Method for monitoring occupancy in a work area

1. A method for monitoring human occupancy in a work area comprising:

during a first scan cycle, recording a first image at a sensor block at a first time, the sensor block comprising an optical sensor defining a field of view intersecting the work area;

extracting a set of features from the first image;

detecting, based on the set of features, a set of objects in the first image, the set of objects including a desk;

matching a location of the desk in the first image to a known location of a first desk according to a baseline asset map to identify the desk in the first image as the first desk;

in response to the set of objects comprising a human located within a threshold distance of proximal the first desk:

associating the human with the first desk; and

updating an occupancy status of the first desk to indicate the first desk as occupied;

in response to the set of objects comprising a human effect located within the threshold distance of the first desk and excluding a human located within the threshold distance of the first desk, the human effect selected from a group consisting of an item of clothing, a bag, a computing device, a notebook, and a beverage container:

associating the human effect with the first desk; and

updating the occupancy status of the first desk to indicate the first desk as occupied with human absent; and

in response to the set of objects excluding a human located within the threshold distance of the first desk and excluding the human effect located within the threshold distance of the first desk, updating the occupancy status of the first desk to indicate the first desk as vacant.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

calculating an occupancy probability for the first desk based on at least one of:

an orientation of the human relative to the first desk in the first image;

a distance of the human relative to the first desk in the first image; and

a position of a hand of the human over the first desk in the first image; and

in response to the occupancy probability exceeding a probability threshold:

associating the human with the first desk; and

updating an occupancy status of the first desk to indicate the first desk as occupied.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

calculating an occupancy probability for the first desk based on at least one of:

a location of the human effect relative to the first desk in the first image;

a location of additional human effects located within the threshold distance of proximal the first desk in the first image, the additional human effects selected from a group consisting of an item of clothing, a bag, a computing device, a notebook, and a beverage container;

a type of the human effect; and

a time elapsed since a human occupied the first desk; and

in response to the occupancy probability exceeding a probability threshold:

associating the human effect with the first desk; and

updating an occupancy status of the first desk to indicate the first desk as occupied with human absent.

4. A method for monitoring human occupancy in a work area comprising:

during a first scan cycle:

recording a first image through an optical sensor at a sensor block at a first time, the sensor block comprising the optical sensor defining field of view intersecting the work area;

detecting a human in the first image located within a threshold distance of a desk within the work area; and

detecting a human effect in the first image located within the threshold distance of the desk, the human effect selected from a group consisting of an item of clothing, a bag, a computing device, a notebook, and a beverage container;

associating the human in the first image with the desk based on a proximity of the human to the desk;

in response to associating the human in the first image with the desk, updating an occupancy status of the desk to indicate the desk as occupied;

at the sensor block and during a second scan cycle:

recording a second image through the optical sensor at a second time; and

detecting the human effect in the second image located within the threshold distance of the desk;

associating the human effect in the second image with the desk based on a proximity of the human effect to the desk;

in response to associating the human effect with the desk and an absence of a human located within the threshold distance of the desk in the second image, updating the occupancy status of the desk to indicate the desk as occupied with human absent;

at the sensor block and during a third scan cycle, recording a third image through the optical sensor at a third time; and

in response to an absence of a human in the third image, updating the occupancy status of the desk to indicate the desk as vacant.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising, in response to an absence of a human in the third image and an absence of human effects in the third image: updating an agile desk manager to indicate an availability of the first desk, the human effects selected from a group consisting of an item of clothing, a bag, a computing device, a notebook, and a beverage container.

6. The method of claim 4 :

further comprising defining boundaries of the desk in the first image;

wherein detecting the human in the first image located within the threshold distance of the desk within the work area further comprises detecting the human within the boundaries of the desk in the first image;

wherein detecting the human effect in the first image located within the threshold distance of the desk further comprises detecting the human effect within the boundaries of the desk in the first image;

further comprising defining boundaries of the desk in the second image;

wherein detecting the human effect in the second image located within the threshold distance of the desk further comprises detecting the human effect within the boundaries of the desk in the second image.

7. The method of claim 4 :

wherein detecting the human effect in the first image located within the threshold distance of the desk further comprises detecting a set of human effects comprising the human effect in the first image located within the threshold distance of the desk, the set of human effects selected from a group consisting of an item of clothing, a bag, a computing device, a notebook, and a beverage container;

further comprising calculating a centroid of the set of human effects; and

further comprising in response calculating the centroid of the set of human effect within a boundary of the desk, associating the human effects with the desk.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein associating the human effect in the second image with the desk further comprises associating the human effect in the second image with the desk based on the proximity of the human effect to the desk in the second image and the proximity of the human effect to the desk in the first image concurrent with the human in the first image.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein

at the sensor block and during the third scan cycle, recording the third image further comprises recording the third image during the third scan cycle offset from the second scan cycle by a particular time period; and

updating the occupancy status of the desk to indicate the desk as vacant further comprises, in response to the absence of the human in the third image and the particular time period characterized by a duration greater than an abandonment time period, updating the occupancy status of the desk to indicate the desk as vacant.

