Abstract:
An apparatus, method, and data structure for providing personal security, including a sophisticated system of component technologies designed to provide automatic detection and communication of its wearer&#39;s distress to appropriate emergency help regardless of the user&#39;s location on Earth. The device will appear to be a piece of attractive, though inexpensive jewelry. For those situations where the user is either the subject of the distress situation but has the luxury of time and wherewithal to explicitly initiate the process, or where the user is a witness to a non-user&#39;s personal distress situation, the system will also allow its user to manually initiate the distress resolution process through manipulation of a four-button sequence. The inverse will also be true—the user will be able to manipulate a different four-button sequence to cancel a distress resolution process in progress. Analogous to an insurance policy, the apparatus will provide “automatic coverage” for the situations and at the times that the user least expects to need it.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates in general to an apparatus, method, and data structure for providing personal security via event detection, including automatic generation of an emergency signal based on an emergency event. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus, method, and data structure for facilitating communications between an event-detecting device and an emergency services provider, and other various features. 
     A universal problem encountered by every individual on Earth at some point in his or her life is a personal distress situation. Personal distress situations can result from violent crimes, medical emergencies, or accidents—sport, automobile, work, etc. In many instances, there is no clear means of resolution for the victim—he or she is physically immobilized (such as with a heart attack) or circumstantially immobilized (such as with a robbery with a gun to the victim&#39;s head). Even if the victim has taken it upon him or herself to carry something for security purposes, e.g., cell phone, firearm, personal siren, the security product the victim has chosen is unlikely to be useful for the particular event. In these situations, help may never come, or it may arrive too late. In the United States alone, over 1.5 million deaths occur every year resulting from the three major categories of personal distress situations. It is believed that most of these deaths could have been prevented if appropriate help could have been summoned to the victim in a timely manner. 
     Numerous personal security aids are available, e.g., cell phones, guns, Mace, home security systems, bedside phone dialers, automobile assistance systems. However, without exception, each of the available products is limited by a common characteristic—the product does not provide automatic resolution in every situation. Many other limitations are inherent to the products depending on the type of product. For instance, a can of Mace may be a great way to stop a rapist in a parking lot, but it has no value to a heart attack victim in his office; a cell phone works well for calling an ambulance when a victim breaks a leg crossing an icy street in a city, but it probably cannot assist rescuers in locating a victim buried in an avalanche. Furthermore, each product differs in packaging, transportation medium, legality, and usefulness. 
     However, in general, each product is designed to resolve only a single type of unfavorable situation and is largely useless for other types. Moreover, each product has other inherent limitations posed by geography or sociopolitical factors. The following table characterizes the problems with the current solutions in three different types of unfavorable situations. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
               
             
               
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Medical 
                 Violent Personal 
                   
               
               
                   
                 Emergency 
                 Crime 
                 Accident 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 Firearm 
                 No resolution. 
                 Does not call for 
                 No resolution. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 help. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 No idea of 
               
               
                   
                   
                 location. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Not automatic. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Requires expert- 
               
               
                   
                   
                 ise to operate 
               
               
                   
                   
                 effectively. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 May escalate 
               
               
                   
                   
                 rether than 
               
               
                   
                   
                 resolve. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Does not convey 
               
               
                   
                   
                 anything about 
               
               
                   
                   
                 victim&#39;s con- 
               
               
                   
                   
                 dition. 
               
               
                 Chemical Spray 
                 No resolution. 
                 Does not call for 
                 No resolution. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 help. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 No idea of 
               
               
                   
                   
                 location. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Not automatic. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 May escalate 
               
               
                   
                   
                 rather than 
               
               
                   
                   
                 resolve. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Does not convey 
               
               
                   
                   
                 anything about 
               
               
                   
                   
                 victim&#39;s con- 
               
               
                   
                   
                 dition. 
               
