AU2011244919A1 - Systems and methods for handling event-related information - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a system for acquiring (and optionally disseminating) information on an object or an event from (and optionally to) one or more members of a population, the system comprising: (i) one or more personal positioning and communication devices capable of acquiring position-tagged information, (ii) a central entity capable of receiving position-tagged information from one or more of the personal positioning and communication devices, (and optionally capable of disseminating information to one or more of the personal positioning and communication devices), (iii) a network capable of connecting the personal positioning and communication means and the central entity, wherein the central entity is capable of receiving the position-tagged information from the one or more combined positioning and communications means. The system (and associated methods, devices and software) are applicable to managing natural disasters (such as fires) and emergencies, as well as for general information collection and dissemination within a population.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR HANDLING EVENT-RELATED INFORMATION FIELD OF THE INVENTION 5 The present invention relates to systems and methods for acquiring and/or disseminating information within a population. In particular, the systems and methods involve the use of mobile positioning technologies for the purposes of disaster and emergency management, and also community-based activities. .0 BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION Natural disasters such as bushfires, cyclones, tornadoes and the like can result in significant destruction of property, and even loss of life. Man-made emergencies such as crime, terrorism-related activities and wars also provide a significant threat to life and property. .5 It is an aim of many emergency services such as fire authorities, rescue organizations and police to forewarn persons who may be potentially affected by a disaster or emergency so that preventative action may be taken. This can be a difficult aim to accomplish in practice where the movement or extent of a threat is hard to predict. .0 For example the intensity, spread or movement of a bushfire can be highly unpredictable. A large number of interrelated variables may be involved such as wind direction, ambient temperature, humidity, the volume and water content of vegetation, the position of roads, rivers or firebreaks, and the topography of the land to name a few. Meteorological events 25 such as tornadoes are even more difficult to predict, often moving in a seemingly random manner across the landscape. The prior art provides many types of warning systems for the purposes of informing a person in potential danger to seek protection or even to evacuate an area. A basic system 30 used for centuries is that of a simple warning bell. Such systems have been used to alert members of small, geographically condensed populations of an impending emergency or disaster. Advancements in technology have provided more sophisticated versions of this 1 basic system with radio and television announcements providing useful information to persons in potential danger. More recently, SMS text messaging has been used as a warning system for natural 5 disasters, such as bushfires. Indeed, such a system was in place during the so-called "Black Saturday" fires of 2009, which collectively constituted Australia's worst fire disaster. While undoubtedly helpful, the SMS messaging system sent warnings to many persons not in the relevant area, or failed to send messages to persons in the area. .0 A further problem in disaster and emergency management is that of gathering of intelligence, especially where the disaster or emergency involves a large and/or remote geographical area. In those instances, relevant authorities have encountered difficulty in providing accurate and timely information to persons affected, or potentially affected, by the threat. This is especially problematic where the threat is prone to rapid change in .5 intensity or direction. This was the case for the Black Saturday fires, with many individuals perishing due to a lack of timely and accurate information. Accurate intelligence is important not only for the provision of timely warnings, but also for assisting in the management or containment of the threat. For a bushfire, knowledge of the .0 location of the most rapidly advancing fronts is helpful in allocating the available fire fighting resources to give the most favourable outcome. It is an aspect of the present invention to overcome or ameliorate a problem of the prior art by providing systems and methods that provide for the improved collection and/or 25 dissemination of information in the management of a disaster, emergency or indeed any other circumstance. It is a further aspect of the present invention to provide an alternative to prior art systems and methods. The discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles and the like is included in this 30 specification solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any or all of these matters formed part of the prior art base 2 or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application. 5 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION After considering this description it will be apparent to one skilled in the art how the invention is implemented in various alternative embodiments and alternative applications. However, although various embodiments of the present invention will be described herein, it is understood that these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and not .0 limitation. As such, this detailed description of various alternative embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope or breadth of the present invention. Furthermore, statements of advantages or other aspects apply to specific exemplary embodiments, and not necessarily to all embodiments covered by the claims. .5 Unless the contrary intention is expressed, the features presented as preferred or alternative forms of the invention can be present in any of the inventions disclosed as alone or in any combination with each other. o Throughout the description and the claims of this specification the word "comprise" and variations of the word, such as "comprising" and "comprises" is not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers or steps. In a first aspect, the present invention provides a system for acquiring (and optionally 25 disseminating) information on an object or an event from (and optionally to) one or more members of a population, the system comprising: (i) one or more personal positioning and communication devices capable of acquiring position-tagged information, (ii) a central entity capable of receiving position-tagged information from one or more of the personal positioning and communication devices, (and optionally capable of disseminating 30 information to one or more of the personal positioning and communication devices), and (iii) a network capable of connecting the personal positioning and communication means 3 and the central entity, wherein the central entity is capable of receiving the position-tagged information from the one or more combined positioning and communications means. Applicant proposes that the gathering of position-tagged information from individuals 5 having a personal positioning and communication device (such as a smartphone), the individual disposed in various locations about an object or event can provide valuable information to an authority responsible for managing the object or event. The present systems combine the community and operational aspects of emergency warning and other notification systems. The system enables a user to report what is seen, to describe what the .0 incident is, and to identify its location. It will predict the likely spread and direction of the incident or its cause, and enable a responsible authority to send warnings to the public or to take other action. As used herein, the term "object or event" is intended to include any observable thing, .5 process, or manifestation. The system is contemplated to be useful may be multiple discrete objects (such as small, individual fires), which may be managed as a single event (such as a bushfire event). The term "personal positioning and communication device" is intended to include any .0 portable device that is capable of being carried by a person and adapted or configured to obtain geographical positional information, and communicating that positional information along with other information to the network. In certain embodiments of the system, the device is also capable of receiving information from the network. 