JP7653644B2 - Space management system, space management method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure generally relates to a space management system, a space management method, and a program, and more specifically to a space management system, a space management method, and a program for analyzing space usage.

The business activity analysis device described in Patent Document 1 includes a collection means for collecting information to be analyzed, a primary analysis means for generating index information based on the information collected by the collection means, and a secondary analysis means for generating predetermined analysis result information based on the index information generated by the primary analysis means. The collection means includes at least one or more of a business information collection means for collecting business information based on the business content of employees and/or organizations, a facility information collection means for collecting information about facilities and/or information about users of the facilities from a sensing device installed in the facilities used by employees and/or organizations for business purposes, and a personal information collection means for collecting information about employees from a personal information acquisition device carried by the employees.

JP 2018-73333 A

In a work activity analysis device such as that described in Patent Document 1, it is sometimes desirable to determine the fixed area where an employee mainly works.

The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned reasons, and aims to provide a space management system, a space management method, and a program that can determine the fixed area of a user in a specified space in a facility.

A space management system according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes an acquisition unit and an analysis unit. The acquisition unit acquires multiple pieces of location information of users of a specified space in a facility for at least a specified period of time. The analysis unit analyzes the usage status of the specified space from the multiple pieces of location information. The specified space includes multiple areas. The analysis unit determines in which of the multiple areas the user is present at a time that corresponds one-to-one to the multiple pieces of location information, and determines the area among the multiple areas in which the user is most frequently present during the specified period to be the user's fixed area. The multiple areas include areas used for office purposes in the facility, and do not include areas in the facility for other purposes than office purposes.
A space management system according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes an acquisition unit and an analysis unit. The acquisition unit acquires a plurality of pieces of location information of a user of a predetermined space in a facility for at least a predetermined period. The analysis unit analyzes the usage state of the predetermined space from the plurality of pieces of location information. The predetermined space includes a plurality of areas. The analysis unit determines which of the plurality of areas the user is present in at a time corresponding one-to-one to the plurality of pieces of location information, and determines the area among the plurality of areas in which the user is most frequently present during the predetermined period as the fixed area of the user. The analysis unit determines the area in which the user is most frequently present continuously for a set period or more as the fixed area of the user. When there are a plurality of areas in which the user is most frequently present during the predetermined period, the analysis unit determines the area in which the user is most frequently present continuously for a second set period or more, which is longer than the set period that is a first set period, as the fixed area.

A space management method according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes an acquisition process and an analysis process. The acquisition process acquires a plurality of pieces of location information of users of a specified space in a facility for at least a specified period of time. The analysis process analyzes the usage status of the specified space from the plurality of pieces of location information. The specified space includes a plurality of areas. The analysis process determines in which of the plurality of areas the user is present at a time that corresponds one-to-one to the plurality of pieces of location information, and determines the area among the plurality of areas in which the user is most frequently present during the specified period to be the user's fixed area. The plurality of areas include areas used for office purposes in the facility, and do not include areas in the facility for other purposes than office purposes.
A space management method according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes an acquisition process and an analysis process. The acquisition process acquires a plurality of pieces of location information of a user of a predetermined space in a facility for at least a predetermined period. The analysis process analyzes the usage state of the predetermined space from the plurality of pieces of location information. The predetermined space includes a plurality of areas. The analysis process determines in which of the plurality of areas the user is present at a time corresponding one-to-one to the plurality of pieces of location information, and determines the area in which the user is most frequently present during the predetermined period as the fixed area of the user. The analysis process determines the area in which the user is most frequently present continuously for a set period or more as the fixed area of the user. When there are a plurality of areas in which the user is most frequently present during the predetermined period, the analysis process determines the area in which the user is most frequently present continuously for a second set period or more, which is longer than the set period that is a first set period, as the fixed area.

A program according to one aspect of the present disclosure causes a computer system to execute the space management method.

According to this disclosure, it is possible to determine the fixed area of users in a specified space in a facility.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a predetermined space in a space management system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the space management system. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a server in the space management system. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of position information of a first user in the space management system according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of position information of a second user in the space management system according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of position information of a third user in the space management system according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of position information of a fourth user in the space management system according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of determining the fixed area in the space management system. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of position information of a first user in the space management system of the first modification.

A spatial management system 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment and modified examples described below are merely examples of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiment and modified examples. Various modifications other than the embodiment and modified examples may be made depending on the design, etc., as long as they do not deviate from the technical concept of the present disclosure.

(1) Overview A space management system 10 according to this embodiment is a system for analyzing the usage state of a predetermined space 110 in a facility 100 by a user 200, as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the space management system 10 includes a server 20. The server 20 includes an acquisition unit 21 and an analysis unit 22. The acquisition unit 21 acquires multiple pieces of location information B1 of the user 200 for at least a predetermined period. The multiple pieces of location information B1 include, for example, information on the reception strength at the receiver 30 of a wireless signal W10 transmitted at a predetermined period T3 from a transmitter 40 carried by the user 200. Since the reception strength at the receiver 30 varies depending on the distance from the receiver 30 to the transmitter 40, the information on the reception strength at the receiver 30 is information whose magnitude varies depending on the distance from the receiver 30 to the user 200. The analysis unit 22 analyzes the usage status of the specified space 110 from the multiple pieces of location information B1.

