be emitted in the room using one or more microphones 5. In FIG. 1, the microphones 5 are indicated by double circles, and an example is shown in which six microphones are installed on the ceiling.

In addition, near door 6, which serves as the entrance and exit to room 1, a card reader 7 provided with an entrance and exit management system (not shown) is installed. When entering or leaving room 1, a person holds the IC card they are carrying over card reader 7, which reads the personally identifiable information recorded on the IC card, such as a user ID and card ID. This makes it possible to identify the person in room 1, i.e., occupant 8. In FIG. 1, occupant 8 is indicated by a circle.

As mentioned above, the various devices 2 to 5 do not need to be limited to the locations and numbers shown in FIG. 1 as long as they are able to fulfill their respective functions and purposes.

Figure 2 is a block diagram of the airflow control system in this embodiment. Components that are not used in the description of this embodiment are omitted from the diagram. Figure 2 shows a room 1, an information processing device 10, an air conditioning system 20, and an entrance/exit management system 30. As described with reference to Figure 1, the ventilation device 2, the air conditioner 3, the camera 4, and the microphone 5 are installed in the room 1.

The air conditioning system 20 is a system for managing the overall air conditioning equipment, such as the ventilation equipment 2 and air conditioners 3 installed in the facility, including operational management and operation control. The air conditioning system 20 has a ventilation controller 21 and an air conditioning controller 22. The ventilation controller 21 controls the operation of the ventilation equipment 2 under the control of the airflow control unit 17. The air conditioning controller 22 controls the operation of the air conditioner 3 under the control of the airflow control unit 17, generating an airflow that flows air containing droplets emitted from a person's mouth toward the ventilation equipment 2 determined by the information processing device 10.

The entrance/exit management system 30 is a system for managing the entrance and exit of people to a facility and each room in a facility having rooms 1. As mentioned above, facility users carry IC cards, and entry and exit are managed by holding the IC card over the card reader 7 installed near the door 6. When the personal attribute information transmission unit 31 detects that a person has entered the room 1, it reads out the person's personal attribute information from a database within the system and transmits it to the information processing device 10. The personal attribute information includes information that identifies the age of the IC card carrier, such as age and date of birth.

The air conditioning system 20 and the entrance/exit management system 30 may use existing systems in the facility. However, the personal attribute information transmission unit 31 realizes the functions specific to this embodiment described above in the entrance/exit management system 30.

The airflow control system of this embodiment provides the functions described below in cooperation with an information processing device 10, an existing air conditioning system 20, and an entrance/exit management system 30. The information processing device 10, which is the main part of the airflow control system of this embodiment, can be realized with a general-purpose hardware configuration that has existed for some time, such as a personal computer (PC).

Fig. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of a computer forming the information processing device 10 in this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 3, the information processing device 10 in this embodiment is configured by connecting a CPU 41, a ROM 42, a RAM 43, a hard disk drive (HDD) 44 as a storage means, a network interface (IF) 45 provided as a communication means, and a user interface (UI) 46 including input means such as a mouse and a keyboard and display means such as a display to an internal bus 47.

Returning to FIG. 2, the information processing device 10 in this embodiment has a sound information acquisition unit 11, an image information acquisition unit 12, a personal attribute information acquisition unit 13, a tracking unit 14, a person position detection unit 15, an airflow path determination unit 16, an airflow control unit 17, and an equipment information storage unit 19.

The sound information acquisition unit 11 acquires sound information including sounds collected by the microphone 5. The sound information includes collected sound data, the date and time the sound was collected, and identification information that identifies the microphone 5 that collected the sound.

The image information acquisition unit 12 acquires image information including images generated by capturing images using the camera 4. The image information includes captured image data, the capture date and time, and identification information for identifying the camera 4 that captured the image.

The personal attribute information acquisition unit 13 acquires the personal attribute information by receiving it from the entrance/exit management system 30 in response to detection of entry into room 1.

