Patent Application
20140089024
The present invention relates in general to a control device and in particular to a control device, a method and a computer program product for providing a recommendation for at least one physical environment for an activity and for providing a recommendation for at least one activity in a physical environment.
More and more open plan office workspaces are currently being deployed. Also, flexible workspaces where workers (such as employees and users) do not have their own office or dedicated workstation are getting more common. In such physical environments workers must find a suitable location to work each day. Some companies are already practicing this way of working.
In such physical environments workers are often disturbed by other workers. Further, everyday it may take some time for each worker to find a suitable location to work. Also, depending on certain criteria, each worker may favor different locations ranging from dark and enclosed to bright and open, which may or may not be provided with task lights, spots, cocoon areas, etc.
The choice of location (i.e. physical environment) often depends on the type of work that is to be undertaken. For example, for reading documents it may be desirable to work in a quiet location with spot lighting. E-mails may be read while chatting with colleagues; writing activities or sorting out files are preferably performed in a bright but quiet location; projects on which people work in teams are preferably performed in a large meeting area. Thus, each activity may impose different demands on the location.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome these problems and provide means for giving a recommendation for at least one physical environment for an activity.
According to a first aspect of the invention, these and other objects are achieved by means of a control device for providing a recommendation for at least one physical environment for an activity, the control device being arranged to receive user input relating to at least one activity, access historical sensor data from at least one sensor associated with a physical environment to create a time line of sensor measurements for the physical environment, receive current sensor data from the at least one sensor associated with the physical environment to create a snapshot of sensor measurements for the physical environment, predict future environmental conditions for the physical environment by combining the time line of sensor measurements with the snapshot of sensor measurements, correlate the predicted future environmental conditions with data pertaining to the at least one activity, and provide a result of the correlation to a user interface so as to provide a recommendation for the at least one physical environment for the at least one activity.
According to a second aspect of the invention, the above and other objects are achieved by means of a control device for providing a recommendation for at least one activity in a physical environment, the control device being arranged to receive user input relating to a physical environment, access historical sensor data from at least one sensor associated with the physical environment to create a time line of sensor measurements for the physical environment, receive current sensor data from the at least one sensor associated with the physical environment to create a snapshot of sensor measurements for the physical environment, predict future environmental conditions for the physical environment by combining the time line of sensor measurements with the snapshot of sensor measurements, correlate the predicted future environmental conditions with data pertaining to at least one activity, and provide a result of the correlation to a user interface so as to provide a recommendation for the at least one activity in the physical environment.
The control device may thus enable efficient resource allocation and management by taking into account previous and current sensor data.
The user interface may be an integrated part of the control device. This may advantageously result in a compact control device.
The control device may be a mobile phone. The control device may thus be embodied as a (personal and) portable device.
The historical and/or current sensor data may relate to at least one tangible and/or intangible measurement. The at least one tangible measurement may be indicative of the number and/or type of luminaires, furniture, computer equipment and/or windows. The at least one intangible measurement may be indicative of the noise level, light level, temperature, air quality, humidity, air and/or condition level.
The control device may further be arranged to receive manually inputted user input relating to the physical environment and/or the data pertaining to the at least one activity.
The control device may further be arranged to store the snapshot of sensor measurements for the physical environment in an environment profile. The control device may further be arranged to access the at least one stored environment profile and compare the at least one stored environment profile with a snapshot of sensor measurements for a current physical environment.
The data pertaining to at least one activity may be associated with at least one calendar item. The at least one calendar item may be an appointment item, meeting item, or event item. The calendar may be a Microsoft Outlook calendar, a Google calendar, or the like. The control device may further be arranged to access data associated with at least one further calendar item, and to provide an indication of the at least one further calendar item to the user interface.
According to a third aspect of the invention, the above and other objects are achieved by means of a method of providing a recommendation for at least one physical environment for an activity, said method comprising receiving user input relating to at least one activity, accessing historical sensor data from at least one sensor associated with a physical environment to create a time line of sensor measurements for the physical environment, receiving current sensor data from the at least one sensor associated with the physical environment to create a snapshot of sensor measurements for the physical environment, predicting future environmental conditions for the physical environment by combining the time line of sensor measurements with the snapshot of sensor measurements, correlating the predicted future environmental conditions with data pertaining to the at least one activity, and providing a result of the correlation to a user interface so as to provide a recommendation for the at least one physical environment for the at least one activity.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, the above and other objects are achieved by means of a method of providing a recommendation for at least one activity in a physical environment, said method comprising receiving user input relating to a physical environment, accessing historical sensor data from at least one sensor associated with the physical environment to create a time line of sensor measurements for the physical environment, receiving current sensor data from the at least one sensor associated with the physical environment to create a snapshot of sensor measurements for the physical environment, predicting future environmental conditions for the physical environment by combining the time line of sensor measurements with the snapshot of sensor measurements, correlating the predicted future environmental conditions with data pertaining to at least one activity, and providing a result of the correlation to a user interface so as to provide a recommendation for the at least one activity in the physical environment.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, the above and other objects are achieved by means of a computer program product stored on a non-volatile storage medium and comprising software instructions which, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to perform a method as disclosed above.