25 The device may be a laptop computer, netbook, personal digital assistant, tablet device. However, in a preferred form of the system, the personal positioning and communication device is a consumer-level mobile telephone capable of providing positional information. The positional information may be obtained by way of the Global Positioning System (GPS) as maintained by the United States government; or by triangulation using proximal mobile 30 telephone network towers. 4 The skilled person is familiar with personal devices operable in accordance with the present systems, such as so-called "smartphones", including the iPhone (Apple Inc), Blackberry (Research in Motion Inc), and Galaxy (Samsung). These devices are capable of receiving GPS satellite signals (or other positioning information), communicating with a mobile telephone 5 network, receiving input from an individual and executing program instructions. These embodiments of the system exploit the recent proliferation of smartphones in many populations. In particular, advantage is taken of the ability of such devices to provide an accurate location while also having the capability of sending and receiving information such as text, sound, video and photographs. .0 In certain embodiments, the personal positioning and communication device may be further equipped with a direction informing means (such as a compass) in order to provide higher levels of information to the central entity (discussed further herein infra). Electronic compasses utilising three axis magnetometers are now virtually ubiquitous in smartphones. .5 The use of commonly used consumer-level devices in the context of the present invention provides significant advantages. The main advantage is that the system is capable of receiving position-tagged information from a significant number of individuals disposed across a large geographical area. This can allow for the central entity to receive more .0 information (or at least higher quality information) on the object or event, this in turn allowing for the provision of improved management-relevant information. The "central entity" may be any person, organization, corporation, collective, group, club, association, body or the like capable of managing the object or event, or capable of 25 managing the activities of persons associated with or proximal to the object or event. Where the system is for the purposes of bushfire warnings, the central authority may be an authority such as the Country Fire Authority of Victoria, the ACT Fire Brigade, New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia, the Tasmania Fires Service, the South Australian Country Fire Service, the Northern Territory 30 Fire and Rescue Service, the New Zealand Fire Service and associated regional services. 5 It will be appreciated that the central entity may not have any statutory standing or powers, and may simply be a private citizen, or group of private citizens. The central entity may not have any authority or power to manage the incident or event, and could only be in a position to issue advice or recommendations. 5 In the context of the present invention, the term "position-tagged information" is intended to mean information of any type that is associated with positional data. The positional data may be any that allows for the location of a physical point on the surface of the earth (such as latitude and longitude) and/or a point above sea level (such as altitude). The information .0 that is associated with the data may be quantitative or qualitative and may be text-based, audio-based, or graphics-based (such as a drawing, a video or a photograph). The network of the present systems may be any means by which data (analogue or digital) is transmitted between the personal positioning and communication devices and the central .5 entity. In many embodiments the network comprises a mobile phone network, but may also include a satellite telephone network. The mobile phone or satellite phone network may in turn be operably connected to a WAN or LAN network, or the Internet. Typically the personal position and communication devices convey data to or from the .0 central entity by way of a computer server connected to the network. The server is preferably operably connected to the Internet. The server may comprise hardware and/or software dedicated to the purpose of receiving position-tagged information from a smartphone, as packaged by a software application of the smartphone. 25 In certain embodiments of the system there is provided a computer (which may be the same computer as the computer server, or a different computer) capable of automatically processing the position-tagged information to provide management-relevant information on the object or event. These embodiments provide for the rapid processing of multiple streams of incoming information to provide timely higher-level intelligence on the object or 30 event. 6 The management-relevant information may be any information that lessens the potential for a negative outcome with respect to the object or event, and/or increases the potential for a positive outcome with respect to the object or event. The management relevant information may relate to the dimensions, size, direction, intensity, speed, composition, 5 height, or shape of the object or event. The skilled artisan will be able to identify other types of useful information that may be provided as relevant to a particular circumstance with all being included in the scope of the present systems. The management-relevant information may result in the issuance of a warning to individuals .0 in a certain geographical area. The information may be used to organize resources to better manage the object or event. For example, the information may reveal a fire front rapidly advancing on a town, in which case fire fighters might be preferentially deployed to that front. .5 The position-tagged information may be automatically processed according to a predetermined algorithm to provide the management-relevant information. For example, a server administered by the central entity may receive information from multiple smartphone devices reporting a new fire outbreak. The algorithm (as executed by the server for example) may combine the various GPS coordinates received with any directional .0 information provided to provide a likely area for the outbreak. Additionally or alternatively the server may provide the central entity with raw data allowing for human processing of the information. Human intervention will be more likely required where the position tagged information is of a qualitative nature such as text-based descriptions of the object or event, photographs, videos or sound files. The algorithm may perform any number of 25 analyses taking into account information received from the devices, or indeed any other source of information such as a weather bureau. The central entity may use or dispatch processed information in the form of a SMS text based warnings, a map showing regions currently affected by the object or event, a 30 predictive map showing regions that may be affected in the future, information relating to the speed of movement or intensity of the object or event and the like. 7 Taking as an example the management of a bushfire, an individual having a smartphone may be the first person to notice the initial outbreak of a fire. The individual may utilise the GPS function on the smartphone to send a position-tagged SMS message to a central entity (such as a fire management authority) stating that smoke has been noticed in the area. The 5 message may include further information to more particularly locate the fire (by reference to proximal geographical