A person entering room 1 will usually move from the position of door 6 to somewhere in the room, but the tracking unit 14 tracks the movement of the person entering the room by analyzing image information and links the person to personal attribute information of the person entering the room. Note that since the person entering the room will remain in room 1 until they leave the room, in the following explanation, "person entering the room" and "person present in the room" will be used as synonyms.

The human position detection unit 15 detects the position of each person in the room by analyzing image information. The human position detection unit 15 also detects actions that cause droplets to be emitted from the mouth in room 1, i.e., the aforementioned coughing, sneezing, or loud voice, by analyzing sound information, and detects the position of the person who performed the action. In the following explanation, the action of emitting droplets will be referred to simply as "coughing, etc." In this embodiment, if a person who has coughed, etc. among the people in the room is specifically referred to as the "performer," the human position detection unit 15 identifies the performer from among the people in the room by comparing the detected position of the person in the room with the position of the performer identified from the sound information.

The airflow path determination unit 16 refers to at least one of the number of people between the position of the detected actor and each of the multiple ventilation devices 2 or the personal attribute information of the person, and determines the ventilation device 2 that will be the exhaust port that exhausts the air containing the droplets emitted by the actor to the outside of the room 1. In this way, the airflow path determination unit 16 determines the path of the airflow that exhausts the air containing the droplets to the outside of the room 1. The airflow path determination unit 16 has a negative effect calculation unit 161 and a mask detection unit 162. The negative effect calculation unit 161 calculates the negative effect for each ventilation device 2. In this embodiment, as described above, an airflow is generated from the position of the actor coughing, etc. to one of the ventilation devices 2, and the air containing the droplets discharged from the mouth by coughing, etc. is exhausted to the outside of the room 1. The "negative effect" is an index that indicates the degree of the negative effect on the occupants, particularly the occupants 8 between the actor and the ventilation device 2, when an airflow that exhausts the air containing the droplets is generated from a certain ventilation device 2. In this embodiment, the greater the value of the degree of adverse effect, the greater the adverse effect on the occupant 8. The mask detection unit 162 analyzes the image information to determine whether the detected occupant is wearing a mask that covers their mouth and nose.

The airflow control unit 17 controls the operation of the air conditioner 3 to generate an airflow that causes air containing droplets to flow toward the ventilation device 2 determined by the airflow path determination unit 16. It also controls the operation of the ventilation device 2.

The equipment information storage unit 19 stores equipment information about the equipment installed in the room 1, i.e., the various devices 2 to 5. The equipment information includes, for example, information specifying the installation locations of the various devices 2 to 5, and information about their functions, specifications, etc.

Each of the components 11 to 17 in the information processing device 10 is realized by the cooperative operation of the computer forming the information processing device 10 and a program running on a CPU 41 mounted on the computer. The equipment information storage unit 19 is realized by an HDD 44 mounted on the information processing device 10. Alternatively, the RAM 43 or an external storage means may be used via a network.

The programs used in this embodiment can be provided not only by communication means, but also by storing them on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or USB memory. The programs provided from the communication means or recording medium are installed on a computer, and the various processes are realized by the computer's CPU 41 sequentially executing the programs.

Next, we will explain the operation of this embodiment.

In this embodiment, while the airflow control system is operating, the microphone 5 constantly collects sound and the camera 4 constantly captures images of the state of the room. Accordingly, the sound information acquisition unit 11 collects sound information from the microphone 5, and the image information acquisition unit 12 collects image information from the camera 4.

The entrance/exit management system 30 also constantly monitors entry and exit to room 1. If entry to room 1 is detected while the information processing device 10 is operating, the personal attribute information transmission unit 31 reads out the personal attribute information of the person entering the room from a specified database and transmits it to the information processing device 10.

