PRE2019 3 Group12
Group Members
| Name | ID | Major | |
|---|---|---|---|
Subject
Our subject for the project is going to be a system which uses a camera-based recognition software to, for example, find empty workplaces in various areas . These include areas like empty workspaces at Metaforum during examweeks for studying, empty places in a library for silentness or empty desks at flexible workspaces at a company.
Objectives
- Library or other flexible workplaces
The system should be able to tell the user whether there is an empty space (or more) in the area and if so, it should also be able to tell the user where this place is located. Additionally, it can also tell whether a person has left the workplace earlier than the end of the reserved time so that the workplace can be set to "available" sooner.
- Room reservation
It should be able to detect whether there are people in the room and if there is no one in the room within certain time window, it should set the room to available for reservation.
Users
The users we plan to target with our project include multiple groups of people, since it can be applied in various environments. Possible users include students, employees making use of flexible work spaces or library visitors. Each of these users can benefit from the technology in two situations. The first is in larger study or working halls, comparable to Metaforum, for checking if there are available places. The second is in smaller study rooms, comparable to booking rooms in Atlas for cancelling reservations if the student doesn't show up or leaves earlier.
Approach
The system is based on the reflection of sound waves emitted by a sound source. The reflected sound will be different based on whether a person is sitting on the chair or not. The distance the sound has to travel is shorter if there is a person (taller than the chair) sitting on the chair. Advantages: It does not capture any visual data which people might feel their privacy violated by. It can have quite a lot of range for one sensor, since it measures the differences between signals over time and always have something to compare.
Disadvantages: Other objects can deteriorate the signal if they’re close to the chair or person, making the measuring of the sound waves less accurate. It can only detect if there is someone in the chair, it cannot tell if the person leaves stuff on the desk indicating he or she is coming back or not.