JP7743064B2 - Information processing device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device that calculates the ownership rate of mobile devices.

There is a demand for understanding the number of people and their flow in places where many people gather, such as train stations, commercial facilities, and tourist spots. By understanding the level of congestion and the flow of people, it is possible to, for example, carry out promotions tailored to the flow of people, develop new business opportunities, and improve business efficiency. Furthermore, in the event of a flood such as a typhoon, a natural disaster such as an earthquake, or the spread of an epidemic, the results of understanding the level of congestion and the flow of people can be used to implement crisis management measures.

In response to such demand, the level of congestion and the flow of people are being grasped using the MAC (Media Access Control) addresses contained in Wi-Fi (registered trademark) wireless signals transmitted from mobile devices such as smartphones (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). This method has the advantage of eliminating blind spots and being low-cost compared to using cameras to obtain the level of congestion and the flow of people, but it has the problem of only measuring people holding mobile devices, which may result in discrepancies with the actual number of people.

To solve this problem, the number of mobile devices is obtained using radio waves transmitted from the mobile devices, and the actual number of people is obtained using images captured by a camera to calculate the detection rate of the devices.The number of people in areas where cameras are not installed is then estimated using this detection rate and the number of mobile devices obtained using radio waves in areas where cameras are not installed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

International Publication No. 2019/239756

Junji Nishida, "Overcoming Challenges to Commercialize Wi-Fi Packet Sensors: A Traffic Flow Analysis System Born from Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration," Information Processing Society of Japan Digital Practice, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 489-510, July 2020

In the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the detected terminal rate is calculated for a specific location using the number of mobile terminals acquired using radio waves at a certain time and the actual number of people acquired using camera images. Here, if radio waves are transmitted continuously from the mobile terminal, or at intervals short enough to be considered continuous, it is possible to achieve temporal and spatial consistency between the number of mobile terminals acquired using radio waves and the actual number of people acquired using camera images, as described above, and to properly calculate the detected terminal rate. On the other hand, if radio waves are transmitted intermittently from the mobile terminal, there is a possibility that the mobile terminal is not transmitting radio waves during the time when the number of mobile terminals is being counted, making it impossible to properly match the two, resulting in an inaccurate value for the detected terminal rate.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an information processing device, etc., that can appropriately calculate the ownership rate of a mobile device using signal observation results and captured images, even when signals are transmitted intermittently from the mobile device.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention comprises: a terminal number acquisition unit that acquires the number of mobile terminals present in a target area in accordance with observation by one or more sensors during a predetermined observation period of transmission signals including physical addresses that are intermittently transmitted from multiple mobile terminals present in a target area included in the coverage area of one or more sensors; a number of people acquisition unit that acquires the number of people present in the target area using images captured during the observation period of a shooting area that includes the target area; and a calculation unit that calculates a terminal holding rate based on the number of terminals in the target area and the number of people in the target area, wherein the length of the observation period is longer than the longest interval, which is the longest transmission interval among the transmission intervals of the transmission signals of the multiple mobile terminals.
With this configuration, by setting the length of the observation period to be equal to or longer than the longest interval, the transmission signal of each mobile device present in the target area throughout the entire observation period is observed at least once. Therefore, even if the transmission signal is transmitted intermittently from the mobile device, the number of mobile devices acquired using the transmission signal can be appropriately time- and spatially matched with the actual number of people acquired using the captured images, thereby enabling a more accurate calculation of the device ownership rate.

In the information processing device according to an aspect of the present invention, the terminal number acquisition unit may set the length of the observation period in accordance with observation of transmission signals from a plurality of mobile terminals.
With this configuration, it becomes possible to set the length of the observation period to an appropriate value using the observation status of the transmission signal.

In addition, in the information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention, the target area may have a length equal to or greater than the length obtained by multiplying the speed of a person moving through the target area by the length of the observation period.
With this configuration, for example, a mobile device carried by a person who entered the target area at the start of the observation period will transmit a transmission signal at least once while that person is in the target area, making it possible to more reliably observe transmission signals sent from mobile devices in the target area, and therefore to calculate a more accurate device ownership rate.

In addition, in an information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention, transmission signals sent from multiple mobile terminals are observed by multiple sensors, and the target area may be included in an overlapping area of multiple coverage areas corresponding to the multiple sensors, respectively.
Such a configuration makes it possible to limit the range of the target area.

In the information processing device according to the aspect of the present invention, the target area may be an area in which the radio wave intensity of the transmission signal in the coverage area exceeds a predetermined threshold.
With this configuration, a part of the coverage area can be set as the target area, and the range of the target area can be limited.

In addition, in an information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention, the terminal number acquisition unit may also acquire the number of mobile terminals present in the estimated target area in accordance with observation of transmission signals sent from multiple mobile terminals present in an estimated target area, which is an area different from the target area and through which people passing through the target area pass, for the same length of time as the observation period by other sensors, and may further include an estimation unit that estimates the number of people in the estimated target area based on the number of mobile terminals in the estimated target area and the terminal holding rate.
With this configuration, it becomes possible to estimate the number of people in an estimation target area using the device holding rate. Furthermore, by using a more accurate device holding rate, the estimated number of people also becomes more accurate.

In addition, in the information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention, the target area may include an area of a gate through which a person passes.
With this configuration, people move slowly in one direction at gates at the entrance and exit of an event venue, security gates passed through when entering a company, automatic ticket gates, and other gates. Therefore, by obtaining the number of terminals and people in such areas, more accurate values can be obtained, and as a result, the terminal ownership rate can be calculated with greater precision.

An information processing method according to one aspect of the present invention includes the steps of: acquiring the number of mobile devices present in a target area in response to observation by one or more sensors during a predetermined observation period of transmission signals containing physical addresses intermittently transmitted from multiple mobile devices present in a target area included in the coverage area of one or more sensors; acquiring the number of people present in the target area using images captured during the observation period of a capture area including the target area; and calculating a device ownership rate based on the number of devices in the target area and the number of people in the target area, wherein the length of the observation period is equal to or longer than the longest interval, which is the longest transmission interval among the transmission intervals of the transmission signals from the multiple mobile devices.

An information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention can calculate a more accurate device ownership rate even when signals are transmitted intermittently from a mobile device.

1 is a schematic diagram of an information processing system including an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information processing device according to the embodiment; A flowchart showing the operation of the information processing device according to the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the length of a target region in the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating observation of a transmission signal in the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating observation of a transmission signal in the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating observation of a transmission signal in the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a previous period and an observation period in the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a target region in the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of a target region in the embodiment. FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of a computer system according to the embodiment.