In the information processing device 10, when the personal attribute information acquisition unit 13 receives and acquires the personal attribute information transmitted from the entrance and exit management system 30, the tracking unit 14 detects the position of the entrant by analyzing the image information, and links the detected entrant to the personal attribute information acquired by the personal attribute information acquisition unit 13. The tracking unit 14 then detects the current position of the entrant by analyzing the image information to track the position of the entrant in the room. As a result, the tracking unit 14 can determine where in the room the entrant, i.e., the occupants, are located. It can also provide personal attribute information for each occupant.

The air conditioning system 20 also controls the operation of the ventilation device 2 and the air conditioner 3 according to the operation of the air conditioning equipment and the settings of the occupants. There is no need to particularly limit the operation of the air conditioning equipment when coughing or the like is not detected.

In this embodiment, air containing droplets emitted from the mouth of a room occupant when coughing, etc., remains in the room, but airflow control is performed to exhaust the air containing droplets to the outside of the room 1, creating an indoor environment in which airborne infection is unlikely to occur to occupant 8. From the perspective of preventing diffusion, it is generally considered optimal to exhaust air containing droplets from the ventilation device 2 located closest to the person who has coughed, etc. However, if there are many occupants between the person who has coughed, etc. and the nearest ventilation device 2, the selection of the exhaust route to the nearest ventilation device 2 may not be optimal.

In this embodiment, the ventilation device 2 that is considered most suitable as an exhaust port is selected taking into consideration the distribution of occupants in the room, particularly the number of occupants 8 between the person who performs the action and the ventilation device 2, and the attributes of the occupants 8, and airflow control is performed so that air containing droplets can be exhausted from the selected ventilation device 2 to the outside of the room 1. The airflow control process that is a feature of this embodiment is described below using the flowchart shown in Figure 4.

The human position detection unit 15 constantly acquires and analyzes the sound information collected by the sound information acquisition unit 11 to monitor whether or not an action such as coughing has occurred. The detection of this action such as coughing may itself utilize existing technology. In this embodiment, to simplify the explanation, actions such as coughing are detected by analyzing sound information, but actions such as coughing may also be detected by constantly acquiring and analyzing image information. For example, it is estimated that an action of emitting droplets has been performed by detecting the action of a room occupant 8 covering his/her mouth or opening his/her mouth wide. The human position detection unit 15 detects the action of emitting droplets from the mouth in the room 1 by analyzing at least one of the sounds contained in the sound information or the captured images contained in the image information.

The human position detection unit 15 repeatedly executes the detection process while it does not detect any behavior such as coughing from any of the occupants 8 (N in step 110). Then, when it detects behavior such as coughing from any of the occupants (Y in step 110), the human position detection unit 15 identifies the source of the sound by analyzing the volume, etc. included in the sound information. In other words, it identifies the location of the person who coughed, etc. (step 120). In this embodiment, as described above, in order to prevent airborne infection, air containing droplets expelled from the mouth due to coughing, etc. is exhausted to the outside of the room 1 through one of the ventilation devices 2 as an exhaust outlet. For this reason, in this embodiment, the adverse effect degree is calculated for each ventilation device 2 (step 130). The adverse effect degree calculation process in this embodiment will be described below using the flowchart shown in FIG. 5.

First, the position of the person who has coughed or the like is identified by the person position detection unit 15, and the installation positions of the ventilation devices 2 can be obtained by referring to the equipment information storage unit 19. Therefore, the adverse effect calculation unit 161 calculates the distance between the person who has coughed or the ventilation devices 2.

Figure 6 is a diagram showing in table form the method by which the adverse influence calculation unit 161 calculates the adverse influence. Figure 6 shows the items for which the adverse influence is calculated and the method for calculating points for the items. In this embodiment, the adverse influence is calculated in points as shown in Figure 6. Note that the point calculation method shown in Figure 6 is only an example and does not need to be limited to this. Also, in Figure 6, the amount of points added for elderly people is set to 2 points per person, which is greater than the other items, but it does not need to be limited to this.

