JP7744010B2 - Group movement monitoring device, group movement monitoring method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a group movement monitoring device, a group movement monitoring method, a program, and a recording medium.

Patent Document 1 discloses a mobility support system that includes a first mobile object that travels ahead of the group and a second mobile object that travels behind the group. This technology can support children walking to school in groups.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-074783

However, the technology in Patent Document 1 has the problem that it can only be applied in areas where the mobile object is mobile. Furthermore, from a safety perspective, there is a need for technology that can notify appropriate contacts when an abnormality occurs in a group. These problems and requirements are common to any field requiring group activity, regardless of the field of group commuting to and from school.

The present invention aims to provide a group movement monitoring device, group movement monitoring method, program, and recording medium that can monitor group movements and report any abnormalities.

In order to achieve the above object, the group movement monitoring device of the present invention comprises:
The device includes a registration unit, a location information acquisition unit, a determination unit, and a notification unit,
the registration unit registers, for each group, terminal information of a communication terminal carried by each subject constituting the group and contact information of a related party of at least one of the group and the subject;
the location information acquisition unit acquires location information of the communication terminal;
the determination unit monitors a state of the group using the position information and determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the group based on the state of the group;
The notification unit is a device that, when the determination unit determines that the abnormality has occurred, sends a notification regarding the abnormality to a contact point of the relevant person.

The method for monitoring population movements of the present invention comprises:
The method includes a registration step, a location information acquisition step, a determination step, and a notification step,
The registration step includes registering, for each group, terminal information of a communication terminal carried by each subject constituting the group and contact information of a related person of at least one of the group and the subject;
The location information acquisition step acquires location information of the communication terminal,
the determining step includes monitoring a state of the group using the position information and determining whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the group based on the state of the group;
The notification step is a method of sending a notification regarding the abnormality to a contact point of the person concerned when it is determined in the determination step that the abnormality has occurred.

This invention makes it possible to monitor the movements of groups of people and notify appropriate contacts if any abnormalities occur.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a group movement monitoring device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the group movement monitoring device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3A is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing in the group movement monitoring method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3B is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing in the group movement monitoring method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3C is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing in the group movement monitoring method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of processing by the determining unit. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of processing by the determination unit. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a reporting system according to the third embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the configuration of the reporting system according to the third embodiment.

In the group movement monitoring device of the present invention, for example,
The determination unit may start the monitoring when receiving a notification indicating the start of the monitoring, and may end the monitoring when receiving a notification indicating the end of the monitoring.

In the group movement monitoring device of the present invention, for example,
The determination unit may determine that the abnormality occurs when the location information of at least one of the communication terminals in the group remains unchanged for a certain period of time.

In the group movement monitoring device of the present invention, for example,
the registration unit registers a plurality of communication terminals for one target person,
The position information acquisition unit may acquire position information for one subject from a plurality of the communication terminals.

In the group movement monitoring device of the present invention, for example,
The determination unit may determine that the abnormality occurs when the position information of the communication terminals of one subject in the group is separated by a distance equal to or greater than a preset distance.

In the group movement monitoring device of the present invention, for example,
the registration unit registers a communication terminal carried by at least one of the subjects as a base point of the group, and registers group characteristics according to the number of base points of the group for each of the groups;
The determination unit may monitor the state of the group in accordance with the group attribute.

The mass movement monitoring device of the present invention includes, for example,
Further, an area calculation unit is included,
When the registration unit associates the group with a group characteristic that uses a communication terminal carried by one of the subjects in the group as a base point of the group,
the area calculation unit calculates an area of a minimum shape that includes each of the communication terminals using the position information of each of the communication terminals;
The judgment unit may be configured to infer that there is a leaver in the group and judge this to be an abnormality when the area of the smallest shape in the group is larger than a predetermined area and the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.

In the group movement monitoring device of the present invention, for example,
When the registration unit associates and registers the group with a group characteristic having a communication terminal carried by two or more of the target persons in the group as a base point of the group,
The registration unit further registers a certain range from each of the communication terminals that is the base point as a specific area,
The judgment unit may be configured to estimate that a person has left the group and judge this to be an abnormality when location information of another communication terminal that is not registered as the base point is present outside at least one of the specific areas of the communication terminal that is the base point and the areas sandwiched between the specific areas in the group.

The mass movement monitoring device of the present invention includes, for example,
Further, an estimated time calculation unit is included,
The registration unit further registers any point on the route taken by the group as a checkpoint,
the estimated time calculation unit calculates an estimated time for the group to arrive at the checkpoint from a required time from a departure point of the group to an arrival point,
The determination unit may determine that an abnormality has occurred when the group does not arrive at the checkpoint within the estimated time or within a certain time after the estimated time has elapsed.

In the group movement monitoring device of the present invention, for example,
the registration unit registers a plurality of checkpoints on the same route,
The notification unit may be configured such that, if it has already sent the notification regarding the abnormality determined using one checkpoint, it does not send the notification regarding the abnormality determined using another checkpoint that is located after the one checkpoint on the route.

The reporting system of the present invention comprises:
The group movement monitoring device of the present invention includes a target communication terminal and a related person communication terminal,
In the group movement monitoring device,
the registration unit registers terminal information of the target person communication terminal as the communication terminal and a contact point for the related person communication terminal as the contact point;
In one embodiment, the group movement monitoring device is capable of communicating with the subject communication terminal and the related person communication terminal.

In the method for monitoring population movements of the present invention, for example,
The determination step may be configured to start the monitoring when a notification indicating the start of the monitoring is received, and to end the monitoring when a notification indicating the end of the monitoring is received.

In the method for monitoring population movements of the present invention, for example,
The determining step may be configured to determine that the abnormality exists when the location information of at least one of the communication terminals in the group remains unchanged for a certain period of time.

In the method for monitoring population movements of the present invention, for example,
the registration step includes registering a plurality of communication terminals for one target person;
The location information acquiring step may acquire location information from a plurality of the communication terminals for one subject.

In the method for monitoring population movements of the present invention, for example,
The determining step may be configured to determine that an abnormality has occurred when the position information of the communication terminals of one subject in the group is separated by a distance equal to or greater than a preset distance.

In the method for monitoring population movements of the present invention, for example,
the registration step includes registering a communication terminal carried by at least one of the subjects as a base point of the group, and registering group characteristics for each group according to the number of base points of the group;
The determining step may be performed by monitoring the state of the group in accordance with the group attribute.

The method for monitoring population movements of the present invention includes, for example,
Further, an area calculation step is included,
When the registration step associates the group with a group characteristic that uses a communication terminal carried by one of the target persons in the group as a base point of the group,
the area calculation step calculates an area of a minimum shape that includes each of the communication terminals using the position information of each of the communication terminals;
The determination step may be such that, when the area of the smallest shape in the group is larger than a predetermined area and the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, it is estimated that there is a defector in the group and the defect is determined to be an abnormality.

In the method for monitoring population movements of the present invention, for example,
When the registration step associates the group with a group characteristic that has a communication terminal carried by two or more of the target persons in the group as a base point of the group,
The registration step further includes registering a certain range from each of the communication terminals serving as the base points as a specific area;
The judgment process may be such that, when location information of another communication terminal that is not registered as the base point is present outside at least one of the specific areas of the communication terminal that is the base point and the areas sandwiched between the specific areas in the group, it is assumed that a person has left the group and the abnormality is judged to be present.