               
                 Cell Phone 
                 Does not work 
                 Does not work 
                 Does not work 
               
               
                   
                 everywhere. 
                 everywhere. 
                 everywhere. 
               
               
                   
                 May not convey 
                 May not convey 
                 May not con- 
               
               
                   
                 location. 
                 location. 
                 vey location. 
               
               
                   
                 Not automatic. 
                 Not automatic. 
                 Not automatic. 
               
               
                   
                 Does not convey 
                 May escalate 
                 Does not con- 
               
               
                   
                 anything about 
                 rather than 
                 vey anything 
               
               
                   
                 victim&#39;s 
                 resolve. 
                 about victim&#39;s 
               
               
                   
                 condition. 
                 May be unsafe to 
                 conditions. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 use in this 
               
               
                   
                   
                 situation. 
               
               
                 Home Security 
                 Only protects 
                 Only protects 
                 Only Protects 
               
               
                 System 
                 victim when 
                 victim when 
                 victim when 
               
               
                   
                 victim is home. 
                 victim is home. 
                 victim is home. 
               
               
                 Automobile 
                 No resolution. 
                 Protects the car, 
                 No resolution. 
               
               
                 Security System 
                   
                 not the victim. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Panic feature only 
               
               
                   
                   
                 alerts potential 
               
               
                   
                   
                 help within 
               
               
                   
                   
                 earshot. 
               
               
                   
                   
                 No automatic 
               
               
                   
                   
                 resolution. 
               
               
                 Automobile 
                 Only useful if 
                 Does not work 
                 Only useful if 
               
               
                 Assistance 
                 victim is in the 
                 everywhere. 
                 victim is in the 
               
               
                 System (e.g., 
                 vehicle. 
                 May not convey 
                 vehicle. 
               
               
                 OnStar) 
                 Does not work 
                 location. 
                 Does not work 
               
               
                   
                 everywhere. 
                 Not automatic. 
                 everywhere. 
               
               
                   
                 May not convey 
                   
                 May not con- 
               
               
                   
                 location. 
                   
                 vey location. 
               
               
                   
                 Not automatic. 
                   
                 Not automatic. 
               
               
                   
                 Does not convey 
                   
                 Does not con- 
               
               
                   
                 anything about 
                   
                 vey anything 
               
               
                   
                 victim&#39;s 
                   
                 about victim&#39;s 
               
               
                   
                 condition. 
                   
                 condition. 
               
               
                 Child Screamer 
                 No resolution. 
                 Only works if 
                 No resolution. 
               
               
                 Device 
                   
                 child is still in 
               
               
                   
                   
                 range of parent&#39;s 
               
               
                   