In step 131, the degree of adverse effect is calculated according to the distance to the ventilation device 2. Figure 6 shows an example of a calculation in which 1 point is added for every 1 m of distance. In other words, the longer the distance between the actor and the ventilation device 2, the greater the points, i.e., the value of the adverse effect. As a result, the longer the distance between the actor and the ventilation device 2, the greater the degree of adverse effect, making it less likely that the ventilation device 2 will be selected as an exhaust outlet.

It is considered preferable to exhaust air containing droplets from the mouth through the nearest ventilation device 2. However, this is not necessarily the case in order to prevent airborne infection as much as possible.

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing an entire room to which the airflow control system of this embodiment is applied. The layout of the room 1 and the positions of people are the same as those of Figure 1. In Figure 7, for example, assume that a person 8a in the room is the person who has coughed, etc. In this case, the exhaust route for air containing droplets emitted by the person is considered to be the route to each of the ventilation devices 2a to 2d indicated by the dashed-dotted arrows A, B, C, and D. In Figure 7, ventilation device 2b is the closest from the position of the person, so it is considered preferable to exhaust the air containing droplets from ventilation device 2b.

However, according to the positions of the occupants shown in Figure 7, there is another occupant (hereinafter "occupant 8b") surrounded by dashed line 8b between the actor and ventilation device 2b. In this case, if air containing droplets from the actor is exhausted from ventilation device 2b, there is a possibility that occupant 8b will become infected through the air.

In this embodiment, the ventilation device 2 that will exhaust air containing droplets emitted by the actor to the outside of the room 1 is determined based not only on the distance between the actor and each of the ventilation devices 2a-2d, but also on the number of people between the actor's position and each of the ventilation devices 2a-2d and attribute information of those people, as described below. Note that the ventilation devices 2a-2d are collectively referred to as "ventilation device 2" when there is no need to distinguish between them.

As mentioned above, the distance between the actor and the ventilation device 2 is referred to. In this embodiment, the adverse effect calculation unit 161 further calculates the adverse effect according to the number of people 8 between the actor and each of the ventilation devices 2a to 2d (step 132). Since the positions of the people (including the actor) in the room 1 and the position of the ventilation device 2 are known information, the adverse effect calculation unit 161 finds the number of people 8 between the actor and each of the ventilation devices 2a to 2d. In FIG. 7, the exhaust path of the air containing droplets emitted from the actor is shown by dashed arrows A, B, C, and D, but it is also possible to give a certain width to these arrows and count the number of people within the range indicated by the width. Referring to FIG. 6, the points indicating the adverse effect for the number of people can be calculated by adding one point for each person 8. The more people 8 between the actor and the ventilation device 2, the larger the value indicated by the adverse effect, and therefore the ventilation device 2 is less likely to be selected as an exhaust outlet.

Note that here, the number of people 8 in the room between the actor and the ventilation device 2 is simply calculated. However, since air containing droplets flows from the actor toward the ventilation device 2, it is thought that a person facing the ventilation device 2 is less likely to inhale droplets than facing the actor, and is therefore less likely to be adversely affected. Therefore, the direction in which the face is facing can be detected from the image information, and the points to be added can be varied depending on the direction of the face.

By the way, it is considered that the risk of airborne infection changes depending on whether a mask is worn. Therefore, the mask detection unit 162 determines whether the occupants 8 between the actor and each of the ventilation devices 2a to 2d are wearing a mask by analyzing the image information collected by the image information acquisition unit 12. Whether a mask is worn may be determined by the difference between the color around the mouth and the color of the skin, or the presence or absence of a rectangular object. In addition, since heat is trapped in the masked area, an infrared camera may be used to capture the interior of the room. In this embodiment, the presence or absence of a mask is detected using existing technology. Referring to FIG. 6, since an occupant without a mask has a higher risk of infection than an occupant with a mask, the adverse effect calculation unit 161 calculates points indicating the adverse effect of not wearing a mask by adding 0.5 points for each occupant without a mask detected by the mask detection unit 162 (step 133). In this way, the more people without masks, the higher the value indicated by the adverse effect, and therefore the ventilation device 2 is less likely to be selected as an exhaust port.