The method for monitoring population movements of the present invention includes, for example,
Further, it includes an estimated time calculation step,
The registration step further includes registering any point on the route taken by the group as a checkpoint;
the estimated time calculation step calculates an estimated time for the group to arrive at the checkpoint from a required time for the group to travel from a departure point to an arrival point,
The determining step may be configured to determine that an abnormality has occurred when the group does not arrive at the checkpoint within the estimated time or within a certain time after the estimated time has elapsed.

In the method for monitoring population movements of the present invention, for example,
the registration step includes registering a plurality of checkpoints on the same route;
The notification step may be configured such that, if the notification regarding the abnormality determined using one checkpoint has already been sent, the notification regarding the abnormality determined using another checkpoint that is located after the one checkpoint on the route is not sent.

The program of the present invention is a program that causes a computer to execute each step of the method of the present invention as a procedure.

The recording medium of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium on which the program of the present invention is recorded.

In the present invention, a "subject" is any person who constitutes a group, and is not particularly limited. For example, such subjects include kindergarteners, elementary school students, pupils, and travel tour participants (including tour guides). In the present invention, a "related person" is any person who is related to the group itself or at least one of the subjects, and is not particularly limited. For example, such related persons include teachers, parents, volunteers (such as community watch groups), and company employees (such as employees of travel agencies). In the present invention, a "group" is a collection of at least two or more such subjects.

The application field of the present invention is not particularly limited, and it can be applied to any field where group activities are required. Specifically, it can be applied to fields such as group commutes to and from school, travel tours, etc.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described using the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. In the following drawings, identical parts are designated by the same reference numerals. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the descriptions of each embodiment can be used interchangeably, and the configurations of each embodiment can be combined unless otherwise specified. In this specification, the term "unit" can include, for example, a combination of hardware resources implemented by a circuit in the broad sense and software information processing that can be specifically realized by these hardware resources.

[Embodiment 1]
Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a group movement monitoring device 100 according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the device 100 includes a registration unit 101, a location information acquisition unit 102, a determination unit 103, and a notification unit 104. The device 100 may further include an area calculation unit 105 and an expected time calculation unit 106 as optional components.

The device 100 may be, for example, a single device including each of the above-mentioned units, or a device in which each of the above-mentioned units can be connected via a communication network. The above-mentioned units may be interconnected, for example, by an internal bus.

The device 100 can also be connected to external devices (described later) via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited and can be any known network, and may be wired or wireless. Examples of the communication network include the Internet, WWW (World Wide Web), telephone lines, LAN (Local Area Network), SAN (Storage Area Network), DTN (Delay Tolerant Networking), LPWA (Low Power Wide Area), and L5G (Local 5G). Examples of wireless networks include Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), Local 5G, and LPWA. The wireless communication may be in the form of direct communication between devices (ad hoc communication), infrastructure communication, indirect communication via an access point, etc.

The device 100 may be incorporated into a server as a system, for example. The device 100 may also be a personal computer (PC, e.g., desktop or laptop), smartphone, tablet, wearable device, or the like, on which the program of the present invention or an application including the program of the present invention is installed. The device 100 can realize the functions of each of the above-mentioned units by, for example, an application (e.g., the program of the present invention) loaded onto main memory. Furthermore, all or part of the units of the device 100 may be realized on the cloud. Specifically, the device 100 may take the form of cloud computing or edge computing, in which, for example, at least one of the units is located on a server (cloud) and the other units are located on a terminal.

Figure 2 shows an example block diagram of the hardware configuration of the device 100. The device 100 may include, for example, a central processing unit (CPU, GPU, etc.) 10, memory 20, bus 30, storage device 40, input device 50, output device 60, and communication device 70. Note that these are examples, and the hardware configuration of the device 100 is not limited to this as long as it is capable of executing the processing of each of the above-mentioned units. Furthermore, the number of central processing units 10, etc. included in the device 100 is not limited to the example shown in Figure 2; for example, the device 100 may include multiple central processing units 10. The units of the hardware configuration of the device 100 are connected to each other via their respective interfaces (I/F) and bus 30.

The central processing unit 10 is responsible for overall control of the device 100. In the device 100, the central processing unit 10 executes, for example, the program of the present invention and other programs, and also reads and writes various information. The central processing unit 10 functions as, for example, a registration unit 101, a location information acquisition unit 102, a determination unit 103, a notification unit 104, an area calculation unit 105, and an estimated time calculation unit 106.

The bus 30 can also be connected to, for example, external devices. Examples of such external devices include external storage devices (external databases, etc.), external input devices, and external output devices. The device 100 can be connected to an external network (the communication line network) via, for example, a communication device 70 connected to the bus 30, and can also be connected to other devices via the external network.

The memory 20 may be, for example, a main memory (primary storage device). When the central processing unit 10 performs processing, the memory 20 reads various operating programs, such as the program of the present invention, stored in the storage device 40 described below, and the central processing unit 10 receives data from the memory 20 and executes the programs. The main memory may be, for example, a RAM (random access memory). The memory 20 may also be, for example, a ROM (read-only memory).

The storage device 40 is also referred to as an auxiliary storage device, in contrast to the main memory (primary storage device). As mentioned above, the storage device 40 stores operating programs, including the program of the present invention. The storage device 40 may be, for example, a combination of a recording medium and a drive that reads and writes from and to the recording medium. The recording medium is not particularly limited and may be internal or external, and examples include HD (hard disk), CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, MO, DVD, flash memory, and memory card. The storage device 40 may be, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD) that integrates the recording medium and drive.

In the device 100, the memory 20 and storage device 40 can also store various information, such as log information, information obtained from an external database (not shown) or external device, information generated by each process of the device 100, and information used by the device 100 when executing each process. Note that at least some of the information may be stored, for example, on an external server other than the memory 20 and storage device 40, or may be stored in a distributed manner across multiple terminals using blockchain technology, etc.

Registration by the registration unit 101 may be performed by storing various information in the memory 20 and the storage device 40. Registration by the registration unit 101 may also be performed by storing the various information in an external server, database, etc. via the communication network.

The device 100 may further include user interfaces such as an input device 50 and an output device 60. The input device 50 is a device for inputting, for example, letters, numbers, the position of an object displayed on the screen, an image, sound, etc., and specific examples thereof include a digitizer (touch panel, etc.), a keyboard, a mouse, a scanner, an imaging device, a microphone, a sensor, etc. The output device 60 is a display device (LED display, LCD display), a printer, a speaker, etc. The input device 50 and the output device 60 may be a user interface that combines them, such as a touch panel, for example.

Next, an example of the group movement monitoring method of this embodiment will be described based on the flowcharts in Figures 3A to 3C. The group movement monitoring method of this embodiment is implemented, for example, as follows using the group movement monitoring device 100 of Figure 1. Note that the group movement monitoring method of this embodiment is not limited to use with the group movement monitoring device 100 of Figure 1.