feature, or compass bearing for example), or some qualitative information such as the intensity of the blaze or direction of movement. A second individual in a location different to the first individual may observe the same fire, .0 and also provide position-tagged information to the fire authority. The position-tagged information from the second individual might corroborate the information from the first individual, and may lead to more accurate positioning of the outbreak. Given the GPS coordinates and bearings provided by both individuals, it may be possible to estimate (or even very accurately locate) the outbreak by identifying the geographical point where the .5 two lines intersect. Position-tagged information provides by an even greater number of individuals may provide a higher level of certainty yet again. A larger number of individuals participating in the system will be advantageous in circumstances where the object or event extends over a large area. A bushfire may have .0 many fronts, and spread across hundreds or thousands of square kilometres. Accordingly, information from tens, hundreds or thousands of individuals will enable the fire authority to accurately map the fire in its entirety, and update that map at regular intervals to monitor the progress of the fire. 25 In one embodiment of the system, the personal positioning and communication devices are in the form of a single device (such as a smartphone), the device configured or adapted to automatically attach positional data to the information. This embodiment will be typically achieved by the inclusion of dedicated software on the device, such as an iOS or android based application. The application may accept information from the individual in the form 30 of text and/or sound (particularly speech). In a preferred embodiment the application controls a camera (if present) on the device and sends position-tagged photographs to the central entity. 8 Where provided for, the application may also be adapted or configured to receive direction information from an on board compass, or other directional device. The application may be further enabled to attach directional data to the information. Thus, the individual is able to 5 point the device at the object or event such that the on board compass is able to obtain a bearing (in degrees) before the information relating to the object or event is transmitted to the central entity. The system may comprise any number of devices, but preferred forms of the system provide .0 for at least about 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 275, 300, 325, 350, 375, 400, 425, 450, 475, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500, 4000, 4500, 5000, 6000, 7000, 8000, 9000 or 10000. As will be appreciated, the higher number of devices in the system, the greater the quantity of information that may be obtained is increased. This may .5 in turn lead to the provision of higher quality information useful in the management or containment of t he object or event. In a highly preferred form of the system, the personal positioning and communication device comprises an application dedicated to the task of receiving and forwarding position .0 tagged information to the central entity, the application preferably configured or adapted to communicate the position-tagged information to a networked computer administered by the central entity. This embodiment provides for a high level of simplicity on the part of the user. For example, an "app" may be launched which is preconfigured to present appropriate questions to the user, invite the user to take a photograph or video of the 25 situation, invite the user to point the device in the direction of the object or event to provide bearing data, automatically tag the information with positional data (such as GPS coordinates), and automatically transit the tagged information to the server of a relevant controlling entity. 30 In a preferred embodiment, the system is capable of also disseminating information to an individual. In this embodiment the system is typically involved in sending warning information to an individual at potential risk. The information may be disseminated 9 (preferably automatically) by way of SMS text, email, live telephone message, pre-recorded telephone message, or the like. In a highly preferred form of the system, the information is disseminated by way of a 5 personal positioning and communication device of the system. Thus, individuals having the devices potentially receive advantage as a result of the position-tagged information received by central entity. Taking again the example of a bushfire, a plurality of individuals having appropriately enabled smartphones can collect information on progress on the various fronts. This information enables the fire authority to make a prediction as to which .0 direction(s) the fire is/are spreading. Of course, fire direction can change rapidly and so predictions can be constantly altered or refined in order to identify areas most at risk even on a minute-by-minute basis. The central entity may therefore transmit warning information to individuals that are in the predicted path of the fire, requesting evacuation. In a preferred embodiment of the system, a device that is adapted or configured to send .5 position-tagged information to the fire authority is also capable of receiving information from that authority. This is not however, essential, and warnings may be issued by any means and to a device of any type. Preferably the device (or optionally an application of the device) is pre-registered with the .0 central entity before being used in the present systems. Registration allows the central entity the ability to identify the individual (i) from whom the position-tagged information is received and/or (ii) to whom any information is to be transmitted. The individual may register personal information that could be important in an emergency situation such as their name, age, address, telephone number, number of members in the individual's family, 25 whether or not the individual is normally resident at the registered address or whether on holiday, whether any person at the registered address has a disability or a medical condition requiring special rescue considerations, vehicle registration details, etc. These details may dictate that rescuers not risk their lives if it appears that nobody is in residence, or that or occupant of a family are accounted for etc. An individual may choose not to register any 30 personal information, so that only the device is registered, rather than the identity of the bearer of the device. 10 In a further aspect the present invention provides a method for managing an object or event, the method comprising the steps of: acquiring position-tagged information from one or more personal positioning and communication devices, and automatically processing the position-tagged information to provide management-relevant information on the object or 5 event. It is to be understood that the various options, embodiments and preferments discussed in relation to the systems of the present invention (and also in Detailed Description section herein) also apply to the methods so far as relevant. In particular, the object or event may be a bushfire or a flood. .0 In a further aspect the present invention provides a personal positioning and communication device adapted or configured to operate within the systems and methods described herein. The device may comprise any combination of the features as discussed supra in relation to the systems. It is to be understood that the various options, embodiments and preferments discussed in relation to the systems of the present invention .5 (and also in Detailed Description section herein) also apply to the methods so far as relevant. In particular, the device may be a smartphone. In a further aspect the present invention provides a set of computer-executable instructions adapted or configured to operate within the systems and methods described herein, and/or .0 on a personal positioning and communication device described herein. The instructions are typically embodied in software and/or hardware. It is to be understood that the various options, embodiments and preferments discussed in relation to the systems of the present invention (and also in Detailed Description section herein) also apply to the computer executable instructions so far as relevant. In particular, the software may be capable of 25 execution on a smartphone, and is preferably capable of execution on an iOS or android or Windows or RIM operating system In a further aspect, the present invention provides a server adapted or configured to operate within a system as described herein, or a method as described herein, or in 30 connection with a personal positioning and communication device as described herein. It is to be understood that the various options, embodiments and preferments discussed in relation to the systems of the present invention (and also in Detailed Description section 11 herein) also apply to the methods so far as relevant. In particular, the server may be capable of processing the position-tagged information to provide management-relevant information. 