Patent Publication Number: US-8970354-B2

Title: Electronic guides, incident response methods, incident response systems, and incident monitoring methods

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/415,701, which was filed on Mar. 31, 2009 now U.S. Pat. No. 8,228,176 and which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention, in various embodiments, relates to electronic guides, incident response methods, incident response systems, and incident monitoring methods. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Alarm systems that monitor for dangerous conditions such as smoke, fire, water, or other property or life threatening conditions are commonplace in finished buildings and other venues. These systems help promote safety by alerting occupants of dangerous conditions so that they can evacuate. Venues that are under construction, however, do not have such systems in place. Accordingly, it can be difficult to quickly notify those working on the venue of dangerous conditions. 
     Although alarm systems may notify occupants of dangerous conditions, they do not attempt to direct the occupants away from the dangerous conditions. Instead, occupants may rely on fixed evacuation routes described in emergency plans or on exit signs. These routes are typically designed to be the shortest routes out of the building. Depending on the conditions, a shortest route, however, might not be the safest way to exit a building. In some cases, following a fixed route or exit sign may actually lead one into the dangerous conditions. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Preferred embodiments are described below with reference to the following accompanying drawings. 
         FIG. 1  is an illustration of an electronic guide in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is an illustration of an electronic guide in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5A  is a first symbol in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5B  is a second symbol in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5C  is a third symbol in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 5D  is a fourth symbol in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6A  is a floor plan in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6B  is a floor plan in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 6C  is a floor plan in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7A  depicts a Graphical User Interface (GUI) at a first moment in time in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7B  depicts a Graphical User Interface (GUI) at a second moment in time in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7C  depicts a Graphical User Interface (GUI) at a third moment in time in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7D  depicts a Graphical User Interface (GUI) at a fourth moment in time in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is an illustration of a first view of a hallway in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  is an illustration of a second view of a hallway in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  is an illustration of an electronic guide in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Electronic guides, incident response methods, incident response systems, and incident monitoring methods are described. In one embodiment, a system includes electronic guides that are controlled by management circuitry in order to safely lead people out of a venue in the case of an incident such as a fire, gas leak, security threat, or terrorist attack. 
     According to one aspect of the invention, an electronic guide includes one or more indicators and processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to receive a request to configure the one or more indicators from an inactive state to an active state in which the one or more indicators encourage a first person positioned near a first side of the electronic guide to move toward the electronic guide and encourage a second person positioned near a second side of the electronic guide to move away from the electronic guide. The processing circuitry is also configured to configure the one or more indicators according to the request. 
     The processing circuitry may also be configured to receive the request via a wireless communications channel. 
     The one or more indicators may include a first visual indicator viewable from a first location near the electronic guide and a second visual indicator viewable from a second location near the electronic guide wherein the first visual indicator is not viewable from the second location and the second visual indicator is not viewable from the first location. When the one or more indicators are configured in the active state, the first visual indicator may be a first color and the second visual indicator may be a second color. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , one embodiment of an electronic guide  100  is illustrated. Electronic guide  100  includes faces  102 ,  104 , and  106 . In one embodiment, face  102  may be mounted against a wall, ceiling, or floor. 
     Face  106  includes two indicators  108  and  110  and face  104  includes two indicators  112  and  114 . Indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114  may be visual indicators that may be individually selectively enabled. In one embodiment, indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114  may include light bulbs or LEDs of one or more colors that may be selectively enabled. In one embodiment, indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114  may be configured to display a symbol such as an arrow, a word, a letter, or other symbol. 
     In one embodiment, one or more of indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114  may be configured to encourage a person located to the right of face  104  to move toward electronic guide  100 . For example, indicator  114  may include a plurality of green, white, or other color (or multicolor) LEDs formed in the shape of a horizontally oriented arrow pointing left. Upon seeing the arrow, the person may move toward electronic guide  100 . 
     Alternatively, indicator  114  may be configured so that indicator  114  is green. This may be accomplished, for example, by activating green LEDs or light bulbs, by activating a light source behind a piece of green translucent material, or by physically revealing a piece of green material. Since green is internationally associated with the word “go” due to its use in traffic lights, upon seeing that indicator  114  is green, the person may move toward electronic guide  100 . 
     Indicators  108 ,  110 , and/or  112  may be similarly configured to encourage a person located to the right of face  104  to move toward electronic guide  100 . 
     In one embodiment, one or more of indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114  may be configured to encourage a person located to the right of face  104  to move away from electronic guide  100 . For example, indicator  114  may include a plurality of green, white, other color (or multicolor) LEDs formed in the shape of a horizontally oriented arrow pointing right. Upon seeing the arrow, the person may move away from electronic guide  100  since the arrow points away from electronic guide  100 . 
     Alternatively, indicator  112  may be configured so that indicator  112  is red. This may be accomplished, for example, by activating red LEDs or light bulbs, by activating a light source behind a piece of red translucent material, or by physically revealing a piece of red material. Since red is internationally associated with the word “stop” due to its use in traffic lights, upon seeing that indicator  112  is red, the person may move away from electronic guide  100 . Indicators  108 ,  110 , and/or  114  may be similarly configured to encourage a person located to the right of face  104  to move away from electronic guide  100 . 
     Indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114  may be activated using the techniques described above to encourage a person located to the left of face  106  to either move toward or move away from electronic guide  100 . These techniques may be used in conjunction so that a person located to the right of face  104  is encouraged to move toward electronic guide  100  and then upon reaching electronic guide  100  is encouraged to move away from electronic guide  100  in a direction to the left of electronic guide  100 . For example, indicators  112  and  108  may each be configured to display arrows pointing left or indicator  114  may be configured so that indicator  114  is green and indicator  108  may be configured so that indicator  108  is red. 
     Indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114  may be implemented using one or more of LEDs, light bulbs, LCD displays, electronic paper, painted material, and/or translucent colored material. Indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114  may be configured to blink. The frequency and/or duty cycle of the blink may be used to convey information. In some embodiments, indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114  may be chosen so that they are easily recognized by a human or animal. In other embodiments, indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114  may be chosen so that they are easily recognized by a moveable device such as a robot. 
     In one embodiment, face  104  and indicators  112  and  114  may be visible to a person approaching guide  100  from the right but not to a person approaching guide  100  from the left and face  106  and indicators  108  and  110  may be visible to a person approaching guide  100  from the left but not to a person approaching guide  100  from the right. 
     In one embodiment, electronic guide  100  may include a speaker or other device  116  configured to produce an audible indicator, such as a beep, tone, siren, or verbal message. The audible indicator may be used to encourage a person to move toward or away from electronic guide  100  as is described below. Device  116  may alternatively or additionally be used in conjunction with a microphone  118  to enable a person located near electronic guide  100  to communicate with a person operating management circuitry  400  (described below). Furthermore, device  116  may be used to play recorded verbal instructions such as “follow the green lights to an exit,” or “follow the arrows to an exit,” or “follow the chirp to an exit.” 