The following describes an information processing device according to the present invention using an embodiment. Note that in the following embodiments, components and steps with the same reference numerals are the same or equivalent, and repeated explanations may be omitted. The information processing device according to this embodiment obtains the number of multiple mobile terminals in response to observation of transmission signals during an observation period that is longer than the longest transmission interval among the transmission intervals of transmission signals from multiple mobile terminals that intermittently transmit transmission signals, thereby obtaining a more accurate number of terminals and, as a result, calculating a more accurate terminal retention rate.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an information processing system 100 including an information processing device 1 according to this embodiment. The information processing system 100 comprises the information processing device 1, multiple sensors 3-1 and 3-2 for observing signals transmitted from a mobile terminal 5, and a camera 4 for photographing a person 6. Note that when there is no need to distinguish between the sensors 3-1 and 3-2, they may simply be referred to as sensor 3. The same applies to the other components.

The mobile terminal 5 may be, for example, a smartphone, tablet, smartwatch, or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). The mobile terminal 5 transmits a wireless signal to the access point 2. In this embodiment, the case where the access point 2 is a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) access point and the mobile terminal 5 is a wireless LAN terminal will be mainly described. The access point 2 may be, for example, a Wi-Fi router. Note that the mobile terminal 5 does not move by itself, but moves in conjunction with the movement of the person 6 carrying the mobile terminal 5. However, for convenience of explanation, such movement may also be referred to as the movement of the mobile terminal 5. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, many people 6 carry mobile terminals 5, but some people 6 may not carry mobile terminals 5.

The transmission signal, which is a wireless signal transmitted by the mobile terminal 5, is assumed to include a physical address. The physical address may be, for example, a MAC address or other information that can identify the mobile terminal 5. In this embodiment, we will mainly explain the case where the physical address is a MAC address included in a wireless signal conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard.

Furthermore, from the perspective of privacy protection, the physical address included in the transmission signal may be anonymized using a one-way hash function or the like before processing. Even in this case, there is a one-to-one correspondence between the physical address itself and the information after the physical address has been anonymized using a one-way hash function or the like, and the properties for identifying the mobile terminal 5 are essentially the same, so such anonymized information will also be referred to as a physical address.

The transmission signal including the physical address transmitted from the mobile terminal 5 may be, for example, a probe request, or any other signal. The transmission signal may be, for example, a signal of a standard other than Wi-Fi. Note that this embodiment will mainly describe the case where the transmission signal including the physical address is a probe request. The transmission signal including the physical address is transmitted intermittently and repeatedly from the mobile terminal 5 at regular or irregular intervals. It is known that probe requests are typically transmitted at intervals of approximately 60 to 90 seconds.

Sensor 3 observes transmission signals containing a physical address sent from mobile terminal 5 to access point 2 and acquires the physical address contained in the transmission signal. For example, sensor 3-1 is assumed to be able to observe signals transmitted from mobile terminal 5 present within area 31. This area 31 is referred to as the coverage area of sensor 3-1. Note that in Figure 1, coverage areas 31 and 32 of sensors 3-1 and 3-2 are respectively indicated by solid-line circles, and coverage areas 21 and 22 of access points 2-1 and 2-2 are respectively indicated by dashed-dotted circles. This embodiment will mainly describe the case where coverage area 31 is the target area from which the number of terminals is acquired. Therefore, it is also referred to as target area 31. Note that, as will be described later, the target area may be a portion of coverage area 31. Sensor 3 is known as a packet sensor, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. For more information on packet sensors, see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1. In this embodiment, sensor 3 is assumed to be fixed, i.e., its position does not change over time.

When the sensor 3 observes a transmission signal including a physical address transmitted from the mobile terminal 5, it may transmit the physical address included in the transmission signal and observation information including the observation time to the information processing device 1 via a wired or wireless communication line. The observation time may be, for example, the time indicating the time at which the transmission signal was observed, or the date and time indicating the time at which the transmission signal was observed. The observation time may be obtained, for example, from a clock or calendar unit. The information processing device 1 can, for example, use this observation time to identify the physical address included in the transmission signal observed by the sensor 3 during a specified observation period. The observation information may include, for example, an identifier of the sensor 3 and radio wave intensity. Note that the identifier of the sensor 3 may be, for example, the position of the sensor 3 (e.g., latitude and longitude) or another identifier. The radio wave intensity may be, for example, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI). The communication line may be, for example, the Internet, an intranet, or a public telephone network. Furthermore, this information may be transmitted to the information processing device 1 via multi-hop wireless communication between multiple sensors 3.

Camera 4 captures a captured image of a capture area that includes the target area. The target area may coincide with the capture area, or may be a part of the capture area. In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, a case will be mainly described in which the coverage area 31, which is the target area, coincides with the capture area 41 indicated by the dashed circle. The captured image captured by camera 4 may be, for example, a still image or a video. In the latter case, the number of people, as described below, may be obtained using one frame of the video. It is also preferable that the captured image has a resolution that allows people included in the image to be recognized. The captured image may also be, for example, a grayscale image or a color image.

When the camera 4 acquires a captured image, it may transmit the captured image and shooting information, including the shooting time, to the information processing device 1 via a wired or wireless communication line. The shooting time may be, for example, the time indicating the time of shooting, or the date and time indicating the time of shooting, or, if the captured image is a video, it may be, for example, a time code. Note that if the shooting time is a time code, it is preferable that the time indicating the time of shooting is indicated by the time code. The shooting time may be acquired, for example, from a clock or calendar unit. For example, the information processing device 1 can use this shooting time to identify images captured by the camera 4 during a specified observation period. Furthermore, for example, an existing surveillance camera or security camera may be used as the camera 4.