5 While the majority of the disclosure of this specification is directed to embodiment useful in the management of bushfire, the present invention is applicable to other natural disasters including meteorological manifestations (such as tornado, cyclone, hurricane, electrical storm,) tsunami, flood, pest plague, and volcanic eruption. .0 The present invention will also be amenable to implementation in respect of man-made objects and events, and pa rticularly those that threaten personal safety such as explosions, protests, civil disruption, war, terrorism, and crime. Quite apart for the uses referenced supra, the present invention is applicable to objects and .5 events that are not related to personal safety. For example, the invention is applicable to legal/regulatory breaches such as public transport fare evasion, littering, public intoxication, drug use, property damage, and public nuisance. The invention is also applicable to objects and events that are positive in nature, being .0 related more so to information gathering and dissemination amongst individuals with similar interests or aims. For example, the invention has application to information gathering followed by informal social networking dissemination to the relevant community and governing bodies, and formal response by that governing body, for communities of all kinds. For example, bird-watching organisations could use the system to record sightings of 25 a particular species, disseminate that information to their communities, and to the governing body which may then decide to take some formal action (such as convening an outing to investigate the sightings). Other examples would include sporting clubs, nature watchers, environmental monitors, schools and other educational institutions, weather watchers. 30 The skilled artisan is enabled to select the central entity most closely appropriate to the application. It may be the case that the central entity is more than one responsible 12 authority, and indeed may be multiple authorities (such as fire, police, ambulance, search and rescue organization and army). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 5 The following preferred embodiments relates to an object or event being a fire, and the smartphone having a software application dedicated to the handling of information related only to fire eme rgencies. The central entity is a fire authority. An individual desirous of participating in the warning system downloads an application .0 (referred to herein as the "SeeFire App") to their smartphone. Smartphones registering for the SeeFire system will have the ability to enter an area or areas of interest, defined by postcode. For example a registrant would register the postcode of a residence, the residences of family and friends, destinations of holiday travel, etc. Registration is completed on-line using the smartphone or by personal computer. .5 On days of likely fire activity, the SeeFire App is launched by smartphone owners. Where the facility exists on the particular smartphone, the system initiates the launch of the SeeFire App at the discretion of the fire authority, if the registrant has so requested during the registration process. .0 Once launched on the smartphone, there are three events which may transpire in the event of a fire: 1. the smartphone reports a fire, and/or 25 2. the smartphone is informed of other reports, and/or 3. The smartphone is sent warnings of the fire activity 1. Reporting afire. Where a smartphone owner sees a fire, the SeeFire App enables the owner to simply point 30 the phone in the direction of the fire and press a button labelled "Smoke", "Embers", or "Flame" button. Police, Fire-fighters etc will also have the ability to enter qualitative data 13 such as intensity or distance of the incident. The SeeFire App automatically activates the compass and GPS in the smartphone. A data packet signal is sent by the smartphone to the SeeFire Server, which records the 5 identity of the smartphone (not necessarily the owner), its location and speed of travel, and the bearing from that point of the direction in which the smartphone was pointed when the button was pressed. If so requested during registration, the system also identies the smartphone by owner's name and phone number, enabling rapid call back to the owner by fire authorities via the normal telephone system if emergency action is required. .0 An acknowledgement of the report is immediately returned by the Seefire Server to the reporting smartphone, negating doubt and the need for repeated reporting of the same sighting. The acknowledgement shows on the smartphone a map of the immediate area and flags the position from which the report was received, irrespective of the postcode(s) .5 registered as being of interest to that smartphone. The Seefire Server has the capacity to handle reports from multiple smartphones, at the rate of many thousands per minute, and the system is not limited or compromised by a large number of simultaneous reports. For redundancy purposes the Seefire server is fully .0 mirrored in geographically separate data centres. 2. Information on all reports sent to registrants. Where reports are received by the SeeFire Server, advice in the form of a map on which all reports are flagged, is sent to the smartphones which have registered an interest in the 25 postcodes from which reports have been received. All smartphones which have reported a fire, as well as receiving an acknowledgement of its own report, receives advice of all reports in that postcode in similar fashion i.e. in the form of a map on which all reports are flagged. The SeeFire Server has the capacity to add to the 30 map shown on smartphones, a red highlighted area corresponding to the most likely location of the fire, based on all reports received. 14 Information is continuously updated on registrant smartphones as further data is received and analysed. 3. Wamings of Fire Activity 5 The SeeFire Server receives all reports, acknowledges them, advises relevant smartphones of the reports, but also analyses the reports in a unique way to provide centralised data. The SeeFire Server will show on visual computer screens, all reports, their emanating locations, the time, speed of travel, device identity, quality of report based on holder of .0 reporting smartphone or device, and the bearing of all reports from their place of origin. The SeeFire Server interprets the intersections of all of the reported bearings to infer and highlight the location of the fire (or fires), its progress over time and the direction of travel. As well as reports from smartphones held by members of the public, the system receives reports from mobile and fixed weather stations, smartphones held by police or fire .5 authority members, RSS feeds of fire authority observations, and will distinguish between them as to quality of data reported, to provide an integrated map of the event or events (the SeeFire Server can distinguish between a single large fire and multiple small fires). The screens and the data are made available to the fire authority. The dissemination of .0 information to the fire authority is continuous, and building, from the first smartphone report (as the SeeFire Serwer will infer that the authority is interested in all postcodes). The protocol of the Seefire Server is of open design such that proprietary systems in addition to that of the fire authority, such as ambulance or police dispatch systems, can also 25 easily access the output data. The fire authority thereby has access to multiple sources of reporting, analysed and presented in real time in a single interface. It is the integration of community reporting and operational decision making in a completely end-to-end system. 