     In one embodiment, electronic guide  100  may include a switch  122  configured to be manually activated by a person. Switch  122  may be used by the person to indicate that an incident, such as an injury, fire, or non-specified emergency has occurred. For example, switch  122  may be a “panic button” that may be pushed by the person. In some embodiments, switch  122  may be configured to prevent accidental activation. For example, switch  122  may be behind a protective cover that prevents switch  122  from being manually activated while the protective cover is in place. In case of an emergency a person may move or remove the protective cover to gain access to switch  122 . In one embodiment, electronic guide  100  may be mounted on a ceiling or pole and switch  122  may include a pull chain used to activate switch  122 . 
     Of course, other embodiments of electronic guides are possible that include some or all of the components described above or that include a greater or lesser number of the components described above. For example, in one embodiment, an electronic guide may have a single visual indicator (such as indicator  112 ) that can be configured to display either an arrow pointing left or an arrow pointing right. This electronic guide may have a flat front face to which the single visual indicator is affixed. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , another embodiment of an electronic guide  200  is illustrated. Electronic guide  200  includes a switch  206  similar in functionality to switch  122  described above, and a visual indicator  204 . 
     In one embodiment, upon the occurrence of an incident, a person may activate switch  206  and, in response, visual indicator  204  may be activated to draw attention to electronic guide  200 . This behavior may be well suited to venues such as manufacturing facilities or construction sites in which incidents such as injury or fire should be made immediately known to others. Visual indicator  204  may guide a person responding to the incident to electronic guide  200 . 
     In some embodiments, electronic guide  200  may be self-powered, free-standing, and self-contained and therefore well-suited for use in a construction site in which walls and power have not yet been constructed an in which built-in safety systems, such as fire alarm systems, have not yet been installed. 
     Electronic guide  200  may also include processing circuitry such as processing circuitry  302  described below and/or a cabinet in which emergency supplies may be stored. Examples of emergency supplies include a fire extinguisher, eyewash kit, first-aid kit, flashlight, gas mask, and CPR instructions. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , one embodiment of a block diagram  300  of electronic guide  100  is illustrated. As illustrated by block diagram  300 , electronic guide  100  includes elements not illustrated in  FIG. 1  such as processing circuitry  302  and power supply  304 . Electronic guide  100  may also optionally include backup power supply  306 . Blocks representing indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114  and sensors  120  are also included in block diagram  300 . 
     Processing circuitry  302  may interact with other elements of electronic guide  100 . For example, processing circuitry  302  may enable or disable indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114 ; may detect when switch  122  has been activated; provide electronic signals to device  116 ; and/or process audio signals captured by microphone  118 . Processing circuitry  302  may report events to management circuitry  400  and receive instructions and/or requests from management circuitry  400 . 
     Electronic guide  100  may include one or more environmental sensors  120  (see  FIG. 1 ) and processing circuitry  302  may be configured to store data acquired by sensors  120  and to send the data acquired by sensors  120  to management circuitry  400  (described below). Examples of sensors  120  include sensors for measuring temperature, humidity, radiation, or light and sensors for detecting smoke, gas, fire, heat, water, or pressure. 
     In some embodiments, electronic guide  100  may include a motion detector configured to detect motion near electronic guide  100 . Processing circuitry  302  may communicate with the motion detector and may notify management circuitry  400  when motion has been detected. Furthermore, processing circuitry  302  may activate one or more of indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114  when motion has been detected to notify people near electronic guide  100  that motion has been detected. 
     Processing circuitry  302  may comprise circuitry configured to implement desired programming provided by appropriate media in at least one embodiment. For example, processing circuitry  302  may be implemented as one or more of a processor and/or other structure configured to execute executable instructions including, for example, software and/or firmware instructions, and/or hardware circuitry. Exemplary embodiments of processing circuitry  302  include hardware logic, PGA, FPGA, ASIC, state machines, and/or other structures alone or in combination with a processor. These examples of processing circuitry  302  are provided by way of illustration; other configurations are possible. 
     Processing circuitry  302  may execute programming stored within appropriate processor-usable media and/or communicated via a network or other transmission media. The programming may be provided to processing circuitry  302  via appropriate media including, for example, embodied within articles of manufacture, embodied within a data signal (e.g., modulated carrier wave, data packets, digital representations, etc.) communicated via an appropriate transmission medium, such as a communication network (e.g., the Internet and/or a private network), wired electrical connection, optical connection and/or electromagnetic energy, for example, via a communications interface, or provided using other appropriate communication structure or medium. Exemplary programming including processor-usable code may be communicated as a data signal embodied in a carrier wave in but one example. 
     Power supply  304  may provide electrical power (e.g., AC or DC power) to the other elements of electronic guide  100 . In one embodiment, power supply  304  may be connected to standard AC power via a hard-wired connection. In another embodiment, power supply  304  may include a plug that may be plugged into a standard AC power receptacle. In some cases, power supply  304  may include one or more batteries and might not rely on standard AC power. 
     Backup power supply  306  may supply power to electronic guide  100  in situations in which power supply  304  is unable to do so. Backup power supply  306  may include one or more batteries. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , a block diagram of management circuitry  400  is illustrated. Management circuitry  400  may be in communication with one or more electronic guides such as electronic guide  100  and may control and/or configure the electronic guides. 
     In some embodiments, management circuitry  400  may be electrically connected to electronic guide  100  via wiring. In other embodiments, management circuitry  400  may communicate with processing circuitry  302  via one or more wireless communication channels. For example, management circuitry  400  may communicate with processing circuitry  302  via a radio channel or via an infrared link. The wireless communications channel may be Bluetooth channel or may be part of a wireless network such as an IEEE 802.11 network or a cellular network. 
     Management circuitry  400  may be remotely located from electronic guide  100  so that incidents affecting electronic guide  100  do not necessarily affect management circuitry  400 . For example, if electronic guide  100  is located in a passageway of a building (e.g., a hallway), management circuitry  400  may be located in a security room of the building and may be located on a different floor of the building. In some embodiments, management circuitry  400  may be located in a different building than the building in which electronic guide  100  is located. 
     In one embodiment, management circuitry  400  may be portable and may be carried around by a person having responsibility for monitoring electronic guide  100 . Management circuitry  400  may include a speaker and microphone that may be used in conjunction with device  116  and microphone  118  to enable a person operating management circuitry  400  to verbally communicate with a person located near electronic guide  100 . 
     Management circuitry  400  may comprise circuitry configured to implement desired programming provided by appropriate media in at least one embodiment. For example, management circuitry  400  may be implemented as one or more of a processor and/or other structure configured to execute executable instructions including, for example, software and/or firmware instructions, and/or hardware circuitry. Exemplary embodiments of management circuitry  400  include hardware logic, PGA, FPGA, ASIC, state machines, and/or other structures alone or in combination with a processor. These examples of management circuitry  400  are provided by way of illustration; other configurations are possible. 
     Management circuitry  400  may execute programming stored within appropriate processor-usable media and/or communicated via a network or other transmission media. The programming may be provided to management circuitry  400  via appropriate media including, for example, embodied within articles of manufacture, embodied within a data signal (e.g., modulated carrier wave, data packets, digital representations, etc.) communicated via an appropriate transmission medium, such as a communication network (e.g., the Internet and/or a private network), wired electrical connection, optical connection and/or electromagnetic energy, for example, via a communications interface, or provided using other appropriate communication structure or medium. Exemplary programming including processor-usable code may be communicated as a data signal embodied in a carrier wave in but one example. 