In this embodiment, the predetermined space 110 includes a plurality of areas A0, and the analysis unit 22 determines in which of the plurality of areas A0 the user 200 is present at a time that corresponds one-to-one to the plurality of pieces of location information B1. The analysis unit 22 also determines that the area A0 in which the user 200 is most frequently present during a predetermined period of time is the user's fixed location area A6.

(2) Details In this embodiment, the facility 100 is, for example, an office whose layout can be changed, and the predetermined space 110 is the interior space of the office. The facility 100 is not limited to an office, and may be a detached house, an apartment building (a dwelling unit, a common area), a store, a building (an entire building, within a floor), etc. The facility 100 may include not only a building, but also a building and the site on which the building is located, and may be, for example, a factory, a park, a hospital, a commercial facility, an art museum, a museum, an amusement facility, a theme park, an airport, a train station, a dome stadium, a hotel, etc.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the specified space 110 includes multiple areas A0. The multiple areas A0 include a first area A1 to a third area A3, which are areas for office use in the facility 100 (three in this embodiment). Here, in the office that is the facility 100 of this embodiment, the user 200 can work in any of the first area A1 to the third area A3. Note that the number of areas A0 is not limited to three, and may be one or two, or may be four or more. However, the multiple areas A0 do not include areas other than those for office use in the facility 100. Also, in this embodiment, the specified space 110 further includes a conference area A4 and a rest area A5, which are areas other than those for office use.

As shown in FIG. 2, the space management system 10 includes a server 20, multiple receivers 30, and multiple transmitters 40. The space management system 10 can communicate with the service providing system 70 through a communication network 60. The communication network 60 may include the Internet. The communication network 60 may be composed of multiple networks conforming to different communication protocols, rather than a network conforming to a single communication protocol. The communication protocol may be selected from various well-known wired and wireless communication standards. Although simplified in FIG. 2, the communication network 60 may include data communication devices such as a repeater hub, a switching hub, a bridge, a gateway, and a router.

The space management system 10 can provide the service provision system 70 with information on the usage status of the specified space 110. The usage status of the specified space 110 is analyzed by the space management system 10 from the position information B1 of the user 200. The service provision system 70 is a system for providing services to the terminal device 80. The service provision system 70 can communicate with the terminal device 80 through the communication network 60. The service provision system 70 executes a service that presents various information to the terminal device 80 based on the usage status information of the specified space 110 received from the space management system 10. The various information presented to the terminal device 80 is used, for example, to change the layout of the specified space 110 with the aim of improving productivity during work. The layout change is, for example, a change in the illuminance of the lighting, a change in the number of seats, etc.

The transmitter 40 is used to determine the location of the user 200. In other words, under the assumption that the user 200 carries the transmitter 40, the location of the transmitter 40 is treated as the location of the user 200. The transmitter 40 has a function of transmitting a wireless signal W10. In particular, the transmitter 40 transmits the wireless signal W10 at a predetermined period T3. The wireless signal W10 may include identification information of the transmitter 40. The identification information may be used to distinguish between multiple transmitters 40. In the transmitter 40, the identification information is stored, for example, in a memory unit possessed by the transmitter 40. The memory unit of the transmitter 40 is, for example, a non-volatile memory such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory).

In this embodiment, the medium of the wireless signal W10 is radio waves. In particular, the medium of the wireless signal W10 is radio waves suitable for short-distance wireless communication. An example of short-distance wireless communication is Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy. In this case, the identification information is, for example, a Bluetooth (registered trademark) Device Address. The short-distance wireless communication is not limited to Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy, and may be, for example, Wi-Fi (registered trademark). The transmitter 40 is of a size and weight that can be carried by the user 200. The transmitter 40 is, for example, a beacon. The beacon wirelessly transmits a wireless signal (beacon signal) called, for example, an advertisement packet at a predetermined time interval and with a predetermined transmission power. The transmitter 40 may be realized by a mobile terminal such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a wearable terminal, or a personal computer.