In the group movement monitoring method of this embodiment, the process executed by the registration unit 101 is a registration process, the process executed by the location information acquisition unit 102 is a location information acquisition process, the process executed by the determination unit 103 is a determination process, the process executed by the notification unit 104 is a notification process, the process executed by the area calculation unit 105 is an area calculation process, and the process executed by the estimated time calculation unit 106 is an estimated time calculation process.

First, the registration unit 101 registers, for each group, device information of the communication device carried by each subject constituting the group and contact information for related parties of at least one of the group and the subjects (S101). Since the registration is performed for each group, it can also be said to define the group, for example. The device information is, for example, identification information such as information required for push notifications (identification information such as a device token for a specific application, more specifically, model information), telephone numbers, email addresses, account information for SNS (Social Networking Service), etc. The contact information for the related parties is not particularly limited as long as it allows contact with the related parties, and may be, for example, email addresses, telephone numbers, information required for push notifications (identification information such as a device token for a specific application), account information for SNS (Social Networking Service), etc. The registration unit 101 may further register contact information for the communication terminals, for example. The registration unit 101 associates and registers the device information and the contact information for the communication terminals for each group. Furthermore, as described below, the registration unit 101 may also register, in addition to the terminal information and contact information of the communication terminal, attribute information (e.g., name, affiliation, gender, age, etc.) of the target person and the related persons, linking them to each group.

The communication terminal is not particularly limited as long as it is capable of acquiring its own location information and is capable of connecting to a network. Specific examples include PCs, smartphones, tablet devices, and wearable devices. The communication terminal can acquire the location information, for example, using a GPS (Global Positioning System). The communication terminal may correct the location information, for example, using assist data acquired from an assistant server. The corrected location information may then be acquired by the location information acquisition unit 102, described below.

The registration unit 101 may, for example, register multiple communication devices for one subject. When registering multiple communication devices, it is preferable that at least one of the communication devices is a wearable device from the standpoint of usability and availability.

The registration unit 101 can also, for example, remove (deregister) the terminal information of the registered communication terminal from the group. The removal may be temporary and linked to a date and time. By performing registration and removal in this way, it is possible to appropriately change the members of the group even if someone joins or leaves the group midway. Such registration and removal of the communication terminal is performed, for example, by an instruction from the terminal of the person involved (terminal for the person involved).

If there is a date and time when the relevant person is unable to respond to the abnormality, the registration unit 101 may, for example, be able to link the date and time with the contact information of the relevant person and register it. This makes it possible, for example, for the notification unit 104 described below to not send to the relevant person a notification regarding an abnormality that occurred on a date and time when the relevant person is unable to respond to the abnormality. Furthermore, if there is a date and time when the relevant person is unable to respond to the abnormality, the registration unit 101 may, for example, link the date and time and register the contact information of the relevant person's agent. This makes it possible, for example, for the notification unit 104 described below to send to the agent a notification regarding an abnormality that occurred on a date and time when the relevant person is unable to respond to the abnormality.

The registration unit 101 may, for example, register a communication device carried by at least one of the subjects as the base point of the group, and may also register group characteristics corresponding to the number of base points of the group, linked to each group. Examples of group characteristics include a group characteristic in which the base point of the group is a communication device carried by one of the subjects (hereinafter also referred to as a single-base type), and a group characteristic in which the base point of the group is a communication device carried by two or more subjects (hereinafter also referred to as a multiple-base type).

The registration unit 101 may, for example, further register any point on the route taken by the group as a checkpoint. There may be one or more checkpoints.

The registration unit 101 may, for example, register attribute information regarding the target person and the related persons by linking them to each group. The attribute information may, for example, be the name of the target person or the related persons, their affiliation (the class they belong to, the class they are responsible for, etc.), their type (either the target person or the related persons; if they are related persons, whether they are teachers, guardians, local watch groups, etc.), the coordinates of the meeting and disbanding locations (latitude and longitude, etc.), etc. Note that the gathering refers to the formation of the group, and the disbanding refers to the disbanding of the group.

Next, the location information acquisition unit 102 acquires the location information of the communication terminal (S102). The location information acquisition unit 102 acquires the location information of the communication terminal via the communication line network. The location information of the communication terminal may be acquired directly from the communication terminal or via another device. The location information acquisition unit 102 may, for example, continuously acquire the location information of the communication terminal, or may acquire the location information of the communication terminal intermittently (at regular intervals). The regular interval is not particularly limited and can be set arbitrarily, for example, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, etc. The location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit 102 is registered, for example, by the registration unit 101 in association with the terminal information of the communication terminal. The location information acquisition unit 102 may, for example, acquire the location information after the determination unit 103, described below, has started monitoring, or may have been acquired before the monitoring started.

If the registration unit 101 registers multiple communication devices for one subject, the location information acquisition unit 102 may, for example, acquire location information from multiple communication devices for one subject. In this way, using multiple communication devices for the monitoring can improve availability and the processing accuracy of the determination unit 103, as described below.

Next, the determination unit 103 monitors the state of the group using the location information and determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the group based on the state of the group (S103). In other words, it can be said that the determination unit 103 detects the abnormality. The state of the group includes, for example, the movement of the group (moving, stopped, etc.), the shape of the group, the position of each communication terminal in the group, etc. The determination unit 103 obtains the location information of the communication terminals via the communication line network.

The determination unit 103 may, for example, start monitoring when it receives a notification (start notification) indicating that the determination unit 103 has started monitoring, and may end the monitoring when it receives a notification (end notification) indicating that the determination unit 103 has ended monitoring. The various notifications are transmitted, for example, from a communication terminal carried by the subject. The subject may use the communication terminal to transmit the start notification to the device 100, for example, when the group is formed and the subject begins moving as a group. On the other hand, the subject may use the communication terminal to transmit the end notification to the device 100, for example, when the group disbands and the subject ends moving as a group. In this way, the timing of the monitoring can be controlled by using the various notifications as triggers.

If the group characteristics have been registered for the group by the registration unit 101, the determination unit 103 may, for example, monitor the state of the group according to the group attributes. Specific details will be described in embodiment 2.

If the device 100 includes an area calculation unit 105, step S105 may be executed by the area calculation unit 105, as shown in FIG. 3B, for example. Step S105 is a step of calculating the area of the smallest shape that encompasses each of the communication terminals using the position information of each of the communication terminals when the registration unit 101 has registered the group in association with the single-base-point group identification. Step S105 is an optional configuration and does not need to be executed.

Furthermore, if the device 100 includes an estimated time calculation unit 106, step S106 may be executed by the estimated time calculation unit 106, as shown in FIG. 3C, for example. When the registration unit 101 has registered a checkpoint, step S106 is a step of calculating the estimated time for the group to arrive at the checkpoint from the required time for the group to travel from the group's departure point to its arrival point. Step S106 is an optional step and need not be executed. Although not shown, the group movement monitoring method of this embodiment may execute both step S105 and step S106. The required time may be calculated by the estimated time calculation unit 106 or may be obtained from an external source. The specific method for calculating the required time and the estimated time is not particularly limited, and known techniques may be used, for example. The departure point and the arrival point may be registered in advance by the registration unit 101, for example.

