Sensory Enhancement Systems and Methods in Personal Electronic Devices

Abstract

Disclosed are personal electronic devices (PEDs) having a sensory enhancement (SE) system for monitoring environmental conditions and detecting environmental events, for example but not limited to, changes in acoustic, thermal, optical, electromagnetic, chemical, dynamic, wireless, atmospheric, or biometric conditions. The detection of such events can be used to invoke a notification, an alert, a corrective action, or some other action, depending upon the implementation to the PED user or another party.

1 . A method for a personal electronic device (PED) that can be transported with a user, comprising the steps of:
 determining local event information associated with an event in an environment associated with the PED by:   detecting occurrence of the event in an environment associated with the PED by analyzing data produced from a transducer;   identifying a local event time pertaining to the event;   determining a local PED position pertaining to the PED;   determining remote event information associated with the event in the environment associated with one or more remote PEDs by:
 communicating with the one or more remote PEDs in the environment associated with the PED; 
 receiving a remote event time pertaining to the event and a remote PED position from each of the one or more remote PEDs; and 
 determining information indicative of the event based at least upon the following: 
   the local event time, the local PED position, and the remote event time and remote PED position pertaining to each of the one or more remote PEDs.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information indicative of the event is information indicative of a location for the event. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
 storing reference data corresponding to the event;   producing sensed data by sensing the environment with a transducer associated with the PED;   comparing the sensed data with the reference data; and   detecting the occurrence of the event based upon the comparison.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the location information comprises at least one of the following: a geographical location, a range, or a direction. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein local and remote event times correspond to arrival times of event signals. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the location information is determined by a process of triangulation of the local event time, the local PED position, a first remote event time, a first remote PED position, a second remote event time, and a second remote PED position. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising the step of displaying the location information on a display screen associated with the PED. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of providing a user interface that enables a user to select whether or not to communicate volunteer data into the environment, the volunteer data indicative of whether or not the PED will cooperate with the one or more remote PEDs. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the volunteer data comprises a PED identification, a PED location, and transducer availability. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising the step of receiving a query from a remote PED that is searching for PED cooperation and communicating the volunteer data in response to the query. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the volunteer data comprises reference data to be used to identify the event. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
 providing a user interface that enables a user to select remote PEDs from a list; and   cooperating with selected remote PEDs.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the list contains at least one of the following: a telephone number associated with each PED or a name associated with each PED. 
     
     
         14 . A method for a personal electronic device (PED) that can be transported with a user, comprising the steps of:
 providing a first electronic based intelligence function to the user with the PED; and   providing a second electronic based intelligence function to the user with the PED, the second electronic based intelligence function being different than the first electronic based intelligence function, the second electronic based intelligence function comprising at least the following steps:
 storing reference data corresponding to an event; 
 producing sensed data by sensing the environment with a transducer associated with the PED; 
 comparing the sensed data with the stored reference data; 
 receiving event information from one or more remote PEDs in the environment, the event information indicative of event detection; and 
 concluding that the event is detected based upon the comparison and the received event information. 
   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising the steps of:
 broadcasting a cooperation request to the one or more remote PEDs;   receiving a response from at least one of the one or more remote PEDs indicating a willingness to cooperate in connection with the event detection; and   communicating the reference data to the one or more remote PEDs.   
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer program code instructions for a personal electronic device (PED) that can be transported with a user, the computer program code comprising:
 instructions designed to determine local event information associated with an event in an environment associated with the PED by:
 detecting occurrence of the event in an environment associated with the PED by analyzing data produced from a transducer; 
 identifying a local event time pertaining to the event; 
 determining a local PED position pertaining to the PED; 
 instructions designed to determine remote event information associated with the event in the environment associated with one or more remote PEDs by: 
 communicating with the one or more remote PEDs in the environment associated with the PED; 
 receiving a remote event time pertaining to the event and a remote PED position from each of the one or more remote PEDs; and 
 instructions designed to determine information indicative of the event based at least upon the following: the local event time, the local PED position, and the remote event time and remote PED position pertaining to each of the one or more remote PEDs. 
   
     
     
         17 . The medium of  claim 16 , wherein the computer program code instructions include instructions designed to determine information indicative of a location for the event. 
     
     
         18 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer program code instructions for a personal electronic device (PED) that can be transported with a user, the PED designed to perform a first electronic based intelligence function, the computer program code instructions designed to perform a second electronic based intelligence function that is different than the first electronic based intelligence function, the computer program code instructions comprising:
 instructions designed to store reference data corresponding to an event;   instructions designed to produce sensed data by sensing the environment with a transducer associated with the PED;   instructions designed to compare the sensed data with the reference data;   instructions designed to receive event information from one or more remote PEDs in the environment, the event information indicative of event detection; and   instructions designed to conclude that the event is detected based upon the comparison and the received event information.   
     
     
         19 . The medium of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 instructions designed to broadcast a cooperation request to the one or more remote PEDs;   instructions designed to receive a response from at least one of the one or more remote PEDs indicating a willingness to cooperate in connection with the event detection; and   instructions designed to communicate the reference data to the one or more remote PEDs.   
     
     
         20 . The medium of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 instructions designed to display a list of the one or more remote PEDs that are available for cooperation in detecting the event; and   instructions designed to enable the user to select the one or more remote PEDs to engage in the cooperation.