Portable device for indicating emergency events

• US 9,338,627 B1
• Filed: 01/28/2015
• Issued: 05/10/2016
• 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): Shedrick, Charles
• Application Number:
  US14/607,800
• Time in Patent Office: 468 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1, 455/404.2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 portable device for use in a wireless network, the wireless network comprising at least one proximity service function for determining a state of proximity of at least a set of mobile devices in the wireless network with the portable device, the portable device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory comprising;

a gesture recognizer module, when executed by the processor, configured to automatically detect a sequence of gestures;

an emergency event module, when executed by the processor, configured to automatically determine whether the sequence of gestures corresponds to an emergency event;

a proximity detection module, when executed by the processor, configured to, in response to determination of the emergency event by the emergency event module, automatically contact the at least one proximity service function to determine dynamically, substantially in real-time, whether any mobile devices from the at least the set of the mobile devices in the wireless network, corresponding to any of a set of contacts of the user of the portable device, is in a state of proximity with the portable device; and

a notification module, when executed by the processor, configured to, in response to determination of at least one mobile device in a state of proximity with the portable device by the proximity detection module, automatically transmit a message to the at least one mobile device determined to be in the state of proximity with the portable device.

2. The portable device of claim 1 further comprising a GPS sensor for:

(1) automatically determining a location of the portable device and (2) automatically providing the location to the emergency event module.

3. The portable device of claim 1 further comprising an accelerometer for automatically detecting a shock to the portable device and automatically providing shock related information to the emergency event module.

4. The portable device of claim 3, wherein the emergency event module is configured to automatically analyze the shock related information and automatically determine whether the shock related information corresponds to an emergency event.

5. The portable device of claim 1 comprising a first battery for providing power to the portable device and a second battery for providing power to the portable device, wherein the second battery is used only in association with the emergency event module and other functionality needed to detect and manage the emergency event.

6. The portable device of claim 5, wherein the second battery is for providing power to the emergency event module and the other functionality required to detect and manage the emergency event even when the portable device is powered off.

7. The portable device of claim 6, wherein the second battery is powered based on kinetic energy.

8. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the emergency event module is programmable to automatically dial 911 upon detection of the sequence of gestures.

9. The portable device of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of sensors and wherein the emergency event module is programmable to automatically process data from the plurality of sensors and automatically modify the message before automatically transmitting it to the user of the mobile device determined to be in the state of proximity.

21. The portable device of claim 1, wherein the notification module is further configured to automatically transmit the message by using direct communication, enabled by the proximity service function, between the portable device and the at least one mobile device determined to be in a state of proximity with the portable device.

22. The portable device of claim 21, wherein the direct communication, enabled by the proximity service function, is configured to be available even when the portable device is not being served by a cellular network.

10. A portable device for use in a wireless network, the wireless network comprising at least one proximity service function for determining a state of proximity of at least a set of mobile devices in the wireless network with the portable device, the portable device comprising:

a processor;

a touch screen;

a memory comprising;

a tap recognizer module, when executed by the processor, configured to automatically detect a sequence of taps on the touch screen;

an emergency event module, when executed by the processor, configured to automatically determine whether the sequence of taps corresponds to an emergency event;

a proximity detection module, when executed by the processor, configured, to in response to determination of the emergency event by the emergency event module, automatically contact the at least one proximity service function to determine dynamically, substantially in real-time, whether any mobile devices from the at least the set of mobile devices in the wireless network corresponding to any of a set of contacts of the user of the portable device in a state of proximity with the portable device;

a notification module, when executed by the processor, configured to, in response to determination of at least one mobile device in a state of proximity with the portable device, by the proximity detection module, automatically transmit a message to the at least one mobile device determined to be in the state of proximity with the portable device; and

a plurality of sensors and wherein the emergency event module is programmable to automatically process data from the plurality of sensors to determine a first value corresponding to a first parameter associated with the portable device and a second value corresponding to a second parameter associated with the portable device and wherein the notification module is programmable to, based at least on the first value or the second value, automatically modify the message before automatically transmitting the message.

11. The portable device of claim 10 further comprising a GPS sensor for automatically determining a location of the portable device and automatically providing the location to the emergency event module.

12. The portable device of claim 10, wherein the plurality of sensors includes at least an accelerometer configured to determine the first value corresponding to the first parameter for detecting a shock to the portable device and providing shock related information to the emergency event module.

13. The portable device of claim 12, wherein the emergency event module is configured to analyze the shock related information and determine whether the shock related information corresponds to an emergency event.

14. The portable device of claim 10 further comprising a first battery for providing power to the portable device and a second battery for providing power to the portable device, wherein the second battery is used only in association with the emergency event module and other functionality required to detect and manage the emergency event.

15. The portable device of claim 14, wherein the second battery is for providing power to the emergency event module and the other functionality required to detect and manage the emergency event even when the portable device is powered off.

16. The portable device of claim 15, wherein the second battery is powered based on kinetic energy.

17. The portable device of claim 10, wherein the emergency event module is configured to automatically dial 911 upon detection of the sequence of taps.

23. The portable device of claim 10, wherein the notification module is further configured to automatically transmit the message by using direct communication, enabled by the proximity service function, between the portable device and the at least one mobile device determined to be in a state of proximity with the portable device.

24. The portable device of claim 23, wherein the direct communication, enabled by the proximity service function, is configured to be available even when the portable device is not being served by a cellular network.

18. A portable device for use in a wireless network, the wireless network comprising at least one proximity service function for determining a state of proximity of at least a set of mobile devices in the wireless network with the portable device, the portable device comprising:

a contact database comprising information regarding a set of contacts of a user of the portable device;

a touch screen;

a memory comprising;

a swipe recognizer module, when executed by the processor, configured to automatically detect a sequence of swipes;

an emergency event module, when executed by the processor, configured to automatically determine whether the sequence of swipes corresponds to an emergency event;

a proximity detection module, when executed by the processor, configured to, in response to determination of the emergency event, automatically contact the at least one proximity service function to determine dynamically, substantially in real-time, whether any mobile devices from the at least the set of the mobile devices in the wireless network, corresponding to any of a set of contacts of the user of the portable device, is in a state of proximity with the portable device;

a notification module, when executed by the processor, configured to, in response to determination of at least one mobile device in a state of proximity with the portable device, by the proximity detection module, automatically transmit a message by using direct communication, enabled by the proximity service function, between the portable device and at least one mobile device determined to be in the state of proximity with the portable device; and

a first battery for providing power to the portable device and a second battery for providing power to the portable device, wherein the second battery is used only in association with the emergency event module and other functionality needed to detect and manage the emergency event and wherein the second battery is for providing power to the emergency event module and the other functionality required to detect and manage the emergency event even when the portable device is powered off.

19. The portable device of claim 18 further comprising a GPS sensor for automatically determining a location of the portable device and providing the location to the emergency event module.

20. The portable device of claim 18 further comprising an accelerometer for automatically detecting a shock to the portable device and automatically providing shock related information to the emergency event module.

25. The portable device of claim 18, wherein the direct communication, enabled by the proximity service function, is configured to be available even when the portable device is not being served by a cellular network.