30 15 Once in receipt of the SeeFire data (which is continuously received and updated) the fire authority is able to issue warnings as it sees fit. Using the SeeFire App, warnings are sent to SeeFire registrants on several levels, e.g. 5 Level 1: Fire is active in your area, activate your fire plan; Level 2: Fire is travelling in your direction, with ETA of <time period> hours; Level 3: Evacuate your area. Your closest accessible safer place is <place> shown on map. .0 SeeFire also enables similar messages (formatted for non-smartphones and not containing assumed locations of phone or maps) to be transmitted to non-smartphone mobile phones owned by people having registered an interest in a particular postcode or postcodes. The SeeFire system does not itself decide to send warnings but enables the fire authority to .5 do so via the system. The system provides the authority with access to data from a completely separate channel, giving control over warnings issued and a complete and real time audit trail which allows for the process of issuing community warnings completely accountable. .0 The authority may also choose to use the information provided by the system to issue community warnings by other methods at its disposal, such as radio announcement. The system enables the authority to fulfil two core responsibilities: (i) the issuance of information and warning to the community, and (ii) promoting and leading reform to 25 improve operational capability The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the underlying principles and concepts and practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the 30 particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the embodiments be defined by the following claims and their equivalents. 16 The following preferred embodiments provides a broader disclosure than the aforementioned relating to an object or event being either (i) a fire (ii) a flood or (iii) personal threat, and the smartphone having a software application dedicated to the handling of information related to multiple types of emergency. These embodiments 5 provide further detail on the registration process. The central entity is a Responsible Authority for fires, or a Responsible Authority for floods, or a Responsible Authority for crime. 1. Registration .0 1.1. Users choose to join. The system allows downloading of an application (referred to herein as the "SeeWhatWhere App") to smartphone owners who choose to participate. Smartphones registering for the system will have the ability to enter a geographical area or areas of interest, defined by .5 postcode(s). For example a registrant would register the postcode of a residence, the residences of family and friends, destinations of holiday travel, etc. Registration is done on line using a smartphone or computer, after a user learns of the system via advertising or othe r means and chooses to join. .0 1.2. Identity need not be given. Registration does not need to identify a person in any way other than by way of the smartphone that they are using. Neither name, address, nor phone numberis required for registration. What is recorded is an encrypted hash of the IMSI (hashed IMSI), which is the identifying number of the network subscriber in the phone (whether smartphone or 25 dumbphone), and the postcode or postcodes of interest to the user of that hashed IMSI. The numberof hashed IMSIs recorded for each user device is limited to one; the numberof postcodes of interest to the user of each hashed IMSI is unlimited. 1.3. User may choose to disclose identity. 30 A user may choose to register details other than the hashed IMSI. Name, address, phone number etc may be given if the user so chooses. Members of the public may choose to take this course, for various reasons, and members of special groups such as police or emergency 17 services will want to identify themselves so that weighting may be given to their reports, and specific messages be sent to them, in due course. 1.4. Identification of Vulnera ble Persons. 5 The exception to non-identifiable registration is that of vulnerable persons. On registration, a vulnerable person may identify him/herself as such. A person may regard him/herself as vulnerable because of age, illness, incapacity, immobility, etc, which may require a heightened level of assistance in the event of an emergency. For that to occur, registration as "vulnerable" will require registration of name, address, phone numbers, etc. A user may .0 identify her/himself as vulnerable for limited periods, and may change status with the course of time from within the SeeWhatWhere App. 1.5. Hashed IMSI is key to Identity. Once registered, all registration details will be recorded against the hashed IMSI, and so if a .5 user changes phones but retains the same SIM card (the usual case), registration details are retained and there is no need to re-register. An acknowledgement of successful registration will be sent by the server to all users. Messages may be sent to any registrant, even if the only identifying information known to .0 the system is the hashed IMSI. (One of the benefits of the hashed IMSI code is the inclusion of the numerical identifier for all Australian issued SIMs; the system will include only Australian reports in systems operating in Australia, (and Tongan reports in Tonga, etc)). 2. In Case of Emergency. 25 The most immediate area of need for the system is that of emergency warning, either for whole of community or personal warning, and so it is in those contexts that the system will be described as primary examples of its application. The particular emergencies used as examples to describe the system will be that of: 30 - Fire or Flood e Personal threat 18 2.1. Fire or Flood as examples. On days of likely fire or flood activity, the SeeWhatWhere App will be launched by the smartphone owners. Where the facility exists on the particular smartphone, the system could initiate the launch of the SeeWhatWhere App at the discretion of the Responsible 5 Authority, if the registrant has so requested during the registration process. 2.2. Opening or Home Screen The SeeWhatWhere App opening screen (once the registration screen has been used for registration) lists the messages of relevance for each of the postcodes of interest to that .0 user. The system will scroll between postcodes on demand, giving the messages for each postcode. It will indicate the number of messages (including zero) for each postcode of interest. It is this opening screen that will be familiar to users as they will have routinely used the screen for information of general interest in the postcodes which they have registered. .5 On the opening screen are two buttons: "FIRE" and "FLOOD" which takes the user to the relevant Reporting Screens. 2.3. Fire Reporting Screen. .0 If a smartphone owner sees a fire, the SeeWhatWhere App will enable the owner to simply point the phone at the fire and press either the "SMOKE", "EMBERS" or "FLAME" button. The SeeWhatWhere App will have automatically activated the compass and GPS in the smartphone. 25 A data packet signal will be sent by the smartphone to the Server, which will record the identity of the smartphone (by hashed IMSI, not by the owner), its location and speed of travel, the time, and the compass bearing of the direction in which the smartphone was pointed when the button was pressed, i.e. the direction of the smoke, embers, or flame, from the location of the smartphone. 30 An acknowledgement of the report will immediately be returned by the Server to the reporting smartphone, negating doubt and the need for repeated reporting of the same 19 sighting. The acknowledge ment will show on the smart phone a map of the immediate area and flag the position from which the report was received (specially identified as this smartphone) and the direction of the incident, and show all other reports for the same postcode (identified differently from this smartphone), irrespective of the postcode(s) 5 registered as being of interest to that reporting smartphone. 