The disclosed embodiments thus provide means for people working in flexible office environments to locate easily spaces which suit their needs for the current work task. A suitability rating can be generated in real time by using historical data mined from embedded sensors in the offices in conjunction with a user's preferences as to how he would like a location to be, for example by indicating an activity to be performed. This enables employees to find locations which can suit not only their tangible needs (i.e. luminaires, lighting infrastructure, furniture, equipment, windows etc.) but also their intangible and personal needs (i.e. temperature, artificial and natural light level, busyness, noise levels, humidity, temperature, activity, air quality etc.). The disclosed embodiments thus provide means to understand the past, the present and the predicted future of an environment (tangible aspects) and the atmosphere (intangible aspects). The disclosed embodiments will thus enable employees working in flexible office spaces to decide whether a location is suitable for their needs, based on rational and real information rather than a quick, subjective judgment as is the case at this moment in time.
It is noted that the invention relates to all possible combinations of features recited in the claims.
These and other aspects of the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the appended drawings showing embodiment(s) of the invention, in which
The present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which currently preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided for thoroughness and completeness, and fully convey the scope of the invention to the person skilled in the art. Like reference characters refer to like elements throughout.
The present invention will be described in the context of an activity which is to be performed in one physical environment selected from a plurality of different physical environments so as to estimate the correlation between the activity and the physical environment(s). In turn, each physical environment may be associated with a plurality of different settings and measurements. These settings and measurements may be used when performing the correlation. The settings and measurements may be sensed or measured by a plurality of sensors.
Such a plurality of physical environments may represent a scenario where different types of workplaces, such as open plan office workspaces, are deployed in a single workplace, and where each type of workplace corresponds to one type of physical environment. When persons working in such a workplace arrive at the building where they work, their first task of the day commonly is to find and select a suitable place to work, depending on the kind of work to be performed, i.e. the activity that is to be performed. If a first location is selected and it is later discovered that the selected location is not suitable for the work to be performed (e.g. the location is too noisy, too busy, too dark, too bright, too hot, etc.), the worker could be forced to pack up his/her things and start searching for another, more suitable second location. This process could represent a major impediment to an employee's performance, since working conditions can seriously affect concentration and productivity. Being able to find a good place to work (i.e. to find a suitable physical environment for a certain activity) straight away will save the employee time and effort and will reduce office stress and frustration. The indication that the location is too noisy, too busy, too dark, too bright, too hot, and the like, may be reflected by values of parameters stored in a matrix (or vector) relating to measurements and/or settings of sensors and/or actuators in each respective physical environment. Herein are disclosed means to ease and smoothen the process of finding a good place to work that suits an employee's individual needs and desires.
The system further comprises a plurality of infrastructure elements 106 representing further actuators and devices producing output. The infrastructure elements 106 may thus represent lighting infrastructures, audio outputs, visual outputs, scent, air conditioning control, air filtration, sound masking/dampening etc. These actuators and output devices may also broadcast their presence and status in any given environment.
The plurality of sensors 104 and the plurality of infrastructure elements 106 may be part of, or operatively coupled to, a network 108. The network 108 may be an internal network (intranet) or part of an external network (internet). The network 108 may thus be used by the plurality of sensors 104 and the plurality of infrastructure elements 106 to broadcast their presence, status, and/or produced data to other devices.
Within the physical environments in which data is sensed and processed by the plurality of sensors 104 and the plurality of infrastructure elements 106, people will be present much of the time and thus will also influence and provide data for the sensors to mine. Particularly, people may be able to provide personal information to the system relating to their current physiological and biological situation (sleepy, tired, energized, happy, etc) and/or to provide pre-programmed information stored on (personal) user devices 112 operatively coupled to the network 108. Such pre-programmed information may inter alia relate to working schedules, appointments, and preferences.
As will be discussed in more detail below, data from the plurality of sensors 104, the infrastructure elements 106 and the user devices 112 may be useful, so that people can find out whether a location can physically meet their needs or desires. The data from the plurality of sensors 104, the infrastructure elements 106 and the user devices 112 may be (wirelessly) transmitted through the network 108 to a device which has authorization to receive the sensed data.