     Some example implementations of management circuitry  400  include a computer, laptop, PDA, and a handheld computer. Each of these devices may execute programming configured to perform the methods described herein. 
     In one embodiment, processing circuitry  302  may be configured to receive a status request from management circuitry  400 , which may be remotely located from the electronic guide  100 . Processing circuitry  302  may send a status message to management circuitry  400  in response to receiving the status request. The status request may be a “ping” and the status message may be a “ping” response. In one embodiment, the status message may include information about electronic guide  100  and may include a time stamp. For example, the status message may include an identifier associated with electronic guide  100  such as a name, address, or serial number. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5A , a symbol  500  representing an electronic guide having four indicators  502 ,  504 ,  506 , and  508  is illustrated. The electronic guide represented by symbol  500  may have some or all of the functionality of the electronic guides described herein (e.g., electronic guides  100  and  200 ) and indicators  502 ,  504 ,  506 , and  508  may have some or all of the functionality of the visual indicators described herein (e.g., indicators  108 ,  110 ,  112 , and  114 ). Furthermore, although symbol  500  (and symbols  510 ,  512 , and  514 ) is illustrated diagrammatically in two dimensions, the electronic guides represented by these symbols may be three dimensional, for example, like electronic guide  100 . 
     The placement of indicators  502  and  504  on the left side of the symbol is used to indicate that indicators  502  and  504  are detectable to a person, animal, or device located to the left of the electronic guide represented by symbol  500  and the placement of indicators  506  and  508  on the right side of the symbol is used to indicate that indicators  506  and  508  are detectable to a person, animal, or device located to the right of the electronic guide represented by symbol  500 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 5B , a symbol  510  representing an electronic guide in which indicators  502  and  508  have been activated is illustrated. Indicator  502  is shaded to convey that it is configured to encourage a person, animal, or moveable device positioned to the left of the electronic guide represented by symbol  510  to move away from the electronic guide. As was described above, when configured in this mode indicator  502  may, for example, display the color red. 
     The slash through indicator  508  conveys that indicator  508  is configured to encourage a person, animal, or moveable device positioned to the right of the electronic guide represented by symbol  510  to move toward the electronic guide. As was described above, when configured in this mode indicator  502  may, for example, display the color green. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5C , a symbol  512  representing an electronic guide in which indicators  502  and  506  have been activated is illustrated. Indicators  502  and  506  are shaded to convey that indicators  502  and  506  are configured to encourage a person, animal, or moveable device to the left or right of the electronic guide represented by symbol  512  to move away from the electronic guide. As was described above, when configured in this mode indicators  502  and  506  may, for example, display the color red. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5D , a symbol  514  representing an electronic guide in which indicators  504  and  506  have been activated is illustrated. The slash through indicator  504  conveys that indicator  504  is configured to encourage a person, animal, or moveable device to the left of the electronic guide represented by symbol  514  to move toward the electronic guide. As was described above, when configured in this mode indicator  504  may, for example, display the color green. 
     Indicator  506  is shaded to convey that indicator  506  is configured to encourage a person, animal, or moveable device to the right of the electronic guide represented by symbol  514  to move away from the electronic guide. As was described above, when configured in this mode indicator  506  may, for example, display the color red. 
     Symbols  510 ,  512 , and  514  are used in  FIGS. 6B ,  6 C,  7 A,  7 B,  7 C, and  7 D to represent configurations of electronic guides. In some cases, these symbols are rotated by ninety degrees. 
     As was mentioned above, electronic guides may be placed within a venue. In response to an incident occurring within the venue, the electronic guides may be configured to guide people away from the incident and out of the venue, thereby potentially reducing confusion and saving lives, or to guide people (such as first responders) to the incident, thereby potentially reducing the time required to resolve the incident. Resolving the incident quickly may reduce property loss. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6A , a floor plan  600  of a building is illustrated. Floor plan  600  includes pathways (i.e., hallways)  606 ,  608 ,  610 , and  612 ; rooms; exits  670  and  672 ; and detectors  658 ,  660 , and  662 . Detectors  658 ,  660 , and  662  may be configured to monitor an environmental condition and may include smoke, heat, leak, flow, gas, and fume detectors. 
     Floor plan  600  also includes electronic guides  614 ,  616 ,  618 ,  620 ,  622 , and  624  located in pathway  606 ; electronic guides  626 ,  628 ,  630 ,  632 ,  634 , and  636  located in pathway  608 ; electronic guides  650 ,  652 ,  654 , and  656  located in pathway  612 ; and electronic guides  638 ,  640 ,  642 ,  644 ,  646 , and  648  located in pathway  610 . The electronic guides of  FIG. 6A  may be in communication with management system  400  and may be mounted on walls, ceilings, or floors of the pathways. 
     Floor plan  600  is used below to describe incident response systems and methods. 
     According to one aspect of the invention, an incident response system includes a plurality of electronic guides positioned within pathways of a building in different locations relative to one another. The system may be referred to as a Dynamic Directional Emergency Response and Egress System. Each electronic guide of the plurality includes at least one visual arrow configured to be selectively enabled. The incident response system also includes management circuitry configured to receive notification that an incident has occurred within the building; determine a source of the notification, the source being positioned in a location near the incident; and establish a directional path through the pathways leading away from the location toward an exit of the building by enabling the visual arrows of the electronic guides of the plurality that are positioned along the directional path, individual of the visual arrows being visible to a person traversing the directional path. 
       FIG. 6A  may be used to illustrate the operation of such a system. For example, an incident (e.g., a fire, gas leak, injury, terrorist threat, etc.)  684  may occur in room  602 . Detector  658  (e.g., a smoke alarm, gas detector, motion detector, etc.) may detect the incident and report the incident directly to management circuitry  400  or indirectly to management circuitry  400  via an alarm panel associated with the detector. 
     Upon receiving notification of the incident, management circuitry may determine that the source of the notification is detector  658 . Management circuitry  400  may then establish directional paths through pathways  606 ,  608 ,  610 , and  612  leading away from incident  684  toward an exit of the building. To do so, management circuitry  400  may communicate with the electronic guides of  FIG. 6A  and configure the electronic guides to display arrows pointing in the directions of paths  664 ,  668 ,  670 ,  672 , and  674 . For example, management circuitry  400  may configure electronic guides  626 ,  628 ,  650 ,  652 , and  654  to display arrows pointing to the left side of the floor plan, electronic guides  630 ,  632 ,  634 ,  636 , and  656  to display arrows pointing to the left side of the floor plan, electronic guides  620 ,  622 ,  624 ,  644 ,  646 , and  648  to display arrows pointing to the bottom side of the floor plan, and electronic guides  618 ,  616 ,  614 ,  640 ,  638 , and  642  to display arrows pointing to the top side of the floor plan. 
