FR3109660A1 - Alert system - Google Patents

Abstract

Alert system (5), comprising street furniture (10), an interactive device (15, 23, 30) having a touch screen (15a, 25, 31) and communicating with the outside via a communication interface (18a , 18b, 30b), an alert computer program adapted to display an alert icon (21) on the touch screen of the interactive device, and adapted to transmit information making it possible to determine, among the street furniture, a furniture in an alert situation, associated with the interactive device, the alert computer program being suitable for, when the alert icon is activated by a user, triggering an emergency situation response associated with the street furniture in an alert. Figure for abstract: Figure 1

Description

Alert system

This disclosure relates to the field of alert systems, particularly in the event of an attack or an emergency situation, near street furniture.

Street furniture is generally placed in places where passers-by can park temporarily. It is possible that these same passers-by find themselves in an emergency situation, such as being the victim of an attack or feeling unwell. In these cases it is important to react quickly. If other passers-by are nearby, they should be able to report the situation as soon as possible.

There is therefore a need for an emergency situation alert system near street furniture. By urban furniture, we mean furniture such as for example a shelter for travellers, a kiosk, an information terminal, a digital or non-digital display panel, public sanitary facilities, etc., placed in a place accessible to the public such as such as urban space, shopping center, train station, airport, metro station or other. By proximity, we mean a radius around the street furniture of a few meters (for example 10 meters or less) to a few tens of meters (for example 50 meters or less).

Summary

An alert system is proposed, comprising:
- a plurality of street furniture,
- at least one interactive device having a touch screen and communicating with the outside via at least one communication interface,
- an alert computer program adapted to, when it is executed, cause an alert icon to be displayed on the touch screen of the interactive device, and adapted to transmit information making it possible to determine, among the plurality of street furniture, a street furniture in an alert situation, associated with the interactive system,
the alert computer program being adapted to, when the alert icon is activated by a user, trigger an emergency situation response associated with said street furniture in an alert situation.

The characteristics exposed in the following paragraphs can, optionally, be implemented. They can be implemented independently of each other or in combination with each other:

- Said interactive device is a portable device;

- said interactive device is a fixed device associated with one of the street furniture of the alert system;

- the emergency situation response includes at least one action chosen from:
- an alert message sent to a remote control unit comprising information able to identify the street furniture in an alert situation;
- a change in the environment of the street furniture in an alert situation, in particular one or more of: special lighting of the neighboring street furniture, an audible alert broadcast in the neighboring street furniture, taking photos and/or videos of the interior and/or exterior of the neighboring street furniture, and display of an alert message in the neighboring street furniture, communication by camera and/or voice with a remote security instance service; And
- the sending of a message in relation to the emergency situation to at least one mobile telecommunications device located near the street furniture in an alert situation;

- the alert computer program is either an application executed by said interactive device, or associated with a URL link displayed by the touch screen of the interactive device;

- the alert computer program is adapted to determine a geolocation of the interactive device from a geolocation system belonging to said interactive device;

- the interactive device communicates via a wireless link with said street furniture in an alert situation;

- the street furniture of said plurality of street furniture is chosen from among a shelter for travellers, a kiosk, an information terminal, a digital display panel or not, a public toilet;

- each street furniture of said plurality of street furniture comprises an alert button, and the emergency situation response is triggered when the alert button is activated;

- the alert system further comprises at least one emergency situation detection system adapted to automatically recognize an emergency situation from noises and/or images picked up at the street furniture of said plurality of urban furniture.

This description also relates to street furniture comprising:
- a control unit, when the control unit receives an alert signal, the control unit being configured to activate an alert function of the street furniture, the alert function being one or more of: lighting of the street furniture according to a predetermined program, a sound alert broadcast in the street furniture, taking photos and/or videos of the interior and/or exterior of the street furniture, and display of an alert message in the street furniture , communication by camera and/or voice with a security instance remote from the street furniture, and an alert message sent to a remote central unit comprising an identification of the street furniture in which the emergency situation is taking place.

In this street furniture, one and/or other of the following provisions may also be used:

– the furniture also includes an emergency button, when the emergency button is activated the alert signal is sent to the control unit.