Transmission of information from the sensor 3 or camera 4 to the information processing device 1 may or may not be performed in real time. In the former case, the sensor 3 or camera 4 may transmit observation information or photographic information to the information processing device 1, for example, each time a transmission signal is observed or a photographic image is acquired. On the other hand, in the latter case, the sensor 3 or camera 4 may, for example, accumulate observation information or photographic information and transmit the accumulated information collectively to the information processing device 1 regularly or irregularly. When transmission to the information processing device 1 is performed in real time, for example, the observation information or photographic information transmitted from the sensor 3 or camera 4 to the information processing device 1 does not need to include the observation time or photographic time. This is because the time the information processing device 1 receives the information may be the observation time or photographic time. Furthermore, the sensor 3 or camera 4 may transmit the observation information or photographic information in response to a transmission request from the information processing device 1, for example. In this case, for example, the information processing device 1 may request the sensor 3 or camera 4 to transmit information during a specified observation period, and the sensor 3 or camera 4 may transmit the observation information or photographic information for the observation period to the information processing device 1 in response to the request. This transmission may be, for example, a real-time transmission, or a collective transmission of information acquired during the observation period. In this way, when information from the observation period is transmitted in response to a request, for example, the observation information or shooting information does not need to include the observation time or shooting time.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information processing device 1 according to this embodiment. The information processing device 1 according to this embodiment includes a reception unit 11, a memory unit 12, a terminal number acquisition unit 13, a number of people acquisition unit 14, a calculation unit 15, an estimation unit 16, and an output unit 17. As shown in Figure 1, when a person 6 holding a mobile device 5 is present in the target area 31, the transmission signal transmitted from the mobile device 5 is observed by sensor 3-1, and the person 6 present in the target area 31 is photographed by camera 4. Observation information including the physical address contained in the transmission signal and photographic information including the photographed image are then transmitted to the information processing device 1, and the number of mobile devices 5 and the number of people 6 within the target area 31 during the observation period are acquired. The device holding rate is calculated based on the acquired results. Similarly, in area 32, the transmission signal transmitted from the mobile device 5 is observed by sensor 3-2, and observation information is transmitted to the information processing device 1 accordingly. The information processing device 1 can then estimate the number of people in the target area 31 using the device ownership rate calculated for the target area 31 and the number of mobile devices 5 observed in the area 32.

The reception unit 11 receives observation information from the sensor 3. This reception may be by reception. As will be described later, if the sensor 3 and the information processing device 1 are integrated, the reception unit 11 may receive the observation information directly from the integrated sensor 3. The reception unit 11 stores the received observation information in the memory unit 12. The reception unit 11 receives shooting information from the camera 4. This reception may also be by reception. Note that, as described above, if the observation time or shooting time is not included in the observation information or shooting information, the reception unit 11 may receive the time at which the observation information or shooting information was received from a clock unit or calendar unit (not shown), and store the observation time or shooting time together with the observation information or shooting information in the memory unit 12.

The reception unit 11 may receive information via a wired or wireless communication line, for example, or may receive information output from the sensor 3. The reception unit 11 may or may not include a device for receiving the information (e.g., a communication device). The reception unit 11 may be realized by hardware, or by software such as a driver that drives a specific device.

The memory unit 12 stores the observation information and photographic information accumulated by the reception unit 11. The memory unit 12 is preferably implemented as a non-volatile recording medium, but may also be implemented as a volatile recording medium. Storage in the memory unit 12 may be, for example, temporary storage of the received information. The recording medium may be, for example, a semiconductor memory or a magnetic disk.

The terminal number acquisition unit 13 acquires the number of mobile terminals 5 present in the target area 31 in response to observation by one or more sensors 3 of transmission signals intermittently transmitted from multiple mobile terminals 5 present in the target area 31 during a predetermined observation period. As described above, the transmission signals include the physical addresses of the mobile terminals 5 that transmitted the transmission signals.

In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, the case where the target area 31 coincides with the covered area 31 of one sensor 3-1 will be mainly described, but the target area may also be an area included in the covered areas of one or more sensors 3. For example, the target area may be the entire area obtained by combining the covered areas of two or more sensors 3, or a part of that area. Specific examples of this case will be described later.

The observation period may be a period with a fixed start and end, such as 70 seconds from 10:00 AM. Furthermore, it is preferable that the length of the observation period be equal to or longer than the longest transmission interval among the transmission intervals of the transmission signals of multiple mobile terminals 5. The length of this observation period may be, for example, a predetermined fixed value (e.g., 90 seconds), or may be a value set according to the observation of the transmission signals.

When the length of the observation period is set in response to observation of transmission signals, for example, the terminal number acquisition unit 13 may set the length of the observation period in response to observation of transmission signals from multiple mobile terminals 5. The observation for setting the length of the observation period may be performed, for example, before the observation period. Furthermore, the observation for setting the length of the observation period may be performed, for example, only once or repeatedly. In the latter case, for example, it may be performed each time observation is performed during the observation period for calculating the terminal retention rate. Furthermore, the length of the observation period may be adaptively set in response to the observation. For example, the terminal number acquisition unit 13 may determine the transmission interval for multiple physical addresses using the observation time corresponding to a certain physical address for multiple pieces of observation information stored in the memory unit 12, and may set the longest transmission interval among the multiple transmission intervals as the longest interval. Note that the observation time corresponding to a physical address may be the observation time included in the observation information containing that physical address. The terminal number acquisition unit 13 may then set the length of the observation period to be equal to or longer than the longest interval. Note that it is preferable that the length of the observation period be as short as possible. If a person 6 carrying a mobile device 5 is moving, the longer the observation period, the more people 6 will enter and leave the target area during the observation period, making it difficult to match the number of devices acquired using radio waves with the number of people acquired using captured images. Therefore, the length of the observation period may be set to the length of the longest interval.

The start point of the observation period may be predetermined, such as 10:00:00, or may be determined when calculating the terminal ownership rate. In the latter case, the terminal number acquisition unit 13 may appropriately determine the start point of the observation period when acquiring the number of terminals, and may set the end point of the observation period as the point in time that is the length of the observation period from that start point.

The terminal number acquisition unit 13 may, for example, read physical addresses from multiple pieces of observation information related to transmission signals observed during the observation period, i.e., from multiple pieces of observation information stored in the memory unit 12, including observation times within the observation period, and acquire the number of terminals, which is the unique number of the read physical addresses. The unique number may be acquired, for example, by performing unique processing on multiple physical addresses and counting the number of physical addresses after unique processing. In this way, even if the sensor 3 receives a transmission signal from the same mobile terminal 5 more than once during the observation period, an accurate number of terminals can be acquired.