The receiver 30 is used to determine the location of the transmitter 40 (i.e., the location of the user 200 carrying the transmitter 40). The receiver 30 has a function of receiving a wireless signal W10 from the transmitter 40. The receiver 30 is also communicatively connected to the server 20. That is, the receiver 30 is capable of communicating with the server 20 through a communication network 50. When the receiver 30 receives the wireless signal W10 transmitted from the transmitter 40, it transmits the identification information contained in the wireless signal W10 and information on the reception strength of the wireless signal W10 to the server 20 through the communication network 50. The information on the reception strength of the wireless signal W10 is, for example, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI). The receiver 30 transmits, for example, RSSI information and identification information to the server 20 when the RSSI is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, multiple receivers 30 are installed in a specified space 110. In detail, four receivers 30 are installed in area A0 (one in the first area A1, one in the second area A2, and two in the third area A3), one in the conference area A4, and one in the rest area A5. If the area in which the receivers 30 are installed is indoors, the receivers 30 may be placed on the ceiling of the area in which they are installed. The multiple receivers 30 (six in this embodiment) have different identification information. The identification information of the receivers 30 is stored in a non-volatile memory or the like possessed by the receivers 30.

The communication network 50 may include a local area network. The communication network 50 may be composed of multiple networks conforming to different communication protocols, rather than a network conforming to a single communication protocol. The communication protocol may be, for example, a communication protocol conforming to the Ethernet (registered trademark) standard, or a communication protocol conforming to a standard such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark). Although simplified in FIG. 2, the communication network 50 may include data communication devices such as a repeater hub, a switching hub, a bridge, a gateway, and a router. The communication network 50 may also be a power line communication network using power lines.

As shown in FIG. 3, the server 20 includes a first communication unit 201, a second communication unit 202, a memory unit 203, a clock unit 205, and a processing unit 204.

The first communication unit 201 is a communication interface. In particular, the first communication unit 201 is a communication interface that can be connected to the communication network 50, and has a function of communicating through the communication network 50. This allows the server 20 to communicate with the receiver 30 through the communication network 50. The first communication unit 201 receives a signal from the receiver 30 via the communication network 50 in the facility 100. The signal that the first communication unit 201 receives from the receiver 30 includes, for example, the reception strength of the wireless signal W10 received by the receiver 30, identification information of the receiver 30, identification information of the transmitter 40, and the like. In addition, the signal that the first communication unit 201 receives from the receiver 30 may also include, for example, attribute information of the user 200 who owns the transmitter 40.

The second communication unit 202 is a communication interface. In particular, the second communication unit 202 is a communication interface that can be connected to the communication network 60, and has a function of communicating through the communication network 60. In particular, the second communication unit 202 can communicate with the service providing system 70 through the communication network 60. Note that the communication protocol of the second communication unit 202 can be selected from various well-known wired and wireless communication standards. The second communication unit 202 may be capable of communicating with equipment installed in the facility 100. Equipment that can communicate with the second communication unit 202 is, for example, lighting equipment, air conditioning equipment, etc.

The storage unit 203 is a device for storing information. The storage unit 203 is a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), an EEPROM, or the like. The storage unit 203 has an area for storing information for determination used to determine the fixed area A6 of the user 200 during a specified period. For example, the information for determination includes information on the specified space 110, information on the receiver 30, and information on the transmitter 40. The information on the specified space 110 is information for determining the size and shape of the area A0 and other areas (in this embodiment, the conference area A4 and the rest area A5) included in the specified space 110. The information on the receiver 30 includes information for determining the receiver 30 (identification information) and position information of the receiver 30. The position information of the receiver 30 is, for example, coordinates indicating the position of the receiver 30 within the specified space 110. The information on the transmitter 40 includes information for determining the transmitter 40 (identification information).

The clock unit 205 is a timer that keeps time. For example, the clock unit 205 outputs time information indicating the current time to the processing unit 204, which will be described later.

The processing unit 204 is configured to control the entire server 20, i.e., the first communication unit 201, the second communication unit 202, the storage unit 203, and the clock unit 205. The processing unit 204 can be realized, for example, by a computer system including one or more processors (microprocessors) and one or more memories. That is, the one or more processors execute one or more programs (applications) stored in one or more memories to function as the processing unit 204. Here, the programs are pre-recorded in the memory of the processing unit 204, but they may also be provided via a telecommunications line such as the Internet, or recorded on a non-temporary recording medium such as a memory card.

In this embodiment, the processing unit 204 estimates the position of the transmitter 40 based on the position information of the receiver 30 and information on the reception strength (RSSI) of the wireless signal W10. The position information of the receiver 30 is, for example, coordinate information of the receiver 30 within the specified space 110. The reception strength at the receiver 30 tends to decrease as the distance between the receiver 30 and the transmitter 40 increases. Therefore, it is possible to estimate the distance from the receiver 30 to the transmitter 40 based on the reception strength of the wireless signal W10 at the receiver 30. The processing unit 204 estimates the range in which the transmitter 40 may be present (as an example, a circumference centered on the receiver 30) from the position information of the receiver 30 stored in the memory unit 203. The processing unit 204 estimates the distance from each of the multiple receivers 30 to the transmitter 40 based on the reception strength information (RSSI) when the wireless signal W10 from the transmitter 40 is received by the multiple receivers 30, and estimates the position of the receiver 30 based on the position information of the multiple receivers 30 and the information of the distance from the multiple receivers 30 to the transmitter 40. In other words, the processing unit 204 estimates the position (coordinates) of the transmitter 40 in the specified space 110 by performing positioning (here, one-point positioning) using, for example, the position information of the receiver 30 (for example, coordinate information within the specified space 110) and the reception strength information (RSSI) at the receiver 30. The reception strength information is, for example, RSSI, and more specifically, an instantaneous value of RSSI.