2.4. Flood Reporting Screen. If a smartphone owner sees a flood, the SeeWhatWhere App will enable the owner to differentiate between Flash Flood where rapidly moving and dangerous water flow exists, .0 and Rising Water Level where the general level of water is rising but not moving rapidly or dangerously. For a Flash Flood, a user will simply point the phone (from a safe distance) in the direction to which the water is flowing, and press the "FLASH FLOOD" button. For rising water level, a user will simply stand near the water's edge (at a safe distance but for non rapidly rising water it can be relatively close) and press the "RISING WATER LEVEL" button. .5 In either case the SeeWhatWhere App will have automatically activated the compass and GPS in the smartphone. A data packet signal will be sent by the smartphone to the Server, which will record the identity of the smartphone (not the owner), the time, its location and speed of travel, and .0 the compass bearing of the direction in which the sma rtphone was pointed when the Flash Flood button was pressed, i.e. the direction of the flood from the location of the smartphone (but the Server will ignore compass bearings in the case of Rising Water Level). An acknowledgement of the report will immediately be returned by the Server to the 25 reporting smartphone, negating doubt and the need for repeated reporting of the same sighting. The acknowledgement will show on the sma rtphone a map of the immediate area and flag the position from which the report was received (specially identified as this smartphone) and show all other reports for the same postcode (identified differently from this smartphone), irrespective of the postcode(s) registered as being of interest to that 30 smartphone. The map will show in the case of Flash Flood reports the reported direction of the water flow, for each of the reports received. 20 2.5. Server not compromised by multiple simultaneous reports. The Server has the capacity to handle reports from multiple smartphones, at the rate of many thousands per minute, and the system is not limited or compromised by a large number of simultaneous reports. For redundancy purposes the Server is fully 'mirrored', in 5 geographically separate data centres. 2.6. Information on all reports sent to Registrants. If reports of fire or flood of whatever kind are received by the Server, advice in the form of a .0 map on which all reports are flagged, will be sent to the smartphones which have registered an interest in the postcodes from which reports have been received. This applies whether the smartphone is a reporting smartphone or not. All smartphones which have reported an incident, as well as receiving an acknowledgement .5 of its own report, will receive advice of all reports in that postcode in similar fashion i.e. in the form of a map on which all reports are flagged. This applies whether the smartphone is registered for the postcode in which a report was received or not. The Server has the capacity to add to the map shown on smartphones, a highlighted area .0 corresponding to the most likely location of the incident, based upon all reports received. For example, the assumed location and direction of travel of a fire may be shown, or the water's edge of rising water level may be shown. Such maps and indicated incidents can incorporate information from other overlaid sources such as weather information or geographical contour levels in its calculation of mapping information. 25 Information can be continuously updated on registrant smartphones as further data is received and analysed, giving a time series element to the reports. 3. Centralised Reports Received and Used by Responsible Authority. 30 3.1. Warnings from Users to Responsible Authority. 21 The Server receives all reports, acknowledges them, advises relevant smartphones of the reports, but also analyses the reports in a unique way to provide centralised data. The Server will show on visual computer screens, all reports, their emanating locations, the 5 time, speed of travel, device identity, quality of report based on holder of reporting smartphone or device, and the bea ring of all reports from their place of origin (in the case of Fire reports), or the bearing of the direction in which water is moving (in the case of Flash Flood reports). The Server will interpret the intersections of all of the reported bearings to infer and highlight the location of the incident (or incidents), its progress over time and the .0 direction of travel. As well as reports from smartphones held by members of the public, the system will receive reports from mobile and fixed weather stations, smartphones held by police or Responsible Authority members, RSS feeds of Responsible Authority observations (e.g. fire authority internal reporting), and will distinguish between them as to quality of data reported, to provide an integrated map of the situation or situations (the Server can .5 distinguish between a single large incident or multiple incidents). The screens and the data are made available to the Responsible Authority. The dissemination of information to the Responsible Authority will be continuous, and building, from the first smartphone report (as the Server will infer that the Responsible Authority is .0 interested in all postcodes). The protocol of the Server is of open design such that proprietary systems and dispatch systems of all sorts of Responsible Authorities, such as the Country Fire Authority, Ambulance, or Police, can also easily access the output data. 25 The Responsible Authority thereby has access to multiple sources of reporting, analysed and presented in real time in a single interface. It is the integration of community reporting and operational decision making in a completely end-to-end system. 30 3.2. Warnings from Responsible Authority to Users and the Public. 22 Once in receipt of the system data (which is continuously received and updated) the Responsible Authority is then able to issue warnings as it sees fit. Using the SeeWhatWhere App, warnings would be sent to the smartphones of user registrants on several levels, e.g. - Fire is active in your area, activate your fire plan; 5 - Flash Flood is travelling in your direction, with ETA of xx minutes; e Evacuate your area. Your closest accessible safer place is <place> shown on the smartphone map; e You, as a registered vulnerable person, will be evacuated by Police within xx minutes; please leave your phone switched on (the system will enable convergence .0 of a known Police or other rescuer with an activated smartphone); 0 The Responsible Authority, through its case-by-case control, may choose to publish or suppress an incident map to smartphones. 3.2.1. Non-smartphones. .5 SeeWhatWhere can also enable similar messages (formatted for non-smartphones and not containing assumed locations of phone or maps) to be transmitted to non-smartphone mobile phones registered as having an interest in a particular postcode or postcodes. 3.3. Responsible Authority Controls Outgoing Warnings. .0 The system will not itself decide to send warnings but will enable the Responsible Authorities to do so via the system. The system gives the Responsible Authority access to data from a completely separate channel, giving the person in overall charge control over warnings issued and a complete and real time audit trail which will allow him/her to hold the process of issuing community warnings completely accountable. 25 The Responsible Authority may also choose to use the information gleaned by the system to issue community warnings by other methods at its disposal, such as radio announcement. The system's applicability to emergency incidents enables the over-arching officer in control 30 of emergency management to fulfil two core responsibilities, namely: * to issue community warnings and provide information to the community, and - to promote and lead reform to improve operational capability. 