WO2021214801A1 - Interpersonal distance management system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is about to the management of interpersonal distances between people who carry out their work within production departments, offices or even in outdoor construction sites. In particular, the proposed invention responds to the need to be informed in real time on the voluntary or involuntary violation, by subjects operating in a common environment, of the rules of interpersonal distancing which, following viral pandemics or epidemics, government organizations issue in order to reduce the probability of contagion. The system for detecting interpersonal distances, created according to the teachings of the present invention, is very effective to support various methods of monitoring the risk of mutual contagion between people who are part of an organization. In fact, the system appears particularly suitable for implementing the indications published on March 31, 2020 by the ECDC (European Center for Disease prevention and Control) in the Technical Report"Contact tracing: Public health management of persons, including healthcare workers, having had contact with COVID-19 cases it the European Union - first update". The system for detecting interpersonal distances, made according to the teachings of the present invention, manages to achieve the control objectives by equipping the monitored people with suitable wearable electronic labels, each of which is equipped with a short-range radio transmitter suitably configured to transmit an identifier. And these electronic labels are connected to a radio communication network with coverage of the environment in which the monitored people operate. In addition, the system uses a computer system connected to said communication network, and configured for the management of data associated with interpersonal distances.

Description

TITLE: INTERPERSONAL DISTANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

DESCRIPTION Field of the Invention

The field of application of this invention relates to the management of interpersonal distances between people who carry out their work within production departments, offices or even in outdoor construction sites. In particular, the proposed invention responds to the need to be informed in real time on the voluntary or involuntary violation, by subjects operating in a common environment, of the rules of interpersonal distancing which, following viral pandemics or epidemics, government organizations issue in order to reduce the probability of contagion.

Prior Art

The organization of the workplaces will be increasingly conditioned by the constraints of managing interpersonal distances between workers. In fact, the work processes that require the presence of more workers in the workplace must take into account the fact that, in many circumstances, it will no longer be possible to leave the same freedom of movement which today represents normalcy.

Companies will have to redesign their work processes which involve the presence of staff on site, and they must be able to properly manage information related to the maintenance of an appropriate distance between workers, both for the purpose of checking compliance with the legislation (which can also vary from period to period), and for the purpose of reconstructing the probability of contagion, in the event that cases of positivity to a virus emerge among the operators of the company.

Obviously, on the one hand it will be necessary, for companies, to have effective data to accomplish this purpose, and therefore sufficiently reliable and precise data, on the other hand it is appropriate that these data are only those necessary to achieve the purpose, and therefore not trespassing in the violation of other rights of the person, who has the right not to be supervised and monitored beyond what is strictly necessary.

The need to manage such information related to the interpersonal distance between the operators of an organization is a fairly new need, which is emerging due to the greater frequency with which it is believed that potential epidemics or viral pandemics will take place in the future.

To meet this need, it is possible to use technologies currently available on the market. In fact, a considerable amount of types of mobile devices, detectable and identifiable from a distance through suitable technologies, can be used to create a system capable of monitoring people's position: they are therefore candidates for conceiving a system potentially suitable to meet the need expressed above.

Excluding equipment of significant complexity and cost, and smartphones, which offer this possibility as a secondary function, the so-called "tags" (or labels) will be considered below for this application, characterized by very limited weight and size and suitable for being produced also in the form of wearable devices.

Many of the available technologies make it possible to remotely read and write information residing on the "tags" through standardized radio frequency techniques.

Typically, these "tags" are currently exploited for the benefit of production, logistics, certification, tracking etc., making use of hardware and software integrated solutions.

There are also available, albeit in smaller numbers, a set of systems and solutions that use devices of this kind, in the form of objects that are portable or wearable by people. This portability has so far been mainly exploited to respond to the need to identify and count people at the entrance (or exit) of controlled areas and, more recently, thanks to the progress of technologies, it has been exploited to support applications related to electronic commercial transactions.

Under the pressure of the technological evolution linked to the emergence of the so-called loT (Internet of Things), the capabilities and performance of these devices have increased enormously, so as to allow their integration in complex network-based data processing systems and latest generation platforms (Internet, Cloud, Big data platforms etc.).

A large part of the most advanced commercial solutions relating to the exploitation of "tags", and more generally of wearable loT devices, seem oriented to a limited number of issues such as the detection of physical parameters, human / machine or human / human interface organization, geolocation and tracking of movements and operations.