– the furniture further comprises a touch screen connected to the control unit, the control unit being configured to execute an alert computer program suitable for displaying an alert icon on the touch screen of the interactive device, the alert computer program being adapted to, when the alert icon is activated by a user, send the alert signal.

– the alert signal is sent by at least one interactive device having a touch screen and communicating with the street furniture via at least one communication interface, the communication interface being configured to display an alert icon on the screen touch which when activated by a user, allows the sending of the alert signal.

- the control unit is configured to communicate with a remote control unit when the alert signal is received.

- the control unit is configured to send an alert message to the remote central when the alert signal is received, the alert message including an identification of the street furniture and possibly an identification of the emergency situation;

– the street furniture further comprises a local wireless network, and the control unit being configured to receive from a mobile located near the street furniture the alert signal via the local wireless network;

- the control unit is configured, when the control unit receives the alert signal, to activate the street furniture alert function;

– the street furniture further comprises an emergency situation detection system connected to the control unit, for example, a system for recognizing noises and/or distinctive images of an emergency situation, the detection system emergency situation being connected with the control unit, and
the control unit being configured to activate the street furniture alert function when an emergency situation is detected by the detection system;

- the street furniture is one of: a shelter for travellers, a kiosk, a notice board, an information terminal and a public toilet.

This description also relates to an alert method comprising:
- the detection in street furniture of an emergency situation; And
- Sending to at least one mobile telecommunications device of a user located near the street furniture of a message in relation to the emergency situation.

In this process, one and/or other of the following provisions may also be used:

- the interactive devices located near the street furniture are those located in a communication zone of a wireless radio network of the neighboring street furniture, for example WIFI, Bluetooth, ultrasound or LTE.

- the message in relation to the emergency situation includes an identification of the street furniture.

- when the emergency situation is in progress, a message sent from street furniture to a remote control unit.

– when the remote central receives the message sent from the street furniture, the remote central determines, using geolocation data from users' mobile telecommunications devices, which users are near the street furniture in an alert situation and triggers the sending to said mobile telecommunication devices a message relating to the emergency situation.

Other characteristics, details and advantages of the alert system will appear on reading the detailed description below, and on analyzing the appended drawings, on which:

Fig. 1

shows a block diagram of an alert system according to one embodiment.

Fig. 2

shows an example of street furniture, in this case a transit passenger shelter, belonging to the alert system in Figure 1.

Fig. 3

shows a flowchart of an alerting process using the alerting system of Figure 1.

Figure 1 schematically shows an alert system 5 which comprises at least one street furniture 10 and most generally a plurality of street furniture 10, even if a single street furniture 10 is shown in Figure 1. The concept of street furniture is defined above. The street furniture 10 belonging to the alert system 5 can all be of the same type or consist of a mixture of one or more types of street furniture.

As shown in Figure 1, street furniture 10 may include an electronic central unit 18 (CU) which controls various devices belonging to said street furniture 10, for example all or part of the following devices:
- a communication interface 18a (INT. 1), for example a radio interface and in particular an interface for a cellular radio network in particular of the LTE, 4G or 5G or other type, or where appropriate an interface communicating with the outside by wires or optical fiber ;
- a communication interface 18b (INT. 2), for example a short-range contactless interface, for example a short-range radio interface such as WiFi, possibly Bluetooth® or other, or even an ultrasound communication interface;
- at least one camera 24 (CAM);
- At least one loudspeaker 26a;
- At least one microphone 26b;
- A display 15 (DISP. 1), in particular a display having a digital screen 15a, this digital screen possibly being touch-sensitive and capable of displaying a virtual alert button, here called alert icon 21;
- A physical alert button 16, this physical alert button 16 being arranged to be easily accessible and made to be clearly visible to people located near the street furniture 10; the physical alert button 16 can in particular be of relatively large size (in particular, have an inscribed diameter of a few centimeters, for example from 2 to 5 cm) and/or be of a clearly visible color such as red, orange or other and/or be luminous or fluorescent;
- lighting 28 (ECL), etc.