In the above explanation, it was described as whether or not a mask was being worn. However, for example, if the mouth and nose are covered with something other than a mask or with the hands, the inhalation of air containing droplets can be avoided in the same way as with a mask. Therefore, if such objects or human actions other than a mask can be detected by analyzing image information, it may be treated as being equivalent to wearing a mask.

Now, elderly people are thought to be more susceptible to infection or to develop severe symptoms if infected because they are relatively weaker in physical strength. By acquiring personal attribute information of each occupant 8 from the tracking unit 14, it is possible to recognize whether the occupants 8 between the actor and each of the ventilation devices 2a to 2d are elderly or not, and the adverse effect calculation unit 161 calculates points indicating the adverse effect on elderly people by adding 2 points for each elderly person (step 134). In this way, the greater the number of elderly people, the greater the value indicated by the adverse effect, and therefore the ventilation device 2 in question is less likely to be selected as an exhaust outlet.

In the above explanation, the subject is limited to elderly people, but it is not limited to elderly people. For example, if information such as medical history is included in the personal attribute information, the points indicating the degree of adverse impact may be calculated by referring to such personal attributes.

As described above, the adverse effect calculation unit 161 calculates the adverse effect for each item, and then calculates the adverse effect for each ventilation device 2a to 2d by adding up the adverse effect calculated in each of steps 131 to 134 for each ventilation device 2 (step 135).

Note that steps 131 to 134 described above do not have to be processed in the order shown in FIG. 5. Also, steps 132 to 134 do not have to calculate the degree of adverse effect for all items, and may be performed for at least one item.

After calculating the degree of adverse effect for each ventilation device 2 in the above manner, the airflow path determination unit 16 compares the degree of adverse effect of each ventilation device 2 and determines the ventilation device 2 with the smallest degree of adverse effect as the exhaust port for air containing droplets (step 140).

When the ventilation device 2 to be used as the exhaust port is determined in this manner, the airflow path determination unit 16 notifies the airflow control unit 17 of the positions of the ventilation device 2 and the person. The airflow control unit 17 can obtain the position of the ventilation device 2 to be used as the exhaust port by referring to the equipment information storage unit 19. This allows the positions of the person and the exhaust port, i.e., the direction of the airflow to be generated, to be identified, and the airflow control unit 17 instructs the air conditioning system 20 to control the airflow so that airflow is generated from the person to the exhaust port (step 150).

In the air conditioning system 20, the operation of the air conditioner 3 is controlled so that an airflow is generated from the person toward the exhaust port. Also, to promote the airflow, the operation intensity is increased, for example by turning up the ventilation device 2, which serves as the exhaust port.

According to this embodiment, by taking into consideration the number and attributes of people 8 in the room, particularly people 8 between the person who has coughed or otherwise acted and the ventilation device 2, it is possible to determine an exhaust port that will exhaust air containing droplets to the outside of the room 1 while preventing airborne infection of the people 8 in the room.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the windows in room 1 are closed from the viewpoint of energy conservation. In particular, the description assumes that the energy targeted for energy conservation is electricity, but this is not limited to electricity and can also be applied to other energy resources such as gas.

On the other hand, if energy conservation is not a consideration, a window may be selected as the exhaust vent. In this case, it is preferable to take into consideration the opening degree of the window, and the direction and strength of the air flow outside, such as wind.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 1 Room, 2, 2a to 2d Ventilation device, 3 Air conditioner, 4 Camera, 5 Microphone, 6 Door, 7 Card reader, 10 Information processing device, 11 Sound information acquisition unit, 12 Image information acquisition unit, 13 Personal attribute information acquisition unit, 14 Tracking unit, 15 Person position detection unit, 16 Airflow path determination unit, 17 Airflow control unit, 19 Facility information storage unit, 20 Air conditioning system, 21 Ventilation controller, 22 Air conditioning controller, 30 Entrance and exit management system, 31 Personal attribute information transmission unit, 41 CPU, 42 ROM, 43 RAM, 44 Hard disk drive (HDD), 45 Network interface (IF), 46 User interface (UI), 47 Internal bus, 161 Adverse effect calculation unit, 162 Mask detection unit.