On the other hand, there are few applications aimed at supporting processes in the industrial and production sector.

Wearable loT-based solutions are generally characterized by a fair complexity due to the need to process data of significant complexity, volumes and frequency.

It should also be noted that the adoption of these systems in workplaces, can find obstacles in the need to comply with the regulations relating to the protection of privacy, sensitive data and agreements sanctioned in the context of trade union relations. Regulations which, however, are very uneven on the world scene and also at the level of individual nations, from sector to sector.

The new and recent interest in applications aimed at the management and detection of interpersonal distancing entails, worldwide and for all organizations, of whatever size they are, which require the presence of human personnel in limited spaces, such as production lines, workshops , factories, offices, construction sites, etc., the need to provide for rules, processes, means and systems that allow the performance of tasks in safe conditions. Probably, the corporate reorganizations that will be implemented in the near future will lead to profound restructuring interventions also in the operating spaces, modifications that will require continuous optimizations and that will necessarily have to be based on the analysis of real data, which, therefore, must be detected with sufficient systematic.

Considering that the first requirement dictated by the World Health Organization is that individuals always maintain an interpersonal safety distance, it is more than ever necessary to equip organizations with a system that allows them to comply with this indication, immediately detecting when two people are at a "critical distance".

We will see later, in the description of the present invention, how the concept of "critical distance" is also a concept that must be understood in an articulated and non-trivial way.

The market is starting to offer solutions with this objective. Existing solutions, however, precisely because they derive from solutions designed for other purposes, suffer, in general, from numerous disadvantages.

Typically, they are natively based on geolocation techniques, this approach is oversized compared to the health needs set out above: in fact, what matters is the distance between people, not their position. Moreover, this negatively affects various other aspects: the overall cost of the solution, as indoor location normally requires to infrastructure the environment, the time needed to implement the solution, and its flexibility to adapt to environments that may vary, the configuration and management complexity in operation, precision, which hardly achieves location accuracy of the order of a few decimeters; not to mention the aspects of opportunities inherent in the fact of detecting not strictly necessary personal information.

The solutions available, and applicable to working contexts, as they are not natively oriented to the prevention and containment of epidemic situations, do not have functions and tools suitable for: monitoring and historicizing events and critical relationships over time and processes, allowing companies to provide objective authorities and trade union representatives with objective data on the quality of the implemented prevention measures, allowing corporate bodies in possession of the association "tag" vs person to trace, in the event that an operator is the victim of contagion, all other people potentially infected in the company, allowing the company to report to the delegated public bodies, all and only the personnel affected by proximity relations with the infected person by limiting the overextension of any quarantine measures, allowing the configuration of critical conditions referring to special cases, defining dedicated and complex procedures, based on the number and duration of proximity events by categories of operation, having real-time historical analyzes and graphics able to highlight critical cases with the tendency to generate concentration of contacts, in order to proactively act by intervening on processes and physical configuration of the environments, exporting, in predefined formats, layout/process configurations and time series towards simulation tools that allow the construction of physiological and pathological models of proximity relationships.

Purpose and summary of the Invention

The general purpose of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a real-time detection system of critical interpersonal distances, i.e. of all cases in which two people belonging to an organization approach one another in such a way that one of the two can infect the other.

A further purpose of the present invention is to provide a system for detecting critical interpersonal distances that does not require infrastructuring the environment in which these people operate, so that the environment can be reconfigured with maximum flexibility and can also totally change.

Again, a further object of the present invention is to provide a system for detecting critical interpersonal distances suitable for managing the concept of "critical distance" with flexibility, so as to adapt it effectively to the real risk of contagion, avoiding the production of an excessive quantity of data, potentially dispersive.

Again, a further object of the present invention is to provide a system for detecting critical interpersonal distances suitable for producing and collecting information in a secure way, in a computer environment where adequate safe policies of data management can be implemented.

