Smart watch for indicating emergency events

• US 10,078,957 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2017
• Issued: 09/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dauntless Labs LLC
• Original Assignee: Arati P. Singh, Ranjeev K. Singh
• Inventors: Singh, Arati P, Singh, Ranjeev K
• Primary Examiner(s): Lau, Hoi
• Application Number:
  US15/783,026
• Publication Number:
  US 20180041884A1
• Time in Patent Office: 340 Days
• Field of Search: 4554041, 4554042, 455466, 455419, 34053913, 34053912, 340521, 3405391, 34053923, 34053921, 340 81
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/016 Personal emergency signalling and security systems emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 25/10 using wireless transmission systems G08B25/009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

A portable device including a gesture recognizer module for automatically detecting a specific sequence of gestures is described. The portable device may be used to detect a health, safety, or security related event. The portable device may further include an emergency event module for automatically determining whether the sequence of gestures corresponds to an emergency event. The portable device may further include a proximity detection module for automatically determining whether a mobile device corresponding to a user listed as an emergency contact is in a state of proximity to the portable device. The portable device may further include a notification module for automatically transmitting a message, indicating the emergency event, to the user of the mobile device determined to be in the state of proximity.

Claims

1. A smart watch for use in a cellular network, the smart watch comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory;

a touch screen configured to be in a locked state or an unlocked state;

at least one contact of a user associated with the smart watch stored in the memory, wherein the at least one contact of the user is designated by the user as a contact that may automatically receive location information, via the cellular network, corresponding to the user in case of an emergency; and

one or more modules stored in the memory and configured for execution by the at least one processor, the one or more modules comprising instructions;

to, automatically place an emergency call, without any further user interaction, in response to information generated by the smart watch, wherein the smart watch is configured to generate the information, even when the touch screen is in the locked state, based on a specific input sequence to the smart watch comprising a first input provided by the user followed by a second input provided by the user, wherein the first input comprises an interaction with a button associated with the smart watch and the second input comprises a swipe interaction with the touch screen associated with the smart watch, and

to, in response to the information received from the smart watch, automatically obtain a current location of the smart watch and transmit a message to the at least one contact of the user including the current location of the smart watch, and wherein the smart watch is configured to operate in a first power mode or a second power mode, wherein the first power mode comprises supplying power to a predetermined number of modules of the smart watch and the second power mode comprises supplying power to a subset of the number of modules of the smart watch, wherein the subset of the modules comprises fewer modules than the predetermined number of modules, and wherein even when the smart watch is in the second power mode, the smart watch is further configured to supply power to the subset of the predetermined number of modules comprising at least the instructions to automatically place the emergency call and at least a set of modules that are chosen based on a nature of the specific input sequence.

2. The smart watch of claim 1, wherein even when the smart watch is in the second power mode, the smart watch is further configured to supply power to the subset of the predetermined number of modules comprising at least the instructions to automatically obtain the current location of the smart watch and transmit the message to the at least one contact of the user including the current location of the smart watch.

3. The smart watch of claim 1 further comprises instructions to automatically track an amount of time that has elapsed since the smart watch was last used to perform a function associated with the smart watch.

4. The smart watch of claim 1, wherein even when the smart watch cannot be served by the cellular network, the smart watch is configured to:

using a second wireless network, different from the wireless network, automatically obtain the current location of the smart watch and automatically transmit the message to the at least one contact of the user including the current location of the smart watch.

5. The smart watch of claim 1, wherein the smart watch comprising at least one sensor, and wherein the smart watch further comprises instructions to obtain sensor measurements from the at least one sensor and automatically modify the message to include additional information in the message based on the sensor measurements.

6. The smart watch of claim 1 further comprises an accelerometer for detecting a movement of an arm of the user.

7. A method for using a smart watch in a cellular network, the smart watch having a touch screen configured to be in a locked state or an unlocked state, the method comprising:

the smart watch storing at least one contact of a user of the smart watch in a memory associated with the smart watch, wherein the at least one contact of the user is designated by the user as a contact that may automatically receive location information, via the cellular network, corresponding to the user in case of an emergency;

in response to information generated by the smart watch, wherein the smart watch is configured to generate the information, even when the touch screen is in the locked state, based on a specific input sequence to the smart watch comprising a first input provided by the user followed by a second input provided by the user, wherein the first input comprises an interaction with a button associated with the smart watch and the second input comprises a swipe interaction with the touch screen associated with the smart watch, without any further user interaction, the smart watch automatically placing an emergency call; and

in response to the information generated by the smart watch, the smart watch automatically obtaining a current location of the smart watch and transmitting a message to the at least one contact of the user including the current location of the smart watch.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the smart watch is configured to operate in a first power mode or a second power mode, wherein the first power mode comprises supplying power to a predetermined number of modules of the smart watch and the second power mode comprises supplying power to a subset of the number of modules of the smart watch, wherein the subset of the modules comprises fewer modules than the predetermined number of modules, and wherein even when the smart watch is in the second power mode, the smart watch is further configured to supply power to the subset of the predetermined number of modules comprising at least the instructions to automatically place the emergency call and at least a set of modules that are chosen based on a nature of the specific input sequence.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein even when the smart watch is in the second power mode, the smart watch is further configured to supply power to the subset of the predetermined number of modules comprising at least the instructions to automatically obtain the current location of the smart watch and transmit the message to the at least one contact of the user including the current location of the smart watch.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising the smart watch automatically keeping track of an amount of time that has elapsed since the smart watch was last used to perform a function associated with the smart watch.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the smart watch comprises at least one sensor to obtain sensor measurements, the method further comprises the smart watch receiving the sensor measurements from the at least one sensor and automatically modifying the message to include additional information in the message based on the sensor measurements.

