Emergency situations may require evacuation of a building or outdoor area. However, the shortest evacuation route may not be the fastest or safest due to the presence of perils or other obstructions. Such impediments may not be readily visible to the population being evacuated. Further, the best route for each person may not be the same or may change dynamically.
We propose an array of communicating sensors. When sensors detect an obstruction or fail to communicate (due to being destroyed), the system enters an emergency mode. In this mode, active lighting fixtures pan each room or passage way (street or hall) to pervasively display directional queues denoting the safest route for people or vehicles to travel.
Processing by the system would include a cellular decomposition of the area so that safe paths are computed in real time and each light fixture given commands on which travel direction to suggest. Sensors status would denote which cells represent safe paths.
Example—Metropolitan Museum of Art
Nearest stairwell blocked. Cells broken down by gallery space. An alternate route is chosen through safe cells.
Example—Washington DC
Pennsylvania Avenue to I395 is blocked. Cells broken down roughly by sensor placement at major intersections. An alternate route is chosen through safe cells.
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