The communication interface 18a can communicate with at least one remote center 20a (CENTR.), comprising for example at least one remote server 20 (S) which can be in particular a physical or virtual server, dedicated or belonging to cloud computing .

The server 20 can communicate remotely with emergency services 22 (SECU), which can optionally also communicate with the communication interface 18a.

The communication interface 18b can communicate remotely with at least one mobile telecommunications device 23 when this telecommunications device is within communication range of the communication interface 18b. The communication range in question can be from a few meters to a few tens of meters, for example from around 10 meters to around 50 meters. The mobile telecommunication device 23 can in particular be a mobile telephone 23 such as a multifunction mobile telephone, or even a connected watch, or even a tablet or other. The mobile communication device 23 may include a touch screen 25, which may display an alert icon 21 as described above for the display 15.

The communication interface 18b can communicate remotely with at least one additional street furniture 30 (DISP. 2), adjacent to the street furniture 10 and located within communication range of the communication interface 18b. The additional street furniture 30 may in particular comprise a digital display, comprising an electronic central unit 30a (UC) communicating with a communication interface 30b (INT. 2) compatible with the aforementioned communication interface 18b and controlling a digital screen 31. The digital screen 31 can be touch-sensitive in whole or in part and which can display an alert icon 21 as described above.

As a variant, the street furniture 10 can communicate with the mobile telecommunications device 23 and/or the additional street furniture 30 by a cellular radio network, in particular of the LTE, 4G or 5G or other type. In this case, the street furniture could possibly comprise only the communication interface 18a, the communication interface 18b being eliminated.

According to another variant, the mobile telecommunications device 23 and/or the additional street furniture 30 communicates via a cellular radio network with said at least one server 20.

In all the cases mentioned above, the alert icon 21 is arranged to be easily accessible (for the case of the digital displays 15 and 30) and it is designed to be easily identifiable by a user (in particular by its size and / or its color and/or brightness). The alert icon 21 can be a drawing representative of an emergency situation, such as a flashing light, or else a screen zone comprising a message such as for example “send alert”.

The alert icon 21 can be displayed by an application, hereinafter referred to as an alert application, executed by the central unit (18 or 30a or not shown central unit of the mobile communication device 23). This application can advantageously be the same for all types of digital displays using the same operating system, whether these digital displays are fixed (15, 30) or mobile (25).

This application is designed to trigger an alert reaction when a user activates the alert icon 21 voluntarily, as will be explained in more detail below.

According to another embodiment, the alert icon 21 is not displayed by an application but by a simple page of html or other type and the alert icon 21 can then be a simple URL link to a site internet or other which triggers the alert from a remote server (not shown).

In all cases, an alert computer program (application, script associated with an html page, script associated with an Internet site, etc.) is suitable for, when it is executed, displaying the alert icon 21 on the touch screen 15a, 25, 31 of an interactive device consisting for example of the digital display 15, the mobile telecommunications device 23 or the additional street furniture 30.

This alert computer program is adapted to transmit to the server 20 information making it possible to determine, among the plurality of street furniture 10, the street furniture 10 associated with said interactive device 15, 23, 30 and concerned by the alert, said below. after street furniture on alert.

This determination of the street furniture 10 in an alert situation is immediate when the interactive device belongs to said street furniture 10 in an alert situation, as is the case with the digital display 15, or when the interactive device is fixed and associated geographically to said street furniture 10 in an alert situation, as is the case with the additional street furniture 30.

In the case where the interactive device is a mobile telecommunications device 23, this determination of the street furniture 10 in an alert situation can be done in various ways:
- the street furniture 10 in an alert situation can include a visible identifier and the user of the mobile telecommunications device 23 can enter this identifier in a window provided for this purpose, displayed on the interactive screen 25 by the application or the aforementioned html page, this identifier being transmitted to the server 20;
- the street furniture 10 in an alert situation may include an identifier stored in a memory associated with the electronic central unit 18 and this identifier is automatically communicated to the mobile telecommunications device 23 when it enters into communication with the street furniture 10 in an alert situation, this identifier being transmitted to the server 20;
- or again, this determination is carried out thanks to the geolocation data (GPS or similar) of the mobile telecommunications device 23, which are transmitted to the server 20, which server 20 also has the geolocation data of the street furniture 10.