The processing unit 204 may, for example, obtain ranges in which the transmitter 40 may exist from different receivers 30, and estimate the position where all the ranges overlap as the position of the transmitter 40. For example, in this embodiment, the processing unit 204 may estimate the position of the transmitter 40 by four-point positioning using the coordinate information of each of the four receivers 30 installed in the area A0 and the information on the reception strength of each of these four receivers 30. In the case of four-point positioning, it is possible to estimate the position (coordinates) of the transmitter 40 with higher accuracy than in the case of one-point positioning. In the case of four-point positioning, it is also possible to estimate the direction in which the transmitter 40 exists relative to the receiver 30. The positioning used to estimate the coordinates of the transmitter 40 is not limited to four-point positioning, and may be, for example, three-point positioning or five-point positioning.

The processing unit 204 is described in more detail below.

As shown in FIG. 3, the processing unit 204 includes an acquisition unit 21 and an analysis unit 22. The analysis unit 22 includes a first determination unit 221, a second determination unit 222, and a data creation unit 223. Note that in FIG. 3, the acquisition unit 21 and analysis unit 22 included in the processing unit 204, and the first determination unit 221, second determination unit 222, and data creation unit 223 included in the analysis unit 22 do not represent actual configurations, but rather represent functions realized by the processing unit 204.

The acquisition unit 21 acquires information (location information B1) on the reception strength at the receiver 30 of the wireless signal W10 that is periodically transmitted from the transmitter 40 at a predetermined period T3. The predetermined period T3 is, for example, 0.1 to 0.5 seconds, and is 0.3 seconds as an example.

The first determination unit 221 included in the analysis unit 22 estimates the position of the transmitter 40 based on multiple pieces of position information B1 acquired during an acquisition period T4 (see Figures 4 to 7) that is longer than the predetermined cycle T3. The length of the acquisition period T4 is, for example, 5 to 15 minutes, and as an example, 10 minutes. The first determination unit 221 calculates the average value of the multiple pieces of position information B1 acquired during the acquisition period T4, and estimates the position of the transmitter 40 based on the calculated average value (average value of RSSI). The position (coordinates) of the transmitter 40 estimated by the first determination unit 221 is stored in the memory unit 203, for example, in association with the identification information of the transmitter 40 and the time information at the start and end of the acquisition period T4. The time information is acquired by the first determination unit 221 from the clock unit 205.

Here, "estimating a position" means performing positioning. For example, when performing four-point positioning, the average value of multiple pieces of position information B1 is calculated for each of the four receivers 30, and four-point positioning of the transmitter 40 is performed using the average value of the multiple pieces of position information B1 for each of the four receivers 30.

The first determination unit 221 determines the area in which the transmitter 40 exists based on the estimated position of the transmitter 40. Here, the first determination unit 221 determines the area in which the transmitter 40 exists based on, for example, the estimated position (coordinates) of the transmitter 40 and the coordinates of each area stored in the memory unit 203. For example, if the estimated coordinates of the transmitter 40 are included in the coordinate range of the first area A1, the first determination unit 221 determines that the transmitter 40 exists in the first area A1. In other words, it determines that the user 200 corresponding to the transmitter 40 exists in the first area A1.

If the position of the transmitter 40 cannot be estimated from the average value of the multiple pieces of position information B1, the first determination unit 221 determines that the user 200 corresponding to the transmitter 40 is outside the specified space 110.

The area information determined by the first determination unit 221 is stored in the memory unit 203, for example, in association with the identification information of the transmitter 40 and the time information of the start point of the acquisition period T4 and the end point of the acquisition period T4.

The second determination unit 222 of the analysis unit 22 uses information on the area in which the user 200 exists determined by the first determination unit 221 to determine, among the multiple areas A0 used for office purposes, the area A0 in which the user 200 exists most frequently during a specified period of time as the user's fixed area A6.

In this embodiment, multiple predetermined periods are set within a day. The analysis unit 22 determines the fixed area A6 of the user 200 for each of the multiple predetermined periods. As shown in Figures 4 to 7, the multiple predetermined periods are, for example, a first predetermined period T01 between 8:00 and 11:59, a second predetermined period T02 between 12:00 and 16:59, and a third predetermined period T03 between 17:00 and 20:00. Note that the setting of multiple predetermined periods is not limited to the first predetermined period T01 to the third predetermined period T03. Also, only one predetermined period may be set within a day.

