DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A REAL-TIME OCCUPANCY DETECTION AND INTERACTIVE STAFF AVAILABILITY DISPLAY SYSTEM FOR SMART OFFICES

In a workplace environment, such as an academic department, knowing the availability of an office occupant remains a persistent challenge for staff and students. Traditional approaches, such as the use of indoor/outdoor tags, are outdated. This research focuses on the design and Implementation of a Real-Time Occupancy Detection and Interactive Staff Availability Display System for Smart Offices. The system uses a Passive Infrared (PIR) motion sensor to detect when the office occupant is seated. The system provides five distinct status messages that can be automatically broadcast using push buttons on the input unit of the device, and the status communicated are: "In a Meeting - Please Wait" - "Available But Busy","Available - Knock First", "In Class - Back Soon", "Unavailable" (Auto-triggered by inactivity or off-hours. Testing was done in different stages of the design process. After construction, the system was tested, and it worked satisfactorily.