An example of the determination made by the determination unit 103 will be described later.

If the determination unit 103 determines that the abnormality has occurred (YES), the notification unit 104 sends a notification regarding the abnormality to the contact information of the relevant person (S104), and the process ends (END). The form of the notification is not particularly limited and may be, for example, email, push notification, etc. For example, if the determination unit 103 determines that the abnormality has occurred, the notification unit 104 immediately sends the notification. For example, if the registration unit 101 registers a date and time when the relevant person is unable to respond to the abnormality, the notification unit 104 may not notify the relevant person of the abnormality that occurred on that date and time. This allows the relevant person to receive the notification only on dates and times when the relevant person is able to respond to the abnormality. Furthermore, for example, if the registration unit 101 registers the contact information of the relevant person's representative in association with the date and time when the relevant person is unable to respond to the abnormality, the notification unit 104 may send a notification regarding the abnormality that occurred on the date and time when the relevant person is unable to respond to the abnormality to the representative. This allows the representative to respond even if the relevant person is unable to respond to the abnormality.

The location information acquisition unit 102 may, for example, acquire location information of a communication device carried by the relevant person (e.g., a local watch group, etc.). The notification unit 104 may then send a confirmation request notification to the communication device of the relevant person located within a certain range from the point where an abnormality in the group was detected. The certain range is not particularly limited, and any range can be set in advance. The location information of the communication device carried by the relevant person may also be corrected using the assistant data. This makes it possible to request the relevant person who is near the group to check on the group.

On the other hand, if the judgment unit 103 determines that no abnormality has occurred, i.e., that the system is normal (NO), the processing may be terminated (END).

At least steps (S102) and (S103) may be repeatedly executed until the group arrives at the destination, i.e., until the monitoring is terminated.

According to this embodiment, the movements of a group can be monitored, and if an abnormality occurs, an appropriate contact can be notified. While Patent Document 1 was only applicable to areas within the range of movement of the mobile objects, this embodiment can be applied to any area. Furthermore, Patent Document 1 had the problem of requiring targets to be positioned between the mobile objects, restricting the movement of each target. However, according to this embodiment, by using the location information of the communication terminals, it is possible to monitor abnormalities in a group without restricting the movement of each target.

[Embodiment 2]
An example of the determination made by the determining unit 103 will be described.

The determination unit 103 may determine that an abnormality has occurred in the population, for example, when the state of the population satisfies at least one of the following conditions (A) to (D).

(A) Fluctuations in Location Information of Communication Terminals The determination unit 103 may, for example, monitor the location information of at least one of the communication terminals in the group, and determine that an abnormality has occurred if the location information of at least one of the communication terminals remains unchanged for a certain period of time. The certain period of time can be set arbitrarily, for example, 3, 5, 10 minutes, etc. In this way, for example, if there is no fluctuation in the location information of the communication terminals even when taking into account the average walking speed and waiting time at traffic lights, that is, if the movement of the group remains stationary, it is possible to detect this as an abnormality. On the other hand, for example, if the location information of at least one of the communication terminals in the group changes within a certain period of time, the state of the group is determined to be normal.

(B) Distance Intervals Between Multiple Communication Devices for One Subject Assume that multiple communication devices are registered for one subject by the registration unit 101. In this case, the determination unit 103 may, for example, monitor the location information of each communication device for one subject in the group and determine that the abnormality exists when the location information of each communication device is greater than or equal to a predetermined distance. The distance is not particularly limited and can be set arbitrarily, for example, 1 m, 1.5 m, 2 m, etc. This allows, for example, a state in which the communication devices carried by one subject are far apart to be detected as an abnormality. This improves the accuracy of the determination by the determination unit 103. On the other hand, for example, when the location information of each communication device for one subject in the group is not greater than or equal to a predetermined distance, the determination unit 103 determines that the state of the group is normal.

(C) Presence or absence of a leaver according to group characteristics (C1) Area of group In this condition, the registration unit 101 is assumed to associate and register the group with the one-base-point group characteristics. As described above, the area calculation unit 105 calculates the area of the smallest shape encompassing each communication terminal. The method of calculating the area from the location information is not particularly limited, and known techniques can be used. In this case, the determination unit 103 may, for example, monitor the area of the smallest shape in the group, and if the area of the smallest shape is larger than a predetermined area and the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, infer that a leaver has occurred in the group and determine the abnormality. The predetermined area is not particularly limited and may be determined, for example, according to the number of people in the group. Specifically, the larger the number of people in the group, the larger the predefined area may be. The threshold is not particularly limited and can be set arbitrarily. By taking the threshold into consideration, for example, even if an error occurs due to the accuracy of the location information, the determination unit 103 can make an accurate determination. The determination unit 103 may determine the abnormality, for example, when the above-described state continues for a certain period of time. In this way, when the determination unit 103 estimates that the leaver is present, the notification unit 104 may, for example, transmit a notification indicating that the leaver has left the group to the communication terminal of the leaver. Furthermore, when it is estimated by a second determination that the leaver has rejoined the group, that is, when the determination unit 103 determines that the state is normal, the notification unit 104 may, for example, transmit a notification indicating that the leaver has rejoined the group to the contact information of the relevant person or the communication terminal of the leaver.

This condition will be explained in detail using Figure 4. In Figure 4, an example of a condition determined to be normal is shown on the left, and an example of a condition determined to be abnormal is shown on the right. In Figure 4, the position indicated by a human pictogram is shown as the position of the communication terminal. Also, in Figure 4, it is assumed that the communication terminal carried by subject 1 is registered as the base point, and the area of the smallest encompassing circle (shown in a bold frame) is calculated as the smallest shape. Note that the shape of the smallest shape is not limited to the circle shown in Figure 4, but may be, for example, a rectangle, a triangle, or other shape. For example, as shown on the left side of Figure 4, the determination unit 103 determines that the area of the smallest shape in the group is normal when it is smaller than a predetermined area, or when the area of the smallest shape is larger than the predetermined area but the difference between the area of the smallest shape and the predetermined area is less than a predetermined threshold. On the other hand, as shown on the right side of Figure 4, if a person 2 (hereinafter referred to as a leaver) leaves the group, the area of the minimum shape calculated by the area calculation unit 105 will be larger than the area of the minimum shape shown on the left side of Figure 4 (the minimum shape shown on the left side of Figure 4 is shown superimposed by a dashed line on the right side of Figure 4). Therefore, the determination unit 103 can determine that a leaver is present in the group when the area of the minimum shape in the group is larger than a predetermined area and the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. In this way, the determination unit 103 determines that the presence of leaver 2 is an abnormality.