23 4. Responsible Authority can Request Further Reports. Because the location of smartphones is known once the SeeWhatWhere App is activated, 5 the Responsible Authority can by data packet message via the Server, by SMS or by normal phone call (using the data embedded in the recorded hashed IMSI), request further information or further reports from smartphones in relevant locations. For example, the system will enable a Responsible Authority to request a user (whether an existing reporter or not) to describe the incident, send another report via the Fire or Flood Screens, or .0 photograph the incident using the phone camera (in which case the system will activate the smartphone camera and enable the smartphone to send the image to the Responsible Authority). The Responsible Authority thus has at its disposal a host of volunteer "eyes and ears" that can provide real-time information from the incident itself. .5 5. Personal Threat. In this use of the system, registration is done in a similar way as described above, with postcodes of interest being recorded simply to promote familiarity with the system for speedy access during times of personal threat. The technical system would be used as .0 above, but via a separate Application on the smartphone, named by an appropriately descriptive name such as PanicButton or Vigilante. The Home screen would be the same as the SeeWhatWhere App, but instead of having the Food or Fire buttons, it would have a range of buttons such as: 25 e assault witnessed, e personal threat, e road rage threats, e littering. 30 When one of these incidents is witnessed, the appropriate button is pressed, which immediately sends a data packet message to the Server. The message can contain a smartphone camera image if required. The Server analyses the data and automatically 24 sends information to the relevant Authority, e.g. the Police or Municipal enforcement group. 5.1. Message received by Authority. 5 The message received by the Authority shows the nature of the threat, the time, the location of the smartphone, its speed of travel and direction. The Authority may chose to on-transmit the message to others, or in some cases this can be done by the Server automatically. .0 5.2. Authority Takes Action. An example by way of illustration of the scope of the system is that of a personal threat witnessed on public transport. The user activates the App, and presses the PERSONAL THREAT button. A very discrete and transient acknowledgement of the report is sent. The Police receive the message automatically on visual screen showing the time, a map of the .5 report's location, its speed and direction of travel. The public transport driver is alerted of the report on his/her smartphone, and may be given further instructions. The transport stops at an appropriate place where Police are waiting, having been informed by the system of the precise location of the offender, e.g. the actual carriage of the train in which the threat is occurring. 0 6. Data Wrapper Overlaying all the above is a data wrapper which integrates the system with and improves upon, the existing legislated Emergency Telephone call system, in Australia known as triple 25 zero. The data wrapper is incorporated in (activated from) the reporting screens described in Sections 2.3 and 2.4 above. The design for a data wrapper allows for a conventional call to be made to any phone number at all (including emergency services) from within a smartphone application. The 30 application presents the call button as a separate page of related information, in effect as a data context for the call. 25 The SeeWhatWhere system's "Smartphone-SmarterServer" performs the following tasks of co-ordination and context enrichment: 6.1. Accepts other inputs and overlays. 5 Both accepts and solicits global information relevant to the service being called (including emergency services such as triple-zero). This information would normally be in the form of a secure RSS feed, or similar, and would include such relevant and valuable details as current waiting time to answer the call. This provides an immediate benefit to the caller, who can delay the call until the waiting time is convenient. Note that meanwhile the server .0 is also logging "intending to call" actions by users, and reporting these to the service, so the service is aware of how many callers are about to place a call, or might have done so, absent a long wait on the line. On this see infra. 6.2. Accepts and solicits local information. .5 Both accepts and solicits local information relevant to the service being called (especially emergency services) and the caller's location. This information would normally take the form of a list of current incidents recently reported for the location, perhaps geo-tagged, and complete with an indication of current response status. In this way, callers can be encouraged to make their call based on already knowing whether the incident has been .0 reported. If it has, they need only proceed with the call if they are impacted upon themselves by the incident. 6.3. Monitors the call and reports real-time outcomes Monitors the call in real-time (though of course not its content, but rather just the control 25 channel), and reports real-time outcomes to the service (including emergency services). An example would be the incidence of calls which were not answered, or not answered within the period of time promised by the service. Also, the caller could be provided with the option to report their current location and/or their mobile number, using the firm's original end2end SMS-MO-based notification procedure. This information could be requested by 30 such services as triple-zero, or more likely by the Responsible Authority when responding to a triple-zero call. Note that the SeeWhatwhere SmarterServer provides real-time, data enriched reports to emergency services responding to the call. Since every call is uniquely 26 tagged, emergency services could have all the details about location and nature of the incident made available to them in their own smartphone app deriving information from the Serve r. 5 6.4. May deflect the caller to a preferred solution. Accepts and solicits related information which may deflect the caller to a preferred solution. For example, a caller to VicRoads (13xxxx)--or any 13.. number for which the data stream enrichment was deployed--might be provided just before making the call with: 6.4.1. A list of websites, customised by the callers current location .0 6.4.2. A list of alternative numbers to call for specific needs 6.4.3. A list of the options available, such as: "For smart number plates, press [13xxxxx option 2 option 3]. 6.5. Applications .5 This data channel for voice calls would be of value to the entire community, but also to emergency services personnel. It profoundly enriches the interaction by providing valuable, real-time information to the caller before the call is made. 6.6. IP implications .0 Because this design depends on the distinctive interplay between the smarter server and the specially designed, written and deployed SeeWhatWhere smartphone applications, the architecture of the end2end design can be regarded as a product of the inventive enterprise of the applicant. Note that this wrapper design has been deployed and tested using email from a networked computer or mobile device, rather than actually initiating emergency 25 voice calls, but the data channel and smartphone - smarter server, and its interactions with the service have been field tested. 7. Satellite Coverage. 30 Standard smartphones will not operate when power supply fails in the phone, when normal smartphone coverage is not available or when cell towers become inoperable (through the emergency or otherwise). The SeeWhatwhere system therefore has a satellite 27 communications enhancement. This add-on device incorporates an off-the-shelf 9602 chipset, but governed by software in a novel way which enables communication with the smartphone via direct USB connection, bluetooth or wi-fi. This enables operation of the full SeeWhatWhere system wherever satellite communication is available. 5 The device is also designed to contain additional battery packs, enabling back-up battery power via the direct connection of the device to the smartphone. .0 28

