Notification and Tracking System for Mobile Devices

• US 20130040600A1
• Filed: 09/05/2012
• Published: 02/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emergensee, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Emergensee, LLC
• Inventors: Reitnour, Philip A., Reitnour, Benjamin F., Reitnour, Nicholas R., Reitnour, John T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,768,294 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/17 Emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72424 with manual activation of emergency-service functions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/52 including functional features of a camera constructional features concerning the integration of cameras in portable phones H04M1/0264
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/185 by embedding added-value information into content, e.g. geo-tagging
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

An notification and tracking system for a mobile device. The system includes a mobile device application that is adapted to be stored in memory on the mobile device. The application, upon activation, determines the GPS coordinates of the mobile device, records digital images over a period of time, sends a preset message from the mobile device to at least one recipient, preferably an emergency responder, such as a security monitoring station, and sends the GPS coordinates and the digital images. The coordinates and images may be sent to a remote server for storage and which can be accessed by the emergency responder. The coordinates and images are periodically updated and sent while the program is activated.

Claims

1. A mobile security program product stored on a mobile device for tracking and transmitting data from the mobile device, the mobile device including at least one computer storage medium having program logic stored thereon, the program logic comprising code executable by a processor, the code programmed upon activation of the program to perform the steps of:

(a) determining a set of global position system (GPS) coordinates associated with the location of a mobile device;

(b) activating a camera on the mobile device to record digital images over a period of time;

(c) causing a preset message to be sent to at least one remote recipient;

(d) sending the set of GPS coordinates and the digital images from the mobile device to at least one remote recipient;

(e) after a predetermined period of time, capturing a new set of GPS coordinates associated with the current location of the mobile device and recording additional digital images over a period of time;

(f) sending the new set of GPS coordinates and the additional digital images from the mobile device to at least one remote recipient; and

(g) repeating the steps (e) and (f).

2. The mobile security program product of claim 1, wherein the camera is a video camera and wherein the digital images form a video.

3. The mobile security program product of claim 1, wherein the camera is a still camera and wherein the digital images are still photos.

4. The mobile security program product of claim 1, wherein the at least one remote recipient where the GPS coordinates and the digital images are sent includes a server, and wherein the step of causing a preset message to be sent to at least one remote recipient involves sending a preset electronic message from the mobile device to at least an emergency responder.

5. The mobile security program product of claim 4, wherein the GPS coordinates are also sent to the emergency responder.

6. The mobile security program product of claim 1, wherein the at least one remote recipient where the GPS coordinates and the digital images are sent and the at least one remote recipient where the preset message is sent are the same.

7. The mobile security program product of claim 1, wherein the at least one remote recipient where the GPS coordinates and the digital images are sent are multiple recipients, and wherein the program selects the multiple recipients from a stored list on the mobile device.

8. The mobile security program product of claim 1 further comprising the step of activating the microphone on the mobile device and recording audio data over a period of time;

and wherein the audio data is sent with the digital images to the at least one recipient.

9. The mobile security program product of claim 4 wherein the preset message includes a link to the electronic address of the server to permit the at least one recipient to access the GPS coordinates and the digital images stored on the server.

10. The mobile security program product of claim 1 wherein step of causing a preset message to be sent to at least one recipient involves acquiring a prestored list of recipients associated with the mobile device and sending the electronic message to each of the recipients.

11. The mobile security program product of claim 4 further comprising the step of depicting at least one location of the mobile device and the heading on a map based on the sets of GPS coordinates detected by the device, and providing a link to the map in the message that is sent.

12. The mobile security program product of claim 1 further comprising the step of changing a screen display on the mobile device after activation to hide the fact that the program is operating.

13. The mobile security program product of claim 1 further comprising the step of permitting a user of the mobile device to deactivate the program by entering a preset code.

14. A mobile device security system for automatically notifying recipients and transmitting data from a mobile device upon activation, the system comprising

a mobile device application stored in memory on a mobile device, the application including program logic comprising code executable by a processor, the code programmed upon activation of the application to perform the steps of:

(a) determining a set of global position system (GPS) coordinates associated with the location of the mobile device,

(b) activating a camera on the mobile device to record digital images over a period of time,

(c) causing a message to be sent to at least one remote recipient,

(d) sending the set of GPS coordinates and the digital images from the mobile device to a server located remotely from the mobile device,

(e) after a predetermined period of time, capturing a new set of GPS coordinates associated with the current location of the mobile device and recording additional digital images over a period of time,

(f) sending the new set of GPS coordinates and the additional digital images from the mobile device to the remote server, and