Finally, a further object of the present invention is to provide a system for detecting critical interpersonal distances, which is also suitable for producing timely alarms for the benefit of the people themselves, when they are actually running a risk of contagion, helping to prevent this risk materializing. The aims set for this invention are achieved through the use of a system for detecting the distances between people associated with an active and passive risk of contagion, i.e. people for whom there is a significant risk that they infect other people around them, inside an area of active contagion, and for which there is a significant risk that they are infected by other people who are around them, within an area of passive contagion, and said system includes at least: a plurality of wearable electronic labels, adapted to transmit its own univocal identification signal and a radio communication network covering the environment where people who wear said electronic labels operate, and to which each of said electronic labels is enabled to access, at least one computer system connected to said communication network, and configured for the management of data associated with interpersonal distances, and said system for detecting interpersonal distances (200) is characterized in that each of said wearable electronic labels has at least the following characteristics: a. comprises a short-range radio transmitter designed to transmit said identification signal, in all directions on the horizontal plane, according to a predetermined spatial radiation diagram, the shape of which is a function of said active contagion area around the person wearing said electronic label, b. comprises a short-range radio receiver designed to receive said identification signals transmitted by said wearable electronic labels which are within a reception distance determined by a predetermined spatial reception diagram, the shape of which is a function of said area of passive contagion around the person wearing said electronic label, c. comprises an access terminal to said radio communication network, d. comprises a local alarm device, e. comprises computing means (211) equipped with a clock and configured for: i. processing in real time said identification signals received by said short- range radio receiver and comparing their intensity with a first threshold of predetermined intensity and with a second threshold of predetermined intensity greater than said first threshold, and ii. if the intensity of said identification signal received is greater than said first threshold, transmitting an alarm command to said local alarm device, and iii. if the intensity of said identification radio signal received is also greater than said second threshold, transmitting a message to said computer system connected to said radio communication network, containing at least the identification of the electronic label which transmitted said identification radio signal greater than said second threshold, and the time stamp referring to the moment of reception.

The main advantage of the present invention is that a system for detecting interpersonal distances implemented according to the teachings of the present invention allows to satisfy all the purposes for which the invention was conceived.

Brief Description of the Drawings

This invention also has further advantages, which will become more evident from the following description, from some examples of practical embodiments, which illustrate further details, from the attached claims which form an integral part of the present description, and from the attached figures in which: Figure 1 shows, by way of example, a work environment in which the system for detecting interpersonal distances implemented according to the teachings of the present invention can be adopted; Figure 2 schematically shows the main elements of a system for detecting interpersonal distances made according to the teachings of the present invention; Figure 3 schematically shows the main elements of said wearable electronic labels included in the system for detecting interpersonal distances made according to the teachings of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Figure 1 represents in a simplified and exemplary way a circumscribed environment, indicated with the number 100, in which a certain number of people operate, of whom it is necessary to continuously monitor interpersonal distancing. In the example of Figure 1 , eight people indicated by the numbers from 101 to 108 are represented within said circumscribed environment 100. These eight people can move within the environment 100, and therefore their interpersonal distances, in general, may vary over time. The example of Figure 1 , allows to highlight some significant types of mutual distances between people: in fact only two of them are at a safe distance from the others, i.e. the person indicated with the number 101 and the person indicated with the number 108 The other six people are spaced apart in a way that deserves consideration.

The person indicated with the number 105 is very close to the person indicated with the number 104, however the two people turn their backs on each other, and therefore their distance, indicated with the number 154 may not be critical to the point of determining a risk of contagion, however it is appropriate that this proximity is reported to the people concerned, so that they know that it is enough that one of the two turns, and the distance becomes critical. This is the case of the people indicated by the numbers 106 and 107, their distance is indicated by the number176, and it is a distance slightly greater than the distance 154, however, since the person 107 is facing precisely the person 106, this distance could be considered critical and cause a risk of infection, even if the person 106 is from behind. In this case, this relationship of proximity must be reported to the IT system for monitoring interpersonal distances as, in fact, the critical distance is representative of an occasion in which an infection could have occurred. The distance between the person 106 and the person 103 is also a critical distance: this distance, indicated with the number 136, is greater than the distance 176 but, being the two people 106 and 103 both facing each other, it must also be considered a critical distance and, as such, it must also be transmitted to the IT system for monitoring interpersonal distances.