In this embodiment, there are multiple users 200 (four people), and the first user 210 to the fourth user 240 use the specified space 110. Note that there may be only one user 200. The second determination unit 222 determines the fixed area A6 of each of the first user 210 to the fourth user 240 in each of the first specified period T01 to the third specified period T03. Information on the determined fixed area A6 is stored, for example, in the memory unit 203.

The data creation unit 223 included in the analysis unit 22 generates various information to be presented to the terminal device 80 from the information on the fixed areas A6 of the first user 210 to the fourth user 240 for each of the first predetermined period T01 to the third predetermined period T03, which is stored in the memory unit 203. Here, the various information is, for example, information on proposed layouts for the predetermined space 110.

(3) Example of Operation Hereinafter, an example of the determination operation of the fixed area A6 by the analysis unit 22 will be described with reference to FIGS.

In this embodiment, determination of the location of the transmitter 40 begins at 8:00 and ends at 20:00 on the same day. Furthermore, the period from 8:00 to 20:00 is divided into a first predetermined period T01 from 8:00 to 11:59, a second predetermined period T02 from 12:00 to 16:59, and a third predetermined period T03 from 17:00 to 20:00, as described above.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, in the first predetermined period T01, the determination of the area in which the first user 210 is present is started at 8:00 by the first determination unit 221 of the analysis unit 22. In other words, the acquisition of multiple pieces of location information B1 by the first determination unit 221 is started at 7:50, which is 10 minutes before the acquisition period T4 at 8:00 (in this embodiment).

After that, the area is determined for each acquisition period T4, and the area in which the first user 210 is last present during the first predetermined period T01 is determined at 11:50.

When the determination of the area in which the first user 210 was present during the first predetermined period T01 is completed, the second determination unit 222 starts to determine the fixed area A6 in which the first user 210 was present during the first predetermined period T01 based on the information on the area in which the first user 210 was present that is stored in the memory unit 203.

Here, the fixed area A6 is the office area A0 (first area A1 to third area A3) where the first user 210 was most frequently present during the first specified period T01. Therefore, the second determination unit 222 extracts only the information of the office areas A1 to A3 from the memory unit 203 among the information of the areas where the first user 210 was present during the first specified period T01 (FIG. 8ST1). As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the information of the conference area A4 where the first user 210 was present during the first specified period T01 is not used to determine the fixed area A6.

In this embodiment, the second determination unit 222 determines the first area A1 to the third area A3 in which the user 200 is most frequently present for a set period T10 (first set period T11) or more as the fixed area A6 of the user 200. Here, the first set period T11 is, for example, 30 minutes. Therefore, from the extracted information of the first area A1 to the third area A3, the second determination unit 222 selects only the first area A1 to the third area A3 in which the first user 210 is determined to be present three or more times in a row as the candidate area for the fixed area A6 (FIG. 8ST2). Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the second area A2 in which the first user 210 is determined to be present two times in a row in the first predetermined period T01 is not a candidate area for the fixed area A6. Therefore, the candidates for the fixed area A6 of the first user 210 in the first predetermined period T01 are the first area A1 and the third area A3.

Next, the second determination unit 222 compares the number of times that it was determined that the first user 210 was present in the candidate areas of the fixed area A6 during the first predetermined period T01 (FIG. 8ST3). In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the first area A1 and the third area A3, which are candidate areas of the fixed area A6, were both determined to have the first user 210 present nine times during the first predetermined period T01.

Here, in this embodiment, when there are multiple areas A0 (first area A1 to third area A3) in which the user 200 is most frequently present during a predetermined period (FIG. 8 ST4: YES), the second determination unit 222 determines the area A0 (first area A1 to third area A3) in which the user 200 has been present continuously for the longest period among the multiple areas A0 (first area A1 to third area A3) as the fixed area A6. Therefore, the second determination unit 222 compares the number of times that the first user 210 has been determined to be present continuously in the first area A1 with the number of times that the first user 210 has been determined to be present continuously in the third area A3 (FIG. 8 ST5). After the first user 210 has been determined to be present in the first area A1 five times in a row, there is an interruption period, after which the first user 210 has been determined to be present four times in a row. In addition, the first user 210 has been determined to be present in the third area A3 nine times in a row. Therefore, the second determination unit 222 determines that the third area A3 in which the first user 210 has been determined to be continuously present many times is the fixed area A6 of the first user 210 during the first predetermined period T01 (FIG. 8 ST6).

The fixed area A6 of the second user 220 to the fourth user 240 in the first predetermined period T01 is also determined in the same manner, and becomes the first area A1, the second area A2, and the first area A1, respectively, as shown in Table 1. Similarly, the fixed area A6 of the first user 210 to the fourth user 240 in the second predetermined period T02 and the third predetermined period T03 is also determined by the second determination unit 222. Note that in this embodiment, for the second user 220 in the second predetermined period T02, it is determined by ST1 to ST4 in FIG. 8 that there are no first areas A1 to A3 that correspond to the fixed area A6.