     As a result of detector  658  detecting incident  684 , an audible alarm signal (e.g., fire alarm signal) may be generated within the building that notifies people within the building that they should evacuate. The directional paths established by management circuitry  400  may lead people out of the building and away from incident  684 . For example, upon exiting room  680 , a person may look left and see electronic guide  652  displaying an arrow pointing away from electronic guide  652  and toward electronic guide  650 . The person may look right and see electronic guide  650  displaying an arrow pointing away from electronic guide  650  and towards pathway  606 . Based on viewing one or both of these electronic guides, the person may move towards electronic guide  650  rather than towards electronic guide  652 . 
     Upon reaching the intersection of pathway  612  and pathway  606 , the person may look left and see electronic guide  622  displaying an arrow pointing toward electronic guide  624 . The person may look right and see electronic guide  620  displaying an arrow pointing away from electronic guide  620  and towards electronic guide  622 . Based on viewing one or both of these electronic guides, the person may move along path  664  towards electronic guide  622  and exit  670  rather than towards electronic guide  620 . 
     Configuring the electronic guides of  FIG. 6A  to display arrows may be helpful to those people in the building who are colorblind since the arrows do not rely on color to indicate the evacuation path. 
     In some cases, a first responder (e.g., fire, police, or medical personnel) may need to travel towards incident  684  to help resolve the incident  684 . For example, if incident  684  is an injury, the first responder may be a paramedic who needs to reach the injured person or if incident  684  is a threat by a terrorist, the first responder may be a police officer who needs to reach the terrorist. Such first responders may be trained to travel in a direction opposite that of the arrows to be led to incident  684 . 
     For example, a first responder entering the building via exit  670  may travel in a direction opposite that indicated by the arrows displayed by electronic guides  624 ,  622 ,  650 ,  652 , and  654  and thereby may be led along path  666  towards incident  684 . 
     Instead of or in addition to configuring the electronic guides of  FIG. 6A  to display the arrows described above, management circuitry  400  may configure the electronic guides of  FIG. 6A  to audibly guide people along paths  664 ,  668 ,  670 ,  672 , and  674 . Doing so may be useful for those who are blind or who are effectively blinded due to smoke or other conditions resulting from incident  684 . 
     According to another aspect of the invention, an incident response system includes a plurality of electronic guides positioned within pathways of a building in different locations relative to one another. Each electronic guide of the plurality includes at least one audible indicator configured to be selectively enabled. The incident response system also includes management circuitry configured to receive notification that an incident has occurred within the building; determine a source of the notification, the source being positioned in a location near the incident; and establish a directional path through the pathways leading away from the location toward an exit of the building by selectively enabling the audible indicators of the electronic guides of the plurality that are positioned along the directional path, individual of the audible indicators being perceptible to a person traversing the directional path. 
       FIG. 6A  may be used to illustrate the operation of such a system. For example, management circuitry  400  may communicate with the electronic guides of  FIG. 6A  and configure the electronic guides to generate audible signals leading in the directions of paths  664 ,  668 ,  670 ,  672 , and  674 . For example, management circuitry  400  may configure electronic guides  652 ,  650 ,  622 , and  624  to consecutively generate audible chirps in such a way that only one chirp is audible at a time. 
     As a result, a person standing near electronic guide  652  may hear the chirp generated by electronic guide  652  and may later hear the chirp generated by electronic guide  650 . As a result, the person may move along path  664  towards electronic guide  650  since the person heard the chirp from electronic guide  650  after hearing the chirp from electronic guide  652 . Upon nearing electronic guide  650 , the person may hear another chirp from electronic guide  652  behind him, may then hear another chirp from electronic guide  650 , and may then hear a chirp from electronic guide  622 . As a result, the person may move along path  664  towards electronic guide  622  since the person heard the chirp from electronic guide  622  after hearing the chirp from electronic guide  650 . The person may proceed in this manner along path  664  by listening for chirps from electronic guides  622  and  624 . 
     Following the chirps in this manner may be described as traveling with the chirps since the sequence in which the chirps are emitted leads in the direction of path  664  away from incident  684 . In contrast, first responders may travel toward the source of the first chirp in the sequence in a direction opposite that of the sequence to find incident  684 . 
     In one embodiment, the chirps may be generated in such a way that a chirp is only audible within a certain range of the electronic guides that emits the chirp to prevent a person from hearing multiple conflicting chirps in a single location. 
     In one embodiment, instead of or in addition to configuring the electronic guides to consecutively generate audible chirps in such a way that only one chirp is audible at a time as was described above, management circuitry  400  may configure the electronic guides to consecutively generate visible blinks or pulses of light in such a way that only one blink is visible at a time. In this manner, a path may be established and a person may follow the path by following the consecutive blinks of light. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, an incident response system includes a plurality of electronic guides positioned within pathways of a building in different locations relative to one another. Each electronic guide of the plurality includes at least one green visual indicator configured to be selectively enabled. The incident response system also includes management circuitry configured to receive notification that an incident has occurred within the building; determine a source of the notification, the source being positioned in a location near the incident; and establish a directional path through the pathways leading away from the location toward an exit of the building by enabling the green visual indicators of the electronic guides of the plurality that are positioned along the directional path. Individual of the green visual indicators are visible to a person traversing the directional path. 
     In one embodiment, the directional path may be referred to as a first directional path and each electronic guide of the plurality may include at least one red visual indicator configured to be selectively enabled. The management circuitry may be configured to establish a second directional path through the pathways leading from the exit to the location by enabling the red visual indicators of the electronic guides of the plurality that are positioned along the second directional path. The red visual indicators may be visible to a person traversing the second directional path. In some cases, the red visual indicators may be obscured from the view of a person looking in the direction of the first directional path. 
       FIG. 6B  may be used to illustrate the operation of such a system.  FIG. 6B  illustrates the electronic guides of  FIG. 6A  using symbols  510 ,  512 , and  514  described above in relation to  FIGS. 5B ,  5 C, and  5 D. In this embodiment, colors are used to establish paths  668 ,  670 ,  674 ,  664 , and  666 . 
     Upon receiving notification of incident  684 , management circuitry may determine that the source of the notification is detector  658 . Management circuitry  400  may then establish directional paths through pathways  606 ,  608 ,  610 , and  612  leading away from incident  684  toward an exit of the building. To do so, management circuitry  400  may communicate with the electronic guides of  FIG. 6A  and configure the electronic guides to display the colors indicated by symbols  510 ,  512 , and  514  in  FIG. 6B . 
     A person evacuating the building because of incident  684  may use the colors of the electronic guides to follow one or more of paths  668 ,  670 ,  674 ,  664 , and  666 . For example, upon exiting room  680 , a person may look left and see red indicator  502  of electronic guide  652 . The person may look right and see green indicator  508  of electronic guide  650 . Based on viewing one or both of these electronic guides, the person may move towards electronic guide  650  rather than towards electronic guide  652  since green indicates go and red indicates stop. 
     Upon reaching the intersection of pathway  612  and pathway  606 , the person may look left and see green indicator  508  of electronic guide  622 . The person may look right and see red indicator  506  of electronic guide  620 . Based on viewing one or both of these electronic guides, the person may move along path  664  towards electronic guide  622  and exit  670  and in the direction of the green indicators rather than towards electronic guide  620 . 