12. The method of claim 7 further comprising detecting a movement of an arm of the user.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein even when the smart watch cannot be served by the cellular network, the smart watch is configured to:

using a second wireless network, at least partially different from the cellular network, automatically obtain the current location of the smart watch and automatically transmit the message to the at least one contact of the user including the current location of the smart watch.

14. A smart watch comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory;

a touch screen configured to be in a locked state or an unlocked state;

at least one contact of a user associated with the smart watch stored in the memory, wherein the at least one contact of the user is designated by the user as a contact that may automatically receive location information, via a cellular network, corresponding to the user in case of an emergency; and

one or more modules stored in the memory and configured for execution by the at least one processor, the one or more modules comprising instructions;

to, automatically place an emergency call, without any further user interaction, in response to information generated by the smart watch, wherein the smart watch is configured to generate the information, even when the touch screen is in the locked state, based on a specific input sequence to the smart watch comprising a first input provided by the user followed by a second input provided by the user, wherein the first input comprises an interaction with a user input device associated with the smart watch, different from the touch screen, and the second input comprises a swipe interaction with the touch screen associated with the smart watch, and

to, in response to the information received from the smart watch, using a cellular network accessible to the smart watch, and even when the smart watch cannot be served by the cellular network, using a second wireless network accessible to the smart watch, wherein the second wireless network is at least partially different from the cellular network, automatically obtain a current location of the smart watch and transmit a message to the at least one contact of the user including the current location of the smart watch.

15. The smart watch of claim 14, wherein the smart watch is configured to operate in a first power mode or a second power mode, wherein the first power mode comprises supplying power to a predetermined number of modules of the smart watch and the second power mode comprises supplying power to a subset of the number of modules of the smart watch, wherein the subset of the modules comprises fewer modules than the predetermined number of modules, and wherein even when the smart watch is in the second power mode, the smart watch is further configured to supply power to the subset of the predetermined number of modules comprising at least the instructions to automatically place the emergency call and at least a set of modules that are chosen based on a nature of the specific input sequence.

16. The smart watch of claim 15, wherein even when the smart watch is in the second power mode, the smart watch is further configured to supply power to the subset of the predetermined number of modules comprising at least the instructions to automatically obtain the current location of the smart watch and transmit the message to the at least one contact of the user including the current location of the smart watch.

17. The smart watch of claim 16 further comprises instructions to automatically track an amount of time that has elapsed since the smart watch was last used to perform a function associated with the smart watch.

18. The smart watch of claim 14, wherein the smart watch comprises at least one sensor, and wherein the smart watch further comprising instructions to obtain sensor measurements from the at least one sensor and automatically modify the message to include additional information in the message based on the sensor measurements.

19. The smart watch of claim 14 further comprises an accelerometer for detecting a movement of an arm of the user.

20. A method for using a smart watch, the smart watch having a touch screen configured to be in a locked state or an unlocked state, the method comprising:

the smart watch storing at least one contact of a user of the smart watch in a memory associated with the smart watch, wherein the at least one contact of the user is designated by the user as a contact that may automatically receive location information corresponding to the user in case of an emergency;

in response to information generated by the smart watch, wherein the smart watch is configured to generate the information, even when the touch screen is in the locked state, based on a specific input sequence to the smart watch comprising a first input provided by the user followed by a second input provided by the user, wherein the first input comprises an interaction with a user input device associated with the smart watch, different from the touch screen, and the second input comprises a swipe interaction with the touch screen associated with the smart watch, without any further user interaction, the smart watch automatically placing an emergency call; and

in response to the information generated by the smart watch, using a cellular network accessible to the smart watch, and even when the smart watch cannot be served by the cellular network, using a second wireless network accessible to the smart watch, wherein the second wireless network is at least partially different from the cellular network, the smart watch automatically obtaining a current location of the smart watch, transmitting a message to the at least one contact of the user including the current location of the smart watch, and providing at least one location update corresponding to a location of the smart watch.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the smart watch is configured to operate in a first power mode or a second power mode, wherein the first power mode comprises supplying power to a predetermined number of modules of the smart watch and the second power mode comprises supplying power to a subset of the number of modules of the smart watch, wherein the subset of the modules comprises fewer modules than the predetermined number of modules, and wherein even when the smart watch is in the second power mode, the smart watch is further configured to supply power to the subset of the predetermined number of modules comprising at least the instructions to automatically place the emergency call and at least a set of modules that are chosen based on a nature of the specific input sequence.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein even when the smart watch is in the second power mode, the smart watch is further configured to supply power to the subset of the predetermined number of modules comprising at least the instructions to automatically obtain the current location of the smart watch and transmit the message to the at least one contact of the user including the current location of the smart watch.