(g) repeating the steps (e) and (f);

a server application stored in memory on the remote server, the server application including program logic comprising code executable by a processor on the server, the code programmed upon receipt of the sets of GPS coordinates and digital images from the mobile device to perform the steps of;

storing the sets of GPS coordinates and digital images received from the mobile device,

calculating a heading and speed of the mobile device based on the sets of GPS coordinates; and

wherein either the mobile device application or the server application is programmed to send to at least one remote recipient an internet link to the stored data on the server.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one remote recipient where the message is sent includes a monitoring station for monitoring emergency situations.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the monitoring station includes a display, and wherein the monitoring station is also sent the GPS coordinates, and wherein the preset message and the GPS coordinates are displayed on the display.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the server application includes the steps of providing a map depicting the region in the vicinity of the GPS coordinates and depicting on the map the location of mobile device based on at least the last set of GPS coordinates sent from the mobile device and depicting on the map the calculated heading of the mobile device.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the step of causing a preset message to be sent to at least one remote recipient involves either the mobile device application or the server application sending the present message to multiple recipients stored in a profile associated with the mobile device.

19. The system of claim 14, the mobile device application further comprises the step of activating a microphone on the mobile device and recording audio data over a period of time;

and wherein the audio data is sent with the digital images to the server.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the monitoring station includes at least one computer with a monitoring application stored in memory on the monitoring computer, the monitoring application including program logic comprising code executable by a processor on the monitoring computer, the code programmed to perform the steps of receiving messages from mobile devices in a prescribed geographic area, and upon receiving the message from the mobile device, displaying the message on a display.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one monitoring computer at the monitoring station includes access to additional stored information associated with the owner of the mobile device, and wherein the monitoring application permits the additional information to be displayed after the monitoring station receives the message from the mobile device.

22. An emergency notification application for tracking and transmitting data from a mobile device, the application stored on a computer readable storage medium and having program logic comprising code executable by a processor on a mobile device, the code programmed upon activation of the application to perform the steps of:

(a) determining a set of global position system (GPS) coordinates associated with the location of the mobile device;

(b) activating a camera on the mobile device to record digital images over a period of time;

(c) causing a message to be sent to multiple recipients identified from a preset list, the message indicating that the user of the mobile device is in need of assistance;

(d) sending the set of GPS coordinates and the digital images from the mobile device to at least one recipient of the multiple recipients;

(e) after a predetermined period of time, capturing a new set of GPS coordinates associated with the current location of the mobile device and recording additional digital images over a period of time;

(f) sending the current set of GPS coordinates and the additional digital images from the mobile device to the at least one recipient of step (e);

(g) repeating steps (e) and (f).

23. The application of claim 22, wherein the application is part of a system that includes a server, and wherein the application send the sets of GPS coordinates to the server, the server programmed to calculate a heading and speed of the mobile device based on the sets of GPS coordinates, and provide the at least one recipient of step (d) with access to the calculated heading and speed of the mobile device.

24. The application of claim 22, wherein the set of GPS coordinates and the digital images are sent with the message to the mobile recipients.

25. The application of claim 22, further comprising the steps of activating a microphone on the mobile device and recording audio data over a period of time;

and sending the audio data with the digital images.

26. A mobile device security system for monitoring a geographic area for alerts from mobile devices in the area, the system comprising

a mobile device application stored in memory on a mobile device, the application including program logic comprising code programmed upon activation of the application to perform the steps of:

(a) determining a set of global position system (GPS) coordinates associated with the location of the mobile device,

(b) causing a message to be sent to at least one remote recipient,

(c) sending the message and the set of GPS coordinates from the mobile device to a monitoring station located remotely from the mobile device,

(d) after a predetermined period of time, capturing a new set of GPS coordinates associated with the current location of the mobile device,

(e) sending the new set of GPS coordinates from the mobile device to the monitoring station, and

(f) repeating the steps (d) and (e); and

a monitoring application stored in memory on a computer at the monitoring station, the monitoring application including program logic comprising code programmed to receive messages transmitted from mobile devices running the mobile device application in a prescribed geographic area, and upon receiving a message from a mobile device in the geographic area;

displaying the message on a display,

receiving the sets of GPS coordinates from the mobile device, and

displaying a heading and speed of the mobile device based on the sets of GPS coordinates.

27. The mobile device security system of claim 26 wherein the heading and speed are calculated on the monitoring computer.

28. The mobile device security system of claim 26 wherein the code in the mobile device application is programmed to:

receive a code associated with a specific geographic area; and

identify a monitoring station associated with the code.