                   
                 device. 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     What is missing is a universally applicable personal security solution. Three important factors suggest that the time is right for such a universal security solution: (1) the maturation of the Baby Boomer generation in the United States and elsewhere and the physical insecurity that comes with aging; (2) the increasing susceptibility of global citizens to random violence and the public fear of experiencing such violence; and (3) the expanding interest in “image” sports and outdoor recreational activities like skiing, hiking, mountain climbing, and hang gliding. 
     The foregoing demonstrates that there is a need for an invention which is universally applicable in variety of distinct personal distress situations. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention satisfies the need and avoids the drawbacks of the prior art by providing an apparatus, method, and data structure for providing personal security via event detection. In one embodiment, personal security is provided by automatic generation of an emergency message in response to an emergency event. This emergency message may be then transmitted to an emergency services provider. 
     According to one aspect of the invention, an apparatus and method capable of automatically sensing a user&#39;s distress and distress type, identifying the user&#39;s spatial location, and communicating with local emergency management services to summon help to the victim are set forth. The apparatus and method may include the structure for and steps of sensing an emergency event, detecting a geographic location of the emergency event, generating an emergency message based on the emergency event and the geographic location, communicating the emergency message to an emergency services provider, and powering the requisite structures. The system may also contain the structure for and steps of providing a feedback signal to the user, allowing the user to manually generate an emergency message, and allowing transmission of the user&#39;s medical information, or any combination of these features. In addition, the emergency message may be generated in a variety of languages, and most preferably in the official language in the user&#39;s geographic location. 
     In another aspect of the invention, a system for providing personal security to an individual contains a computer-readable memory for storing data for access by an application program and includes a data structure stored in the computer-readable memory. The data structure may include information used by the application program and may contain an emergency event field having information associated with the presence or absence of an emergency event, a physiological feedback field, a distress rules processing field for processing the physiological feedback field, a geographic positioning field for identifying the location of the individual, and a distress message management field for generating an emergency message corresponding to an emergency event. The data structure may also contain a voice processing field for converting the emergency message into a voice message, a power management field for controlling power to the system, a heat flash indicator field for providing a feedback signal to the individual, a networking field for downloading updated information from an external computer, and a configuration update field authenticating the updated information. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a personal security system worn by an individual for a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
     FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a side view and a cutaway view of the preferred embodiment of the personal security system of the invention shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic depiction of the preferred embodiment of the personal security system shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a flowchart of the preferred operation of the personal security system shown in FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1 depicts a system  10  for providing personal security to a user via event detection, according to one aspect of the invention. In this preferred embodiment, the system  10  is included in a wearable anklet device  20  and is worn at or near the ankle of the wearer. The system  10  may also be worn at or near the wrist of the wearer or at any other location on the body in which the system  10  contacts the skin of the wearer. FIGS. 2A and 2B depict the system  10  in a side view and a cutaway view, respectively. As seen in FIG. 3, the system  10  includes an external component level  100 , an internal component level  200 , a system bus  300 , and a software component level  400 . The external component level  100  is preferably embedded into the surface of the wearable anklet device  20 . The wearable anklet device  20  or other such device may be weatherproof, shockproof, and “bodyproof,” i.e., impervious to water, sweat, body heat, and physical punishment. 
     The external component level  100  may include an event sensor  110  for sensing a physiological event from the wearer. Preferably, the event sensor  110  is an electrogalvanic skin response sensor such as the MindDrive manufactured by The Other 90%, Inc. Electrogalvanic skin sensors use a technique called galvanic skin response (GSR); this technique measures the conductivity and electrical activity of the skin in order to sense physiological events. The MindDrive technology is capable of distinguishing between physiological signals generated by thoughts and signals generated by the autonomic nervous system. Although the preferred embodiment incorporates GSR, the event sensor  110  may be of any type that senses a physiological event generated by the wearer. The external component level  100  may also contain a manual entry input device  120 , a feedback stimulator  130 , and an input/output (I/O) port  140 . In a preferred embodiment, the manual entry device  120  is a four-button, full logic keystrip allowing entry and interpretation of two different code sequences: one for manual initiation of a distress resolution process and one for canceling a distress resolution already in progress. The manual entry input device  120  may also be of any other type that allows manual initiation and cancellation of distress resolution processes. In a preferred embodiment, the feedback stimulator  130  generates a heat flash to notify the wearer that an emergency event has been sensed by the system  10 . The feedback stimulator  130  may, however, be any device that notifies the wearer that notification of an emergency event has been received by an emergency management service (EMS). In a preferred embodiment, the I/O port  140  is an infrared device used to communicate with an external computer (not shown) in order to download a combination of data pertinent to the wearer and may include medical, behavioral, and physical data; however, the I/O port may be of any type that enables such communication. 
     The internal component level  200  may include a power generator  210  and an energy storage device  220  for generating and storing the energy used by the system, respectively. Preferably, the power generator  210  is a kinetic power supply such as the Seiko Kinetic power subsystem; however, any suitable power supply may be used. Preferably, the energy storage device  220  is a type of capacitive storage; however, any suitable energy storage device may be used. In one aspect, a long-life battery (not shown) may be used in place of the combination of the power generator  210  and energy storage device  220 . 
     The internal component level  200  may also include a geographical positioning system antenna  230 , a geographical positioning system device  240 , a wireless communication transceiver device  250 , a wireless communication transceiver antenna  260 , and a voice synthesizer device  270 . In one embodiment, the geographical positioning system device  240  is a Global Positioning System (GPS) chipset, such as the SiRF Star i/LX RF and DSP GPS chipsets; however, any suitable geographical positioning system may be used. Preferably, the wireless communication transceiver device  250  is a satellite communicator, such as the Kyocera transceiver currently used in Kyocera&#39;s satellite-only Iridium phone; however, any suitable transceiver device may be used. The voice synthesizer device  270  may be an analog-to-digital—digital-to-analog chipset such as that commonly used in an interactive voice response system (IVR); however, any suitable synthesizer device may be used to generate voice signal. Antennas used for the geographical positioning system antenna  230  and the wireless communication transceiver antenna  260  are well known in the art. The wearer&#39;s body could also serve as the antenna for communicating via the geographical positioning system device  240  and the wireless communication system device  250 . 
     In a preferred embodiment, the system bus  300  is a printed circuit board as is well known in the art. The system bus  300  is used for communication between the external component level  100  and the software component level  400  and between the internal component level  200  and the software component level  100 . 
     The software component level  400  may include a central processing unit (CPU)  410 , a read-only memory (RAM)  420 , and a random-access memory (RAM)  440 . The CPU  410  may be a StrongARM or an Intel Pentium processor; however, any suitable processor may be used. The ROM  420  and RAM  440  may be of any known type. 
     As depicted in FIG. 3, a real-time operating system (RTOS)  450  and an application process component  460  may be running in the CPU  410  and utilizing the ROM  420  and RAM  440 . The RTOS  450  is preferably a embedded Java Virtual Machine (JVM), such as the VxWorks made by WindRiver Systems; however, any suitable software operating system may be used. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the application process component  460  is an has several functions or “threads”: a power management thread  461 , a physiological feedback thread  462 , a distress rules processing thread  463 , a geographic location input handling thread  464 , a distress message management thread  466 , a heat flash indicator thread  467 , a networking thread  468 , and a configuration update thread  469 . 
     In operation, the “bodyproof” anklet device  20  in which the system  10  is located is worn by a user. In order to operate the system  10 , the components in the system  10  may receive energy from the energy storage device  220 , which in turn may be powered by the power generator  210 . For example, the power generator  210  may generate power from the motion of the wearer much like a self-winding watch is powered. The metering of energy to the system may be controlled by the power management thread  461 . 
     FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate one aspect of the operation of the system in the presence of a detected event. Physiological data may be collected by the event sensor  110 , as seen at step  1000 . This physiological data may then be sent to the physiological feedback thread  462  for transforming the data into body state information, as seen at step  1100 . The body state information may then be sent to the distress rules processing thread  463 , as seen at step  1200 ; at this step, the body state information may be compared to a general “rules base” to enable decision making about the physiological data. For example, the system  10  may distinguish between the wearer experiencing a heart attack (i.e., the wearer&#39;s heartbeat has stopped) and the wearer experiencing an accident or a crime (i.e., the wearer&#39;s heartbeat has spiked). If an emergency event is detected, as seen at step  1300 , information concerning the type and severity of the event may be sent to the distress message management thread, as seen at step  1500 . 