(C2) Area: Under this condition, the registration unit 101 associates and registers the group with the multiple-base-type group characteristic. In this case, the registration unit 101 can, for example, register a certain range from each of the communication terminals that are the base points as a specific area. The certain range is not particularly limited and can be set arbitrarily, for example, a range of 3 m, 5 m, 7 m, etc. from the base point. The determination unit 103, for example, monitors the location information of other communication terminals that are not registered as the base points, and when the location information of other communication terminals that are not registered as the base points is outside at least one of the specific areas of the communication terminals that are the base points and the areas between the specific areas (also referred to as gap areas) (hereinafter also referred to as detection areas), may infer that a person has left the group and determine the abnormality. The determination unit 103 may, for example, determine the abnormality when the above-mentioned state continues for a certain period of time. In this way, when the determination unit 103 estimates that there is a leaver, the notification unit 104 may transmit a notification indicating that the leaver has left the group, for example, to the communication terminal of the leaver. Furthermore, when the second determination estimates that the leaver has rejoined the group, that is, when the determination unit 103 determines that the leaver is normal, the notification unit 104 may transmit a notification indicating that the leaver has rejoined the group, for example, to the contact information of the relevant person or the communication terminal carried by the leaver.

This condition will be explained in detail using Figure 5. In Figure 5, examples of what is determined to be normal are shown at the top and center, and examples of what is determined to be abnormal are shown at the bottom. In Figure 5, the positions indicated by human pictograms are shown as the positions of the communication devices. Also, in Figure 5, the communication devices carried by subjects 1A and 1B are registered as the base point, and the specific area is indicated by a bold frame. Note that in Figure 5, the specific area is defined as a range of 5 m in all directions from the base point, with the direction of movement of the group as the front, back, left, and right, so that the specific area is rectangular. However, this is merely an example, and the specific area is not limited to this. For example, a certain range in a direction such as forward and to the right from the base point may also be defined as a specific area so that the specific area is circular. For example, as shown in the top and center of Figure 5, the determination unit 103 determines the state of the group to be normal when the location information of all of the other communication devices is present within the detection area (shown by a bold frame). On the other hand, as shown in the lower part of Figure 5, if leaver 2 appears, it means that the location information of the other communication terminal is outside the detection area. Therefore, when the location information of at least one other communication terminal in the group is outside the detection area, the determination unit 103 can infer that leaver 2 is present in the group. In this way, when leaver 2 is present, the determination unit 103 determines that an abnormality has occurred.

(D) Arrival at Checkpoint Assume that a checkpoint is registered by the registration unit 101, and the estimated time calculation unit 106 calculates the estimated time of arrival at the checkpoint. In this case, the determination unit 103 may, for example, monitor the location information of the communication terminal, and determine that an abnormality has occurred if the group does not arrive at the checkpoint within the estimated time. In this way, the determination unit 103 may, for example, immediately determine that an abnormality has occurred if the estimated time has elapsed. On the other hand, the determination unit 103 may, for example, determine that an abnormality has occurred if the group does not arrive at the checkpoint within a certain time after the estimated time has elapsed. The certain time is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc. The determination unit 103 may, for example, monitor the location information of at least one communication terminal in the group (e.g., the communication terminal that is the base point) and determine that the group has arrived at the checkpoint when the location information has arrived at the checkpoint, or may monitor the location information of the communication terminals of all the subjects in the group and determine that the group has arrived at the checkpoint when all the location information has arrived at the checkpoint. On the other hand, the determination unit 103 may, for example, monitor the location information of at least one communication terminal in the group (e.g., the communication terminal that is the base point) and determine that the group has not arrived at the checkpoint when the location information has not arrived at the checkpoint, or may monitor the location information of the communication terminals of all the subjects in the group and determine that the group has not arrived at the checkpoint when all the location information has not arrived at the checkpoint. In this way, using checkpoints can, for example, improve the accuracy of the determination by the determination unit 103.

Furthermore, under this condition, a case will be described in which the registration unit 101 registers multiple checkpoints on the same route. The determination unit 103 may, for example, determine whether an abnormality has occurred in the group for each checkpoint. Then, the notification unit 104 may, for example, send a notification regarding the abnormality detected using one checkpoint. In this way, if the notification for one checkpoint has already been sent, the notification unit 104 may not, for example, need to send a notification regarding the abnormality detected using another checkpoint located after the one checkpoint on the route.

Furthermore, under this condition, if the group arrives at the checkpoint within the expected time or within a certain time after the expected time has elapsed, the determination unit 103 may, for example, terminate monitoring at the checkpoint.

As described above, by using at least one of the conditions (A) to (D), the accuracy of the determination process by the determination unit 103 can be improved.

[Embodiment 3]
A description will be given of a reporting system including the group movement monitoring device 100 of the first and second embodiments. In the present embodiment, the reporting system will be described as an example applied to a group commute to and from school, but the present invention is not limited to this.

Figure 6 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the configuration of the reporting system 1000 of this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the reporting system 1000 includes a group movement monitoring device 100, a subject communication terminal 200, and related party communication terminals 300 (teacher terminal 300A and watch team member terminal 300B). In the reporting system 1000, the registration unit 101 of the group movement monitoring device 100 registers terminal information for the subject communication terminal 200 as the communication terminal and contact information for the related party communication terminal 300 as the contact information. The group movement monitoring device 100 is capable of communicating with the subject communication terminal 200 and the related party communication terminal 300. Figure 6 shows an example of the group movement monitoring device 100 communicating with the subject communication terminal 200 and the related party communication terminal 300 via the carrier network 8 and the Internet 9 of each of the subject communication terminal 200 and the related party communication terminal 300. There may be multiple target person communication terminals 200 and related party communication terminals 300.

The subject communication terminal 200 and the related party communication terminal 300 are not particularly limited as long as they are capable of acquiring location information using the GPS or the like and are capable of communicating with the mass movement monitoring device 100. The subject communication terminal 200 and the related party communication terminal 300 may be, for example, a personal computer (PC, e.g., desktop or laptop) on which applications for executing the various processes described below are installed, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a wearable terminal, etc.

In Figure 6, the mass movement monitoring device 100 is illustrated as a hierarchical system device containing an API (Application Programming Interface) gateway 2, a database server 3, a batch processing server 4, a web server 5, and an authentication server 6.

The exchange of various information between the group movement monitoring device 100 and the subject's communication terminal 200, and the exchange of various information between the group movement monitoring device 100 and the related party's communication terminal 300, is carried out, for example, via the API gateway 2 in the group movement monitoring device 100.

The database server 3 is a server on which a database management system (DBMS) is running. Figure 6 illustrates, as examples of databases, a location information database 3A that stores the location information, a contacts database 3B that stores the contact information, an attribute information database 3C that stores the attribute information, and a setting information database 3D that stores various setting information (information on communication terminals in the group, information on related party terminals, the base point, the group characteristics, the departure point, the arrival point, the checkpoints, etc.), but this is not limiting. The registration unit 101 registers various pieces of information using, for example, the database server 3.

The batch processing server 4 retrieves the location information of the monitored population from the location information database 3A of the database server 3 and executes batch processing. The batch processing server 4 can also edit the content of various notifications, for example. The notification unit 104 sends various notifications, for example, via the batch processing server 4.

The mass movement monitoring device 100 can provide various information and functions to the subject communication terminal 200 and related party communication terminal 300 via a network, for example, via the web server 5. For example, the web server 5 presents a screen to the related party communication terminal 300 for inputting various information related to various requests, which will be described later. In this way, the various input information is registered by the database server 3.