Claims (8)

A storage means for storing spatial information including information for identifying the installation positions of a plurality of exhaust ports provided in a predetermined space;
A detection means for detecting a position of a person who has emitted droplets from their mouth in the space by analyzing at least one of a sound generated in the space or a photographed image of the space;
A determination means for determining an exhaust port through which air containing droplets emitted by the actor will be exhausted to the outside of the space by referring to at least one of the number of people between the position of the actor and each of the plurality of exhaust ports or attribute information of the people;
13. An information processing device comprising: The spatial information further includes information for identifying an installation position of an airflow generating device that generates an airflow within the space,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising an airflow control means for controlling the operation of the airflow generating device so as to generate an airflow that causes the air containing the droplets to flow toward the exhaust port determined by the determination means. The determining means is
Calculating a degree of adverse effect that indicates a degree of adverse effect on a person between the position of the actor and the exhaust port when an air current that exhausts the air containing the droplets is generated from the exhaust port for each of the plurality of exhaust ports;
The exhaust port having the smallest calculated adverse effect is determined as the exhaust port for exhausting the air containing the droplets to the outside of the space.
3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2. The information processing device according to claim 3, characterized in that the determination means calculates the degree of adverse effect so that an exhaust port with a greater number of people between it and the position of the actor is less likely to be selected as an exhaust port for exhausting air containing the droplets to the outside of the space. The attribute information includes information for identifying age,
The information processing device described in claim 3, characterized in that the determination means calculates the degree of adverse effect so that the greater the number of elderly people between an exhaust outlet and the position of the actor, the less likely it is to be selected as an exhaust outlet for exhausting air containing the droplets to the outside of the space. The determining means is
By analyzing the image information, it is determined whether or not a person between the actor and each of the plurality of exhaust ports has their mouth and nose covered;
The degree of adverse effect is calculated so that an exhaust outlet having a greater number of people between the position of the actor and the exhaust outlet that are not covering their mouths and noses is less likely to be selected as an exhaust outlet for exhausting the air containing the droplets to the outside of the space.
4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3. an airflow generating device control means for controlling the operation of a plurality of airflow generating devices which generate airflows within a predetermined space;
a storage means for storing space information including information for identifying installation positions of a plurality of exhaust ports and a plurality of airflow generating devices provided in the space;
A sound collecting means for collecting sounds generated in the space;
An imaging means for imaging the inside of the space;
a detection means for detecting a position of a person who has emitted droplets from his/her mouth in the space by analyzing at least one of the sound collected by the sound collecting means and the captured image generated by the photographing means;
A determination means for determining an exhaust port through which air containing droplets emitted by the actor will be exhausted to the outside of the space by referring to at least one of the number of people between the position of the actor and each of the plurality of exhaust ports or attribute information of the people;
an airflow control means for controlling the operation of the airflow generating device so as to generate an airflow that causes the air containing the droplets to flow toward the exhaust port determined by the determination means;
An airflow control system comprising: A computer that can access a storage means that stores spatial information including information that identifies the installation positions of a plurality of exhaust ports provided in a predetermined space,
a detection means for detecting a position of a person who has emitted droplets from his/her mouth in the space by analyzing at least one of a sound generated in the space or a photographed image of the space;
a determination means for determining an exhaust port through which air containing droplets emitted by the actor will be exhausted to the outside of the space by referring to at least one of the number of people between the position of the actor and each of the plurality of exhaust ports or attribute information of the people;
A program to function as a

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