[001] The present disclosure relates generally to a threat determination system and more
particularly relates to maintaining social distancing within a facility and threats of contagious
generated due to breach thereof.
BACKGROUND
[002] In today's world, communicable diseases such as viral / bacterial infections, are quite
common yet dangerous health concerns for human beings of all ages. Such diseases spread
extremely fast and easily when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks, and droplets from their
mouth or nose are launched into the air and land in the mouths or noses of people nearby.
[003] Workplaces, in particular, are prone to spread of contagious diseases, which are caused by
bacterial and viral infections because of high footfall, physical interaction with professionals /
workers with each other, closed room meetings etc. Particularly, communicable diseases, such as
COVID-19 caused by Novel Corona Virus, has changed the way in which professionals interact
with each other. The most important concern with such virus is that healthy human is the carrier,
and the virus enters human body via nose, eyes and mouth. To prevent others from getting
affected, it is important that every human being maintains enough physical distance with others so
as to prevent virus from getting transmitted especially while, talking, sneezing, coughing and/or
while rubbing his/her eyes post any of listed actions.
[004] Additionally, as the infection shows symptoms only after few days of being infected, it is
important that hand wash / sanitization hygiene is strictly followed in order to further prevent virus
to transmit from one to another via touching different objects/items around us. As per the
guidelines recommended by World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 6 feet (i.e., 2
meters) is an effective optimum distance that should be maintained between humans to ensure
social (physical) distancing while doing activities of his/her daily routine. Efforts are taken globally
to prevent disease spread by ensuring social (physical) distancing and in case of confirmation of any
case, contact tracing needs to be done to prevent others from falling sick and infecting more
humans.
[005] To address such problems, various regulations and / or changes have been passed in an
attempt to reduce the amount of unwanted communication. For example, conventional methods
include seating arrangements within the workplaces have been revisited to increase the distances; a
higher physical barrier is created between employee seats to reduce the spread of infectious droplets
3
due to a sneeze or cough; rotational remote work is implemented, where possible; the frequency of
office equipment shared between workers is minimized; regulations such as mandatory use of
hygiene facilities, after every predetermined period of time are provided; occupant-centric
guidelines are implemented to keep work areas free from large and dangerous crowds; and so on.
[006] However, while there are logistic challenges to comprehend the above regulations, these
still cannot ensure that safe distance between office workers is always maintained. Further, it needs
to be assured that contacts between professionals / workers are traced without any fail, which in
itself is a cumbersome and huge task.
[007] Moreover, in order to accurately and timely determine any new threats, the underlying
components of the associated threat parameters must be studied in detail and these threat
parameters must be made available to a threat determination system.
[008] Accordingly, there is a well felt need for systems and methods that address the abovementioned and other known problems in reliably detecting, evaluating and assessing threats and /
or risks, timely intimating the workers and protecting the facility from spread of such contagious
disease.
[009] Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and method that is capable of accurately
assess, determine and provide timely alert in case of threats caused by breach of social distancing.
Moreover, such a system needs to be flexible so that it can be utilized with the existing
infrastructure without requiring any changes therein.
SUMMARY
[0010] An object of the invention is to maintain a social distancing between the users present
within a facility, in real time.
[0011] Yet another object of the invention is to track and / or enforce a hygiene regulations in
accordance with a standard operating procedure, for all the users within the facility in a real time
basis.
[0012] It is yet another object of the invention to enable contact tracing of users who came in
contact with a patient infected with a communicable disease, such as COVID-19.
[0013] It is yet another object of the invention to provide an Internet of Things (IoT) based
system and method for providing safety and compliance in a facility, such as workplaces that is
available in online and offline modes of operation.
4
[0014] The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings
and the description below. Other aspects, features and advantages of the subject matter disclosed
herein will be apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.
[0015] In an aspect of the present invention, a system for maintaining and / or tracking social
distancing within a facility is disclosed. The system includes a plurality of tracking devices, each
carried by one of a user within the facility. Each of the tracking devices is connected to a back-end
server having a processor and memory configured to execute one or more programming
instructions embodied thereon.
[0016] The back-end server includes a data receiving component adapted to receive one or more
data-sets from each of the tracking devices. The received data-sets pertains at least to a real-time
location related information of the corresponding user within the facility. The back-end server is
further connected to one or more infection information sources comprising data-sets pertaining to
infection related information for one or more users within the facility. The back-end server further
includes a threat detection module adapted to assess proximity and / or infection threats associated
to each of the users within said facility. Particularly, the threat detection module is configured to
process one or more programming instructions embodied onto the memory in accordance with a
standard operating procedure (SOP) defined by a threat rule-set to detect any possible breach
thereof within the facility using the received location related data-sets and / or infection
information related data-sets. The back-end server further includes an alert generation module that
dynamically generates an interactive audio and / or a visual alert of the risks and / or threats to
one or more users on to the corresponding tracking devices.
[0017] In another aspect of the present invention, a method for maintaining and / or tracking
social distancing within a facility is disclosed. The method comprises receiving, at the back-end
server, a real time location related data sets from one or more tracking devices using a data
receiving component. The method further comprising processing collected data from the tracking
devices by implementing the programming instructions in accordance with a standard operating
procedure (SOP) defined by a threat rule-set to assess and determine if there is any possible threat
of another user coming in contact therewith and /or within a distance less than a threshold
distance, within the facility. The method further includes generating a threat notification for all the
users who are about to come in contact with each other and / or within a distance less than a
threshold distance. Further, the method may optionally provide remedial measure such as a
5
possible navigation within the facility, so that such a breach may be avoided, and a social distancing
is maintained between the users within the facility.