The authentication server 6 cooperates with the API gateway 2 for authentication purposes to determine whether the subject communication terminal 200 and related party communication terminal 300 attempting to access the mass movement monitoring device 100 are legitimate subject communication terminals 200 and related party communication terminals 300, and whether access should be permitted.

An example of the processing flow of the notification system 1000 will be explained below using Figure 6. In the notification system 1000, various processes are executed in the order of (1) to (9) below. Note that these are merely examples and are not limiting.

(1) Definition of a Group The teacher's terminal 300A transmits a request for registering the subject communication terminal 200 of each subject constituting the group and the subject communication terminal 200 that will serve as the base (for example, the subject communication terminal held by the team leader) for each group to the registration unit 101 of the group movement monitoring device 100. Upon receiving the request, the registration unit 101 executes a process of registering the subject communication terminal 200 and the subject communication terminal 200 that will serve as the base for each group.

(2) Definition of notification destinations when an abnormality is detected The teacher's terminal 300A transmits a request for registering contact information for the teacher who will be the manager of the group and the guardian of the subject to the registration unit 101 of the group movement monitoring device 100. Upon receiving the request, the registration unit 101 executes a process for registering contact information for the teacher and the guardian (i.e., contact information for the related party communication terminal 300 owned by these persons).

(3) Registration of Device Information of Watching Team Member Terminal 300B At least one of the teacher's terminal 300A and the watching team member terminal 300B transmits a request for registering the device information of the watching team member terminal 300B to the registration unit 101 of the group movement monitoring device 100. The registration unit 101 receives the request and executes a process to register the device information of the watching team member terminal 300B. The device information of the watching team member terminal 300B is, for example, the same as the example of the device information of the communication terminal carried by each target person described above.

(4) Registration of Group Characteristics The teacher's terminal 300A transmits a request for registering the group characteristics for each group to the registration unit 101 of the group movement monitoring device 100. The registration unit 101 receives the request and executes processing to register the group characteristics. For example, in a group going to or from school, if there is a group leader from the upper grades who has a strong sense of responsibility, the single-base type group characteristic is registered, with only the subject communication terminal 200 carried by the group leader as the base point. Furthermore, in a group going to or from school, if there are several members from the lower grades, the multiple-base type group characteristic is registered, with the subject communication terminals 200 carried by at least the group leader and deputy group leader as the base points, for example.

(5) Registration of Arrival Point The teacher's terminal 300A transmits a request for registering an arrival point for the group to the registration unit 101 of the group movement monitoring device 100. The registration unit 101 receives the request and executes processing to register the arrival point. For example, in a group going to or from school, the arrival point is the school when going to school, and the arrival point is a local gathering point when going home. On the other hand, the teacher's terminal 300A may transmit a request for registering a departure point for the group to the registration unit 101 of the group movement monitoring device 100. The registration unit 101 receives the request and executes processing to register the departure point. For example, in a group going to or from school, the departure point is a local gathering point when going to school, and the departure point is the school when going home.

(6) Registering Checkpoints and Calculating Estimated Time The teacher's terminal 300A transmits a request for registering the checkpoint to the registration unit 101 of the group movement monitoring device 100. The registration unit 101 receives the request and executes a process for registering the checkpoint. In addition, the estimated time calculation unit 106 of the group movement monitoring device 100 calculates the estimated time for passing through the checkpoint from the required time.

(7) Start of Monitoring At least one subject communication terminal 200 in the group (for example, a subject communication terminal registered as the base point) transmits the start notification to the determination unit 103 of the group movement monitoring device 100 when departing from the departure point. The determination unit 103 starts the monitoring after receiving the start notification. The subject communication terminal 200 remains activated from the departure point to the arrival point. Furthermore, the subject communication terminal 200 is set to a state in which it can transmit location information of the subject communication terminal 200 to the group movement monitoring device 100, and periodically transmits the location information of the subject communication terminal 200 to the group movement monitoring device 100. The location information acquisition unit 102 of the group movement monitoring device 100 acquires the location information. The subject communication terminal 200 may correct the location information using, for example, assist data acquired from the assistant server 7.

(8) Determining the Presence or Absence of Abnormality In the collective movement monitoring device 100, the registration unit 101 stores the location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit 102 in the location information database 3A. The determination unit 103 retrieves the location information of the subject communication terminals 200 in the group for which the monitoring has been started by the batch processing server 4 from the location information database 3A, and determines the presence or absence of abnormality as described in the second embodiment.

(9) Notification When the notification unit 104 of the group movement monitoring device 100 determines that an abnormality has occurred, it sends a notification regarding the abnormality to the contact. Furthermore, when the group arrives at the arrival point, the notification unit 104 may send a notification regarding the arrival to the contact.

Next, using Figure 7, we will explain the case where one subject carries multiple subject communication terminals 200 (200A and 200B). Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the configuration of the reporting system 1000 of this embodiment. Figure 7 is the same as Figure 6 except that one subject carries multiple subject communication terminals 200. In this example, the subject carries at least one type of wearable device 200B as the subject communication terminal 200. In this way, by having one subject carry multiple subject communication terminals 200, even if a communication failure (shown by the hatched area in Figure 7) occurs in the carrier network 8 of one subject communication terminal 200A, as shown in the figure, the reporting system 1000 enables monitoring by the mass movement monitoring device 100 using the other subject communication terminal 200B. Furthermore, as explained in the second embodiment, it is possible to detect as an abnormality a state in which the communication devices carried by a single subject are separated from each other, thereby improving the processing accuracy of the determination unit 103.

As described above, this embodiment makes it possible to monitor the movements of groups and notify appropriate contacts if an abnormality occurs.

[Embodiment 4]
The program of this embodiment is a program for causing a computer to execute each step of the method of the present invention as a procedure. In the present invention, "procedure" may be read as "processing." The program of this embodiment may be, for example, a program that is added to existing software. The program of this embodiment may be, for example, recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The recording medium is, for example, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The recording medium is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk (HD), an optical disk, etc.

The present invention has been described above with reference to embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various modifications that would be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention.