     First responders may be trained to travel in a direction toward red indicators to be led to incident  684 . For example a first responder entering the building via exit  670  may travel toward red indicators displayed by electronic guides  624 ,  622 ,  650 ,  652 , and  654  and thereby may be led along path  666  towards incident  684 . 
     Note that although several different types of indicators (e.g., arrows, audible chirps, audible consecutive chirps, visual consecutive blinks, and colors) have been individually described above, in some embodiments, management circuitry  400  may configure the electronic guides to produce more than one or all of these different types of indicators. For example, in one embodiment, management circuitry  400  may configure the electronic guides to produce arrows, consecutive audible chirps, consecutive visual blinks, and red and green colors. Doing so may help the greatest number of people evacuate a venue since those who are vision impaired may rely on the consecutive audible chirps and those who are color blind may rely on the arrows or consecutive visual blinks, thereby increasing building safety with respect to life safety. 
     Management circuitry  400  may detect a second incident in addition to incident  684 . In some cases, the second incident may be detected before incident  684  has been resolved. For example, if incident  684  is a fire and the second incident is also a fire, management circuitry  400  may detect the second incident prior to the fire of incident  684  being extinguished. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6C , a second incident  686  in room  604  is illustrated. After configuring the electronic guides of  FIG. 6C  in response to being notified of incident  684 , management circuitry  400  may receive notification of incident  686 . Incident  686  may be considered remote from incident  684  since incident  686  is located in a different room than incident  684 . In response to the notification, management circuitry  400  may determine a source of the second notification, which may be detector  660 . Management circuitry  400  may then re-configure at least a portion of one of guided paths  668 ,  670 ,  672 ,  674 ,  664 , and  666  to lead away from both incident  684  and incident  686 . 
     For example, as illustrated in  FIG. 6C , management circuitry  400  may reconfigure the indicators of electronic guides  632 ,  634 , and  636 . As a result, path  670  is extended to include electronic guide  632 , path  672  is shortened so that is does not include electronic guide  632 , and path  676  is created. 
     Note that a person exiting door  690  into pathway  608  will be directed by path  670  to exit  672  even though exit  674  is nearer door  690  than exit  672 . In this case, path  672  from door  690  to exit  672  is safer than a path from door  690  to exit  672  since such a path would lead towards incident  686  rather than away from incident  686  like path  672 . Accordingly, in some instances, management circuitry  400  may establish evacuation paths via the electronic guides that are safest paths rather than shortest paths. 
     Although some of the examples described herein are based on a two dimensional floor plan of a venue, such as floor plan  600 , the methods described herein need not be limited to two dimensions. In one embodiment, management circuitry  400  may consider three dimensions of a venue when configuring the electronic guides. For example, if management circuitry  400  is notified of an incident present in the northwest corner of a third floor of a venue, management circuitry  400  may configure electronic guides located within the venue so that people located on floors of the venue above the third floor are directed to stairwells and/or exits located away from the northwest corners of those floors (e.g., stairwells in the southeast corners of those floors) so that these people do not descend towards the incident. 
     In directing people in three dimensions, the electronic guides may be configured to direct (e.g., using arrows) people up or down in addition to or instead of directing people left or right. Such functionality may be especially useful in or near stairwells of venues. 
     Management circuitry  400  may perform other methods in addition to those described above including methods described below. In one embodiment, management circuitry  400  may execute programming configured to perform one or more of the methods described herein. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, an incident response method includes receiving notification that an incident has occurred and determining a source of the notification, the source being near the incident. The method also includes establishing at least one guided path configured to direct a first person, a first animal, or a first movable device positioned near the source away from the incident and/or to direct a second person, a second animal, or a second movable device toward the incident. Management circuitry  400  may perform this method. 
     The establishing of the at least one guided path may include configuring a plurality of electronic guides, the electronic guides of the plurality being positioned near the incident and in different locations relative to one another. 
     The establishing of the at least one guided path may include establishing the at least one guided path so that the at least one guided path directs the second person, second animal, or second movable device toward the incident and the second person, second animal, or second movable device is trained to respond to the incident and further comprising configuring at least some of the plurality of electronic guides to prevent people near the incident who are not trained to respond to the incident from hindering the second person, second animal, or second movable device. 
     The configuring of the plurality of electronic guides may include configuring a first one of the plurality of electronic guides to discourage the first person, first animal, or first movable device from moving toward the first one of the plurality of electronic guides and configuring a second one of the plurality of electronic guides to encourage the first person, first animal, or first movable device to move toward the second one of the plurality of electronic guides. 
     The guided path may include a plurality of green visual indicators viewable along the guided path. The guided path may be a bi-directional path comprising a plurality of green visual indicators viewable along the guided path in a direction leading away from the incident and a plurality of red visual indicators viewable along the guided path in a direction leading to the incident. 
     The receiving of the notification may include receiving the notification from one at least one of the electronic guides of the plurality. For example, management circuitry  400  may receive notification from electronic guide  654  that a switch of electronic guide  654  (e.g., switch  122  of  FIG. 1 ) has been activated or electronic guide  654  may include a smoke detector and management circuitry  400  may receive notification from electronic guide  654  that the smoke detector has detected smoke. 
     The method may further include after the configuring of the plurality of electronic guides, activating a first signal at a first electronic guide of the plurality; after the activating of the first signal, activating a second signal at a second electronic guide of the plurality; and after the activating of the second signal, activating a third signal at a third electronic guide of the plurality. The first, second, and third electronic guides of the plurality may be positioned at different locations along the guided path relative to one another. The second electronic guide of the plurality may be spaced a first distance along the guided path from the first electronic guide of the plurality and the third electronic guide of the plurality may be spaced a second distance along the guided path from the first electronic guide of the plurality. The second distance may be greater than the first distance. 
     The first, second, and third signals may be visible signals and/or audible signals and/or signals detectable by the first animal, second animal, first moveable device, and/or second moveable device. 
     The establishing of the at least one guided path may include establishing a plurality of guided paths leading away from the incident. For example, management circuitry  400  may establish paths  664  and  668  as was described above in relation to  FIG. 6A . 
     The location may be within a venue, the first person may be within the venue, and the establishing of the at least one guided path may include establishing the least one guided path so that the at least one guided path leads the first person out of the venue. For example, the venue may be a building as was described above. Alternatively, the venue may be a construction site, park, stadium, theatre, amusement park, manufacturing facility, campus, or other venue, for example a venue in which a concert, carnival, fair, campaign, or public appearance is taking place. 
     At the time of the establishing of the at least one guided path, a first exit of the venue may be nearer the first person than a second exit of the venue, the source may be nearer the first exit than the second exit, and the establishing of the at least one guided path may include establishing at least one guided path to direct the first person to the second exit. In this case, the guided path may be a safest path instead of a shortest path as was described above in relation to  FIG. 6C . 
     The receiving of the notification may include electronically receiving the notification using management circuitry and the determining of the source of the notification may include using the management circuitry automatically without human intervention to determine the source of the notification. In other words, management circuitry  400  may determine the source of the notification automatically and without human intervention. 