In this embodiment, the second determination unit 222 calculates the ratio (utilization rate C1) of the number of users 200 who have been determined that each of the first area A1 to the third area A3 is a fixed area A6 to the number of users who can use each of the first area A1 to the third area A3. Here, the number of users P1 to P3 who can use each of the first area A1 to the third area A3 is, for example, 2 people for P1, 2 people for P2, and 3 people for P3. As shown in Table 1, for example, in the first specified period T01, the first area A1 is a fixed area A6 for two users, the second user 220 and the fourth user 240, so the utilization rate C1 of the first area A1 to the number of users who can use P1 (2 people) is 100%. Table 2 shows a list of utilization rates C1 of the first area A1 to the third area A3 in the first specified period T01 to the third specified period T03 in this embodiment, which are calculated in a similar manner.

The data creation unit 223 generates proposed change information for the layout of the specified space 110, etc., to be presented to the terminal device 80 from the information on the utilization rate C1 stored in the memory unit 203.

(4) Modifications The above embodiment is merely one of various embodiments of the present disclosure. The above embodiment can be modified in various ways depending on the design, etc., as long as the object of the present disclosure can be achieved. In addition, functions similar to those of the space management system 10 may be embodied in a management method, a computer program, or a non-transitory recording medium on which a program is recorded, etc.

The management method according to the above embodiment includes an acquisition process and an analysis process. The acquisition process acquires multiple pieces of location information B1 of a user 200 in a specified space 110 in a facility for at least a specified period of time. The analysis process analyzes the usage state of the specified space 110 from the multiple pieces of location information B1 of the user 200 for a specified period of time. The specified space 110 includes multiple areas A0. The analysis process determines which of the multiple areas A0 the user 200 is in at a time that corresponds one-to-one to the multiple pieces of location information B1, and determines the area A0 in which the user 200 is most frequently present during a specified period of time among the multiple areas A0 as the fixed area A6 of the user 200. In addition, the (computer) program according to the above embodiment is a program for causing a computer system to execute the above-mentioned management method.

Below, we will list some variations of the above embodiment. The variations described below can be applied in appropriate combinations.

(4.1) Modification 1
The space management system 10 according to the first modification will be described below.

In the spatial management system 10 of the above embodiment, when there are multiple areas A0 (first area A1 to third area A3) in which the user 200 is most frequently present during a specified period, the second determination unit 222 determines that the area A0 (first area A1 to third area A3) in which the user 200 has been continuously present for the longest period among the multiple areas A0 (first area A1 to third area A3) is the fixed area A6.

The spatial management system 10 of this modified example 1 differs from the above embodiment in that, when there are multiple areas A0 (first area A1 to third area A3) in which the user 200 is most frequently present during a specified period, the second determination unit 222 determines the area A0 (first area A1 to third area A3) in which the user 200 has been present continuously for the longest total period of time, which is equal to or longer than the second set period T12, which is longer than the first set period T11, as the fixed area A6. This makes it possible to more accurately determine the fixed area A6 in which the user 200 mainly works during a specified period.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the candidate areas for the fixed area A6 of the first user 210 in the first predetermined period T01 are the first area A1 and the third area A3. Here, the first area A1 and the third area A3 are both determined to have the first user 210 present 12 times in the first predetermined period T01. In detail, the first area A1 is determined to have the first user 210 present 4 times (40 minutes) in a row, 4 times (40 minutes) in a row, and 4 times (40 minutes) in a row in a row in a chronological order, with interruption periods in between. In addition, the third area A3 is determined to have the first user 210 present 5 times (50 minutes) in a row, 4 times (40 minutes) in a row, and 3 times (30 minutes) in a row in a chronological order, with interruption periods in between. Here, the second set period T12 is, for example, 40 minutes. Therefore, in this modified example 1, the total period during which the first user 210 was in the first area A1 for 40 minutes or more consecutively during the first predetermined period T01 is 120 minutes. Also, the total period during which the first user 210 was in the third area A3 for 40 minutes or more consecutively during the first predetermined period T01 is 90 minutes. Therefore, in this modified example 1, the second determination unit 222 determines that the first area A1 is the fixed area A6 of the first user 210 during the first predetermined period T01.

(4.2) Other Modifications Other modifications of the embodiment are listed below. The following modifications may be implemented in appropriate combination.

It is not essential for the space management system 10 that the server 20 includes the first communication unit 201, the second communication unit 202, the memory unit 203, and the clock unit 205, and at least one of the functions of the first communication unit 201, the second communication unit 202, the memory unit 203, and the clock unit 205 may be realized by the processing unit 204.

In the above embodiment, the average value of the multiple pieces of location information B1 acquired within the acquisition period T4, which is calculated by the first determination unit 221 provided in the analysis unit 22, may be calculated by the acquisition unit 21.