<Additional Notes>
Some or all of the above embodiments can be described as, but not limited to, the following supplementary notes.
(Appendix 1)
The device includes a registration unit, a location information acquisition unit, a determination unit, and a notification unit,
the registration unit registers, for each group, a communication terminal carried by each subject constituting the group and contact information for at least one related person of the group or the subject;
the location information acquisition unit acquires location information of the communication terminal;
the determination unit monitors a state of the group using the position information and determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the group based on the state of the group;
The group movement monitoring device, wherein when the determination unit determines that the abnormality has occurred, the notification unit sends a notification regarding the abnormality to contact points of the relevant persons.
(Appendix 2)
2. The group movement monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit starts the monitoring when a notification indicating the start of the monitoring is received, and ends the monitoring when a notification indicating the end of the monitoring is received.
(Appendix 3)
3. The group movement monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines that the abnormality has occurred when the location information of at least one of the communication terminals in the group remains unchanged for a certain period of time.
(Appendix 4)
the registration unit registers a plurality of communication terminals for one target person,
4. The group movement monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the location information acquisition unit acquires location information for one subject from a plurality of the communication terminals.
(Appendix 5)
5. The group movement monitoring device according to claim 4, wherein the determination unit determines that there is an abnormality when the location information of the communication terminals of one subject in the group is separated by a distance greater than a predetermined distance.
(Appendix 6)
the registration unit registers a communication terminal carried by at least one of the target persons as a base point of the group, and registers group characteristics according to the number of base points of the group for each of the groups;
6. The group movement monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the determination unit monitors the state of the group in accordance with the group attribute.
(Appendix 7)
Further, an area calculation unit is included,
When the registration unit associates the group with a group characteristic that uses a communication terminal carried by one of the subjects in the group as a base point of the group,
the area calculation unit calculates an area of a minimum shape that includes each of the communication terminals using the position information of each of the communication terminals;
The group movement monitoring device described in Appendix 6, wherein the determination unit estimates that a person has left the group and determines that there is an abnormality when the area of the smallest shape in the group is larger than a predetermined area and the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.
(Appendix 8)
When the registration unit associates and registers the group with a group characteristic having a communication terminal carried by two or more of the target persons in the group as a base point of the group,
The registration unit further registers a certain range from each of the communication terminals that is the base point as a specific area,
A group movement monitoring device as described in Appendix 6 or 7, wherein the judgment unit estimates that a person has left the group and judges this to be an abnormality when location information of another communication terminal not registered as the base point is present in the group outside at least one of the specific areas of the communication terminal that is the base point and the areas sandwiched between the specific areas.
(Appendix 9)
Further, an estimated time calculation unit is included,
The registration unit further registers any point on the route taken by the group as a checkpoint,
the estimated time calculation unit calculates an estimated time for the group to arrive at the checkpoint from a required time from a departure point of the group to an arrival point of the group,
A group movement monitoring device as described in any one of appendices 1 to 8, wherein the judgment unit judges this to be an abnormality if the group does not arrive at the checkpoint within the expected time or within a certain time after the expected time has elapsed.
(Appendix 10)
the registration unit registers a plurality of checkpoints on the same route,
10. The mass movement monitoring device of claim 9, wherein, if the notification unit has already sent the notification regarding the abnormality determined using one checkpoint, the notification unit does not send a notification regarding the abnormality determined using another checkpoint that is located after the one checkpoint on the route.
(Appendix 11)
A group movement monitoring device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 10, a subject communication terminal, and a related person communication terminal,
In the group movement monitoring device,
the registration unit registers terminal information of the target person communication terminal as the communication terminal and a contact point for the related person communication terminal as the contact point;
A reporting system, wherein the group movement monitoring device is capable of communicating with the subject communication terminal and the related person communication terminal.
(Appendix 12)
The method includes a registration step, a location information acquisition step, a determination step, and a notification step,
The registration step includes registering, for each group, a communication terminal carried by each subject constituting the group and contact information for at least one related person of the group or the subject;
The location information acquisition step acquires location information of the communication terminal,
the determining step includes monitoring a state of the group using the position information and determining whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the group based on the state of the group;
The group movement monitoring method, wherein the notification step sends a notification regarding the abnormality to contact points of the relevant persons when it is determined in the determination step that the abnormality has occurred.
(Appendix 13)
13. The group movement monitoring method according to claim 12, wherein the determination step starts the monitoring when a notification indicating the start of the monitoring is received, and ends the monitoring when a notification indicating the end of the monitoring is received.
(Appendix 14)
14. The group movement monitoring method according to claim 12, wherein the determining step determines that the abnormality has occurred when the location information of at least one of the communication terminals in the group remains unchanged for a certain period of time.
(Appendix 15)
the registration step includes registering a plurality of communication terminals for one target person;
15. The group movement monitoring method according to any one of appendices 12 to 14, wherein the location information acquisition step acquires location information for one subject from a plurality of the communication terminals.
(Appendix 16)
16. The group movement monitoring method according to claim 15, wherein the determination step determines that the abnormality exists when the location information of the communication terminals of one subject in the group is separated by a distance greater than a predetermined distance.
(Appendix 17)
the registration step includes registering a communication terminal carried by at least one of the target persons as a base point of the group, and registering group characteristics for each group according to the number of base points of the group;
17. The group movement monitoring method according to any one of appendices 12 to 16, wherein the determining step monitors the state of the group in accordance with the group attribute.
(Appendix 18)
Further, an area calculation step is included,
When the registration step associates the group with a group characteristic that uses a communication terminal carried by one of the target persons in the group as a base point of the group,
the area calculation step calculates an area of a minimum shape that includes each of the communication terminals using the position information of each of the communication terminals;
The group movement monitoring method according to claim 17, wherein the determination step estimates that a person has left the group and determines that there is an abnormality when the area of the smallest shape in the group is larger than a predetermined area and the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.
(Appendix 19)
When the registration step associates the group with a group characteristic that has a communication terminal carried by two or more of the target persons in the group as a base point of the group,
The registration step further includes registering a certain range from each of the communication terminals serving as the base points as a specific area;
The group movement monitoring method described in Appendix 17 or 18, wherein the judgment process estimates that a person has left the group and judges this to be an abnormality when location information of another communication terminal not registered as the base point is present in the group outside at least one of the specific areas of the communication terminal that is the base point and the areas sandwiched between the specific areas.
(Appendix 20)
Further, it includes an estimated time calculation step,
The registration step further includes registering any point on the route taken by the group as a checkpoint;
the estimated time calculation step calculates an estimated time for the group to arrive at the checkpoint from a required time for the group to travel from a departure point to an arrival point,
A group movement monitoring method described in any of Appendices 12 to 19, wherein the judgment step judges that there is an abnormality if the group does not arrive at the checkpoint within the expected time or within a certain time after the expected time has elapsed.
(Appendix 21)
the registration step includes registering a plurality of checkpoints on the same route;
21. The collective movement monitoring method of claim 20, wherein the notification step does not send a notification regarding the abnormality determined using one checkpoint that is located after the one checkpoint on the route if the notification regarding the abnormality determined using one checkpoint has already been sent.
(Appendix 22)
The method includes a registration procedure, a location information acquisition procedure, a determination procedure, and a notification procedure.
The registration procedure includes registering, for each group, terminal information of a communication terminal carried by each subject constituting the group and contact information of a related person of at least one of the group and the subject;
the location information acquisition step acquires location information of the communication terminal;
the determination step includes monitoring a state of the group using the position information and determining whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the group based on the state of the group;
The notification procedure is a program for causing a computer to execute a process of sending a notification regarding the abnormality to the contact points of the relevant person when it is determined that the abnormality has occurred by the determination procedure.
(Appendix 23)
23. The program according to claim 22, wherein the determination procedure starts the monitoring when a notification indicating the start of the monitoring is received, and ends the monitoring when a notification indicating the end of the monitoring is received.
(Appendix 24)
24. The program according to claim 22, wherein the determination step determines that the abnormality exists when the location information of at least one of the communication terminals in the group remains unchanged for a certain period of time.
(Appendix 25)
The registration procedure includes registering a plurality of communication terminals for one target person;
25. The program according to any one of appendices 22 to 24, wherein the location information acquisition step acquires location information from multiple communication terminals for one subject.
(Appendix 26)
The program described in Appendix 25, wherein the judgment procedure judges that the abnormality exists when the location information of each communication terminal of one subject in the group is separated by a distance greater than a predetermined distance.
(Appendix 27)
the registration step includes registering a communication terminal carried by at least one of the subjects as a base point of the group, and registering group characteristics for each group according to the number of base points of the group;
27. The program according to any one of appendices 22 to 26, wherein the determination procedure monitors the state of the group according to the group attribute.
(Appendix 28)
Furthermore, an area calculation procedure is included,
When the registration procedure associates the group with a group characteristic that uses a communication terminal carried by one of the subjects in the group as a base point of the group,
the area calculation step calculates an area of a minimum shape that includes each of the communication terminals using the position information of each of the communication terminals;
The program described in Appendix 27, wherein the judgment procedure estimates that there is a leaver in the group and judges it to be an abnormality when the area of the smallest shape in the group is larger than a predetermined area and the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.
(Appendix 29)
When the registration procedure associates the group with a group characteristic that has a communication terminal carried by two or more of the target persons in the group as a base point of the group,
The registration step further includes registering a certain range from each of the communication terminals that are the base points as a specific area;
The program described in Appendix 27 or 28, wherein the judgment procedure infers that a person has left the group and judges this to be an abnormality when location information of another communication terminal not registered as the base point is present outside at least one of the specific areas of the communication terminal that is the base point and the areas sandwiched between the specific areas in the group.
(Appendix 30)
Furthermore, it includes an estimated time calculation procedure,
The registration procedure further includes registering any point on the route taken by the group as a checkpoint;
the estimated time calculation step calculates an estimated time for the group to arrive at the checkpoint from a required time for the group to travel from a departure point to an arrival point;
30. The program described in any one of Appendices 22 to 29, wherein the judgment procedure judges that there is an abnormality if the group does not arrive at the checkpoint within the expected time or within a certain time after the expected time has elapsed.
(Appendix 31)
The registration procedure includes registering a plurality of checkpoints on the same route;
31. The program of claim 30, wherein the notification procedure does not send a notification regarding the abnormality determined using one checkpoint that is located after the one checkpoint on the path if the notification regarding the abnormality determined using one checkpoint has already been sent.
(Appendix 32)
A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program according to any one of appendices 22 to 31.