[0018] In yet another aspect of the present invention, a method for identifying threats related to
infection and / or hygiene, due to one or more users within a facility is disclosed. The method
comprises receiving, at the back-end server, a real time location related data sets from one or more
tracking devices using a data receiving component. The method comprises receiving, at the backend server, one or more data sets related to use of hygiene facilities by the users of tracking devices,
from the tracking devices and / or one or more hygiene stations within the facility. The method
further comprising processing collected data from the tracking devices and / or hygiene stations, in
combination with infection information sources by implementing the programming instructions in
accordance with a standard operating procedure (SOP) defined by a threat rule-set to assess and
determine if there is any possible infection / hygiene threat due to any of the users, within the
facility. The method further includes generating a threat notification all the users who are at risk,
either due to a contact with a possibly infected user and / who has not followed the hygiene
regulations as defined within the standard operating procedure of the facility. Further, the method
may optionally provide remedial measure such as a possible isolation due to contact tracing, and /
or other steps that may be followed to avoid breach of hygiene regulations. The method may
further optionally send remedial measures to the infected users which may help them in recovering
and / or reducing the impact of the infection and / or contagious disease as discovered.
[0019] Numerous additional features, embodiments, and benefits of the methods and apparatus
of the present invention are discussed below in the detailed description which follows.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0020] The accompanying drawings illustrate various embodiments of systems, methods, and
other aspects of the disclosure. Any person having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the
illustrated element boundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figures
represent one example of the boundaries. It may be that in some examples, one element may be
designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. In some
examples, an element shown as an internal component of one element may be implemented as an
external component in another, and vice versa. Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale.
[0021] FIG. 1 illustrates a system block diagram of a social distancing management system
according to one embodiment of the present invention.
6
[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary back-end server according to one embodiment of the
present invention.
[0023] FIGS. 3a to 3c illustrate an exemplary system environment in accordance with one
embodiment of the present invention.
[0024] FIGS. 4a through 4b illustrate an exemplary threat visualization environment in
accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.
[0025] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart depicting a method of managing social distancing and / or
threat detection according to one embodiment of the present invention.
[0026] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary hygiene station in accordance with one embodiment of
the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0027] The present disclosure is best understood with reference to the detailed figures and
description set forth herein. Various embodiments are discussed below with reference to the
figures. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed descriptions given
herein with respect to the figures are simply for explanatory purposes as the methods and systems
may extend beyond the described embodiments. For example, the teachings presented, and the
needs of a particular application may yield multiple alternate and suitable approaches to implement
the functionality of any detail described herein. Therefore, any approach may extend beyond the
particular implementation choices in the following embodiments described and shown.
[0028] The present invention relates to a social distance management system for ensuring that a
predetermined social distance is maintained between a plurality of users within a facility. The
system is adapted to determine threat of infection due to one or more possibly infected users and
particularly by contact tracing of each of the users, during a predetermined historical time period
with the one or more possibly infected users within the subject facility. The system is also adapted
to generate a visualization of contact of each user on a data visualization component of the tracking
device, preferably, in the form of an interactive dashboard. The system is further adapted to auto
generate various audio and / or visual alarms and / or remedial guidelines, such that the users who
are at risk may take up relevant precautions and / or remedial steps to recover from the infection.
In an embodiment, the remedial guidelines may include various measures such as lifestyle changes,
self-isolation, exercises, food habits, and the like to reduce the spread of and / or treatment of such
infections and / or contagious diseases. The system is generally provided in the form of a
7
graphically visualized client application that could be accessed with a computing device, preferably
in the form of a mobile application on an appropriate mobile device that could receive location and
/ or proximity data in addition to various sensor data using one or more kind of sensors. However,
in another embodiments, the system may be configured in the form of a web-based automated
service accessible on a generally known computing unit and / or back-end applications
communicating with the back-end server and sharing relevant information therewith.
[0029] Particularly, the system of the present invention is adapted to maintain a social distance
between a plurality of users, and as well, identify threats of infection and / or breach of standard
operating procedures within the facility on the basis of users’ real time location along with infection
information received from a plurality of information sources. It is to be understood that unless
otherwise indicated, this invention needs not be limited to applications for workplace facility. As
one of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, variations of the invention may be applied to other
possible distance management operations such as in field of industrial facilities, medical treatments,
including any other field of daily life where threat identification is required. Moreover, it should be
understood that embodiments of the present invention may be applied in combination with various
other management systems such as facility management systems, access management systems,
human resource management system, occupational management systems, clinical systems, and the
like, for various other possible applications. It must also be noted that, as used in this specification
and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” include plural referents unless the
context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, the term “a data-set” is intended to mean a
single data-set or a combination of data-sets, “an algorithm” is intended to mean one or more
algorithm for a same purpose, or a combination of algorithms for performing different program
executions.
[0030] References to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “at least one embodiment,” “one
example,” “an example,” “for example,” and so on, indicate that the embodiment(s) or example(s)
so described may include a particular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element, or
limitation, but that not every embodiment or example necessarily includes that particular feature,
structure, characteristic, property, element or limitation. Furthermore, repeated use of the phrase
“in an embodiment” does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment.
[0031] FIG. 1 illustrates a system block diagram of a social distance management system 100
according to the present invention. The system 100 includes a facility 150 having a plurality of
users, each recognized by a corresponding tracking device 110 connected to a backend server 120
8
through a communication medium 130. It is to be contemplated for a person skilled in the art that
a system environment can have any number of tracking devices 110 in accordance with the number
of users within the facility 150 and may have multiple systems 100 connected to each other.
[0032] Each of the tracking devices 110 includes a first communication interface 112, and a
second communication interface 114. In a preferred embodiment, the first communication
interface 112 is a low energy communication interface, preferably in the form of a Bluetooth
interface, adapted to communicate with one or more other first communication interfaces 112 of
other tracking device 110 present within a vicinity thereof. Further, the tracking devices 110
include a proximity determination module 116 adapted to determine a distance and / or time of
proximity with tracking devices 110 of other users within the facility, in a real time.
[0033] The second communication interface 114 is generally adapted to communicatively
connect the corresponding tracking device 110 to the back-end server 120 through the
communication medium 130. In a preferred embodiment, the second communication interface is a
high energy communication interface, generally in the form of a Wi-Fi interface, adapted to
communicate with the back-end server 120 through the communication medium 130, generally in
the form a network selected from one or more of but not limited to a WAN, Internet, Intranet, and
the like.
[0034] In an embodiment, the system 100 may further include one or more data sensors 140
adapted to be placed in contact with each of the users and / or tracking device 110 thereof and
configured to capture at least one physical / biological parameters related to the user. In a preferred
embodiment, the one or more data sensors 140 may be any conventionally known data sensors
suitable to sense at least one data type selected from the group consisting of temperature data,
physical activity data, biosensor data, cognitive data, and other specific indicators of viral symptoms
(e.g., cough, changes in the user's voice, breathe sensors, behavior patter, and the like). In a
preferred embodiment, the data sensor 140 is inbuilt to the tracking devices 110. However, in other
embodiments, the data sensors 140 may be operatively connected to the tracking devices 110 and
may be embodied in a plurality of ways. For example, in some embodiments, the data sensors 140
may be in form of wearable devices having one or more sensors for detecting one or more of the
subject's pulse rate, temperature, galvanic skin response, temperature, movement, etc. However, in
other embodiments, sensors 140 may comprise one or more imaging sensors of a camera, for
example, for collecting image data representative of the subject's facial expression, skin
temperature, and/or the like. In yet another embodiment, the data sensors 140 comprise one or
9
more electroencephalography (EEG) sensors in a headset, for example, for detecting the subject's
EEG response. Moreover, in additional embodiments, the data sensors 140 may include sensing
psychological reactions, measure the subject's non-verbal psycho-physical / psychological-physical
stress and behavior reaction while performing any activity and / or seating in front of their workstation. It is to be understood that any different numbers, combinations and arrangements of
sensors 140 could be used without deviating from the scope of the invention.
[0035] The back-end server 120 is generally a computing unit having one or more data-receiving
component 122 adapted to receive data-sets 115 from the plurality of tracking devices 110. The
data-sets 115 pertains at least to a real-time location related information, of each of the tracking
device 110 and may further include other data-sets such as information from data sensors 140 and
/ or other information from the tracking devices 110 such as including but not limited to user's
tracking device's 110 visit to a suspected location such as a hospital, health-checkup center, and the
like.
[0036] The back-end server 120 further includes a data repository 125 connected to a plurality of
infection information sources 126 and comprising a plurality of data-sets 127 pertaining to infection
threat information for each of the plurality of users of the facility 150. Particularly, the plurality of
information sources 126 include one or more in-facility data sources 126a storing information
received from one or more components / sub-systems present within the facility 150, and outfacility data sources 126b storing information received from one or more components / systems
external to the facility 150, and an on-device data source 126c storing infection threat information
received from the tracking devices 110. Such threat information may include one or more
information that may pertain even remotely to occurrence of an infection and or contagious
disease, in any of the users within the facility 150.
[0037] Examples of in-facility data set include various online and / or offline databases receiving
data from one or more components present internally within the facility, such as including but not
limited to sources such as access control systems, CCTV cameras, information from one or more
hygiene stations installed within the facility 150, various sensors installed across the facility,
physical security incidents, in-facility health-checkups, or any manual entries.
[0038] Examples of out-facility data set include but are not limited to various online and / or
offline database receiving data from one or more components present externally to the facility 150
such as remote database of hospitals, public database of patient information and health-checkup
center feeds.
10
[0039] In an embodiment, the data repository 125 may be connected to a remedial databases 165
comprising a plurality of remedial data sets 167, for example, including but not limited to a plurality
of infection related parameters and / or features dataset, health assessment reports comprising
assessments of infections within the user, remedial and / or treatment dataset comprising suggested
recommendations and / or lifestyle plan for treating said infection. In an embodiment, the data set
167 comprises historical database from a plurality of users of different age, demographic regions,
races, origin, socio-economic, biological considerations, and various other similar variations. In
some embodiments, the remedial data-sets may be collected from the external sources, such as
health care providers and research institutes, and/or the clinical data accumulated by the public
health recovery institutes.
[0040] In an embodiment, the data repository 125 including the remedial database 165 and the
plurality of data-sets 127, 167 are constantly upgraded on the basis of one or more learning models
selected from but not limited to Natural language processing (NLP), Deep Learning, Machine
Learning, statistical learning model, and the like.
[0041] In an embodiment, the back-end server 120 includes an infection threat determination
module 128 adapted to assess infection related threats for each of the users within said facility 150.
Particularly, the threat determination module 128 is configured to process the received data sets 115
in accordance with one or more programming instructions 180 in accordance with a standard
operating procedure (SOP) defined by a threat rule-set 160, so as to determine a social distancing
breach and / or a possible infection threat, by using the received data-sets 115, and the infection
related information data-sets 126 in accordance with the threat rule-set 160.
[0042] In a preferred embodiment, the threat rule-set 160 is a set of predetermined rules /
instructions / regulation in accordance with the standard operating procedure defined for the
facility 150, and is selected from one or more of but not limited to maintaining a threshold
distance between any two users, facilitating a mandatory and regular use of one or more hygiene
stations installed within the facility, avoiding a contact with of a possible infected user within the
facility, and / or determining any previous contact with possible infected user within the facility to
discover secondary threats thereat.
[0043] The set of programming instructions 180, is generally based on one or more deep learning
models and is configured to cause the back-end server 120 and / or the tracking devices 110 to
assess the proximity between the plurality of users within the facility 150, thereby determining
presence of one or more users within a first predetermined social distance from a first user
11
[corresponding tracking device 110] and / or to determine if there is any possible threat of another
user coming in contact therewith and / or within a distance less than a threshold distance. In a
preferred embodiment, the predetermined social distance ranges between 4 feet and 10 feet and
further preferably between 5 feet and 7 feet. The programming instructions 180 are further
configured to determine if there are any possible threats of contact and / or infection to any of the
users within the facility 150 on the basis of at least assessed proximity and / or infection threat
information and / or the one or more sensor data captured by the data sensors 140 in accordance
with the predetermined threat rule-set 160 of the facility 150. The programming instructions 180
are further configured to maintain a log of all the events occurring in relation to the social distance
management system 100 such as including but not limited to historical assessed proximity between
the users within the facility 150, along with each of the instance of breach of the threat rule set 160,
and / or use of one or more stations and / or equipment [not shown], within the facility 150.
[0044] In an embodiment of the present invention, the system 100 including the programming
instructions 180 and the implementation to process the data-sets 115 and / or the data repository
125 are based on a deep learning model wherein the model is particularly applied to upgrade the
data repository 125 including each of the data sets 127.
[0045] In an embodiment, the deep learning model includes a number of pre-processing steps
that are applied on the data stored in all the individual data sets 115, 127, 169. The pre-processing
steps may include cleansing the data to remove any inconsistencies and assigning weights to each of
the parameter for the consideration of assessments. Particularly, a list of parameters / features may
be determined at this step.
[0046] Further, the machine learning model and / or the deep learning model includes a learning
engine adapted to run a selected model (e.g., deep learning model, Random Forest, multi linear
regression, Multilayered, feed-forward neural networks, statistical model or the like) on the data sets
115, 127, 169, and partitions them into either a training dataset or a testing dataset. In a preferred
embodiment, the partitioning may apply an 80/20 split between the training dataset and the testing
dataset, respectively.
[0047] The learning engine operates to run the selected model on the training dataset to obtain a
resulting output from the model. For example, in a preferred embodiment, the selected model is
the Multilayered, feed-forward neural networks, with a Tensor flow backend to build and train the
neural networks.
12
[0048] The learning engine then selects and tunes other model arguments of the training dataset
to establish an error percentage. Once the error percentage is (i.e., accuracy) established, the
learning engine applies a ten-fold cross validation to establish a model stability of the selected
model Further, the learning engine operates dynamically by dynamically selecting the model
arguments for each run of the selected model.
[0049] Further, the learning engine operates a final model run on the testing dataset to confirm
whether the accuracy and/or fit of the selected model are within client acceptable limits or not. If
the accuracy and/or fit of the selected model is not within the client acceptable limits or if there are
more models left for consideration, a next model may be selected to begin the testing process over
again. When it is ascertained that the accuracy and/or fit of the selected model is within the client
acceptable limits or when there are no more models left for consideration, the selected model is
established for use to predict social distancing breach and / or infection threat determination for
one or more users within the facility 150.
[0050] In certain other embodiments, the programming instructions 180 may be based on any
predetermined threat assessment model selected from a statistical models (e.g., linear regression,
non-linear regression, Monte Carlo simulation), heuristic models (e.g., neural networks, fuzzy logic
models, expert system models, state vector machine models useful in risk and safety prediction),
and so on, that may be used to predict a social distancing breach, well in advance and / or
possibility of undesired contact between the users [tracking devices 110] within the facility 150.
[0051] In some embodiments, the back-end server 120 further includes a remedy determination
module 160 adapted to utilize the programming instruction set 180 for generating a remedial plan
adapted to reduce the chances of transmission of the infection from the infected user to other users
as well as anyone who might come in contact therewith. Further, such a remedial module 160 in
accordance with remedial data-sets 167 is adapted to provide a plurality of recommendations and /
or lifestyle plans suitable for the user so as to overcome the impacts of the infection thereupon.
[0052] In some embodiments, the threat determination module 128 may also determine threats
associated with non-adherence to hygiene related regulations by the one or more users (such as
frequent sanitization, washing hands, avoiding touch with certain equipment, and the like). In such
embodiments, the facility 150 includes a plurality of stations 152 as illustrated in Fig. 6, each
adapted to track one of the hygiene related regulations. The stations 152 are provided with one or
more tracking mechanisms such that data-sets 155 related to contact with one or more tracking
devices 110 is determined and pushed towards the back-end server 120 via one or more third
13
communication interfaces 154. Further in such embodiments, the programming instructions 180
are adapted to determine if a predetermined hygiene regulation and / or guidelines of SOP and / or
threat rule set 160, is comprehended or not. If any deviation is detected, a threat alert is generated
and shared with the tracking devices 110 of the corresponding users.
[0053] The system 100 further includes a visualization generation component 118 to generate an
interactive visualization of the threats in accordance with the threats determined by the threat
determination module 128. In a preferred embodiment, the visualization generation component
118 is configured on to the tracking devices 110.
[0054] Further, in some exemplary embodiments, particularly in the embodiments as illustrated
in Fig. 4a, where the tracking device 110 includes a mobile application, the interactive threat
visualizations may be in form of a user interface that enable users to easily swipe, pinch, zoom-in or
zoom-out, drag-and-drop, rotate, or perform other operations to gain a better understanding of the
threats that may be presented to a user such as for example, including details such as primary
contact, secondary contacts, including time and duration of contact with each of the users, and
particularly related to the possibly infected user. Further as illustrated in Fig. 4b, the interactive
visualization may further display details on alarms / notification, including how the alarms were
attended to, such as incident and event log that clearly shows incident types, incident types, actions
taken when incidents happen – all in a nice, visualized format.
[0055] The tracking device 110 is intended to represent various forms of portable mobile
devices, such as personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smart phones, laptops, tablet,
notebook and other similar possible portable tracking units such as wearable devices, along with
other disclosed sensors 140. The components shown here, their connections and relationships, and
their functions, are meant to be exemplary only, and are not meant to limit implementations
described and/or claimed in this document.
[0056] In a preferred embodiment, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the back-end server 120 is a computing
tracking device 200 having includes a processor 231, memory 232, a storage device 233, a highspeed interface connecting to memory and high-speed expansion ports, and a low speed interface
connecting to low speed bus, one or more input/output (I/O) devices 164 234. Each of the
components 231, 232, 233, 234 are interconnected using various busses, and may be mounted on a
common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate.
[0057] In an embodiment, the processor 231 may communicate with a user through control
interface [not shown] and display interface coupled to a display. The display may be, for example, a
14
TFT LCD (Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting
Diode) display, or other appropriate display technology. The display interface may comprise
appropriate circuitry for driving the display to present graphical and other information to a user.
The control interface may receive commands from a user and convert them for submission to the
processor 231. In addition, an external interface in the form of data-receiving component 222 may
be provided in communication with processor 231, so as to enable near area communication of the
back-end server 200 with other tracking devices 110 of the system 100. External interface may
provide, for example, for wired communication in some implementations, or for wireless
communication in other implementations, and multiple interfaces may also be used.
[0058] The memory 162 may store the executable programming instructions 180. The executable
instructions 180 may be stored or organized in any manner and at any level of abstraction, such as
in connection with one or more applications, processes, routines, procedures, methods, functions,
etc.
[0059] In one implementation, the memory 232is a volatile memory unit or units. In another
implementation, the memory 232is a non-volatile memory unit or units. The memory 232may also
be another form of computer- readable medium, such as a magnetic or optical disk. In one
implementation, a computer program product is tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The
computer program product contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or more
methods, such as those described above. The information carrier is a computer- or machinereadable medium, such as the memory, expansion memory, or memory on processor.
[0060] Expansion memory may also be provided and connected to the computing unit
200through the expansion interface, which may include, for example, a SIMM (Single In Line
Memory Module) card interface. Such expansion memory may provide extra storage space for the
device 200or may also store applications or other information for the computing unit 200.
Specifically, the expansion memory may include instructions to carry out or supplement the
processes described above and may include secure information also. Thus, for example, expansion
memory may be provided as a security module for computing unit 200and may be programmed
with instructions that permit secure use of computing unit 200. In addition, secure applications may
be provided via the SIM cards, along with additional information, such as placing identifying
information on the SIM card in a non-hackable manner.
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[0061] In an embodiment, the instructions stored in the memory 232may be executed by one or
more processors, such as a processor 231. The processor 231may be coupled to one or more
input/output (I/O) devices 235.
[0062] In an embodiment, the storage device 233is capable of providing mass storage for the
computing unit 200. In one implementation, the storage device 233may be or contain a computerreadable medium, such as a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, a tape
device, a flash memory or other similar solid state memory device, or an array of devices, including
devices in a storage area network or other configurations.
[0063] A computer program product can be tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The
computer program product may also contain instructions that, when executed, perform one or
more methods, such as those described above. The information carrier is a computer- or machinereadable medium, such as the memory 232, the storage device 236, or memory on processor 231.
[0064] In some embodiments, the I/O device(s) 235may include one or more of a keyboard or
keypad, a touchscreen or touch panel, a display screen, a microphone, a speaker, a mouse, a button,
a remote control, a joystick, a printer, a telephone or mobile device (e.g., a smartphone), a sensor,
etc.
[0065] The memory 232may include a central repository 225for storing data pertaining to various
threats related to spread of infections within the facility 150 and received by the data-receiving
component 222 The central repository 225 may further store details on all systems threat
notifications and / or alarms and how the alarms were attended to. The central repository 225
furthermore store details on complete incident and event log that clearly shows incident types,
incident types, actions taken when incidents happen – all in a nice, visualized format.
[0066] The back-end server 222 may communicate wirelessly with the communication interfaces
112 and / or 114 of the tracking devices 110 through a back-end communication interface 237. The
back-end communication interface 237 may provide for communications under various modes or
protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, or MMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC,
WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others. Such communication may occur, for example,
through radio-frequency transceiver. However, in other embodiments, the data receiving
component 222 may use one or more application programming interface (API) connected to the
tracking device 110 so as to receive data-sets 115 there from in a format acceptable by the source
API and readable by the back end server 132.
16
[0067] Figs. 3a through 3c displays various system environment illustrating the flow of data sets
from the tracking devices 110 towards the back-end server 120. In some embodiments the facility
150 includes a plurality of beacons 170 installed at various locations within the facility 150. In such
embodiments, each of the beacons is configured to receive signals from the first interface 112 of
the tracking devices 110 present within a specified detection range. Further, each of the beacons
170 is adapted to transmit the received data from the tracking devices 110 towards the back-end
server 120 through the communication medium 130. In some instances, the facility 100 may include
a Bluetooth gateway that receives the data-sets from the plurality of beacons 170 and sends it
towards the back-end server 120 through the communication medium 130 via a Wi-Fi gateway 178.
[0068] In some other embodiments, the each of the tracking devices 110 pushes the data sets
115 towards the back-end server 120 through the second communication interface 114 which may
be in form of a wireless transceiver module [Wi-Fi communication interface].
[0069] In yet other embodiments, the tracking devices 110 may include a GPS module adapted
to collect a geographical location at a monitoring point, which in turn is shared with the data
receiving component 122 through the wireless transceiver module 114.
[0070] Further, it is to be contemplated that any possible combination of communication
interfaces 112, 114 including beacons 170 and / or Bluetooth gateways 175 and / or Wi-Fi gateway
178 may be utilized without deviating from the scope of current disclosure. Further, this may be
accomplished in such a way that the process of threat management may be comprehended even in
absence of internet by using individual proximity determination modules 118 and storing the data
in memories of the tracking devices 110.
[0071] As disclosed above, the back-end server 120 can be operatively coupled to the tracking
devices 110 through the communication medium 130 with the aid of the back-end communication
interface 237. The communication medium 130 may be in form of Internet, an internet and/or
extranet, or an intranet and/or extranet that is in communication with the Internet. The
communication medium 130 in some cases is a telecommunication and/or data network. The
communication medium 130, in some embodiments may be used to distribute the back-end server
120 within one or more distributed central servers, which can enable distributed computing, such as
cloud computing.
[0072] The system 100 is illustrative. In some embodiments, one or more of the entities may be
optional. In some embodiments, additional entities not shown may be included. For example, in
some embodiments, the system 100 may be associated with one or more networks. In some
17
embodiments, the entities may be arranged or organized in a manner different from what is shown
in FIG. 1.
[0073] FIGS. 1 through 4 schematically show the arrangement of the basic components of the
system 100 of the present disclosure. However, in the construction of automated tools, secondary
components such as different memories, databases, clouds, network and other related functional
components known to one of skilled in the field of automated tools based on deep leaning
methodologies, may be incorporated in the system 100. Such functional and / or supporting
components are included in the present invention as long as the logical components and
arrangements disclosed herein are present.
[0074] FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of a method 500 of dynamically identifying threats within a
facility 150 while maintaining and tracking social distance therein. The method 500 starts at step
502 and proceeds to step 504.
[0075] At step 504, one or more data sets 115 pertaining to real time location of a user and / or
proximity with one or more users within the facility 150, are received at the data receiving
component 122 of the back-end server 120. In some embodiments, the data sets 115 further
includes additional data-sets from the one or more data sensors 140. Further, the data set 115
received is stored within the memory 232 of the back-end server 120.
[0076] At step 506, the data set 115 is sent to the central processor 231 for the purpose of
processing thereat using one or more threat detection modules 128.
[0077] At step 508, the received data set 115 is processed in accordance with the programming
instructions 180, in combination with one or more threat information data-sets 127, and the threat
rule-set 160 to determine various threats present within the facility 150 associated to one or more
users and / or tracking devices 110.
[0078] At step 510, a threat alert is generated and is visualized by the visualization component
118 of the tracking devices 110 to display threats to the corresponding user. In an embodiment, the
threat may include presence or possibility of presence of one of the user in a proximity of less than
6 feet. In other embodiment, the threat may include determination of an infected user within the
facility along with information of other users and / or stations which have been in contact with the
infected user so as to determine secondary threats within the facility 150. In yet other
embodiments, the threat may include non-adherence to one or more hygiene regulations as
determined by the threat rule set 160 within the facility 150. In a preferred embodiment, the alert
may be an audio and / or a visual alarm in the form of a flashing LED light on their respective
18
tracking devices and / or high frequency beep / buzzer sound and / or vibration in respective
tracking devices 110.
[0079] The method 500 terminates at step 512.
[0080] The system 100 of the present invention provides capability for maintaining and / or
tracking social distance across all the locations of a workplace, including check-in, entry points,
shop floor, restroom, cafeteria, warehouse etc., but not limited thereto. Such a system also provides
a capability of detecting, identifying and eliminate the threats of infection / contagious disease
even before they manifest and therefore, further allows a possibility of any unwanted spread of
disease to take place due to any possible factor happening within or out of the facility 150.
[0081] As an example of current invention, in an embodiment, a customized deep neural
network (DNN) models that take in a location information of each of the plurality of users of the
facility along with one or more infection related information from within the facility and / or out of
the facility. Various factors relevant in estimating / predicting infection threats to one or more
users of the facility are generally those which are known in the art to play a crucial role in
predictions of spread of infection, especially in the areas of: (i) health (e.g., “health compared to
others”, “current opinion about health”, “shortness of breath during a little physical activity such as
walking up a slight hill”), (ii) personality traits (e.g., “consciousness as a personality trait”, “agency
as a personality trait”), (iii) personal beliefs (e.g., “live for today”, “positive reappraisal”, “lower
aspirations”), (iv) well-being (e.g., “satisfied with life”), and, (v) demographic factors (e.g., “age”).
The list of features as disclosed above is non-exclusive and may be formulated by the health
professionals / researchers etc. in accordance with their knowledge and experience without
deviating from the scope of the current disclosure.
[0082] The system 100 of the present invention is primarily utilized for assessing a facility 150
including but not limited to facilities defined by a confined area, such as a workplace, gym, grocerystores, clinics, and the like against the spread of one or more infections, particularly the contagious
infections such as COVID-19. In a preferred embodiment, the system is user / field configurable
to suit the requirements of the environment or facility where it is employed, for example, deploying
in office environment vs deploying for warehouse workers working in aisles made of high rise
racks, the present system can be configured over the air to meet the requirements.
[0083] Further, the system 100 is configured to provide various health plans / recommendations
/ protocols to overcome such infections and / or disease.
19
[0084] The system 100 of the present invention while being an effective way of maintaining
social distancing within a facility 150, is easy to perform and tracks threats of infection in real time,
either only in an online or in offline mode as well. For example, an average time it takes to display
symptoms in a user ranges between 2 to 3 days. Therefore, it is important to trace a contact of such
infectious users in previous few days to determine secondary threats within the facility, which is
well accomplished by the system 100 of the current disclosure.
[0085] Advantageously, such an accurate and timely assessment of secondary threats is
particularly beneficial in avoiding the spread of the disease. Further, the system 100 connects the
physical and digital worlds by automating, collecting, and storing critical data, eliminating the need
to touch, creating frictionless workflows and touch-free world.
[0086] Moreover, since the system 100 of the current disclosure is able to communicate via
various possible communication interfaces known in the art, it provides flexibility to the
organizations / facilities to choose the technology backhaul dependent on existing site
infrastructure or requirements. Therefore, an infrastructure upgrade within the facility is not
required.
[0087] It is to be contemplated by a person skilled in the art that the system 100 of the current
disclosure may be utilized in various beneficial purposes such as for example, in safety applications
where an accidental fall of professionals, workers and enterprises is detected, prevention collision
between man and machines, reporting any near miss incidents and activity / movements in
unauthorized, restricted or hazardous areas of a facility.
[0088] It is noted that various connections are set forth between elements in the description and
in the drawings (the contents of which are included in this disclosure by way of reference). It is
noted that these connections in general and, unless specified otherwise, may be direct or indirect
and that this specification is not intended to be limiting in this respect. In this respect, a coupling
between entities may refer to either a direct or an indirect connection.
[0089] Various embodiments of the invention have been disclosed. However, it should be
apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications in addition to those described, are possible
without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The embodiments, therefore, are not
restrictive, except in the spirit of the disclosure. Moreover, in interpreting the disclosure, all terms
should be understood in the broadest possible manner consistent with the context. In particular,
the terms “comprises” and “comprising” should be interpreted as referring to elements,
components, or steps, in a non-exclusive manner, indicating that the referenced elements,
20
components, or steps may be present, or utilized, or combined with other elements, components,
or steps that are not expressly referenced.
[0090] The disclosed methods and systems, as illustrated in the ongoing description or any of its
components, may be embodied in the form of a computer system. Typical examples of a computer
system include a general-purpose computer, a programmed microprocessor, a micro-controller, a
peripheral integrated circuit element, and other devices, or arrangements of devices that are capable
of implementing the steps that constitute the method of the disclosure.
[0091] The computer system comprises a computer, an input device, a display unit and the
Internet. The computer further comprises a microprocessor. The microprocessor is connected to a
communication bus. The computer also includes a memory. The memory may be Random Access
Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM). The computer system further comprises a storage
device, which may be a hard-disk drive or a removable storage drive, such as, a floppy-disk drive,
optical-disk drive, and the like. The storage device may also be a means for loading computer
programs or other instructions into the computer system. The computer system also includes a
communication unit. The communication unit allows the computer to connect to other databases
and the Internet through an input/output (I/O) interface, allowing the transfer as well as reception
of data from other sources. The communication unit may include a modem, an Ethernet card, or
other similar devices, which enable the computer system to connect to databases and networks,
such as, LAN, MAN, WAN, and the Internet. The computer system facilitates input from a user
through input devices accessible to the system through an I/O interface.
[0092] In order to process input data, the computer system executes a set of instructions that are
stored in one or more storage elements for e.g.: pre-determined level of one or more parameters of
gases as declared by government. The storage elements may also hold data or other information, as
desired. The storage element may be in the form of an information source, or a physical memory
element present in the processing machine.
[0093] The programmable or computer-readable instructions may include various commands
that instruct the processing machine to perform specific tasks, such as steps that constitute the
method of the disclosure. The systems and methods described can also be implemented using only
software programming or using only hardware or by a varying combination of the two techniques.
The disclosure is independent of the programming language and the operating system used in the
computers. The instructions for the disclosure can be written in all programming languages
including, but not limited to, “C,” “C++,” “Visual C++,” Java, and “Visual Basic.” Further, the
21
software may be in the form of a collection of separate programs, a program module containing a
larger program or a portion of a program module, as discussed in the ongoing description. The
software may also include modular programming in the form of object-oriented programming. The
processing of input data by the processing machine may be in response to user commands, the
results of previous processing, or from a request made by another processing machine. The
disclosure can also be implemented in various operating systems and platforms including, but not
limited to, “Unix,” “DOS,” “Android,” “Symbian,” and “Linux.”
[0094] The programmable instructions can be stored and transmitted on a computer-readable
medium. The disclosure can also be embodied in a computer program product comprising a
computer-readable medium, or with any product capable of implementing the above methods and
systems, or the numerous possible variations thereof.
[0095] Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here can be realized in
digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific
integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof. These
various implementations can include implementation in one or more computer programs that are
executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable
processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from,
and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one
output device.
[0096] These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or
code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor and can be implemented in a
high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine
language. As used herein, the terms "machine- readable medium" and "computer-readable medium"
refer to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks,
memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data
to a programmable processor.
[0097] To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here can be
implemented on a computer having a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid
crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing
device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other
kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback
provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback,
22
or tactile feedback); and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic,
speech, or tactile input.
[0098] A person having ordinary skills in the art will appreciate that the system, modules, and
sub-modules have been illustrated and explained to serve as examples and should not be considered
limiting in any manner. It will be further appreciated that the variants of the above disclosed system
elements, or modules and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be combined to
create other different systems or applications.
[0099] The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in a computing system
that includes a back end component (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware
component (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client
computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact
with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such
back end, middleware, or front end components. The components of the system can be
interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication
network). Examples of communication networks include a local area network ("LAN"), a wide area
network ("WAN"), and the Internet.
[00100] The claims can encompass embodiments for hardware, software, or a combination
thereof.
[00101] Although a few implementations have been described in detail above, other modifications
are possible. Moreover, other mechanisms for performing the systems and methods described in
this document may be used. In addition, the logic flows depicted in the figures may not require the
particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. Other steps may be
provided, or steps may be eliminated, from the described flows, and other components may be
added to, or removed from, the described systems. Accordingly, other implementations are within
the scope of the following claims.

We CLAIM:

1. A system for managing social distancing between a plurality of users within a facility, each of the
user having a tracking device, the system comprising:
a back-end server comprising:
a data receiving component adapted to receive data-sets from each of the plurality of
tracking devices, the received data-sets pertaining at least to a real time location of
the corresponding users within said facility;
one or more infection information sources comprising infection related information
for each of the users within the facility; and
a processor and memory configured to execute one or more programming
instructions embodied thereon, and cause the back-end server to:
assess the proximity between the plurality of users within said facility to
determine presence of one or more users within a first predetermined social
distance from a first user,
maintaining a log of proximity and / or a contact between any of the plurality
of users within the facility,
determining if there are any possible threats of contact and / or infection to
any of the users within the facility in accordance with a threat rule-set at least
by using the assessed proximity and / or infection information of each of
the users within the facility; and
generating an audio and / or a visual alert onto the tracking device of the
users who might be at risk, in response to determination of a threat within
the facility;
the tracking devices of each of the user being configured to communicate with the back-end
server via one or more communication medium.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the tracking device comprises one or more
communication interfaces selected from but not limited to a Bluetooth, Wi-Fi etc. and the like.
3. The system as claimed in claims 1 or 2, wherein the tracking device is a portable device selected
from one or more of but not limited to a tablet, smart-phone, radio mobile device, notebook,
smart watches, and other wearable and / or portable communication devices.
24
4. The system as claimed in any one of previous claims, wherein the one or more infection sources
is an in-facility information sources including various online and / or offline databases receiving
data from one or more components present internally within the facility, such as including but
not limited to sources such as access control systems, CCTV cameras, various sensors installed
across the facility, physical security incidents, in-facility health-checkups, or any manual entries.
5. The system as claimed in any one of previous claims, wherein the one or more infection sources
is an out-facility information sources including various online and / or offline database receiving
data from one or more components present externally to the facility such as remote database of
hospitals, public database of patient information and health-checkup center feeds.
6. The system as claimed in any one of previous claims , wherein the back-end server is a cloud
server connected to each of the tracking device through the communication medium selected
from one or more of but not limited to internet, intranet, Wi-Fi hotspots, WLAN and the like.
7. The system as claimed in any one of previous claims, wherein the received data-sets further
comprise information about use of one or more hygiene stations installed within the facility and
/ or user's check-in to one or more suspected places and / or data-sets received from the one or
more data-sensors.
8. The system as claimed in any one of previous claims , wherein the threat rule set is a set of
predetermined rules selected from one or more of but not limited to maintaining a threshold
distance between any two users, facilitating a mandatory use of one or more hygiene stations
installed within the facility, avoiding a contact with of a possible infected user within the facility,
and / or determining any previous contact with possible infected user within the facility.
9. The system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the threshold distance is a predetermined distance
ranging preferably between 5 feet to 9 feet and more preferably between 6 feet to 7 feet.
10. The system as claimed in any one of previous claims, wherein the facility is a confined area
selected from but not limited to a workplace, a grocery shop, factories, offices, and the like.
11. A method of maintaining and / or tracking social distancing between a plurality of users within a
facility, each of the user having a tracking device connected to a back-end server via one or more
communication medium, the method comprising:
receiving, at the back-end server, one or more data-sets from each of the plurality of
tracking devices, the received data-sets pertaining at least to a real time location of the
corresponding users within said facility;
25
determining, using one or more processors within the server, if there are any possible threats
of contact and / or infection to any of the users within the facility in accordance with a
threat rule-set; and
generating an audio and / or a visual alert onto the tracking device of the users who might
be at risk, in response to determination of a threat within the facility.
12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions
comprising: one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause
the one or more processors to:
receive, at a back-end server, one or more data-sets from a plurality of tracking devices, the
received data-sets pertaining at least to a real time location of a corresponding users within a
facility;
determining, if there are any possible threats of contact and / or infection to any of the users
within the facility in accordance with a threat rule-set; and
generating an audio and / or a visual alert onto the tracking device of the users who might
be at risk, in response to determination of a threat within the facility.