23. The method of claim 22 further comprising the smart watch automatically keeping track of an amount of time that has elapsed since the smart watch was last used to perform a function associated with the smart watch.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the smart watch comprises at least one sensor to obtain sensor measurements, the method further comprising the smart watch receiving the sensor measurements from the at least one sensor and automatically modifying the message to include additional information in the message based on the sensor measurements.

25. The method of claim 20 further comprising detecting a movement of an arm of the user.

26. A smart watch comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory;

a touch screen configured to be in a locked state or an unlocked state;

at least one contact of a user associated with the smart watch stored in the memory, wherein the at least one contact of the user is designated by the user as a contact that may automatically receive location information corresponding to the user in case of an emergency; and

one or more modules stored in the memory and configured for execution by the at least one processor, the one or more modules comprising instructions;

to, automatically place an emergency call, without any further user interaction, in response to information generated by the smart watch, wherein the smart watch is configured to generate the information, even when the touch screen is in the locked state, based on a specific input sequence to the smart watch, wherein the specific input sequence is received by the smart watch via a user input device different from the touch screen, and

to, in response to the information received from the smart watch, using a cellular network accessible to the smart watch, and even when the smart watch cannot be served by the cellular network, using a second wireless network accessible to the smart watch, wherein the second wireless network is at least partially different from the cellular network, automatically obtain a current location of the smart watch and transmit a message to the at least one contact of the user including the current location of the smart watch.

27. The smart watch of claim 26, wherein the smart watch is configured to operate in a first power mode or a second power mode, wherein the first power mode comprises supplying power to a predetermined number of modules of the smart watch and the second power mode comprises supplying power to a subset of the number of modules of the smart watch, wherein the subset of the modules comprises fewer modules than the predetermined number of modules, and wherein even when the smart watch is in the second power mode, the smart watch is further configured to supply power to the subset of the predetermined number of modules comprising at least the instructions to automatically place the emergency call and at least a set of modules that are chosen based on a nature of the specific input sequence.

28. The smart watch of claim 27, wherein even when the smart watch is in the second power mode, the smart watch is further configured to supply power to the subset of the predetermined number of modules comprising at least the instructions to automatically obtain the current location of the smart watch and transmit the message to the at least one contact of the user including the current location of the smart watch.

29. The smart watch of claim 26 further comprises instructions to automatically track an amount of time that has elapsed since the smart watch was last used to perform a function associated with the smart watch.

30. The smart watch of claim 26, wherein the smart watch comprises at least one sensor, and wherein the smart watch further comprises instructions to obtain sensor measurements from the at least one sensor and automatically modify the message to include additional information in the message based on the sensor measurements.

31. The smart watch of claim 26 further comprises an accelerometer for detecting a movement of an arm of the user.

32. A method for using a smart watch, the smart watch having a touch screen configured to be in a locked state or an unlocked state, the method comprising:

the smart watch storing at least one contact of a user of the smart watch in a memory associated with the smart watch, wherein the at least one contact of the user is designated by the user as a contact that may automatically receive location information corresponding to the user in case of an emergency;

in response to information generated by the smart watch, wherein the smart watch is configured to generate the information, even when the touch screen is in the locked state, based on a specific input sequence to the smart watch, without any further user interaction, wherein the specific input sequence is received by the smart watch via a user input device different from the touch screen, the smart watch automatically placing an emergency call; and

in response to the information generated by the smart watch, using a cellular network accessible to the smart watch, and even when the smart watch cannot be served by the cellular network, using a second wireless network accessible to the smart watch, wherein the second wireless network is at least partially different from the cellular network, the smart watch automatically obtaining a current location of the smart watch and transmitting a message to the at least one contact of the user.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the smart watch is configured to operate in a first power mode or a second power mode, wherein the first power mode comprises supplying power to a predetermined number of modules of the smart watch and the second power mode comprises supplying power to a subset of the number of modules of the smart watch, wherein the subset of the modules comprises fewer modules than the predetermined number of modules, and wherein even when the smart watch is in the second power mode, the smart watch is further configured to supply power to the subset of the predetermined number of modules comprising at least the instructions to automatically place the emergency call and at least a set of modules that are chosen based on a nature of the specific input sequence.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein even when the smart watch is in the second power mode, the smart watch is further configured to supply power to the subset of the predetermined number of modules comprising at least the instructions to automatically obtain the current location of the smart watch and transmit the message to the at least one contact of the user including the current location of the smart watch.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein the smart watch comprises at least one sensor to obtain sensor measurements, the method further comprising the smart watch receiving the sensor measurements from the at least one sensor and automatically modifying the message to include additional information in the message based on the sensor measurements.

36. The method of claim 32 further comprising detecting a movement of an arm of the user.