Particularly, the sensed data may be received by a control device 100 which preferably comprises a processing unit 102. The control device 100 may be a central server device or a personal device, such as a mobile phone. The streams of data received from the plurality of sensors 104, the infrastructure elements 106 and/or the user devices 112 may thus be monitored and analyzed by the processing unit 102 of the central or individual control device 100. The control device 100 may in particular be arranged for providing a recommendation for at least one physical environment for a given specific activity. Likewise, the control device 100 may in particular be arranged for providing a recommendation for at least one activity in a given specific physical environment. In order to do so, the control device 100 (particularly the processing unit 102 thereof) needs to be arranged so as to perform a number of functionalities. These functionalities will now be described with reference to the flowcharts illustrated in
The control device 100 may receive user input relating to at least one activity, step S2. The activity may correspond to an activity that a user is to perform. Typical activities include, but are not limited to, reading documents, reading/writing E-mails, writing or sorting out files, having a person-to-person meeting, working on a project in a team. The received activity may be stored as a matrix (or vector) in the control device 100, wherein the values of the elements of the matrix (or vector) reflect the received activity. Thus, different activities may be distinguished through the matrix (or vector) values. For example, each activity (such as reading documents, reading/writing E-mails, writing or sorting out files, having a person-to-person meeting, working on a project in a team) may be reflected by one or more elements of the matrix (or vector).
The data pertaining to at least one activity may be associated with at least one calendar item. The at least one calendar item may be an appointment item, meeting item, or event. The control device may be further arranged to access data associated with at least one further calendar item, and to provide an indication of the at least one further calendar item to the user interface. Thus, the user may see ongoing and future planned activities for the physical environment.
The control device 100 may also use input relating to a particular physical environment, step S22. The physical environment may correspond to a location where a user is to perform an activity. Typical physical environments include, but are not limited to, workplaces with a fixed number of workspaces in an open plan office, meeting rooms, personal offices. The physical environment may also relate to fixtures and furniture. Information regarding the physical environment may be received in the form of manual user input. Thus, a user may specify a particular physical environment in which he/she is to perform an activity. Properties of each physical environment may be stored as values in a matrix (or vector).
Upon reception of the at least one activity or the physical environment, the (processing unit 102 of the) control device 100 may record a timeline of sensor activity or a history of the states of (different) physical environments. This can provide historical information with respect to how a physical environment has been used and the type of activities that have taken place in the physical environment. Particularly, for this purpose, the (processing unit 102 of the) control device 100 accesses historical sensor data from at least one sensor 104 associated with the physical environment, step S4, S24. As a result, the control device 100 creates a (virtual) time line of sensor measurements for the physical environment. The processing unit 102 may then monitor and interpret them and provide feedback information in a meaningful way to users when they need it. The accessed historical sensor data may be stored in a database 110. The database 110 may be part of the control device 100 or it may be operatively coupled to the control device 100.
Further, the control device 100 may maintain an up to date snapshot of the current environmental situation of the particular locations concerned. Particularly, for this purpose, the control device 100 receives current sensor data, from the at least one sensor 104, associated with the physical environment to create a snapshot of sensor measurements for the physical environment, step S6, S26. The thus generated snapshot of sensor measurements for the physical environment may be stored in an environment profile. The environment profile may be stored in the database 110. Such stored environment profiles may later be accessed by the control device 100 in order for the control device 100 to compare the at least one stored environment profile with a snapshot of sensor measurements for a current physical environment.
Then, the historical environmental states stored in the database 110 may be linked to the current snapshot data. The combined historical data and the current snapshot data may then be extrapolated to the future, thus providing a forecast of how the physical environment may change over time. Particularly, for this purpose, (processing unit 102 of the) control device 100 predicts, by combining the time line of sensor measurements with the snapshot of sensor measurements, future environmental conditions for the physical environment, step S8, S28. The historical and/or current sensor data may in particular relate to at least one tangible and/or intangible measurement. The at least one tangible measurement may be indicative of the number and/or type of luminaires, furniture, computer equipment and/or windows. The at least one intangible measurement may be indicative of noise level, audio level, light level, temperature, air quality, humidity, and/or air conditioning level. The values of the tangible and intangible measurements may be stored as values in a matrix (or vector) for each physical environment.
The predicted future environmental conditions could be linked to recommender systems and room reservation systems, so that employees can see in advance if a meeting room is a suitable location for their needs. Likewise, the predicted future environmental conditions could be directly set off against at least one activity. Particularly, in order to set off the predicted future environmental conditions against at least one activity, the (processing unit 102 of the) control device 100 correlates the predicted future environmental conditions with data pertaining to the at least one activity, step S10, S30.
The correlation may be performed as a matrix (or vector) correlation. For example, as noted above, each room in a building (wherein each room corresponds to a respective physical environment) could be represented by a matrix (or vector) of historical and current sensor data measured for the room. Similarly, each activity could be represented by values of a number of settings pertaining to tangible and intangible aspects. These values could in turn be represented by a matrix (or vector). Then, the matrix (or vector) representing the sensor data could be correlated with the matrix (or vector) representing the activity, wherein the correlation result provides an indication of the suitability.