The space management system 10 in the present disclosure includes a computer system. The computer system is mainly composed of a processor and a memory as hardware. The function of the space management system 10 in the present disclosure is realized by the processor executing a program recorded in the memory of the computer system. The program may be pre-recorded in the memory of the computer system, may be provided through an electric communication line, or may be recorded and provided in a non-transitory recording medium such as a memory card, an optical disk, or a hard disk drive that can be read by the computer system. The processor of the computer system is composed of one or more electronic circuits including a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) or a large-scale integrated circuit (LSI). The integrated circuits such as IC or LSI referred to here are called differently depending on the degree of integration, and include integrated circuits called system LSI, VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration), or ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration). Furthermore, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) that is programmed after the manufacture of the LSI, or a logic device that can reconfigure the connection relationship inside the LSI or reconfigure the circuit partition inside the LSI, can also be adopted as a processor. The multiple electronic circuits may be integrated into one chip, or may be distributed across multiple chips. The multiple chips may be integrated into one device, or may be distributed across multiple devices. The computer system referred to here includes a microcontroller having one or more processors and one or more memories. Therefore, the microcontroller is also composed of one or more electronic circuits including a semiconductor integrated circuit or a large-scale integrated circuit.

It is not essential for the space management system 10 that multiple functions are concentrated in a single housing, and the components of the space management system 10 may be distributed across multiple housings.

At least some of the functions of the space management system 10, for example, the functions of the server 20, may be realized by the cloud (cloud computing) etc.

(5) Summary As described above, the space management system (10) of the first aspect includes an acquisition unit (21) and an analysis unit (22). The acquisition unit (21) acquires a plurality of pieces of position information (B1) of a user (200) in a predetermined space (110) in a facility (100) for at least a predetermined period. The analysis unit (22) analyzes the usage state of the predetermined space (110) from the plurality of pieces of position information (B1). The predetermined space (110) includes a plurality of areas (A0). The analysis unit (22) determines in which of the plurality of areas (A0) the user (200) is present at a time corresponding one-to-one to the plurality of pieces of position information (B1), and determines the area (A0) in which the user (200) is most frequently present during a predetermined period among the plurality of areas (A0) as the fixed area (A6) of the user (200).

According to this aspect, it is possible to improve the accuracy of determining the fixed area (A6) of the user (200) in the specified space (110).

In the spatial management system (10) of the second aspect, in the first aspect, the analysis unit (22) determines the area (A0) in which the user (200) is most frequently present continuously for a set period (T10) or more as the fixed area (A6) of the user (200).

According to this aspect, information on the area (A0) where the user (200) temporarily stopped by for a time shorter than the set period (T10) is not used to determine the fixed area (A6), thereby improving the accuracy of determining the fixed area (A6).

In the spatial management system (10) of the third aspect, in the first or second aspect, when there are multiple areas (A0) in which the user (200) is most frequently present during a specified period, the analysis unit (22) determines, among the multiple areas (A0), the area (A0) in which the user (200) is continuously present for the longest period to be the fixed area (A6).

According to this aspect, when there are multiple areas (A0) where the user (200) is most frequently present, it is possible to improve the accuracy of determining the fixed area (A6).

In the fourth aspect of the spatial management system (10), in the second aspect, when there are multiple areas (A0) in which the user (200) is most frequently present during a specified period, the analysis unit (22) determines the area (A0) in which the user (200) has been continuously present for the longest total period of time, which is equal to or longer than the second set period (T12), which is longer than the set period (T10), which is the first set period (T11), as the fixed area (A6).

According to this aspect, when there are multiple areas (A0) where the user (200) is most frequently present, it is possible to improve the accuracy of determining the fixed area (A6).

In the fifth aspect of the space management system (10), in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the multiple areas (A0) include areas in the facility (100) used for office purposes, and do not include areas in the facility (100) used for other purposes than office purposes.

According to this aspect, it is possible to improve the accuracy of determining the fixed area (A6) in the specified space (110) where the user (200) mainly works.

In the sixth aspect of the space management system (10), in any one of the first to fifth aspects, multiple predetermined periods are set within a day, and the analysis unit (22) determines the fixed area (A6) of the user (200) for each of the multiple predetermined periods.

According to this aspect, it is possible to improve the accuracy of determining the fixed area (A6) of the user (200) during each of a plurality of predetermined periods in a day.

In the seventh aspect of the space management system (10), in any one of the first to sixth aspects, there are a plurality of users (200). The analysis unit (22) calculates the ratio of the number of users (200) for whom each of the plurality of areas (A0) is determined to be a fixed area (A6) to the number of people available to each of the plurality of areas (A0).

According to this embodiment, it is possible to check the utilization rate (C1) of each of the multiple areas (A0) relative to the number of available users.