Optionally, the computer alert program may request other information from the user, such as the type of emergency situation or the degree of urgency.

The alert computer program is suitable for, when the alert icon is activated by a user, triggering an emergency situation response associated with said street furniture 10 in an alert situation. Optionally, the alert computer program can request confirmation from the user that the correct street furniture 10 has been identified as being the street furniture in an alert situation, before triggering the emergency situation response.

The emergency response can be at least one of the following actions:
- an alert message sent to the server 20 comprising said information making it possible to identify the street furniture in situation an identification of the neighboring street furniture;
- a modification of the environment of the street furniture 10 in an alert situation; And
- Sending a message related to the emergency situation to at least one mobile telecommunications device 23 of a user located near the street furniture 10 in an alert situation.

The modification of the environment of the street furniture 10 in an alert situation may comprise at least one of the following actions:
- control of the lighting 28 of the street furniture 10 in an alert situation, for example to increase the light intensity of the lighting 28 and/or trigger one or more rotating beacons, change the color or the pattern of the lighting;
- control of the loudspeaker 26a of the street furniture 10 in an alert situation to broadcast an audible alert and/or a deterrent message. This message can be pre-recorded at the level of the control unit 18 or the server 20, or else an operator (belonging for example to the remote control unit 20a or to the emergency services 22) can address passers-by via the loudspeaker in real time ;
- control of the camera 24 and/or the microphone 26b of the street furniture 10 in an alert situation for taking photos and/or videos and/or sound inside and/or outside said street furniture 10 in an alert situation, possibly with communication with an operator of the remote control unit 20a or of the emergency services 22. Optionally, the camera 24 can be remotely controlled by an operator of the remote control unit 20a or of the emergency services 22, to for example, take different angles of view or zoom in on an element;
- display of an alert message by the digital screen 15a of the street furniture 10 in an alert situation.

When the response to an emergency situation includes sending a message relating to the emergency situation to at least one mobile telecommunications device 23 of a user located near the street furniture 10 in an alert situation , this message may optionally include an identifier of the street furniture 10 in an alert situation. This message can be broadcast by the communication interface 18b of the street furniture 10 in an alert situation, to the mobile telecommunications devices 23 of the users who are within the range of said communication interface 18b or more generally in the vicinity of said furniture. urban 10 on alert. Alternatively, the message in question can be sent by the remote control unit 20 which can determine, using GPS data from the mobile telecommunications devices 23 of users, which users are near the street furniture 10 in an alert situation. These users may, for example, have previously registered on a service authorizing their geolocation.

Actuation of the physical alert button 16 can trigger an emergency situation response similar to what has just been described.

As illustrated in Figure 2, in a particular case the street furniture can be a waiting shelter 10 for travelers (in particular to wait for buses, trams or others). Shelter 10 includes a waiting area 12 and possibly one or more displays. Some displays, here the display 14 for example, can be a paper poster or similar (in particular to present a backlit poster) and other displays, here the aforementioned display 15 for example, can be digital.

The digital display 15 can display, for example, advertisements and/or information in real time, such as the state of the traffic, the weather, information on points of interest located near the shelter, etc. The digital display 15 displays the alert icon 21 superimposed on the other content permanently or not, or in place of the other content when a potential emergency situation is determined, for example at certain times and/or in some places.

When an additional street furniture 30 communicates with the communication interface 18b, this additional street furniture 30 can be for example a digital panel (or an interactive terminal or any other street furniture comprising a digital display) displaying for example advertisements and/or or real-time information, such as traffic status, weather, information about points of interest near the shelter, etc. The digital panel 30 displays the alert icon 21 superimposed on the other contents permanently or not, or in place of the other contents when a potential emergency situation is determined, for example at certain times and/or in some places.

The alert system 5 which has just been described operates by following the alert process 50 briefly described in Figure 3.