Another example of distance to consider carefully is the distance indicated with the number 124 between people 102 and 104. It is a safe distance; however, the two people are facing each other, therefore in the most favorable position for contagion. In this case, to evaluate whether or not to pay attention to the interpersonal distance, this must be compared with a fairly long attention threshold, indicated in Figure 1 with the number 240. As can be seen from the example, the person 102 is walking towards the person 104 and has reached a distance 124 from it, less than the warning distance 240. In this case, person 102 should be advised that he is getting too close to person 104, so as to allow him to deviate his path before reaching the distance indicated with the number 241 , which represents the distance of possible contagion, and which, as such, should be reported to the IT system for monitoring interpersonal distances.

From the examples examined with the aid of Figure 1, it emerges that the critical distance between two people is a variable distance, which depends both on how the person who can infect another is oriented and on how the person who can be infected is oriented whit respect to the another.

It therefore makes sense to associate to each person, an active contagion area and a passive contagion area.

The active contagion area is defined by the distance at which the person considered can potentially transmit the contagion to another person. This distance is variable according to the direction around the person considered, since, obviously, his ability to transmit a contagion is greater in front of him, and less behind his shoulders, with distances that vary decreasing laterally as the direction moves from front to behind the person. Furthermore, these distances can be reduced, even considerably, if the person in question wears contagion containment devices, such as masks that shield his mouth.

The passive contagion area, on the other hand, is the distance from which the considered person can be infected by another person. Also this distance is variable according to the direction around the person considered, since, obviously, his vulnerability to infection is greater if it comes from the front, and less if it comes from the back, with distances that vary laterally decreasing as the direction moves from front to behind the person. Passive contagion distances can also be reduced if the person wears appropriate contagion protections.

It is clear that the two areas of contagion, active and passive, around the considered person, are similar, although, in general, these do not always have identical forms.

Although these areas have been described qualitatively, it is emphasized that for a more accurate determination of these areas of contagion, various models can be used that offer good simulations of the aerial propagation of a virus transmitted by an infected person. Therefore, by adopting one of these models, it is possible to trace around people a theoretical area of active and passive contagion, and this area can be reasonably assumed to provide for an efficient management of the interpersonal distances among people belonging to an organization, defining “critical” the distances between two people when the following conditions occur: the second person is present within the passive contagion area of the first person, and the active contagion area of said second person contains said first person. Obviously, the opposite is also true, by exchanging the first and the second person, as they can mutually infect each other.

Given these considerations about the concept of "critical distance", i.e. a distance such that there is a concrete risk of contagion between the two people who are at least at this distance, it is possible to outline the main indications about how a detection system of interpersonal distances should work, in order to be adequate to meet the general purposes for which the present invention was conceived. In summary: the “warning distances” between people must be detected, i.e. distances that are not yet “critical” to determine a concrete risk of contagion, but they are distances that it is useful to report to the interested parties, so that they can try to avoid approaching critically to another person; the “critical distances” must be detected, i.e. distances such as to determine a real risk of contagion, and such cases of excessive approach must be communicated to the IT system for monitoring interpersonal distances.

As can be understood from the exemplified cases, the thresholds that define the “warning distances” (which produce a local alarm addressed to the interested parties) and the “critical distances” (which must be stored and managed centrally) are, in general, dependent on how the two people are oriented each other, since this orientation really influences the chances of contagion.

To simplify the system, fixed distance thresholds independent of the person's orientation could be the adopted criterion. This choice would have the advantage of simplifying the system, but would lead to the contraindication of storing an excessive number of information classified as “critical”.

In addition, these distance thresholds must be interpreted as received power thresholds, given that the electronic labels transmit and receive radio signals, and therefore do not perform a direct measurement of distance, but of electromagnetic field measurements.

To describe some essential characteristics for the operation of the system for detecting interpersonal distances according to the invention, reference can be made to the scheme proposed in Figure 2.

With the number 200, Figure 2 indicates the system for detecting interpersonal distances as a whole, and with the numbers 101 and 102 two people are represented who are using this system, and who each wear an electronic label indicated with the number 210.

The number 220 indicates an indoor radio base station, representative of a radio access telecommunications network, which covers the entire environment where the people who use the interpersonal distance detection system 200 circulate. A computer system, able to monitor interpersonal distances, and indicated with the number 230, is also connected to the radio access telecommunications network 220.

The electronic labels 210 integrate within them a terminal enabled to access the radio access telecommunications network 220: therefore, said electronic labels 210 can transmit data to said computer system 230, and can receive configuration parameters from it.