     Information may also be sent to the geographic location input handling thread  464  concerning the existence of an emergency event by activating the geographic positioning system device  240  and the geographic positioning system antenna  230 , as seen at step  1600 . When the geographic location input handling thread  464  receives the geographic location of the wearer from the geographic positioning system device  240 , a country/region lookup table may be accessed to determine what country or part of a country the wearer is located, as seen at step  1700 . Once the geographic location of the wearer is determined, the geographic location handling thread  464  may determine an official or local language spoken in the geographic location, as seen at step  1800 . Next, the geographic location handling thread  464  may send the geographic location of the wearer and the official or local language of that geographic location to the distress message management thread  465 . 
     Once the distress message management thread  465  has received the type and severity of the event from the distress rules processing thread  463 , these data may be converted into a plain language sentence, as seen at step  1900 . The plain language sentence may then be sent to the voice processing thread  466  where it may be converted into a synthesized voice message using the voice synthesizer device  270  in the official or local language, as seen at step  2000 . Based on the determination of the country/region, as seen at step  1700 , a contact number for the local EMS is determined at step  2100 . The contact number and the synthesized voice message may then be sent back to the distress message management thread  465  and then on to the wireless communication transceiver device  250  and the wireless communication transceiver antenna  260 , as seen at step  2200 . Of course, the plain language sentence may initially be created in the proper language. 
     When the synthesized voice message has been created, the system  10  may contact the local EMS at the appropriate contact number. When the EMS answers the call, the system  10  may begin speaking to a dispatcher at the EMS using a series of prompts and recognition of the dispatcher&#39;s speech in the manner of an interactive voice response system (IVR). 
     The wireless communication transceiver device  260  may then send a notification to the distress message management thread  465  indicating that the EMS has received the synthesized voice message, as seen at step  2300 . Once the EMS has received notice of the emergency event, the distress message management thread  465  may then send a notification to the heat flash indicator thread  467  which may then send a signal to the feedback stimulator  130 , as seen at step  2500 . As discussed above, the feedback stimulator  130  may indicate to the wearer that the local EMS has been notified of the emergency event. 
     The system  10  will preferably come equipped with a default number of language sets and emergency numbers built in when purchased. The wearer may be able to configure the system  10  with a particular set (e.g., five) of languages and regions of travel (which the emergency numbers would correspond to) upon purchase. While the system  10  is worn, should the wearer pass from one language area to another, as detected by the geographical positioning system transceiver and antenna  240 ,  230 , the proper language may be unloaded from the system&#39;s  10  ROM  420 . Simultaneously, the system  10  may connect via the Internet (by TCP/IP) to a web server and download the language set and emergency numbers for the correct regional language. This connection via the Internet, of course, would not be necessary if the wearer moves to a new area whose language and emergency numbers are already loaded into the system  10 . 
     The system  10  may also operate in a manual mode. In this mode, the wearer may depress a sequence of buttons on the manual entry device  120  indicating that the wearer is experiencing or observing an emergency event. In this situation, data from the manual entry device  120  may be sent directly to the distress rules processing thread  463 , and processing may then proceed as discussed above beginning with step  1200 . 
     In addition, the manual entry device  120  may be used to cancel the processing of an emergency event detected automatically or entered manually. 
     The system  10  may be used to hold a combination of data pertinent to the wearer and may include medical, behavioral, and physical data. These data may be downloaded into the system  10  upon the initial configuration of the system  10  or at any necessary time thereafter. These data may be loaded by connecting the I/O port  140  of the system  10  to an external computer database (not shown). The networking thread  468  may then be used to download medical data specific to the wearer from the external database to the system  10 . Once the data are downloaded, they may be sent to the configuration update thread  469  to authenticate the data and apply the updates to the ROM  420  of the system  10 . In one embodiment of the invention, these wearer-specific data may be transmitted to the EMS along with the transmission of emergency event information, as discussed above. These wearer-specific data may be converted to a plain language sentence and then to a synthesized voice signal in the proper language (these steps are not shown)—as was done with the emergency event data as shown in steps  1900  and  2000 —or may be created directly in the proper language. Examples of wearer-specific data may be a type of medication taken by the wearer, an illness the wearer has, or other such information that would be relevant to an emergency care provider. An important example of wearer-specific data that could be sent to the EMS would be a list of drugs to which the wearer is allergic.