According to a first step 52 (Report an emergency situation) of this alert process, when a person discovers an emergency situation in or near the street furniture 10, or when he himself is in a situation of emergency in or near the street furniture 10, it can activate by touch the alert icon 21 displayed by one of the interactive devices chosen from its mobile telecommunications device 23 (if necessary after launching the application of alert), the digital screen 15a and the additional street furniture 30. Or, the person in question can activate the physical alert button 16 of the street furniture 10. If several people discover the emergency situation, they can possibly each give the alert by one of the aforementioned means.

According to the second step 54 (Trigger an emergency situation response) of this alert process, this actuation of the alert icon 21 or the alert button 16 triggers an emergency situation response, such as described above.

According to one embodiment, when the remote control unit 20a receives the alert message, it informs the emergency services 22 of the emergency.

According to one embodiment, the emergency situation response is only triggered when the alert button 16 or the alert icon 21 of the street furniture 10 is activated and the alert icon 21 on the device telecommunication mobile 23 or on the additional street furniture are both activated within a predetermined time window, in order to avoid a false alarm. The time window can be of the order of a few minutes, for example 5 minutes or 10 minutes.

According to one embodiment, the street furniture 10 and/or the server 20 may include an emergency situation detection system 27, powered by signals coming for example from the camera 24 and/or the microphone 26b, to automatically detect an emergency from these signals. The emergency situation detection system 27 may comprise an artificial intelligence, for example a neural network, trained to carry out this detection.

The emergency situation detection system 27 can be in continuous operation or can be put into operation when the alert icon 21 or the alert button 16 is activated.

Thanks to these functionalities, help can be brought to people in the emergency situation in a short time, and more generally a feeling of security can be given to the public.

Claims (10)

Alert system (5), comprising:
- a plurality of street furniture (10),
- at least one interactive device (15, 23, 30) having a touch screen (15a, 25, 31) and communicating with the outside via at least one communication interface (18a, 18b, 30b),
- an alert computer program suitable for, when it is executed, displaying an alert icon (21) on the touch screen (15a, 25, 31) of the interactive device, and suitable for transmitting information making it possible to determining, among the plurality of street furniture (10), street furniture (10) in an alert situation, associated with the interactive device (15, 23, 30),
the alert computer program being adapted to, when the alert icon is activated by a user, trigger an emergency situation response associated with said street furniture (10) in an alert situation. An alert system according to claim 1, wherein said interactive device (23) is a portable device. Alert system according to claim 1, in which said interactive device (15, 30) is a fixed device associated with one of the street furniture (10) of the alert system. Alert system according to one of the preceding claims, in which the emergency situation response comprises at least one action chosen from:
- an alert message sent to a remote central unit (20) comprising information able to identify the street furniture (10) in an alert situation;
- a modification of the environment of the street furniture (10) in an alert situation, in particular one or more of: particular lighting (28) of the neighboring street furniture, an audible alert (26a) broadcast in the neighboring street furniture, a taking of photos and/or videos (24) of the interior and/or exterior of the neighboring street furniture, and a display (15) of an alert message in the neighboring street furniture, a communication by camera and /or voice with a remote security service (20a, 22); And
- sending a message related to the emergency situation to at least one mobile telecommunications device (23) located near the street furniture (10) in an alert situation. Alert system according to one of the preceding claims, in which the alert computer program is either an application executed by the said interactive device (15, 23, 30), or associated with a URL link displayed by the touch screen ( 15a, 25, 31) of the interactive device. Alert system according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the alert computer program is adapted to determine a geolocation of the interactive device from a geolocation system belonging to said interactive device. Alert system according to one of the preceding claims, in which the interactive device (23, 30) communicates via a wireless link with the said street furniture (10) in an alert situation. Alert system according to one of the preceding claims, in which the street furniture (10) of the said plurality of street furniture is chosen from among a shelter for travelers, a kiosk, an information terminal, a digital display panel or no, a public toilet. An alert system according to any preceding claim, wherein each street furniture (10) of said plurality of street furniture includes an alert button (16), and the emergency situation response is triggered when the button alert is enabled. Alert system according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising at least one emergency situation detection system (27) adapted to automatically recognize an emergency situation from sounds and/or images picked up at the street furniture (10) of said plurality of street furniture.