Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- A team of researchers has developed an artificial intelligence-based system that would find the safest escape route to guide people out of buildings and underground facilities in cases of emergency or disaster such as fire and earthquake.

Finding a safe emergency exit route is vital in cases of emergency and disasters. Corridors of a building will fill up with smoke in just one to two minutes after a fire is started, blocking the vision of people who are trying to get out. Sometimes preplanned exit routes are blocked by fire or other obstacles making it even harder for people to guide themselves to safety.

The Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM) showcased the "artificial intelligence (AI)-based fire exit route guide system", the life-saving exit route guidance system, at a subway station in the central city of Daejeon on Monday.

KIMM also demonstrated its AI-based exit route guidance system through a drill at the subway station. By using some 30 internet of things (IoT) sensors that detect heat, carbon monoxide and smoke, the system analyzed the ignition point of fire and calculated the optimal exit routes. Waypoints and routes to safety were displayed on the floor using laser direction indicators. Monitors inside the station also showed directions in real-time.

"This technology will contribute to the reduction of human casualties In the event of a safety accident in a multi-use facility," KIMM head researcher Han Hyung-seok was quoted as saying, KIMM said it will cooperate with local companies in Daejeon for commercialization.