Values in the matrices (or vectors) could be scalable, weighted, or have different details levels. For example, a first representation could include average values throughout a period of one day, whereas a second representation being more detailed than the first representation could include average values for each hour. Properties such as scaling, weighting, or different details levels may be applied to both the sensor matrix (or vector) and the preference/activity matrix (or vector). Feedback in this respect could be timed, thereby enabling the control device 100 to provide the recommendation that a certain physical environment (say, “Room number: 123”) will be suitable for a certain activity (say, “Activity: Reading”) for two hours or in two hours, see
In addition, personal preferences (instantaneously generated or previously stored) do not have to be associated with a particular activity. For example, a user may have preferences for a higher than average light level because of problems with his eyesight, which will be an additional prerequisite irrespective of the user's (planned) activity. Such personal preferences may for example be stored in the database 110 or in the user device 112 and be accessible by the control device 100. Further, after spending a few hours in a particular environment, the user could record or otherwise mark some or all properties of this environment as most suitable for a specific activity. The combination of properties and activity may be stored in the database 110 or in the user device 112 and be accessible by the control device 100 and taken into consideration by the control device when performing correlations. Hence, the next time the user looks for an area for the same specific activity, physical environments that are very similar (i.e. having similar tangible and/or intangible properties) to the recorded environment may show a high level of correlation. Thus, the control device 100 may be arranged to receive such recording or markings and take them into consideration when performing the correlation.
Information resulting from the correlation could be provided in a meaningful and timely manner to the people who have expressed an interest in or need to know such information. Particularly, the information may be provided to a display 116. The display 116 may be part of the control device 100 or it may be operatively coupled to the control device 100. Particularly, for this purpose, if the control device 100 receives user input relating to at least one activity, it may provide a result of the correlation to a user interface so as to provide a recommendation for the at least one physical environment for the at least one activity, step S12. Likewise, if the control device 100 receives user input relating to a physical environment, it may provide a result of the correlation to a user interface so as to provide a recommendation for the at least one activity in the physical environment, step S32. Thus, based on collected historical data and snapshot data, the control device attempts to predict the appropriateness of the physical environment for a particular user—defined activity. The control device may then act as a dynamic recommender by remaining in a constant monitoring loop for monitoring the incoming data streams and thus update the recommendation in real time for the users. The system could also work in reverse, i.e. rather than the employee providing a preferred activity, the system could suggest, based on the data mined, what activities are suited for this area in its current state. In addition, the system can provide an overview of the activities currently undertaken and planned by people present in the environment.
The system of
As in
Further, as noted above, the control device 100 may be a central server device or a personal device, such as a mobile phone. The (processing unit 102 of the) control device 100 may access a computer program product (114) which comprises software instructions to perform a functionality of the control device 100. The software instructions may be stored on a non-volatile storage medium which may be an integral part of the control device 100 or they may be operatively coupled to the control device 100. Information generated by the control device 100 may be provided to a display 116. The display 116 may be part of the control device 100 or it may be operatively coupled to the control device 100.
The processing and analysis as disclosed above with reference to the flowchart of
Consequently, processing and collecting of data can be performed on different devices (e.g. a personal control device, a central server for the sensor infrastructure, or on every sensor separately). The data is then matched with the activity chosen and personal preferences and recommendations can be given.
In the illustrative example of
In order for the control device 300 to provide a recommendation for the physical environment “Room number: 123” for the at least one activity “Activity: Reading”, or to provide a recommendation for the activity “Activity: Reading” in the physical environment “Room number: 123”, the control device 300 has performed processing and analysis as disclosed above with reference to the flowchart of
As noted above, the control device may be a mobile phone. A computer program product comprising software instructions may thus be provided in the form of application software which may be downloaded to the control device 300 from a server. When executed on the control device 300, the application software thus collects historical and current sensor data in order to calculate a recommendation. Alternatively, the application software may access a central server at which the calculations and data gathering may be performed.
The person skilled in the art will realize that the present invention is by no means limited to the preferred embodiments described above. On the contrary, many modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims. The present invention can for example be extended to other spaces that are (or can readily be) provided with a network of data mining sensors, such as waiting areas, public outdoor spaces, in order to find a quiet spot in an airport or avoid crowded spaces in a public park. Moreover, although the disclosed embodiments have been given in an office domain context, other domains may also be of interest for the present invention, such as hospitality or retail where a visual merchandiser can easily see whether or not the lighting infrastructure can render a particular scene for a shop window display.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11167669.8 | May 2011 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2012/052281 | 5/8/2012 | WO | 00 | 11/22/2013 |