This invention makes it possible to monitor the movements of groups of people and notify appropriate contacts if an abnormality occurs. Therefore, this invention is particularly useful when monitoring the movements of groups of people, such as those going to and from school.

1 Target person carrying a base communication terminal 2 Leaver 2 API gateway 3 Database server 4 Batch processing server 5 Web server 6 Authentication server 7 Assistant server 10 Central processing unit 20 Memory 30 Bus 40 Storage device 50 Input device 60 Output device 70 Communication device 100 Group movement monitoring device 101 Registration unit 102 Location information acquisition unit 103 Determination unit 104 Notification unit 105 Area calculation unit 106 Estimated time calculation unit 200 Target person communication terminal 300 Related person communication terminal 1000 Monitoring system

Claims (10)

The device includes a registration unit, a location information acquisition unit, a determination unit, and a notification unit,
the registration unit registers, for each group, terminal information of a communication terminal carried by each subject constituting the group and contact information of a related party of at least one of the group and the subject;
the registration unit registers a communication terminal carried by at least one of the target persons as a base point of the group, and registers group characteristics according to the number of base points of the group for each of the groups;
the location information acquisition unit acquires location information of the communication terminal;
the determination unit monitors a state of the group in accordance with the group characteristics , and determines whether an abnormality has occurred in the group from the state of the group;
The group movement monitoring device, wherein when the determination unit determines that the abnormality has occurred, the notification unit sends a notification regarding the abnormality to contact points of the relevant persons. The group movement monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the determination unit monitors the state of the group using the location information , and determines that there is an abnormality when the location information of at least one of the communication terminals in the group does not change for a certain period of time. the registration unit registers a plurality of communication terminals for one target person,
The group movement monitoring device according to claim 1 , wherein the location information acquisition unit acquires location information for one subject from a plurality of the communication terminals. Further, an area calculation unit is included,
When the registration unit associates the group with a group characteristic that uses a communication terminal carried by one of the subjects in the group as a base point of the group,
the area calculation unit calculates an area of a minimum shape that includes each of the communication terminals using the position information of each of the communication terminals;
4. The group movement monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit estimates that a person has left the group and determines that there is an abnormality when the area of the smallest shape in the group is larger than a predetermined area and the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. When the registration unit associates and registers the group with a group characteristic having a communication terminal carried by two or more of the target persons in the group as a base point of the group,
The registration unit further registers a certain range from each of the communication terminals that is the base point as a specific area,
The group movement monitoring device of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the judgment unit estimates that a person has left the group and judges this to be an abnormality when location information of another communication terminal that is not registered as the base point is present outside at least one of the specific areas of the communication terminal that is the base point and the areas sandwiched between the specific areas in the group. Further, an estimated time calculation unit is included,
The registration unit further registers any point on the route taken by the group as a checkpoint,
the estimated time calculation unit calculates an estimated time for the group to arrive at the checkpoint from a required time from a departure point of the group to an arrival point,
The group movement monitoring device according to claim 1 , wherein the determination unit determines that an abnormality has occurred when the group does not arrive at the checkpoint within the expected time or within a certain time after the expected time has elapsed. A group movement monitoring system including the group movement monitoring device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 , a subject communication terminal, and a related person communication terminal,
In the group movement monitoring device,
the registration unit registers terminal information of the target person communication terminal as the communication terminal and a contact point for the related person communication terminal as the contact point;
A reporting system, wherein the group movement monitoring device is capable of communicating with the subject communication terminal and the related person communication terminal. The method includes a registration step, a location information acquisition step, a determination step, and a notification step,
The registration step includes registering, for each group, terminal information of a communication terminal carried by each subject constituting the group and contact information of a related person of at least one of the group and the subject;
the registration step includes registering a communication terminal carried by at least one of the target persons as a base point of the group, and registering group characteristics for each group according to the number of base points of the group;
The location information acquisition step acquires location information of the communication terminal,
the determining step includes monitoring a state of the population in accordance with the population characteristics and determining whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the population based on the state of the population;
The notification step includes, when it is determined in the determination step that the abnormality has occurred, sending a notification regarding the abnormality to a contact point of the relevant person.
A method for monitoring swarm movements in which each step is performed by a computer . The method includes a registration procedure, a location information acquisition procedure, a determination procedure, and a notification procedure.
The registration procedure includes registering, for each group, terminal information of a communication terminal carried by each subject constituting the group and contact information of a related person of at least one of the group and the subject;
the registration step includes registering a communication terminal carried by at least one of the subjects as a base point of the group, and registering group characteristics for each group according to the number of base points of the group;
the location information acquisition step acquires location information of the communication terminal;
the determination step includes monitoring a state of the population in accordance with the population characteristics , and determining whether or not an abnormality has occurred in the population based on the state of the population;
the notification step, when it is determined that the abnormality has occurred by the determination step, sending a notification regarding the abnormality to a contact point of the relevant person;
A program that causes a computer to execute each step . A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 9 is recorded.