Use of crowdsourcing as basis to predict emergency impact and to facilitate emergency response

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12451001-B2
Application number	US-202217932435-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 15, 2022
Priority date	Jul 8, 2022
Publication date	Oct 21, 2025
Grant date	Oct 21, 2025

Abstract

A method and a system for using crowdsourcing as a basis to predict and respond to emergency impact. An example method includes (i) a computing system receiving emergency-state reporting provided by multiple customer premises in a region, (ii) the computing system determining, based on the received emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that a region-wide emergency situation exists in the region, and (iii) the computing system taking action, in response to the determining, based on the emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that the region-wide emergency situation exists in the region.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of using crowdsourcing to predict and respond to emergency impact, the method comprising:
receiving into a computing system emergency-state reporting provided by multiple customer premises in a region;
determining by the computing system, based on the received emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that a region-wide emergency situation exists in the region; and
taking action by the computing system, in response to the determining, based on the emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that the region-wide emergency situation exists in the region,
wherein taking action by the computing system in response to the determining, based on the emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that the region-wide emergency situation exists in the region, comprises sending by the computing system one or more messages to each of the multiple customer premises in the region, the one or more messages triggering at each of the multiple customer premises at least one customer-premises operation comprising causing one or more emergency-state sensors at the customer premises to increase their sensitivity to detecting emergency state, wherein increasing sensitivity of each of the one or more emergency-state sensors to detecting emergency state comprises reducing a threshold of the sensor for sensing emergency state.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing system is centralized, and wherein receiving into the computing system the emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region comprises receiving by the computing system, respectively from each of the multiple customer premises, an emergency-state report indicating emergency state detected at the customer premises.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing system is distributed among the multiple customer premises, and wherein receiving into the computing system the emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region includes propagating emergency-state reporting from customer premises to customer premises in the region.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the multiple customer premises in the region includes respectively at least one emergency-state sensor configured to sense emergency state at the customer premises, and wherein the emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region is emergency-state reporting generated based on emergency-state sensing by the at least one emergency-state sensor respectively at each customer premises in the region.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining by the computing system, based on the received emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that the region-wide emergency situation exists in the region comprises determining by the computing system that the emergency-state reporting from the multiple customer premises in the region indicates a same type of emergency at each of the multiple customer premises.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the emergency-state reporting provided by each of the multiple customer premises in the region correlates with a location of the customer premises, wherein determining by the computing system, based on the received emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that the region-wide emergency situation exists in the region is based on the locations of the customer premises that provided the emergency state reporting being within the region.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining by the computing system, based on the received emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that the region-wide emergency situation exists in the region comprises determining that at least a predefined threshold large group of multiple customer premises in the region has reported detected emergency state.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining by the computing system a trajectory of reported emergency state, and using by the computing system the determined trajectory of reported emergency state as a basis to identify another customer premises that will be emergency-impacted.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the action taken by the computing system in response to the determining, based on the emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that the region-wide emergency situation exists in the region, depends on a type of the emergency situation.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the action taken by the computing system in response to the determining, based on the emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that the region-wide emergency situation exists in the region, comprises causing electricity to be turned off at a plurality of the multiple customer premises in the region.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein causing electricity to be turned off at a plurality of the multiple customer premises in the region comprises selecting the plurality of the multiple customer premises based on determining that at least one person or pet is present at each customer premises of the plurality.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more messages trigger at each of the multiple customer premises at least one additional customer-premises operation selected from the group consisting of:
disconnecting at least one utility at the customer premises; and
causing one or more cameras at the customer premises to begin recording video.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein taking action by the computing system in response to the determining, based on the emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that the region-wide emergency situation exists in the region, comprises sending by the computing system one or more messages to at least one customer premises in the region that did not report detected emergency state.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the action taken by the computing system in response to the determining, based on the emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that the region-wide emergency situation exists in the region, comprises at least one operation selected from the group consisting of:
reporting to an insurance company;
sending necessities to impacted people;
reporting to a government agency; and
reporting to a utility.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one customer-premises operation further comprises causing one or more battery-powered devices at the customer premises to increase their level of battery energy.

16. A computing system comprising:
at least one network communication interfaces;
at least one processor;
at least one non-transitory data storage; and
program instructions stored in the non-transitory data storage and executable by the processor to carry out operations including:
receiving emergency-state reporting provided by multiple customer premises in a region,
determining, based on the received emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that a region-wide emergency situation exists in the region, and
taking action, in response to the determining, based on the emergency-state reporting provided by the multiple customer premises in the region, that the region-wide emergency situation exists in the region,
wherein taking action in response to the determining, bas

Assignees

• Roku Inc

Inventors

• Levitian Karina
• Pinkerton Charles Brian
• Ramesh Sunil
• Cutter Michael

Classifications

• G08B27/005

  with transmission via computer network · CPC title

• G08B25/006

  Alarm destination chosen according to type of event, e.g. in case of fire phone the fire service, in case of medical emergency phone the ambulance · CPC title

• G08B29/188

  Data fusion; cooperative systems, e.g. voting among different detectors · CPC title

• H04L12/12

  Arrangements for remote connection or disconnection of substations or of equipment thereof · CPC title

• H04L12/2825

  Reporting to a device located outside the home and the home network (access arrangements H04L12/2856; for remote control or remote monitoring of applications H04L67/025; telephonic communication systems adapted for combination with telemetering systems H04M11/002) · CPC title