The space management method of the eighth aspect includes an acquisition process and an analysis process. The acquisition process acquires multiple pieces of location information (B1) for at least a predetermined period of time for a user (200) in a specified space (110) in a facility (100). The analysis process analyzes the usage status of the specified space (110) from the multiple pieces of location information (B1). The specified space (110) includes multiple areas (A0). The analysis unit (22) determines in which of the multiple areas (A0) the user (200) is present at a time that corresponds one-to-one to the multiple pieces of location information (B1), and determines the area (A0) in which the user (200) is most frequently present during a predetermined period of time as the fixed area (A6) of the user (200).

According to this aspect, it is possible to improve the accuracy of determining the fixed area (A6) of the user (200) in the specified space (110).

The program of the ninth aspect causes a computer system to execute the space management method of the eighth aspect.

According to this aspect, it is possible to improve the accuracy of determining the fixed area (A6) of the user (200) in the specified space (110).

Note that the second to seventh aspects are not essential components of the space management system (10) and may be omitted as appropriate.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Space management system 21 Acquisition unit 22 Analysis unit 100 Facility 110 Specified space 200 User A0 Area A6 Fixed area B1 Location information C1 Utilization rate T10 Set period T11 First set period T12 Second set period

Claims (10)

An acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of pieces of location information of users in a predetermined space in a facility for at least a predetermined period of time;
an analysis unit that analyzes a usage state of the predetermined space from the plurality of position information,
The predetermined space includes a plurality of areas,
the analysis unit determines in which of the plurality of areas the user is present at a time corresponding one-to-one to the plurality of pieces of location information, and determines, among the plurality of areas, an area in which the user is most frequently present during the predetermined period as a fixed location area of the user ;
The plurality of areas includes areas for office use in the facility, and does not include areas for other than office use in the facility.
Space management system. An acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of pieces of location information of users in a predetermined space in a facility for at least a predetermined period of time;
an analysis unit that analyzes a usage state of the predetermined space from the plurality of position information,
The predetermined space includes a plurality of areas,
the analysis unit determines in which of the plurality of areas the user is present at a time corresponding one-to-one to the plurality of pieces of location information, and determines, among the plurality of areas, an area in which the user is most frequently present during the predetermined period as a fixed location area of the user;
The analysis unit determines the area in which the user is most frequently present continuously for a set period or more as a fixed area of the user,
When there are a plurality of areas in which the user is most frequently present during the predetermined period, the analysis unit determines the area in which the user is continuously present for the longest total period of time, which is equal to or longer than a second set period that is longer than the first set period, as the fixed area.
Space management system. The analysis unit determines the area in which the user is most frequently present continuously for a set period or more as the fixed area of the user.
The space management system according to claim 1 . When there are a plurality of areas in which the user is most frequently present during the predetermined period, the analysis unit determines, among the plurality of areas, the area in which the user is continuously present for the longest period to be the fixed area.
The space management system according to claim 1 or 3. When there are a plurality of areas in which the user is most frequently present during the predetermined period, the analysis unit determines the area in which the user is continuously present for the longest total period of time, which is equal to or longer than a second set period that is longer than the first set period, as the fixed area.
The space management system according to claim 3. A plurality of the predetermined periods are set within a day,
The space management system according to claim 1 , wherein the analysis unit determines the fixed area of the user for each of the plurality of predetermined periods. The user is a plurality of users,
The space management system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the analysis unit calculates a ratio of the number of users for whom each of the plurality of areas is determined to be the fixed area to the number of people available for each of the plurality of areas. An acquisition process for acquiring a plurality of pieces of location information of users in a predetermined space in a facility for at least a predetermined period of time;
An analysis process for analyzing a usage state of the predetermined space from the plurality of pieces of position information,
The predetermined space includes a plurality of areas,
The analysis process determines in which of the plurality of areas the user is present at a time corresponding one-to-one to the plurality of pieces of location information, and determines, among the plurality of areas, an area in which the user is most frequently present during the predetermined period as a fixed location area of the user ;
The plurality of areas includes areas for office use in the facility, and does not include areas for other than office use in the facility.
How to manage space. An acquisition process for acquiring a plurality of pieces of location information of users in a predetermined space in a facility for at least a predetermined period of time;
An analysis process for analyzing a usage state of the predetermined space from the plurality of pieces of position information,
The predetermined space includes a plurality of areas,
The analysis process determines in which of the plurality of areas the user is present at a time corresponding one-to-one to the plurality of pieces of location information, and determines, among the plurality of areas, an area in which the user is most frequently present during the predetermined period as a fixed location area of the user;
The analysis process determines the area in which the user is most frequently present for a set period or more as the fixed area of the user,
In the analysis process, when there are a plurality of areas in which the user is most frequently present during the predetermined period, the area in which the user is continuously present for the longest total period of time, which is equal to or longer than a second set period that is longer than the first set period, is determined to be the fixed area.
Space management methods. A method for causing a computer system to execute the space management method according to claim 8 or 9,
Program.

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