     The notification may be referred to as a first notification, the incident may be referred to as a first incident, and the source may be referred to as a first source. The method may further include after the receiving of the first notification, receiving a second notification that a second incident has occurred which is remote from the first incident; determining a second source of the second notification, the second source being positioned near the second incident; and re-configuring at least a portion of the at least one guided path so that the at least one guided path leads the first person away from the first incident and away from the second incident. In other words, management circuitry  400  may dynamically alter the configurations of the electronic guides when another incident is detected. 
     The receiving of the notification may include receiving the notification from a detector system configured to monitor one or more environmental parameters. For example, some or all of detectors  662  of  FIG. 6A  may belong to a detector system, such as a smoke alarm system, and the detector system may provide notification to management circuitry  400 . 
     The method may further include after the receiving of the notification, notifying a party or individual responsible for resolving the incident of the incident. For example, if the notification is received from a fire detector system, management circuitry  400  may notify a fire department. 
     The location may be within a venue and the method may further include after the receiving of the notification, locking or unlocking one or more doors of the venue. For example, if the venue is a shopping mall and the incident is a terrorist attack, management circuitry  400  may lock one or more doors of the shopping mall to prevent people from entering an area of the shopping mall in which the incident is taking place. 
     The guided path may be a bi-directional path comprising a first plurality of visual indicators viewable along the guided path in a direction leading away from the incident and a second plurality of visual indicators viewable along the guided path in a direction leading to the incident, the first plurality of visual indicators having a different appearance than the second plurality of visual indicators. For example, path  664  and path  666  of  FIG. 6B  may be considered a single bi-directional path. 
     Prior to the detection of an incident, a user may configure management circuitry  400  with information describing a plurality of different incident scenarios as well as electronic guide configurations associated with the scenarios. For example, for each detector in a building, a safety manager may determine a configuration of the electronic guides that is to be implemented if that detector is activated. Information describing the configurations may then be provided to management circuitry  400  so that when one of the building&#39;s detectors is activated, management circuitry  400  knows how to configure the electronic guides. Upon configuring the electronic guides, paths may be established via the electronic guides. 
     Accordingly, the method may further include receiving information describing a plurality of pre-determined paths from a user prior to the receiving of the notification and based on the determining of the source of the notification, automatically and without user intervention, selecting the at least one guided path using the information. 
     In some cases, a person using management circuitry  400  may want to override pre-determined paths available to management circuitry  400  by manually telling management circuitry  400  how to configure one or more of the electronic guides. For example, the person may be aware of an incident occurring outside of a building which management circuitry  400  is not aware of and accordingly may manually tell management circuitry  400  how to configure one or more of the electronic guides so as to avoid the outside incident. 
     Thus, the method may further include after the receiving of the notification and prior to the establishing of the at least one guided path, receiving information describing at least a portion of the at least one guided path from a user and wherein the establishing of the at least one guided path comprises establishing the at least one guided path using the information. 
     In addition to the methods described above, management circuitry  400  may monitor an incident. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, an incident monitoring method includes receiving a notification that an incident has occurred; in response to the receiving of the notification, requesting status information from a plurality of electronic guides configured to establish at least one guided path configured to direct a person positioned near the incident away from the incident; receiving the status information from at least some of the electronic guides of the plurality; and providing the status information. 
     The status information may include environmental data collected by the electronic guides and the method may include time stamping the data and storing the data. The providing of the status information may include displaying the status information on a map, the map illustrating positions of the electronic guides of the plurality relative to one another. The electronic guides of the plurality may be located in a building and the map may include at least one floor plan of the building. 
     The method may also include representing electronic guides of the plurality from which the status information has not been received on the floor plan. 
     At least some of the electronic guides of the plurality may include switches configured to be activated by a person positioned adjacent to the at least some of the electronic guides of the plurality and further comprising indicating on the floor plan which switches have been activated. 
     The method may also include receiving status information related to detectors of a detector system and representing the status information on the floor plan, the detectors being configured to monitor one or more environmental parameters. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7A , a graphical user interface (GUI) is illustrated. Management circuitry  400  may generate the GUI or may provide information to a web browser or other software so that the web browser or other software may generate the GUI. The GUI depicts floor plan  600  of  FIG. 6B  at a first moment in time. Accordingly, a user viewing the GUI may look at the GUI to see which paths have been established (e.g., path  664 ) and to see the current configuration of the indicators of the electronic guides. The GUI may use color, blinking, symbols, or other visual indicators to draw attention to portions of the floor plan. For example, the GUI may depict detectors (e.g., detector  658 ) that have been activated using one color and detectors that have not been activated using a different color. Furthermore, the GUI may depict configurations of the indicators of the electronic guides using color. 
     During an incident, management circuitry  400  may regularly communicate with the electronic guides to determine whether the electronic guides are functioning. For example, management circuitry  400  may send the electronic guides a message and ask for a reply. If one or more of the electronic guides does not respond to the message, management circuitry may determine that the non-responding electronic guides are no longer operational and may indicate such using the GUI. Accordingly, management circuitry  400  may provide a real-time or near real-time representation of the status of the electronic guides. 
     For example, the GUI may depict all of the electronic guides of  FIG. 6B , as illustrated in  FIG. 7A  if management circuitry  400  determines that all of the electronic guides are operational (e.g., as a result of receiving reply messages). 
     Referring to  FIG. 7B , a GUI is illustrated that is identical to the GUI of  FIG. 7A  except that electronic guides  644  and  656  are not depicted because management circuitry  400  has determined that these electronic guides are non-responsive. The GUI of  FIG. 7B  may represent the status of the electronic guides at a second moment in time later than the first moment in time. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7C , a GUI is illustrated that is identical to the GUI of  FIG. 7B  except that electronic guides  642  and  634  are not depicted because management circuitry  400  has determined that these electronic guides are non-responsive. The GUI of  FIG. 7C  may represent the status of the electronic guides at a third moment in time later than the second moment in time. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7D , a GUI is illustrated that is identical to the GUI of  FIG. 7C  except that electronic guides  632 ,  640 ,  638 , and  636  are not depicted because management circuitry  400  has determined that these electronic guides are non-responsive. The GUI of  FIG. 7C  may represent the status of the electronic guides at a fourth moment in time later than the third moment in time. 
     A user may infer information about the incident based on the information provided by the GUI. For example, if the incident is a fire, a user viewing the versions of the GUI depicted in  FIGS. 7B ,  7 C, and  7 D may infer that the fire is traveling up pathway  610  toward pathway  632 . The user may provide the inferred information to first responders, who may use it to their advantage. For example, knowing which way a fire is traveling may affect the way a fire chief directs his firefighters to travel through the building. Accordingly, in some cases, the inferred information may increase first responder safety. 
     In one embodiment, first responders may be equipped with first responder circuitry that wirelessly communicates with management circuitry  400 . The first responder circuitry may include a GPS receiver. In this case, the first responder circuitry may inform management circuitry  400  of a position of the first responder circuitry (and therefore the first responder) within a building. Management circuitry  400  may display a symbol representing the first responder in the GUI so that a person using the GUI may infer the approximate location of the first responder within the building. Based on this information, the person using the GUI may direct the first responder in a particular manner via, for example, a two-way radio. 