Once mentioned the physical macro-elements of the interpersonal distance detection system 200, with the help of Figure 2, a particular feature of the electronic labels 210 is described which allows to correctly and effectively implement the detection of interpersonal distances.

The number 299 indicates a closed line surrounding the person 102 or, more precisely, the electronic label 210 worn by the person 102.

Electronic labels 210, in fact, also integrate a short-range radio transceiver, that supports radio transmissions at distances of a few meters. The line 299 can indifferently represent both an equipotential line of the transmission diagram and an equal gain line of the reception diagram of such a short-range radio transceiver.

In fact, if the short-range radio transceiver integrated in the electronic label 210 were purely omnidirectional, the line 299 would be circular, and the electronic label 210 would occupy its center. Instead, as will be better clarified with the aid of Figure 3, it is possible to construct the electronic label 210 so that the line 299 is not circular and in such a way that the electronic label 210 is not in the center of the area delimited by the line 299.

If the line 299 represents an equipotential line of the transmission diagram, the fact that it is more distant from the person 102 from the side in front of the person, and closer behind him, means that the radio transmission is more powerful in front of the person 102 and weaker behind him. This effect also correctly simulates the contagion potential of the person 102 who, if infected, could infect people at a certain distance if they are in front of him, while the people should be closer to this person, to be infected, if they were at his shoulders.

If, on the other hand, the line 299 represents a line of equal gain in the reception diagram, the fact that it is more distant from the person 102 from the side in front of the person, and closer behind him, means that the radio reception is more sensitive frontally to the person 102 and less sensitive behind him. This effect also correctly simulates the risk for the person 102 to be infected: in fact, if the person 102 approaches an infected person, it could be infected by a more distant person if this person is in front of him, but by a closer person if behind him.

For optimal operation of the interpersonal distance detection system 200, it is sufficient that: the transmission diagram referred to the short-range radio transceiver of the electronic label 210 allows to draw an equipotential transmission line that approximates the active contagion area of the person wearing this label 210, and the reception diagram referred to the short-range radio transceiver of the electronic label 210 allows to draw a line of equal gain that approximates the passive contagion area of the person wearing this label 210.

Therefore, by adjusting the reception and transmission diagrams of the electronic label 210 in this way, approximately as indicated in Figure 2, it is possible to define a first fixed threshold of power of the received signal, to determine the “warning distance” (event that should at least be reported to the persons concerned), and a second fixed threshold of power of the received signal, to determine the "critical distance" of contagion risk (event to be communicated to the IT system for managing interpersonal distances 230).

In short, by correctly taking care of the way in which said electronic labels 210 are to be worn, and their reception and transmission diagrams, it is possible to create a system that automatically detects “critical” and “warning” distances, i.e. distances varying with respect to the orientation of people, just making power measurements of a radioelectric signal. It is noted that these measurements are easily performed, and the detection of the “warning distance” or the "critical distance" can be correctly carried out by comparing each power measurement with constant thresholds, although the distances to be detected are not constant, in the general case. Figure 3, while offering a very synthetic schematic (and as such omitting numerous other details), presents in a slightly more complete way how an electronic label can be implemented, suitable to be used to create the distance detection system interpersonal 200 according to the teachings of the present invention.

The number 210 indicates the electronic label as a whole. Some essential components are integrated in it.

The number 212 indicates a terminal enabled to access the radio access communications network 220, and therefore suitable for exchanging data with the computer system 230 for managing data associated with interpersonal distances.

The number 214 indicates a short-range radio transmitter designed to transmit a signal containing at least the unique identification code of said electronic label 210.

The number 215 indicates a short-range radio receiver designed to receive the signals transmitted by said electronic labels 210 containing their identification code.

The number 216 indicates an element for attenuating radio frequency signals. Said attenuation element 216 contains both said short-range radio transmitter 214 and said short-range radio receiver 215 and has different attenuation characteristics according to the transmission and reception direction. A simple, but not the only, way to obtain this differentiation of the attenuation characteristics is to make this element as a casing of homogeneous material but with different thicknesses (as represented in Figure 3).

The use of an attenuation element 216, to be coupled to a short-range radio transmitter 214 or a short-range radio receiver 215, allows to use an omnidirectional radio transmitter 214 and radio receiver 215 and to shape in the desired way (for example as suggested with the aid of Figure 2) the transmission and reception diagrams by means of the attenuation element 216.

