Interactive warning pad for enhanced user feedback
An interactive warning pad provides static tactile feedback with a raised set of knobs over the interactive warning pad surface to notify users of a potential hazard. The interactive warning pad also provides enhanced or different sensory feedback to identify a specify type of hazard that the interactive warning pad is intended to protect against and different states associated with the hazard. The interactive warning paid includes a covering with the raised set of knobs. The knobs have translucent tops and lighting elements are positioned under the raised knobs. A controller controls different illuminations of the lighting elements in response to different monitored states of the hazard with the different illuminations identifying the hazard and the hazard state. The interactive warning pad may also include vibration motors, a speaker, and/or a wireless transceiver for additional sensory feedback that identifies the specific type of hazard and hazard state.
1 . An interactive warning pad:
a covering comprising a plurality of raised knobs with translucent tops;
a plurality of lighting elements positioned under the plurality of raised knobs;
a wireless transceiver that is communicably coupled to a remote administrative controller; and
a controller that controls different illuminations of the plurality of lighting elements in response to a plurality of monitored states and messaging received from the remote administrative controller, wherein controlling the different illuminations comprises coordinating at least one of the different illuminations with an illumination of lighting elements of at least a second interactive warning pad at a different location based on the messaging received from the remote administrative controller.
2 . The interactive warning pad of claim 1 further comprising:
a plurality of vibration motors integrated under the covering; and
wherein the controller further controls different vibration patterns produced by the plurality of vibration motors in response to the plurality of monitored states.
3 . The interactive warning pad of claim 1 further comprising:
a connection established between the interactive warning pad and a traffic control signal or a crosswalk signal, wherein the plurality of monitored states correspond to different states of the traffic control signal or the crosswalk signal that are monitored across the connection.
4 . The interactive warning pad of claim 1 , wherein
the wireless transceiver broadcasts messaging indicating a current state of the plurality of monitored states using a short-range wireless technology.
5 . The interactive warning pad of claim 1 further comprising:
a speaker that generates a different audible message for each state of the plurality of monitored states.
6 . The interactive warning pad of claim 1 , wherein controlling the different illuminations further comprises:
activating a first set of the plurality of lighting elements to illuminate a first pattern or graphic across the plurality of raised knobs in response to a first state of the plurality of monitored states being active; and
activating a second set of the plurality of lighting elements to illuminate a second pattern or graphic across the plurality of raised knobs in response to a second state of the plurality of monitored states being active.
7 . The interactive warning pad of claim 1 , wherein the covering and the plurality of raised knobs are made of a durable, weather-resistant, and hardened material.
8 . The interactive warning pad of claim 1 further comprising:
one or more pressure sensors integrated under the covering.
9 . The interactive warning pad of claim 8 ,
wherein the one or more pressure sensors detect a presence of a human standing on the interactive warning pad; and
wherein the controller issues a signal that activates a crosswalk button or an elevator call button in response to the one or more pressure sensors detecting the presence of the human.
10 . The interactive warning pad of claim 1 further comprising:
one or more motion sensors that detect a presence of a human standing on the interactive warning pad.
11 . The interactive warning pad of claim 1 , wherein controlling the different illuminations further comprises:
presenting a graphic or textual message, that is formed by a different synchronized illumination of the plurality of lighting elements, across a surface of the interactive warning pad, wherein presenting the graphic or textual message comprises mapping one or more pixels of a plurality of pixels for the graphic or textual message to a different lighting element of the plurality of lighting elements.
12 . The interactive warning pad of claim 1 , wherein coordinating the at least one of the different illuminations comprises:
directing pedestrian traffic to or away from a site based on the illumination of the plurality of lighting elements and the illumination of lighting elements of the second interactive warning pad restricting the pedestrian traffic to a specified path.
13 . The interactive warning pad of claim 1 ,
wherein the wireless transceiver is configured to receive a first request from a first user device and a second request from a second user device, and
wherein the controller is configured to disseminate a first set of messages to the first user device in response to the first request and a different second set of messages to the second device in response to the second request.
14 . The interactive warning pad of claim 13 ,
wherein the first set of messages includes assistive messages for guiding persons with disabilities, and
wherein the second set of messages includes informational messages about nearby attractions or services.
15 . A method for providing enhanced sensory feedback from an interactive warning pad, the method comprising:
monitoring a plurality of states associated with a potential hazard or a surface change;
receiving messaging at the interactive warning pad from a remote administrative controller;
providing a tactile feedback based on a user contacting a plurality of raised knobs that are distributed across a surface of the interactive warning pad; and
providing different sensory feedback based on different illuminations of a plurality of lighting elements positioned under the plurality of raised knobs in response to a changing state of the plurality of states and the messaging received from the remote administrative controller, wherein providing the different sensory feedback comprises coordinating at least one of the different illuminations with an illumination of lighting elements of at least a second interactive warning pad at a different location based on the messaging received from the remote administrative controller.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein providing the different sensory feedback further comprises:
controlling different vibration patterns produced by a plurality of vibration motors integrated under the interactive warning pad in response to the plurality of states.
17 . The method of claim 15 further comprising:
establishing a connection between the interactive warning pad and a traffic control signal or a crosswalk signal; and
detecting a current state of the plurality of states based on messaging received over the connection.
18 . The method of claim 15 further comprising:
broadcasting messaging indicating a current state of the plurality of states using a short-range wireless technology.
19 . The method of claim 15 further comprising:
generating a different audible message for each state of the plurality of states.
20 . The method of claim 15 further comprising:
detecting a presence of a human standing on the interactive warning pad using one or more pressure sensors or one or more motion sensors of the interactive warning pad; and
activating a crosswalk button or an elevator call button in response to detecting the presence of the human.