     Additionally or alternatively, the first responder circuitry may wirelessly communicate with one or more of the guides and the guides may communicate with management circuitry  400 . In this case, management circuitry  400  may indicate which guides the first responder circuitry is in communication with so that a user of management circuitry  400  may infer an approximate location of the first responder. The guides may receive a unique identifier associated with the first responder from the first responder circuitry and thereby may communicate the identity of the first responder to a user of management circuitry  400 . A user of management circuitry  400  may be able to distinguish one first responder from another first responder. In this embodiment, the first responder circuitry might not include a GPS receiver. Instead, the first responder circuitry may be a simple wireless transponder device that responds to wireless signals transmitted by the guides. For example, the guides may include RFID interrogators and the first responder circuitry may include an RFID tag comprising an identifier uniquely associated with the first responder. 
     Alternatively, rather than not depicting non-responsive electronic guides as illustrated in  FIGS. 7B ,  7 C, and  7 D, management circuitry  400  may depict the non-responsive electronic guides in phantom or as blinking icons or using a different color than responsive electronic guides or using some other visual technique so that a user may easily determine locations of the non-responsive guides. 
     Although  FIGS. 7A ,  7 B,  7 C, and  7 D depict a single floor of a building, this method of monitoring an incident may be used for multi-floor buildings by using a GUI to depict multiple floors in a three-dimensional model of a building. 
     Note that in monitoring an incident, it may be preferable to have management circuitry  400  communicate wirelessly with the electronic guides since wiring enabling communication between management circuitry  400  and one of the electronic guides may be destroyed during the incident even if the electronic guide itself is not destroyed, thereby undesirably preventing communication between a functional electronic guide and management circuitry  400 . 
     In one embodiment, management circuitry  400  may request status information from the electronic guides by merely requesting that the electronic guides respond to a request. In other embodiments, management circuitry  400  may request additional information from the electronic guides. 
     For example, one or more of the electronic guides may include sensors (e.g., sensors  120  of  FIG. 1 ) configured to collect environmental data. The electronic guides may store the data and may provide a copy of the stored data to management circuitry  400  in response to receiving a request from management circuitry  400 . Management circuitry  400  and/or the electronic devices may record the time the data was collected by the sensors thereby “time stamping” the data. The data may later be useful in determining the cause of the incident and may be considered forensic data. In one embodiment, the sensors may be temperature sensors and temperature data collected by the sensors may later be used to analyze a way in which a fire spread through a venue. 
     In one embodiment, one or more of the electronic guides may include manually activated switches (e.g., switch  122 ) and management circuitry  400  may depict the status of the manually activated switches in the GUI. For example, the GUI may distinguish electronic guides having manually activated switches that have been activated from electronic guides having manually activated switches that have not been activated. Doing so may enable a user to identify situations in which people may be in danger. 
     For example, if while trying to evacuate a venue, a person becomes injured or is physically prevented from evacuating the venue due to obstructions resulting from the incident, the person may be able to travel to the nearest electronic guide and activate the manually activated switch. Doing do may alert a user of management circuitry  400  that the person needs assistance. In some cases, the person may be a first responder (e.g., firefighter) who needs help. Accordingly, management circuitry  400  may help identify a person who needs assistance during an incidence and may be able to estimate the person&#39;s location based on the electronic guide with which the person interacted. 
     Furthermore, if the electronic guide includes a speaker and microphone, a user of management circuitry  400  may be able to communicate verbally with the person who needs assistance. Doing so may advantageously provide the user of management circuitry  400  with details regarding the assistance that the person needs and/or with information regarding the incident. 
     In one embodiment, an electronic guide may be configured to recognize when it is not able to communicate with management circuitry  400  and in response configure one or more of its indicators in an active state in which one or more of indicators communicate to people near the electronic guide that the electronic guide is not able to communicate with management circuitry  400 . 
     In one embodiment, the electronic guide may be configured to transmit a wireless beacon signal configured to be received by a locator in response to recognizing that it is not able to communicate with management circuitry  400 . The beacon signal may be useful in locating the electronic guide. For example, if the incident involves fire or other structural damage to a building and the building collapses as a result of the incident, the beacon signal may be used to find the electronic guide. Finding the electronic guide may be of interest if a person has activated a manually activated switch of the electronic guide since the person may still be near the electronic guide after the collapse of the building. Accordingly, the beacon signal may be useful in finding missing persons. 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , a three-dimensional representation  800  of a first view of a building hallway  802  from a location is illustrated. Note that from the location, one face of a triangular electronic guide  804 , similar to electronic guide  100 , is visible. Indicator  808  is located on the face and may be an activated green indicator. Note that from the location, the other two sides of electronic guide  804  are not visible since one faces the hallway wall and the other faces down hall  802  away from the location. Triangular electronic guide  806  is also visible, as is indicator  810 , which may also be an activated green indicator. 
     Accordingly, a person taking in the first view of hallway  802  may be encouraged to travel down hallway  802  toward electronic guide  804  since green indicators are visible in the first view. Of course, in some instances, a person taking in the first view might not see indicator  810  because smoke or other obstructions resulting from an incident may block his view of indicator  810 . Furthermore, in some instances the person might not see either indicator  810  or indicator  808 . In these instances, the person might need to proceed down hall  802  until he is able to see indicator  808 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 9 , a three-dimensional representation  900  of a second view of building hallway  802  from the location is illustrated. The second view is opposite in direction from the first view. In other words, the first view may represent a view looking right down hallway  802  from the location and the second view may represent a view looking left down hallway  802  from the location. Note that from the location, one face of a triangular electronic guide  902 , similar to electronic guide  100 , is visible. Indicator  906  is located on the face and may be an activated red indicator. Note that from the location, the other two sides of electronic guide  902  are not visible since one faces the hallway wall and the other faces down hall  802  away from the location. Triangular electronic guide  904  is also visible, as is indicator  908 , which may also be an activated red indicator. 
     Accordingly, a person taking in the second view of hallway  802  may be discouraged from traveling down hallway  802  toward electronic guide  902  since red indicators are visible in the second view. 
     In one embodiment, electronic guides  804 ,  806 ,  902 , and  904  may be placed on the hallway wall to be close to the floor to minimize obstruction by smoke in the case of a fire. In another embodiment, electronic guides  804 ,  806 ,  902 , and  904  may be placed on the hallway wall to be close to the ceiling so that they are visible when the hallway is crowded with people or objects. In yet another embodiment (not illustrated), some electronic guides may be placed on the hallway wall close to the ceiling and other electronic guides may be placed on the hallway close to the floor. In some cases speakers associated with the guides may be positioned on the hallway wall to be at the average height of the heads of people occupying the building. 
     Referring to  FIG. 10 , another embodiment of an electronic guide  1000  is illustrated. Guide  1000  may be used in the methods and systems described herein. Guide  1000  includes eight visual indicators  1002 ,  1004 ,  1006 ,  1008 ,  1010 ,  1012 ,  1014 , and  1016  whose appearances may be individually configured. The visual indicators may be configured to be one of a set of colors or may be configured to have a neutral or disabled appearance such as a black or white color. For example, in one configuration, indicator  1002  may be green, in another configuration, indicator  1002  may be red, and in another configuration indicator  1002  may be disabled. 