However, other forms of implementation are also possible which allow the realization of receivers and transmitters with reception and transmission diagrams suitably shaped according to the direction of reception and transmission.

In other forms of implementation, the bundle comprising the transmitter 214, the receiver 215 and the attenuation element 216, understood as distinguishable elements, can be replaced by a highly integrated transceiver element.

What is important, for implementing the teachings of the present invention, is that said electronic label 210 comprises a short-range radio transmitter element arranged to transmit an identification signal, in all directions, according to a predetermined spatial radiation diagram, seen on the horizontal plane (obviously, except in very special cases, the irradiation upwards or downwards are not relevant, given that the other people typically move on the same plane); in the same way it is necessary that said electronic label 210 also includes a short-range radio receiver element arranged to receive said identification signals transmitted by other wearable electronic labels which are within a reception distance determined by a predetermined spatial reception diagram.

The number 211 then indicates the computing means that perform some functions, the most important of which are: the management of the transmission of an identification signal via the radio transmitter 214, a first processing of the data acquired through the radio receiver 215, the management of the local alarm device 213, and the exchange of data, via the terminal 212, with the computer system configured for the management of data associated with interpersonal distances 230.

With reference to the management of said local alarm device 213, it is specified that it can be physically implemented in various ways, as long as it is suitable to signal to the person, who wears an electronic label 210, the fact that it is at a distance of attention from another person (who also wears an electronic label 210), that is a distance not yet so close as to constitute a substantial risk of contagion, but close enough to pay attention because a further shift, even small, of one of the two people would take them to a risky distance, that is a distance to be reported to the computer system 230 for the management of data associated with interpersonal distances.

Therefore, the local alarm device 213 can be implemented by an element producing a sound signal, or by an element that enters in vibration, or by an element that transmits a signal to another personal device of the person wearing the electronic label 210, to which to delegate the effective alarm signaling; it cannot be excluded that in the contexts of use of this system for detecting interpersonal distances 200 according to the invention, people are also required to wear other devices (for example, suitable PPE - Personal Protective Equipment).

With reference to the exchange of data with the computer system 230 for the management of data associated with interpersonal distances, it can be observed that this can be a fairly complex exchange of data. The essential communication consists in the transmission, by the label 210, of a message produced every time the label 210 reaches a "critical distance" with another label 210, i.e. corresponding to a distance between the two people who wear the two labels 210 so close as to constitute a substantial risk of contagion. This message must at least contain an identification data of the two electronic labels 210 and a time stamp indicating the moment in which this event occurred.

It is noted that, this transmission allows an easy management of the confidentiality of the data, since the electronic labels 210 are individually associated to people, but this association is known only at the level of the IT system 230 for the management of data associated with interpersonal distances, and only in this system it is possible to trace the couple of people who have run the risk of contagion. It is therefore easy to take care of the confidentiality of the data with appropriate IT security policies applied on a well-confined system. Not to mention that even the transmissions in the air can be easily encrypted to avoid their simple interception.

Further useful information that could be transmitted are: a quantitative data representative of the temporal trend of the measured power in the time interval in which it remains above said second threshold ("critical distance" threshold), and a proximity duration data, i.e. the duration of said time interval indicated in the previous point, given that the electronic label 210 can produce such duration data as it is equipped with a clock.

These data allow, in the subsequent analysis phase, to quantify the risk of contagion with greater accuracy, as they are indicative of how close the two people have been, and how long.

The transmission from the computer system 230 to the labels 210 may also be of some importance for improving the operation of the system 200.

For example, some operating configuration parameters of some electronic labels 210, or all of them, can be modified by varying the comparison thresholds depending on the particular PPE supplied to the people who wear them, or these thresholds can be changed only limited to the cases in which specific electronic labels are approached, to take into account the fact that some couples of people must necessarily carry out operations in close contact with each other, or to take into account that only certain people are equipped with particular PPE that substantially limit their contagiousness.

Other types of communication involving the exchange of data from the computer system 230 to the labels 210, may concern the execution of diagnostic procedures or tests of the electronic labels 210, for example to check the state of charge of the batteries.

Still further communications could be envisaged if said electronic labels were enriched with further components, dedicated to other functions. In fact, in a context of increasing computerization of working environments, of progressive diffusion of loT platforms, and of continuous miniaturization of electronics, it is foreseeable that a device such as the label 210 can integrate other sensors to support other functions: for example detection of biomedical parameters of the person (body temperature, heart rate, etc.), or movement and acceleration data indicative of movements inconsistent with the operations to be carried out (such as, for example, the fall to the ground). Per completezza, In Figura 3, con il numero 217 e infine indicato un elemento di alimentazione, ad esempio una batteria, la cui funzione e quella di alimentare tutti i componenti di detta etichetta elettronica 210.

For completeness, in Figure 3, the number 217 finally indicates a power supply element, for example a battery, whose function is to feed all the components of said electronic label 210.

Variants and Concluding Remarks

Ultimately, the system for detecting interpersonal distances 200, made according to the teachings of the present invention, appears very effective to support various methods of monitoring the risk of mutual contagion between people who are part of an organization, in which they are called to operate by sharing a work environment.

Furthermore, the system for detecting interpersonal distances 200, made according to the teachings of the present invention, is also suitable for implementing the indications published on March 31 , 2020 by the ECDC (European Center for Disease prevention and Control) in the Technical Report “Contact tracing: Public health management of persons, including healthcare workers, having had contact with COVID-19 cases it the European Union - first update”. Therefore, it is a system naturally predisposed to satisfy in the long run, and in a widespread way, the needs of management and control of interpersonal distances, as it is consistent with the approach that has been given to the question of the "Contact Tracing”.

In fact, not only the system 200 produce reliable data on proximity relationships based on an architecture that does not require particular infrastructure of the work environment, but it is also very flexible in terms of configurability and produces data that has been generated having in mind, since the beginning, their use.

Therefore, the database that is made up within the computer system 230 for the management of data associated with interpersonal distances allows to generate extremely significant graphs of proximity relationships among the operators of an organization, and said graphs of proximity well express the real risk of contagion that these proximity relationships have determined. And from these graphs it is possible to extract clusters of individuals who have been in direct or indirect relationship with any infected subjects, thus being able to implement consequent measures only on the really interested population, also having a quantitative awareness of the level of risk to be attributed to each individual. Furthermore, the database can be used to create theoretical models: useful aid for planning any operational reorganizations and for simulating their effects. It is also important to highlight, in general, that the present invention lends itself to numerous variations, while maintaining the claimed prerogatives.

Some of these variants have also already been mentioned, they consist in resorting to functional components based on different technologies to create the different elements integrated in the electronic label 210, provided that these perform the indicated functions. Therefore, the radio communication network 220 covering the environment in which people wearing said electronic labels 210 operate, in the typical form of implementation, is a 802.11 (or 802.15) "wireless" network, but nothing prevents you from implementing the invention based on different network technologies, for example if in the near future other de facto standards should emerge in the context of loT or 5G scenarios.

Even the technologies with which to create the "tags" can be chosen from a plurality of technological offers, ranging from the various RFID (Radio frequency IDentification) technologies to the BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) technology, to other technologies, also not yet established, but which could appear in the near future.

The local alarm device 213, as already mentioned, also lends itself to numerous variants.

In addition, the electronic label 210, in particular, can be developed in different size and shape, as well as may vary the mutual position with which the various described components are integrated into it.

In particular, it is not the object of the present invention to indicate the materials with which to make said electronic label 210. In fact, it is possible to use different materials, with different properties, to make the support and the casing thereof, so achieving advantages in relation to the comfort or the ease required to properly wear the device.

Therefore, said electronic label 210 can be shaped and arranged to be worn as a card to hang on the neck or to be pinned to the chest, or it can be arranged to be placed on people's heads, for example applied to a headdress or a mask to face protection. In general, said electronic label 210 can be shaped in all possible ways which allow it to be worn in a way which guarantees correct operation.

Even the processing flow of the information obtained from the sensors can be carried out according to some variants. With regard to this aspect, we repeat that what characterizes the invention is the fact that, starting from information relating to the reception of a short-range radio frequency signal, and associating it with a time stamp, it is possible to reconstruct a relationship of proximity between two electronic labels 210, being able to distinguish a “warning distance” and a “critical distance” which implies a risk of contagion.

Other possible variants for the present invention could be linked to the evolution of electronic technologies in general (which are evolving towards an ever greater miniaturization and towards an ever lower power requirement), so that the system for detecting interpersonal distances 200 indicated in the invention could, for example, integrate additional sensors capable of supporting further applications useful for the operation and safety of the staff of an organization.

Therefore, especially in the context of these evolutionary scenarios, the invention lends itself to incorporating and supporting further development and improvement efforts, capable of improving the performance of the described system. Therefore, many further developments can be made by the man skilled in the art without thereby departing from the scope of the invention as it results from this description and from the attached claims which form an integral part of this description; or, if said developments are not included in the present description, they may be subject to further patent applications associated with, or dependent on, the present invention.

Claims

1. System for detecting interpersonal distances (200) between people associated with an active and passive risk of contagion, i.e. people for whom there is a significant risk that they infect other people operating in the same environment and who are around them within an active contagion area, and for whom there is a significant risk that they are infected by other people operating in the same environment and who are around them within a passive contagion area, and said system includes at least: a plurality of wearable electronic labels (210) adapted to transmit its own univocal identification signal and a radio communication network (220) covering the environment where people who wear said electronic labels (210) operate, and to which each of said electronic labels (210) is enabled to access, at least one computer system (230) connected to said communication network, and configured for the management of data associated with interpersonal distances; and said system for detecting interpersonal distances (200) is characterized in that, each of said wearable electronic labels (210) has at least the following characteristics: a. it comprises a short-range radio transmitter (214) designed to transmit said identification signal, in all directions on the horizontal plane, according to a predetermined spatial radiation diagram, the shape of which is a function of said active contagion area around the person wearing said electronic label (210), b. it comprises a short-range radio receiver (215) designed to receive said identification signals transmitted by said wearable electronic labels (210) which are within a reception distance determined by a predetermined spatial reception diagram, the shape of which is a function of said area of passive contagion around the person wearing said electronic label, c. it comprises an access terminal (212) to said radio communication network

(220), d. it comprises a local alarm device (213), e. it comprises computing means (211) equipped with a clock and configured for: i. processing said identification signals received by said short-range radio receiver (214) and comparing their intensity with a first threshold of predetermined intensity, and with a second threshold of predetermined intensity, greater than said first threshold, ii. if the intensity of said identification signal received is greater than said first threshold, transmitting an alarm command to said local alarm device (213), iii. if the intensity of said identification radio signal received is also greater than said second threshold, transmitting a message to said computer system (230) connected to said radio communication network (220), containing at least the identification of the electronic label (210 ) which transmitted said identification radio signal greater than said second threshold, and the time stamp referring to the moment of reception.

2. System for detecting interpersonal distances (200) according to claim 1 , wherein said message also contains: a. a quantitative data representative of the time function of the measured power in the time interval in which it remains above said second threshold, b. a data of duration of said time interval indicated in the previous point "a".

3. System for detecting interpersonal distances (200) according to claim 1 wherein said spatial radiation diagram of said short range radio transmitter (214) is shaped by an attenuation element (216) to which it is coupled.

4. System for detecting interpersonal distances (200) according to claim 1 wherein said spatial reception diagram of said short range radio receiver (215) is shaped by an attenuation element (216) to which it is coupled.

5. System for detecting interpersonal distances (200) according to claim 1 wherein said local alarm device (213) is adapted to produce a sound signal, when it receives said alarm command from said computing means (211).

6. System for detecting interpersonal distances (200) according to claim 1 wherein said local alarm device (213) is adapted for entering into vibration, when it receives said alarm command from said computing means (211).

7. System for detecting interpersonal distances (200) according to claim 1 wherein said local alarm device (213) is configured to transmit a signal to another personal device of the person wearing the electronic label (210), when it receives said alarm command from said computing means (211).

8. System for detecting interpersonal distances (200) according to claim 1 , wherein said computing means (211) are configured to transmit operating configuration parameters to said electronic labels (210).

9. System for detecting interpersonal distances (200) according to claim 1 , wherein said computing means (211) are configured to exchange data with said electronic labels (210) to perform diagnostic procedures.

10. System for detecting interpersonal distances (200) according to claim 1 , wherein said electronic labels (210) are shaped and arranged to be worn as a card to hang on the neck or to be pinned to the chest. 11. System for detecting interpersonal distances (200) according to claim 1 , wherein said electronic labels (210) are arranged to be applied to a face protection mask, or to a headgear.