The terminal number acquisition unit 13 may acquire the number of mobile terminals 5 present in the estimated target area based on the same length of observation period (hereinafter, this observation period may be referred to as the "estimated observation period") by one or more sensors 3 of transmission signals transmitted from multiple mobile terminals 5 present in the estimated target area. The estimated target area is an area different from the target area and is an area through which people pass. The target area and the estimated target area may be, for example, different locations on the same road (e.g., one is upstream and the other is downstream of the flow of people on the road). In a place where people gather, such as an event venue, shopping center, or building, the target area may be an entrance/exit area, and the estimated target area may be an area other than the entrance/exit area. Furthermore, observation of transmission signals in the estimated target area is typically performed by one or more sensors 3 different from the one or more sensors 3 that observe transmission signals in the target area. In the example of FIG. 1 , the terminal number acquisition unit 13 may acquire the number of mobile terminals 5 present in the estimation target area 32 in response to, for example, observation by the sensor 3-2 of transmission signals transmitted from mobile terminals 5 within the estimation target area 32, which is different from the target area 31. Here, the estimation target area 32 is assumed to coincide with the coverage area of the sensor 3-2. Note that it is generally preferable that the observation period during which radio waves are observed for the target area and the estimation observation period during which radio waves are observed for the estimation target area are close to each other. This is because the closer the two periods are to each other, the closer the values of the device ownership rates in the target area and the estimation target area will be. Furthermore, if the two periods are offset, either period may be earlier in time. Furthermore, while FIG. 1 illustrates a case where there is one estimation target area, this is not necessarily the case. For example, the area in which the number of people is to be estimated may be covered by multiple estimation target areas. When multiple estimation target areas exist, the terminal number acquisition unit 13 may acquire the number of terminals for each estimation target area, or may acquire the number of terminals for all of the multiple estimation target areas. In the latter case, the total number of terminals in the multiple estimation target areas may be obtained, which is the unique number of all physical addresses included in the transmission signals observed during the estimation observation period for all of the multiple estimation target areas.

In addition, if a person 6 carrying a mobile device 5 within the target area is moving and the target area is small, there may be a mobile device 5 whose transmission signal is not observed within the target area during the observation period, even if the observation period is set to be equal to or longer than the longest interval. To avoid such a situation, as shown in Figure 4, the target area 30 may have a length equal to or greater than the product of the speed V of the person moving through the target area 30 and the length T of the observation period. Note that Figure 4 illustrates a case where the length of the target area 30, which is the coverage area of the sensor 3, is V x T. Since the larger the target area 30, the wider the imaging range must be, it is preferable that the target area 30 not be too large. From this perspective, it is preferable to set the length of the target area 30 to V x T. The length of the target area 30 may be the length in the direction of movement of the person 6 moving through the target area 30. Furthermore, the person's speed V may be, for example, a predetermined fixed value (e.g., 0.8 to 1.2 m/s) or a value set based on the observation results of the person's 6 movement. In the latter case, for example, the movement speed of each person may be acquired by tracking the recognized people using the captured image, and a representative value (e.g., average, median, maximum, etc.) of the movement speeds of multiple people may be identified and set as the speed V. This speed V may be set, for example, by the number of people acquisition unit 14 or by another component. If the speed V is not a fixed value, the size of the target area 30 will vary depending on the speed of people 6 moving through the target area 30. In this case, as described below, the area of the coverage area where the radio wave intensity exceeds a predetermined threshold may be set as the target area, and the threshold may be changed depending on the speed V. Furthermore, the number of people, as described below, may be acquired in an area of the captured image that corresponds to the target area 30 according to the speed V.

By setting the length of the target area 30 to V x T or greater, for example, as shown in Figure 5A, the mobile device 5 held by person A, who entered the target area 30 at the start of the observation period, will transmit a transmission signal at least once before A leaves the target area 30. This allows for more accurate calculation of the device ownership rate. In Figure 5A, the movement of people (A, B, and C in Figure 5A) during the observation period is indicated by left-pointing arrows, and the timing of transmission signals is indicated by upward-pointing arrows. Note that the mobile device 5 held by person B, who is located within the target area 30 (e.g., near the center of the target area 30) at the start of the observation period, may not transmit a transmission signal before B leaves the target area 30. However, assuming that the flow of people is uniform in and around the target area 30, the mobile device 5 ownership rates of multiple moving people 6 are equal, the distribution of transmission intervals of the transmission signals of each mobile device 5 does not change, and the transmission intervals are close to the longest interval, it is believed that highly accurate device counts can be obtained based on observations made during the observation period. For example, while it is not possible to observe the transmission signal from mobile terminal 5 of B, which is located within target area 30 at the start of the observation period and outside target area 30 at the end of the observation period, it is possible to observe the transmission signal from mobile terminal 5 of C, which is located outside target area 30 at the start of the observation period and within target area 30 at the end of the observation period. Note that "people flow is uniform in target area 30" may mean that the number of people per unit time flowing into target area 30 and the number of people per unit time flowing out of target area 30 are approximately equal.

On the other hand, if the mobile devices 5 held by people 6 moving through the target area 30 include mobile devices 5 with transmission intervals significantly shorter than the longest interval, double counting may occur when obtaining the unique number of physical addresses. (For example, as shown in Figure 5B, for the mobile device 5 held by person B, who moved from near the center of the target area 30 to outside the target area 30 during the observation period, and the mobile device 5 held by person C, who moved from outside the target area 30 to near the center of the target area 30, only the transmission signal from one of the mobile devices 5 needs to be observed by sensor 3. However, if the transmission interval of the transmission signal is short, the transmission signal will also be observed at the timing indicated by the dashed upward arrow, resulting in double counting.) This may result in a corresponding decrease in the accuracy of the number of devices. To solve this problem, observation may be performed in the period immediately prior to the observation period (hereinafter referred to as the "immediately prior period"), and physical addresses included in transmission signals observed by sensor 3 during the immediately prior period may not be included in the unique number obtained during observation in the observation period. For example, if mobile terminals 5 owned by A and B transmit transmission signals during the immediately preceding period as shown in FIG. 5C, the transmission signal from mobile terminal 5 owned by B is observed in target area 30, and therefore the physical address included in that transmission signal may not be included in the acquisition of the unique number during observation during the observation period. In other words, mobile terminal 5 owned by B may not be counted in the number of terminals during the observation period. Note that the temporal length of the immediately preceding period may be the same as or longer than the temporal length of the observation period. Also, as shown in FIG. 5D, the immediately preceding period and the observation period are continuous, i.e., the end point of the immediately preceding period coincides with the start point of the observation period.

