22/04/2022
Awara City
Awara City Tourism Association
Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Awara City and the Awara City Tourism Association (Awara City, Fukui Prefecture; Chairman: Kenji Maeda) have teamed up with Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Head office: Nagaokakyo City, Kyoto Prefecture; President: Norio Nakajima; hereinafter “Murata”) to trial crowd sensors and AIRSual, a system that visualizes and analyzes CO2 concentrations in an area in real time, at Ashi-yu, Awara Onsen, in an effort to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection.
Ashi-yu, Awara Onsen One of the installed crowd sensors
Adequate ventilation is an important measure for preventing the spread of COVID-19, and one of the indicators of adequate ventilation is the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air. However, since carbon dioxide concentrations vary greatly depending on the environment, it is not easy to measure the correct carbon dioxide concentration. Moreover, even if the correct concentration can be measured, the lack of clear safety standards is a problem.
Murata will monitor carbon dioxide concentrations at Ashi-yu, the public footbaths at Awara Onsen, using AIRSual, a spatial visualization solution that visualizes and analyzes carbon dioxide concentrations in real time. AIRSual makes it easy to measure the correct carbon dioxide concentration since the system doesn't need to be configured according to the environment. Also, since Murata uses AI and advanced algorithms to analyze whether the carbon dioxide concentration is trending upward or downward, ventilation can be conducted based on quantitative measurements. The measurement results can be checked by the Awara City Tourism Association, and when the threshold is reached, the entrance and exit are opened to provide ventilation. Crowd sensors are able to detect the amount of people, the direction of their movement, and the average time they spend in a specified area, thereby making it possible to grasp the flow of people and where there is congestion. Images are processed locally in the sensor, and are not recorded or stored anywhere, thereby protecting privacy.
The crowd sensors are built to be able to work with AIRSual, meaning that information on the movement of people obtained from the crowd sensors can be correlated with the information on CO2 concentration from AIRSual, so the times and locations where ventilation is necessary can be identified, and the areas can be efficiently ventilated.
Murata plans to bring the system to more hot spring bath facilities in the future, and we will continue to work together with Awara City and the Awara City Tourism Association to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It is also expected that the results of this trial will help in the creation of a guidebook on preventing the spread of infectious diseases.
Contributions
Awara City:
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Advice on the project
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Awara City Tourism Association:
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Provision of location and promotion for each facility
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Murata Manufacturing:
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Provision and maintenance of AIRSual and the entire system
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Giken Trastem Co., Ltd.:
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Provision of crowd sensors
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Amnimo Inc.:
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Provision of LTE Edge Gateway
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Related sites
Murata in Brief
Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and sale of ceramic-based passive electronic components & solutions, communication modules and power supply modules. Murata is committed to the development of advanced electronic materials and leading edge, multi-functional, high-density modules. The company has employees and manufacturing facilities throughout the world.
For more information, visit Murata's website