Subscription system for monitoring user well being

• US 20050093705A1
• Filed: 11/19/2004
• Published: 05/05/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Resource Consortium Limited, LLC
• Original Assignee: Charles Humbard
• Inventors: Humbard, Charles
• Granted Patent: US 7,312,710 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/573.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0202 Child monitoring systems using a transmitter-receiver system carried by the parent and the child
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0261 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect trespassing over a fixed physical boundary, e.g. the end of a garden
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0269 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect the exact location of child or item using a navigation satellite system, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0275 Electronic Article Surveillance [EAS] tag technology used for parent or child unit, e.g. same transmission technology, magnetic tag, RF tag, RFID
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0283 via a telephone network, e.g. cellular GSM
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/04 responsive to non-activity, e.g. of elderly persons G08B21/06 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0453 worn on the body to detect health condition by physiological monitoring, e.g. electrocardiogram, temperature, breathing detecting, measuring or recording for diagnostic purposes A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/088 by monitoring a device worn by the person, e.g. a bracelet attached to the swimmer
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/22 responsive to presence or absence of persons
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/022 with dynamic range variability

Abstract

A subscription system and corresponding method of operation for monitoring user'"'"'s well being is disclosed. The method includes the steps of providing, at a user monitor module, a first indicator for the user well being; providing, at a receiving module operably coupled to the user monitor module, a first threshold for the first indicator; receiving, at the receiving module, the first indication; comparing the first indication and the first threshold; generating a secondary indication when the comparison indicates that the first indication equals or exceeds the first threshold; receiving, at a supervisory module coupled to the receiver module, the secondary indication; and informing a supervisor that the first threshold has been reached.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring user well being, comprising:

providing, at a user monitor module, a first indicator for the user well being;

providing, at a receiving module operably coupled to the user monitor module, a first threshold for the first indicator;

receiving at the receiving module, the first indication;

comparing the first indication and the first threshold;

generating a secondary indication when the comparison indicates that the first indication equals or exceeds the first threshold;

receiving, at a supervisory module coupled to the receiver module, the secondary indication; and

informing a supervisor that the first threshold has been reached.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user monitor module comprises an alert module, the method further comprising:

detecting tampering of the user monitor module; and

at the alert module, generating an alarm upon detecting the tampering.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the supervisory module is operably coupled to a telephone, and wherein informing the supervisor comprises sending a call to the telephone.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the supervisory module is operably coupled to a pager, and wherein informing the supervisor comprises sending a page to the pager.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the supervisory module is coupled to a television, and wherein informing the supervisor comprises sending a message for display on the television.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the supervisory module comprises a round-robin alert system, the method further comprising sending alerts to multiple devices in a round-robin scheme until an acknowledgement is received from at least one of the multiple devices, the alerts informing the supervisor that the first threshold has been reached.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the user monitor module, the receiver module, and the supervisory module are operably coupled by a wireless system, the method further comprising:

tracking a location of the user monitor module using the wireless system; and

providing a tertiary indication to the receiver module and the supervisory module, the tertiary indication including a geographical location of the user monitor module.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising detecting the occurrence of one or more event related to the user well being.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein an event related to the well being of a user comprises an increase in distance between the user monitor module and the supervisory module, the method further comprising, determining, at the receiver module, when the distance reaches the first threshold.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein detecting when the distance reaches the first threshold, comprises:

transmitting a signal by the supervisory module on a periodic basis;

receiving the signal at the receiver module;

comparing a strength of the signal received by the receiver module at different times; and

correlating a difference in the strength of the signal received by the receiver module at the different times to a distance between the user monitor module and the supervisory module.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein an event related to the user well being comprises movement past an area defined by a moving boundary.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein an event related to the user well being comprises movement past an area defined by an irregular boundary.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein an event related to the user well being comprises movement into an exclusion area within a larger defined area.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein an event related to the user well being comprises movement past an area defined by a dynamically-configurable boundary.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein the monitoring of the user well being comprises monitoring two or more users, and wherein an event related to the user well being comprises proceeding past a predetermined distance separating the two or more users.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein one of the users is a human and one of the users is a non-human.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting the first threshold.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, at the user monitor module, codes that arm and disarm the alert module.

19. A method for providing a subscription system that monitors user well being, comprising:

receiving from a user, a request to implement the subscription service;

receiving from a user, user profile information;

creating a user profile based on the user profile information;

receiving a user-selected set of monitoring options; and

activating user well being monitoring based on the user-selected monitoring options.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the user-selected set of monitoring options includes a level of service option, wherein levels of service relate to geographical coverage, monitoring types, including location tracking, personal health warnings, and electronic leashes, and alert options.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the alert options include movement of a user past an established boundary and movement of the user beyond a designated distance from a supervisory module.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the user well being monitoring is performed on an ad hoc basis.

23. A subscription system that monitors user well being including a subscription module operably coupled to a receiver module and a supervisory module, the subscription module, comprising:

means for allowing interactions with one or more customers;

means for allowing the one or more customers to select subscription services;

means for creating, storing, and updating user profiles; and

means for protecting privacy of data used in the user profiles.

24. The subscription system of claim 23, wherein levels of service are tiered, and wherein the levels of service relate to geographical coverage, types of monitoring, and alert options.