Towards intelligent environments: human sensing through 3D point cloud

To realize the concept of “Society 5.0”, which seeks to enhance well-being by integrating the Internet of Things to connect people, objects, and environments, intelligent environments are essential. These environments focus on creating sensor-enhanced spaces capable of recognizing and interpreting human behaviors and needs. This paper explores how we achieve intelligent environment by highlighting current technologies and applications of human sensing and tracking that enables such intelligent environments. Specifically, it introduces the development and application of LiDAR-based human sensing and tracking technologies, including the Hitonavi and Hitonavi- \(\mu \) $\mu$ systems, designed for multi-person tracking in extensive areas and for enabling person detection and activity recognition on edge devices, respectively. Moreover, the paper explains the services and applications of these methodologies to smart buildings, shopping malls, and elderly care, showcasing their potential to enhance safety, convenience, and understanding of human behavior within intelligent environments. Throughout this paper, we present our vision for creating reliable intelligent environments, which are fundamentally supported by sophisticated human sensing technologies.