     The indicators may be embodied in a number of different ways, for example, using light sources (e.g., bulbs or LEDs), colored translucent material (e.g., plastic), or colored material. 
     In one embodiment, guide  1000  may have a rectangular box-like shape instead of the triangular shape of the guide of  FIG. 1 . In this embodiment, guide  1000  may be mounted on a wall, floor, or ceiling. 
     The indicators of guide  1000  may be configured in a number of different ways, each of which may convey different information to a person viewing guide  1000 . 
     In one configuration, all of the indicators of guide  1000  may be disabled indicating that no incident has been detected. For example, if the indicators comprise light sources (e.g., bulbs), the light sources may be disabled. 
     In another configuration, guide  1000  may direct someone viewing guide  1000  to the right. In this configuration, indicators  1002 ,  1004 ,  1010 , and  1012  may be green and may collectively form two green arrowheads. The other indicators of guide  1000  may be disabled. Indicators  1002 ,  1004 ,  1010 , and  1012  may remain statically enabled green. Alternatively, indicators  1002 ,  1004 ,  1010 , and  1012  collectively may be periodically enabled then disabled to form two green blinking arrowheads. 
     Alternatively, indicators  1002  and  1004  may be simultaneously enabled green for a short period (e.g., 1 second) and may then be simultaneously disabled. Subsequently, indicators  1010  and  1012  may be simultaneously enabled green for a short period and may then be disabled. This sequence may be repeated, thereby creating a visual effect in which a first green arrowhead pointing right is displayed on the left side of guide  1000  (formed by indicators  1002  and  1004 ) followed by a second green arrowhead pointing right on the right side of guide  1000  (formed by indicators  1010  and  1012 ) followed again by the first green arrowhead, and so on. 
     Alternatively, indicators  1002  and  1004  may be simultaneously enabled green for a first short period (e.g., 1 second) while indicators  1010  and  1012  are disabled and then during a second short period (e.g., 1 second) indicators  1010  and  1012  may be simultaneously enabled green while indicators  1002  and  1004  remain enabled green. The second period may be followed by a third short period (e.g., 1 second) during which all of the indicators of guide  1000  are disabled. This sequence may be repeated, thereby creating a visual effect in which a first green arrowhead is displayed on the left side of guide  1000  (formed by indicators  1002  and  1004 ) followed by a period in which both the first green arrowhead and a second green arrowhead on the right side of guide  1000  (formed by indicators  1010  and  1012 ) are displayed. 
     In another configuration, guide  1000  may direct someone viewing guide  1000  to the left. In this configuration, indicators  1006 ,  1008 ,  1014 , and  1016  may be green and may collectively form two green arrowheads. The other indicators of guide  1000  may be disabled. Indicators  1006 ,  1008 ,  1014 , and  1016  may remain statically enabled green. Alternatively, indicators  1006 ,  1008 ,  1014 , and  1016  collectively may be periodically enabled then disabled to form two green blinking arrowheads. 
     Alternatively, indicators  1014  and  1016  may be simultaneously enabled green for a short period (e.g., 1 second) and may then be simultaneously disabled. Subsequently, indicators  1006  and  1008  may be simultaneously enabled green for a short period and may then be disabled. This sequence may be repeated, thereby creating a visual effect in which a first green arrowhead pointing left is displayed on the right side of guide  1000  (formed by indicators  1014  and  1016 ) followed by a second green arrowhead pointing left on the left side of guide  1000  (formed by indicators  1006  and  1008 ) followed again by the first green arrowhead, and so on. 
     Alternatively, indicators  1014  and  1016  may be simultaneously enabled green for a first short period (e.g., 1 second) while indicators  1006  and  1008  are disabled and then during a second short period (e.g., 1 second) indicators  1006  and  1008  may be simultaneously enabled green while indicators  1014  and  1016  remain enabled green. The second period may be followed by a third short period (e.g., 1 second) during which all of the indicators of guide  1000  are disabled. This sequence may be repeated, thereby creating a visual effect in which a first green arrowhead is displayed on the right side of guide  1000  (formed by indicators  1014  and  1016 ) followed by a period in which both the first green arrowhead and a second green arrowhead on the left side of guide  1000  (formed by indicators  1006  and  1008 ) are displayed. 
     In another configuration, guide  1000  may mark an exit. In this configuration, all of the indicators of guide  1000  may be enabled green. The indicators may remain statically enabled green or may blink. 
     In another configuration, guide  1000  may indicate that a person viewing guide  1000  should move away from guide  1000 . In this configuration, all of the indicators of guide  1000  may be enabled red. The indicators may remain statically enabled red or may blink. In one embodiment, blinking red indicators may convey the fact that an incident is located near guide  1000 . 
     In another configuration, guide  1000  may indicate that an incident is located near guide  1000 . In this configuration, indicators  1002 ,  1004 ,  1006 , and  1008  may be simultaneously enabled red for a short period (e.g., 1 second) and may then be simultaneously disabled. Subsequently, indicators  1010 ,  1012 ,  1014 , and  1016  may be simultaneously enabled red for a short period and may then be disabled. This sequence may be repeated, thereby creating a visual effect in which a first red “x” is displayed on the left side of guide  1000  (formed by indicators  1002 ,  1004 ,  1006 , and  1008 ) followed by a second red “x” on the right side of guide  1000  (formed by indicators  1010 ,  1012 ,  1014 , and  1016 ) followed again by the first red “x”, and so on. Alternatively, this configuration may be used to indicate that a switch of guide  1000  (e.g, a switch like switch  122  described above) has been manually activated. 
     In another configuration, guide  1000  may indicate that a switch of guide  1000  has been manually activated. In this configuration, indicators  1002 ,  1004 ,  1006 , and  1008  may be simultaneously enabled green for a short period (e.g., 1 second) and may then be simultaneously disabled. Subsequently, indicators  1010 ,  1012 ,  1014 , and  1016  may be simultaneously enabled red for a short period and may then be disabled. This sequence may be repeated, thereby creating a visual effect in which a green “x” is displayed on the left side of guide  1000  (formed by indicators  1002 ,  1004 ,  1006 , and  1008 ) followed by a red “x” on the right side of guide  1000  (formed by indicators  1010 ,  1012 ,  1014 , and  1016 ) followed again by the green “x”, and so on. Alternatively, the “x” on the left may be red and the “x” on the right may be green. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, an article of manufacture includes media including programming configured to cause processing circuitry (e.g., a microprocessor) to perform processing that executes one or more of the methods described above. The programming may be embodied in a computer program product(s) or article(s) of manufacture, which can contain, store, or maintain programming, data, and/or digital information for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system including processing circuitry. In some cases, the programming may be referred to as software, hardware, or firmware. 
     For example, the media may be electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor media. Some more specific examples of articles of manufacture including media with programming include, but are not limited to, a portable magnetic computer diskette (such as a floppy diskette or a ZIP® disk manufactured by the Iomega Corporation of San Diego, Calif.), hard drive, random access memory, read only memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or other configurations capable of storing programming, data, or other digital information. 
     In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific as to structural and methodical features. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the specific features shown and described, since the means herein disclosed comprise preferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the proper scope of the appended claims appropriately interpreted in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents.