Voice controlled assistance for monitoring adverse events of a user and/or coordinating emergency actions such as caregiver communication

Abstract

A user, such as an elderly person, may be assisted by an assistance device in his or her caregiving environment that operates in conjunction with one or more server computers. The assistance device may execute a schedule of assistance actions where each assistance action is associated with a time and is executed at that time to assist the user. An assistance action may present an input request to a user, process a voice input of the user, and analyze the voice input to determine that the voice input corresponds to a negative response event, a positive response event, or a non-response event. Based on the categorization of one or more voice inputs as negative response events, positive response events, or non-response events, it may be determined to notify a caregiver of the user, for example where the user has not responded to a number of assistance actions.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for providing assistance to a user, the system comprising:
 at least one server computer comprising at least one processor and at least one memory, the at least one server computer configured to:
 implement an assistance action for providing assistance to the user, the assistance action conforming to a voice command protocol for presenting input requests to the user and processing voice inputs of the user, 
 in response to receiving a first invocation command from an assistance device, implement a first assistance action by instructing the assistance device to present audio for a first input request to the user, processing a first voice input of the user, and determining that the first voice input is a negative response event, a positive response event, or a non-response event, 
 store a safety profile of the user, wherein the safety profile specifies when a notification is to be sent to a caregiver based on at least one of a negative response event, a positive response event, or a non-response event, and 
 selectively notifying the caregiver by causing a notification to be sent to a device of the caregiver based on the safety profile and a determination that the first voice input corresponds to a negative response event, a positive response event, or a non-response event; and 
   the assistance device in a caregiving environment of the user, the assistance device comprising a processor, a memory, a speaker, and a microphone, the assistance device configured to:
 store information about a schedule of assistance actions for providing assistance to the user, the information about the schedule of assistance actions comprising a time for each assistance action in the schedule, 
 transmit, at a first time for the first assistance action, the first invocation command to the at least one server computer, 
 receive information about the first input request and present audio of the first input request to the user from the speaker of the assistance device, and 
 receive the first voice input of the user with the microphone of the assistance device and transmit the first voice input to the at least one server computer. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first assistance action assists the user in ordering dinner. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system comprises one or more sensing pods in the caregiving environment of the user, wherein each sensing pod comprises a microphone and a speaker. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the assistance device comprises a presence sensor and is configured to transmit a second invocation command in response to detecting a presence of the user with the presence sensor; and   the at least one server computer is configured to, in response to receiving the second invocation command from the assistance device, implement a second assistance action.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the assistance device stores the first invocation command 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , therein the assistance device transmits the first invocation command in response to an occurrence of the first time. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the assistance device initiates the first assistance action by transmitting the first invocation command at the first time. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one server computer comprises a scheduling server, an emergency server, and an automated assistance server. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the assistance device is configured to, in response to not receiving a voice input of the user in response to the first speech within a time period:
 present the audio of the first input request a second time with increased volume; or   present the audio of the first input request from another speaker.   
     
     
         10 . A computer-implemented method for providing assistance to a user, the method comprising:
 storing information about a plurality of assistance actions for providing assistance to the user, wherein each assistance action conforms to a voice command protocol for presenting input requests to the user and processing voice inputs of the user;   in response to receiving a first invocation command from an assistance device in a caregiving environment of the user, implementing a first assistance action by instructing the assistance device to present audio for a first input request to the user, processing a first voice input of the user, and determining that the first voice input corresponds to a negative response event, wherein the first assistance action corresponds to a first time;   in response to receiving a second invocation command from the assistance device, implementing a second assistance action by instructing the assistance device to present audio for a second input request to the user, processing a second voice input of the user, and determining that the second voice input corresponds to a positive response event, wherein the second assistance action corresponds to a second time;   in response to receiving a third invocation command from the assistance device, implementing a third assistance action by instructing the assistance device to present audio for a third input request to the user and determining that a non-response event has occurred, wherein the third assistance action corresponds to a third time;   accessing a safety profile of the user, wherein the safety profile specifies when a notification is to be sent to a caregiver based on at least one of a negative response event, a positive response events, or a non-response event; and   selectively notifying the caregiver by causing a notification to be sent to a device of the caregiver based on the safety profile and at least one of the negative response event, the positive response event, or the non-response event.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the safety profile of the user is updated by the caregiver. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein at least one of the invocation commands comprises speech. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein determining that a non-response event has occurred comprises setting a timer after the third input request is presented to the user. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein determining that a negative response event has occurred comprises:
 determining that the second voice input of the user is an incorrect answer to a question;   determining that the second voice input of the user includes a word associated with a negative state; or   analyzing a tone or cadence of the second voice input of the user.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the first assistance action presents a puzzle, a quiz, or a trivia question to the user. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the safety profile of the user indicates that a notification is to be sent to the caretaker after at least one of the following: a specified number of negative response events; or non-response events within a time period. 
     
     
         17 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform actions comprising:
 storing information about a plurality of assistance actions for providing assistance to a user, each assistance action conforming to a voice command protocol for presenting input requests to the user and processing voice inputs of the user;   in response to receiving a first invocation command from an assistance device in a caregiving environment of the user, implementing a first assistance action by instructing the assistance device to present audio for a first input request to the user, processing a first voice input of the user, and determining that the first voice input corresponds to a negative response event, wherein the first assistance action corresponds to a first time;   in response to receiving a second invocation command from the assistance device, implementing a second assistance action by instructing the assistance device to present audio for a second input request to the user, processing a second voice input of the user, and determining that the second voice input corresponds to a positive response event, wherein the second assistance action corresponds to a second time;   in response to receiving a third invocation command from the assistance device, implementing a third assistance action by instructing the assistance device to present audio for a third input request to the user and determining that a non-response event has occurred, wherein the third assistance action corresponds to a third time;   accessing a safety profile of the user, wherein the safety profile specifies when a notification is to be sent to a caregiver based on at least one of a negative response event, a positive response events, or a non-response event; and   selectively notifying the caregiver by causing a notification to be sent to a device of the caregiver based on the safety profile and at least one of the negative response event, the positive response event, or the non-response event.   
     
     
         18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 17 , wherein the assistance device transmits the first invocation command in response to an occurrence of the first time. 
     
     
         19 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 17 , wherein the assistance device stores the first invocation command. 
     
     
         20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 17 , wherein the invocation command comprises speech.