10. The method of claim 4 , wherein updating the occupancy status of the desk to indicate the desk as vacant further comprises, in response to the absence of the human in the third image and an absence of human effects in the third image, updating the occupancy status of the desk to indicate the desk as vacant, the human effects selected from a group consisting of an item of clothing, a bag, a computing device, a notebook, and a beverage container.

11. The method of claim 4 :

further comprising at the sensor block executing a number of contiguous scan cycles after the second scan cycle and before the third scan cycle, wherein a human is not detected located within the threshold distance of the desk; and

wherein updating the occupancy status of the desk to indicate the desk as vacant further comprises, in response to the absence of the human in the third image and the number of contiguous scan cycle exceeding a threshold number, updating the occupancy status of the desk to indicate the desk as vacant;

further comprising, in response to the occupancy of the desk indicating vacancy, marking human effects located within the threshold distance of the desk as abandoned, the human effects selected from a group consisting of an item of clothing, a bag, a computing device, a notebook, and a beverage container; and

through an agile desk manager, notifying an administrator to remove the human effects located within the threshold distance of the desk from the desk.

12. The method of claim 4 , wherein associating the human in the first image with the desk further comprises associating the human in the first image with the desk based on a location of the human on a seat associated with the desk.

13. A method for monitoring human occupancy in a work area comprising:

during a first scan cycle:

recording a first image through an optical sensor at a sensor block at a first time, the sensor block comprising the optical sensor defining a field of view intersecting the work area;

identifying a first desk, a second desk, and a third desk in the first image;

detecting a human in the first image located within a threshold distance of the first desk; and

detecting a human effect in the first image located within the threshold distance of the second desk, the human effect selected from a group consisting of an item of clothing, a bag, a computing device, a notebook, and a beverage container;

associating the human in the first image with the first desk based on a proximity of the human to the first desk;

associating the human effect in the first image with the second desk based on a proximity of the human effect to the second desk;

in response to associating the human with the first desk, updating an occupancy status of the first desk to indicate the first desk as occupied;

in response to associating the human effect with the second desk and an absence of a human located within the threshold distance of the second desk in the first image, updating the occupancy status of the second desk to indicate the second desk as occupied with human absent; and

in response to an absence of a human located within the threshold distance of the third desk in the first image and an absence of human effects located within the threshold distance of the third desk in the first image, updating the occupancy status of the third desk to indicate the third desk as vacant, the human effects selected from a group consisting of an item of clothing, a bag, a computing device, a notebook, and a beverage container.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

accessing a baseline asset map to retrieve a first known location of the first desk, a second known location of the second desk, and a third known location of the third desk;

detecting, in the first image, a first current location of the first desk, a second current location of the second desk, a third current location of the third desk;

matching the first desk in the first image to the first known location based on a proximity of the first current location to the first known location;

matching the second desk in the first image to the second known location based on a proximity of the second current location to the second known location;

matching the third desk in the first image to the third known location; based on a proximity of the third current location to the third known location; and

rendering a map of the work area representing:

the occupancy status of the first desk at the first known location;

the occupancy status of the second desk at the second known location; and

the occupancy status of the third desk at the third known location.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

updating the first known location to match the first current location;

updating the second known location to match the second current location; and

updating the third known location to match the third current location.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

calculating a total occupancy of the work space based on the occupancy status of the first desk, the occupancy status of the second desk, and the occupancy status of the third desk;

subtracting the total occupancy of the work area from a total number of desks in the work area to obtain a total number of available desks.

17. The method of claim 13 :

wherein associating the human in the first image with the first desk further comprises associating the human in the first image with the first desk in response detecting a distance between the human and the first desk less than a first threshold distance;

wherein associating the human effect in the first image with the second desk further comprises associating the human effect in the first image with the second desk in response to detecting a distance between the human effect and the second desk less than a second threshold distance; and

wherein updating the occupancy status of the third desk to indicate the third desk as vacant further comprises, in response to detecting a distance between the human and the third desk greater than the first threshold distance and detecting a distance between the human effect and the third desk greater than a second threshold distance, updating the occupancy status of the third desk to indicate the third desk as vacant.

18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising, at the sensor block during the first scan cycle:

associating the human in the first image with the first desk;

associating the human effect in the first image with the second desk;

updating the occupancy status of the first desk to indicate the first desk as occupied;

updating the occupancy status of the second desk to indicate the second desk as occupied with human absent;

updating the occupancy status of the third desk to indicate the third desk as vacant; and

transmitting the occupancy status of the first desk, the occupancy status of the second desk, and the occupancy status of the third desk to a remote computer system executing an agile desk manager.

19. The method of claim 13 , further comprising triggering the first scan cycle in response to an output of a motion sensor, integrated into the sensor block, indicating motion in the field of view of the optical sensor.

20. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

at the sensor block during a second scan cycle:

recording a second image through the optical sensor at a second time; and

identifying the first desk, the second desk, and the third desk in the second image;

calculating an average occupancy for the work area based on the occupancy status of the first desk, the occupancy status of the second desk, and the occupancy status of the third desk in the first image and an occupancy status of the first desk based on the second image, an occupancy status of the second desk based on the second image, and an occupancy status of the third desk based on the second image; and

through an agile desk manager notifying an administrator of the average occupancy for the work area in response to a threshold average occupancy exceeding the average occupancy.