Smart WelcomEyes technology

At FUJIFILM Business Innovation, we are working to develop technologies that reduce the power consumption of multifunction devices and printers to achieve lower environmental impact.

Automatic resumption when it detects a user.
Enabling both energy conservation and convenience

Multifunction devices and printers are equipped with a sleep mode they enter when idle to reduce energy consumption. However, customers comments indicated that it was cumbersome, annoying or puzzling that they had to press the Power Saving button to exit the power saving mode prior to use.

We worked to develop an automatic sensing technology that displays a menu screen on the touchscreen panel of a multifunction device when someone stands in front of it and is about to touch the panel. The system is so smart that it requires minimal operations for the system to wake up from power saving mode as if the device is welcoming the user using energy-efficient sensors which act like human eyes and are unlikely to incorrectly detect a user.

Using two sensors to achieve energy conservation

If a reflection sensor which consumes a lot of electricity was powered all the time, the total power consumption of the multifunction device itself would be huge. We have introduced an energy-saving design according to which a pyroelectric sensor that consumes a small amount of power is always powered to prevent the reflection sensor from being powered up from the beginning. When the pyroelectric sensor detects a human moving near the multifunction device, it activates the reflection sensor. Then, the reflection sensor checks for users approaching the device to determine whether or not to wake up the device from its sleep status.

Figure 1: Energy-saving design of the pyroelectric sensor and the reflection sensor

Considerations for convenience in offices

It takes about 500 milliseconds from the pressing of the Power Saving button in sleep mode to the confirmation of the cancellation of the sleep state with a click sound and the lighting of the screen. In light of this, we have defined the proper distance at which it would take 500 milliseconds for a user to reach the position in front of the multifunction device where they can operate it as the distance for the reflection sensor's detection of operators. The sensor is set at an optimal height at which it can detect users whether they are standing or seated, on assumption that people using wheelchairs will use the device.

Figure 2: Design of the detection distance of the reflection sensor

Figure 3: Installation position of the pyroelectric sensor and the reflection sensor

The free walking speed of a person in an outdoor space is considered to be approximately 66 to 80 meters per minute, although this depends on surrounding conditions.Imagining that humans will walk a little more slowly in offices and other indoor spaces, we have assumed that the walking speed of a person passing in front of the multifunction device is around 60 meters per minute.

Based on this walking speed, we have calculated the time required for a human to cross the detection range of the reflection sensor on the assumption that the human body has an approximate width of 450 mm. We have devised a design that balances between the passing time of the walker and the time to wake up from sleep mode after a user is detected that will not inconvenience the users. We have introduced a responsive design which determines that people detected for less than hundreds of milliseconds are passers-by.