Specifically, when acquiring the unique number of physical addresses included in transmission signals observed by sensor 3 during the observation period, the terminal number acquisition unit 13 may acquire the unique number by excluding physical addresses included in transmission signals observed by sensor 3 during the immediately preceding period. For example, the terminal number acquisition unit 13 may acquire physical addresses from observation information corresponding to transmission signals observed by sensor 3 during the immediately preceding period, and when acquiring the number of terminals using the observation information corresponding to transmission signals observed by sensor 3 during the observation period, the terminal number acquisition unit 13 may acquire the number of terminals by excluding observation information including physical addresses acquired from the observation information during the immediately preceding period. In this manner, the terminal number acquisition unit 13 can acquire the number of terminals using the initial transmission signal transmitted from mobile terminal 5 within the target area 30 during the observation period, thereby avoiding double counting of mobile terminal 5 with short transmission intervals. Note that this process is preferably performed when a large proportion of people in the target area 30 are moving. In other words, it is preferably performed when the target area 30 is an area where people move, such as a road or passageway. This is because if the target area 30 is an area where people are likely to be staying, such as a store or restaurant, the number of terminals obtained may be inaccurate. Therefore, if the target area 30 is an area where people are likely to be staying, the length of the target area 30 does not need to be V x T, and the number of terminals during the observation period may be obtained without considering the physical addresses contained in the transmission signals observed during the immediately preceding period.

Note that, in the case where people are moving in the estimated target area, the estimated target area may have a length equal to or greater than the speed of people moving through the estimated target area multiplied by the length of the estimated observation period, as with the target area. For example, if the speed of people moving through the target area differs from the speed of people moving through the estimated target area, it is preferable that the estimated target area have a length corresponding to the speed of people moving through the estimated target area. Furthermore, while it is preferable that the target area not be large in consideration of the shooting range, there is no such restriction on the estimated target area. Therefore, the estimated target area may cover a larger range, as long as it is equal to or greater than the speed of people multiplied by the length of the estimated observation period. In the case where people are moving in the estimated target area, as with the target area, the terminal number acquisition unit 13 may, for example, acquire the unique number of physical addresses included in transmission signals observed by sensor 3 during the estimated observation period by excluding physical addresses included in transmission signals observed by sensor 3 during the period immediately preceding the estimated observation period. As with the target area, if the estimated target area is an area where a person is likely to be staying, the length of the estimated target area does not need to be greater than the length obtained by multiplying the person's speed by the length of the estimated observation period, and the number of terminals in the estimated observation period may be obtained without taking into account the physical addresses contained in the transmission signals observed in the immediately preceding period.

The number of people acquisition unit 14 acquires the number of people present in the target area using captured images of the capture area that includes the target area. These captured images are captured within the observation period. In this embodiment, the case where the capture area 41 and the target area 31 are equal, as shown in FIG. 1, is mainly described, but the capture area 41 may be larger than the target area 31. In this case, the number of people acquisition unit 14 may acquire the number of people using an area of the capture image that corresponds to the target area 31. Furthermore, the captured image may be an image captured by a single camera 4, or may be a composite of images captured by two or more cameras 4. In the latter case, it becomes possible to acquire the number of people over a wider area.

The number of people acquisition unit 14 may, for example, acquire the number of people in the target area by recognizing people 6 present in the target area through image processing and counting the recognized people 6. Furthermore, the number of people acquisition unit 14 may, for example, acquire the number of people using an image captured at a single point in time during the observation period, or may acquire the number of people using images captured at multiple points in time. In the former case, for example, images captured at the start or end of the observation period, or any point in between, may be used. In the latter case, the number of people may be acquired using images captured at multiple points in time, and a representative value of the multiple numbers of people may be used as the final number of people. The representative value may, for example, be the average, median, etc.

The target area may include the area of the gate through which the person passes. Figure 6 is a plan view showing people 6 passing through multiple gates 8. In Figure 6, multiple people 6 are moving from right to left in the figure, passing through gate 8 along the way. Gate 8 may be, for example, an automatic ticket barrier for a train, an entrance/exit at an event venue, or a security gate passed through when entering a company. In Figure 6, the target area 30 and shooting area 40 are set to include the area of gate 8. When passing through such a gate 8, people 6 move slowly in one direction, making it possible to obtain more accurate numbers of devices and people, and as a result, the device ownership rate can be calculated with higher accuracy. In this case, one or more estimated target areas may be set upstream or downstream of the people flow relative to gate 8.

The calculation unit 15 calculates the terminal holding rate based on the number of terminals in the target area acquired by the terminal number acquisition unit 13 and the number of people in the target area acquired by the number of people acquisition unit 14. Note that the target area from which the number of terminals and the number of people are acquired is the same target area. Furthermore, it is assumed that the number of terminals and the number of people are acquired based on the observation results of transmission signals and captured images during a certain observation period. More specifically, the calculation unit 15 may calculate the terminal holding rate using the following formula.
Device ownership rate = number of devices / number of people

The estimation unit 16 estimates the number of people in the estimation target area based on the number of mobile terminals 5 in the estimation target area acquired by the terminal number acquisition unit 13 and the terminal holding rate calculated by the calculation unit 15. More specifically, the estimation unit 16 may calculate the number of people in the estimation target area using the following formula.
Estimated number of people = number of devices in the estimated target area / device ownership rate

In addition, if there are multiple estimated target areas, the estimation unit 16 may, for example, estimate the number of people for each estimated target area and add up the estimated number of people for each estimated target area to obtain the estimated number of people for the multiple estimated target areas, or may estimate the total number of people for the multiple estimated target areas using the number of devices obtained for all of the multiple estimated target areas and the device ownership rate.

The output unit 17 outputs the number of people estimated by the estimation unit 16. Furthermore, for example, if the number of people is estimated using the device ownership rate by a device other than the information processing device 1, the output unit 17 may output the device ownership rate calculated by the calculation unit 15. Here, this output may be, for example, displayed on a display device (e.g., a CRT or organic EL display), transmitted to a specified device via a communication line, printed by a printer, output as audio via a speaker, stored on a recording medium, or passed to another component. The output unit 17 may or may not include a device that performs the output (e.g., a display device or communication device). The output unit 17 may be implemented by hardware, or by software such as a driver that drives such a device.

Next, the operation of the information processing device 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
(Step S101) The reception unit 11 determines whether observation information or photography information has been received. If observation information or photography information has been received, the process proceeds to step S102; if not, the process proceeds to step S103.

(Step S102) The reception unit 11 stores the received information in the memory unit 12. Then, the process returns to step S101.

(Step S103) The calculation unit 15 determines whether to calculate the device retention rate. If the device retention rate is to be calculated, the process proceeds to step S104; if not, the process proceeds to step S108. Note that the calculation unit 15 may, for example, periodically determine to calculate the device retention rate, or may determine to calculate the device retention rate in response to an instruction to calculate the device retention rate.

(Step S104) The terminal number acquisition unit 13 identifies the longest interval based on the observation of the transmission signal before the observation period, and sets the length of the observation period so that it is equal to or longer than the longest interval.

(Step S105) The terminal number acquisition unit 13 acquires the number of mobile terminals 5 within the target area based on the observation of the transmission signals during the observation period of the length set in step S104.

(Step S106) The number of people acquisition unit 14 acquires the number of people 6 within the target area using the captured images acquired during the observation period.

(Step S107) The calculation unit 15 calculates the device ownership rate using the number of devices acquired in step S105 and the number of people acquired in step S106. Then, the process returns to step S101.

(Step S108) The estimation unit 16 determines whether to estimate the number of people in the estimation target area. If the number of people is to be estimated, the process proceeds to step S109; if not, the process returns to step S101. Note that the estimation unit 16 may, for example, periodically determine to estimate the number of people, or may determine to estimate the number of people in response to an instruction to estimate the number of people.

(Step S109) The terminal number acquisition unit 13 acquires the number of mobile terminals 5 within the estimation target area based on the observation of the transmission signal over the period of time set in step S104.

(Step S110) The estimation unit 16 estimates the number of people within the estimation target area using the device ownership rate calculated in step S107 and the number of devices acquired in step S109.

(Step S111) The output unit 17 outputs the estimated number of people obtained in step S110. Then, the process returns to step S101.

In the flowchart of FIG. 3, if the number of devices in the estimation target area is obtained before the device holding rate is calculated, the length of the observation period may be set before the number of devices is obtained. In this case, the number of people in the estimation target area may be estimated after the number of devices in the estimation target area is obtained and the device holding rate is calculated. In addition, if observation information or captured information is transmitted in response to a transmission request from the information processing device 1, the information processing device 1 may transmit a transmission request to the sensor 3 or camera 4 when calculating the device holding rate or estimating the number of people in the estimation target area. In addition, the processing order in the flowchart of FIG. 3 is an example, and the order of each step may be changed as long as similar results are obtained. In the flowchart of FIG. 3, processing ends when the power is turned off or an interrupt is issued to end processing.

Next, the operation of the information processing device 1 according to this embodiment will be explained using a specific example. In this specific example, it is assumed that batch processing is performed in the information processing device 1. Therefore, one day's worth of observation information and photographic information is stored in the information processing device 1, and this information is used to perform processes such as calculating device ownership rates and estimating the number of people at a predetermined time (in this specific example, 2:00 AM).

In this specific example, as shown in Figure 1, the device ownership rate is calculated in the target area 31, and the number of people in the estimated target area 32 is estimated using that device ownership rate. In Figure 1, a person 6 is assumed to be moving along the road from the right to the left in the figure. Also, in this specific example, the start time of the observation period is assumed to be predetermined.

When a probe request is sent from the mobile terminal 5, each sensor 3 receives the probe request, reads the MAC address, which is the physical address, from the probe request, and obtains the observation time from the clock unit and calendar unit. The sensor 3 then transmits observation information including the read physical address and observation time to the information processing device 1.

The camera 4 also periodically captures images of the shooting area 41 and acquires the shooting time from the clock and calendar units. The camera 4 then transmits shooting information including the captured image and shooting time to the information processing device 1.

When the reception unit 11 of the information processing device 1 receives the observation information transmitted from the sensor 3 and the photographic information transmitted from the camera 4, it stores them in the storage unit 12 (steps S101 and S102). Note that the reception unit 11 stores the observation information received from the sensor 3-1 and the observation information received from the sensor 3-2 in a manner that allows them to be distinguished from each other.

At 2:00 AM, the calculation unit 15 determines to calculate the device ownership rate and sends an instruction to the device number acquisition unit 13 to acquire the number of devices, and an instruction to the number of people acquisition unit 14 to acquire the number of people (step S103). Upon receiving the instruction, the device number acquisition unit 13 identifies, from the observation information stored in the memory unit 12, observation information for a predetermined period (e.g., 10 minutes) prior to the observation period. The observation information to be identified may be, for example, observation information received from sensor 3-1 or from sensor 3-2. The device number acquisition unit 13 then acquires an observation time corresponding to a certain physical address from the identified observation information, identifies the interval between the acquired observation times, and obtains a representative value for that interval. The representative value may be, for example, an average, median, minimum, or maximum value. For example, if a person carrying a mobile device 5 leaves the coverage area of sensor 3 and then returns to the coverage area, the transmission interval identified using the observation information may be longer than the actual transmission interval of the mobile device 5. To avoid this, for example, the minimum value may be used as the representative value.The terminal number acquisition unit 13 then repeats this process for each physical address to acquire the transmission interval for each of the multiple physical addresses, identifies the longest interval among these transmission intervals, and sets the length of the observation period to the identified longest interval (step S104).

Next, the terminal number acquisition unit 13 identifies observation information including the observation time included in the observation period from the start point of a predetermined observation period to the end point according to the length of the set observation period. The observation information to be identified is that transmitted from sensor 3-1. The terminal number acquisition unit 13 also reads the physical addresses from each of the identified observation information, acquires the number of terminals, which is the unique number of multiple physical addresses, and passes this number to the calculation unit 15 (step S105).

Furthermore, upon receiving an instruction from the calculation unit 15, the number of people acquisition unit 14 identifies shooting information including the shooting time included in the observation period from the start point of a predetermined observation period to the end point according to the length of the observation period set by the terminal number acquisition unit 13. Note that if there is multiple pieces of shooting information for the identified target, the number of people acquisition unit 14 identifies the shooting information including the shooting time closest to the start point of the observation period and the shooting information including the shooting time closest to the end point of the observation period. In other words, the first shooting information and the last shooting information in the observation period are identified. Then, the number of people acquisition unit 14 recognizes people in the captured images included in the identified shooting information, counts the number of recognized people, and acquires the number of people in the target area 31, which is then passed to the calculation unit 15 (step S106). Note that if two pieces of shooting information are identified, the average of the number of people acquired from each of the two captured images becomes the final number of people.

Upon receiving the number of devices and the number of people, the calculation unit 15 uses them to calculate the device ownership rate and passes it to the estimation unit 16 (step S107). Furthermore, upon receiving the device ownership rate, the estimation unit 16 determines to estimate the number of people and passes an instruction to the device number acquisition unit 13 to acquire the number of devices in the estimation target area (step S108). Upon receiving the instruction to acquire the number of devices in the estimation target area, the device number acquisition unit 13 identifies observation information including the observation time included in the specified estimation observation period, reads each physical address from the identified observation information, acquires the number of devices, which is the unique number of multiple physical addresses, and passes this number to the estimation unit 16 (step S109). This number of devices is the number of devices in the estimation target area 32. The observation information to be identified is transmitted from sensor 3-2. Furthermore, as described above, the length of the estimation observation period is assumed to be the same as the length of the observation period. Furthermore, it is preferable that the start point of the estimation observation period and the start point of the observation period are close to each other, such as within 30 minutes. In this example, we assume that the start points of both periods are the same.

Upon receiving the number of devices, the estimation unit 16 calculates the number of people in the estimated target area 32 using the received device ownership rate and number of devices, and passes the calculated number of people to the output unit 17 (step S110). Upon receiving the estimated number of people from the estimation unit 16, the output unit 17 outputs the estimated number of people (step S111). In this way, it becomes possible to know the number of people in the estimated target area 32, estimated based on the device ownership rate calculated using the number of devices and number of people in the target area 31, and the number of devices in the estimated target area 32. Note that while this specific example describes a case where batch processing is performed, in the case of real-time processing, essentially the same processing is performed after the end of the observation period, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, with the information processing device 1 according to this embodiment, by setting the length of the observation period to be equal to or greater than the longest interval, the sensor 3 can observe the transmission signal at least once for each mobile device 5 present in the target area throughout the entire observation period. Therefore, even when transmission signals are transmitted intermittently from the mobile devices 5, a more accurate device ownership rate can be calculated. As a result, the accuracy of the estimation results for the number of people in the estimation target area can be improved. Furthermore, by using the physical address included in the transmission signal, double counting can be prevented even if a transmission signal is observed more than once. Furthermore, the number of people can be estimated at a lower cost than when a camera is used to acquire the number of people in the estimation target area. Furthermore, by having the terminal number acquisition unit 13 set the length of the observation period in accordance with the observation of transmission signals from multiple mobile devices 5, the length of the observation period can be set to an appropriate value in accordance with the actual transmission status of the transmission signals, thereby improving the accuracy of the device ownership rate.

Furthermore, by setting the length of the target area to be equal to the product of the speed of people moving through the target area and the length of the observation period, it becomes possible to properly observe the transmission signals sent from the mobile devices 5 held by people moving through the target area, and as a result, it becomes possible to calculate a more accurate device ownership rate.

Next, a modification of this embodiment will be described.
[Target area that is a part of the coverage area]
In the present embodiment, the case where the target area coincides with the coverage area has been mainly described, but this is not necessarily the case. The target area may be a part of the coverage area. In this case, for example, the target area may be an area in the coverage area where the radio wave intensity of a transmission signal exceeds a predetermined threshold. For example, by acquiring the number of terminals using transmission signals received by sensor 3 whose radio wave intensity exceeds a predetermined threshold, the target area can be limited to an area in the coverage area where the radio wave intensity of a transmission signal exceeds a predetermined threshold. In this case, as described above, for example, the observation information may include radio wave intensity, and the number of terminals may be acquired using only the observation information whose radio wave intensity exceeds a threshold.

[Target area included in overlapping area of multiple coverage areas]
As shown in FIG. 7 , transmission signals transmitted from multiple mobile terminals 5 can be observed by multiple sensors 3, and the target area 33 may be an overlapping area of multiple coverage areas 31, 32 corresponding to the multiple sensors 3-1, 3-2, respectively. While FIG. 7 illustrates a case in which the target area 33 coincides with the overlapping area of the multiple coverage areas 31, 32, the target area may also be included in the overlapping area of the multiple coverage areas. Furthermore, the target area may be included in, for example, the overlapping area of two coverage areas, or the overlapping area of three or more coverage areas. Furthermore, while FIG. 7 illustrates a case in which the image capture area 40 captured by the camera 4 coincides with the target area 33, the image capture area 40 may also include the target area 33. In this way, the target area can be further limited by defining the target area as an area included in the overlapping area of the multiple coverage areas. Even in this case, the target area can be limited to an area narrower than the overlapping area of the multiple coverage areas, for example, by acquiring the number of terminals using a transmission signal whose radio wave intensity exceeds a predetermined threshold.

[Other Modifications]
In this embodiment, the physical address is mainly a MAC address included in a wireless signal conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard, but the physical address may be a MAC address conforming to another standard. For example, the physical address may be a MAC address conforming to Bluetooth (registered trademark).

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a case has been described in which the information processing device 1 also estimates the number of people using the device ownership rate, but this is not necessarily the case. The number of people may be estimated using the device ownership rate by another device. In this case, the information processing device 1 does not need to be equipped with the estimation unit 16, and the terminal number acquisition unit 13 does not need to acquire the number of terminals in the estimation target area. Furthermore, the output unit 17 may output the device ownership rate calculated by the calculation unit 15.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the case where observation information acquired by sensor 3 and photographic information acquired by camera 4 are transmitted to information processing device 1 via a communication line has been mainly described, but the method by which observation information and photographic information are input to information processing device 1 is not important. For example, observation information and photographic information may be input to information processing device 1 via a recording medium, etc.

Furthermore, although the present embodiment has been described primarily in terms of the case where the information processing device 1 and the sensor 3 are separate devices, this is not necessarily the case. For example, one of the sensors 3 may have the functions of the information processing device 1.

Furthermore, although the present embodiment has been described primarily in terms of the case where the information processing device 1 and the camera 4 are separate devices, this is not necessarily the case. For example, the camera 4 may also have the functions of the information processing device 1.

Furthermore, in the above embodiments, each process or function may be realized by centralized processing using a single device or a single system, or may be realized by distributed processing using multiple devices or multiple systems.

Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the exchange of information between components may be performed, for example, by one component outputting information and the other component receiving information if the two components exchanging information are physically different; or, if the two components exchanging information are physically the same, by shifting from the processing phase corresponding to one component to the processing phase corresponding to the other component.

In addition, in the above embodiments, information related to the processing performed by each component, such as information accepted, acquired, selected, generated, transmitted, or received by each component, and information such as thresholds, formulas, and addresses used in processing by each component, may be stored temporarily or for a long period of time on a recording medium (not shown), even if not explicitly stated in the above description. Furthermore, the storage of information on this recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a storage unit (not shown). Furthermore, the reading of information from this recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a reading unit (not shown).

Furthermore, in the above embodiments, if the information used by each component, such as thresholds, addresses, and various setting values used by each component in processing, may be changed by the user, the user may or may not be able to change that information as appropriate, even though this is not explicitly stated in the above description. If the information is changeable by the user, the change may be realized, for example, by a reception unit (not shown) that receives a change instruction from the user, and a change unit (not shown) that changes the information in response to that change instruction. The reception unit (not shown) may receive the change instruction from an input device, may receive information transmitted via a communication line, or may receive information read from a specified recording medium, for example.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, if two or more components included in the information processing device 1 have a communication device, an input device, etc., the two or more components may physically have a single device, or may have separate devices.

In the above-described embodiments, each component may be configured with dedicated hardware, or, for components that can be realized by software, may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component may be realized by a program execution unit, such as a CPU, reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium, such as a hard disk or semiconductor memory. During execution, the program execution unit may execute the program while accessing the storage unit or recording medium. The software that realizes the information processing device 1 in the above-described embodiments is the following program. Specifically, this program causes a computer to function as: a device number acquisition unit that acquires the number of mobile devices present in a target area in response to observation by one or more sensors, during a predetermined observation period, of transmission signals containing physical addresses intermittently transmitted from multiple mobile devices present in a target area included in the coverage area of one or more sensors; a person number acquisition unit that acquires the number of people present in the target area using images captured during the observation period of the capture area including the target area; and a calculation unit that calculates a device ownership rate based on the number of devices in the target area and the number of people in the target area, wherein the length of the observation period is equal to or longer than the longest interval, which is the longest transmission interval among the transmission signals from the multiple mobile devices.

Note that the functions realized by the above program do not include functions that can only be realized by hardware. For example, functions that can only be realized by hardware, such as modems or interface cards in the acquisition unit that acquires information or the output unit that outputs information, are not included in the functions realized by the above program.

This program may also be executed by being downloaded from a server or by being read from a specific recording medium (for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM, a magnetic disk, or a semiconductor memory). This program may also be used as part of a program product.

Furthermore, this program may be executed by a single computer or multiple computers. In other words, it may perform centralized processing or distributed processing.

Figure 8 shows an example of a computer system 900 that executes the above program to realize the information processing device 1 according to the above embodiment. The above embodiment can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed thereon.

In FIG. 8, the computer system 900 includes an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 911, a ROM 912 such as a flash memory that stores programs such as a boot-up program, application programs, system programs, and data, a RAM 913 connected to the MPU 911 that temporarily stores application program instructions and provides temporary storage space, a wireless communication module 915, and a bus 916 that interconnects the MPU 911, ROM 912, etc. Note that a wired communication module may be provided instead of the wireless communication module 915. An input/output device such as a touch panel may also be provided, and instead of the touch panel, a display and input devices such as a mouse and keyboard may be provided.

A program that causes the computer system 900 to execute the functions of the information processing device 1 according to the above embodiment may be stored in ROM 912 via the wireless communication module 915. The program is loaded into RAM 913 when executed. The program may also be loaded directly from the network.

The program does not necessarily have to include an operating system (OS) or third-party program that causes the computer system 900 to execute the functions of the information processing device 1 according to the above embodiment. The program may include only instructions that call appropriate functions or modules in a controlled manner to achieve the desired results. How the computer system 900 operates is well known, and a detailed description will be omitted.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these modifications are also included within the scope of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Information processing device 3, 3-1, 3-2 Sensor 5 Mobile terminal 4 Camera 11 Reception unit 12 Storage unit 13 Terminal number acquisition unit 14 Number of people acquisition unit 15 Calculation unit 16 Estimation unit 17 Output unit

Claims (9)

a terminal number acquisition unit that acquires the number of mobile terminals present in a target area included in the coverage area of one or more sensors in response to observation by the one or more sensors of transmission signals including physical addresses that are intermittently transmitted from the mobile terminals present in the target area, during a predetermined observation period;
a number-of-people acquisition unit that acquires the number of people present in the target area using images captured within the observation period of the imaging area including the target area;
a calculation unit that calculates a terminal ownership rate based on the number of terminals in the target area and the number of people in the target area,
An information processing device, wherein the length of the observation period is equal to or longer than the longest interval, which is the longest transmission interval among transmission intervals of transmission signals from a plurality of mobile terminals. The information processing device of claim 1, wherein the terminal number acquisition unit sets the length of the observation period in accordance with observation of transmission signals from multiple mobile terminals. An information processing device as described in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the target area has a length equal to or greater than the product of the speed of a person moving through the target area and the length of the observation period. The signals transmitted from multiple mobile devices are observed by multiple sensors,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the target area is included in an overlapping area of a plurality of coverage areas respectively corresponding to the plurality of sensors. An information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the target area is an area in which the radio wave strength of the transmission signal in the coverage area exceeds a predetermined threshold. the terminal number acquisition unit also acquires the number of mobile terminals present in the estimated target area in response to observation by another sensor of transmission signals transmitted from a plurality of mobile terminals present in an estimated target area, which is an area different from the target area and through which people passing through the target area pass, for the same length as the observation period;
The information processing device according to claim 1 , further comprising an estimation unit that estimates the number of people in the estimation target area based on the number of mobile terminals in the estimation target area and the terminal holding rate. An information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the target area includes an area of a gate through which a person passes. A step of acquiring the number of mobile terminals present in a target area included in the coverage area of one or more sensors in response to observation by the one or more sensors of transmission signals including physical addresses intermittently transmitted from the mobile terminals present in the target area, during a predetermined observation period;
obtaining the number of people present in the target area using images captured within the observation period of the imaging area including the target area;
and calculating a terminal ownership rate based on the number of terminals in the target area and the number of people in the target area,
An information processing method, wherein the length of the observation period is equal to or longer than the longest interval, which is the longest transmission interval among transmission intervals of transmission signals from a plurality of mobile terminals. Computer,
a terminal number acquisition unit that acquires the number of mobile terminals present in a target area included in the coverage area of one or more sensors in response to observation by the one or more sensors of transmission signals including physical addresses that are intermittently transmitted from the mobile terminals present in the target area;
a number-of-people acquisition unit that acquires the number of people present in the target area using images captured within the observation period of an imaging area including the target area;
a calculation unit that calculates a terminal ownership rate based on the number of terminals in the target area and the number of people in the target area;
The program, wherein the length of the observation period is equal to or longer than the longest interval, which is the longest transmission interval among transmission intervals of transmission signals from a plurality of mobile terminals.