Claims (18)

1. A system for acquiring (and optionally disseminating) information on an object or an event from (and optionally to) one or more members of a population, the system 5 comprising: (i) one or more personal positioning and communication devices capable of acquiring position-tagged information, (ii) a central entity capable of receiving position-tagged information from one or more of the personal positioning and communication devices, (and optionally .0 capable of disseminating information to one or more of the personal positioning and communication devices), and (iii) a network capable of connecting the personal positioning and communication means and the central entity, wherein the central entity is capable of receiving the position-tagged information from the .5 one or more combined positioning and communications means.

2. A system according to claim 1 wherein the object or event is a natural disaster or an emergency. 0

3. A system according to claim 1 wherein the natural disaster or emergency is selected from the group consisting of fire, flood or a meteorological manifestation.

4. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the personal positioning and communication device is a mobile telephone adapted or configured to obtain geographical 25 positional information.

5. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the personal positioning and communication device is capable of executing program instructions. 30

6. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the personal positioning and communication device is a smartphone or similar device. 29

7. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the central entity is selected from the group consisting of a fire authority, police, ambulance, and search and rescue organization. 5

8. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the network is a mobile phone network.

9. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 8 comprising a computer server connected to the ne twork. .0

10. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 9 comprising a computer capable of automatically processing the position-tagged information to provide ma nagement-relevant information on the object or event. .5

11. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 10 the personal positioning and communication device comprises an application dedicated to the task of receiving and forwarding position-tagged information to the central entity,

12. A system according to claim 11 wherein the application is configured or adapted to 2O communicate the position-tagged information to a networked computer administered by the central entity.

13. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 12 capable of disseminating information to an individual. 25

14. A system according to claim 12 or claim 13 wherein the information is disseminated by way of a personal positioning and communication device of the system. 30

15. A method for managing an object or event, the method comprising the steps of: acquiring position-tagged information from one or more personal positioning and communication devices, and automatically processing the position-tagged information to 5 provide management-relevant information on the object or event.

16. A personal positioning and communication device adapted or configured to operate within a system according to any one of claims 1 to 14 or a method according to claim 15. .0

17. A set of computer-executable instructions adapted or configured to operate within a system according to any one of claims 1to 14, or a method according to claim 15, or on a personal positioning and communication device according to claim 16.

18. A server adapted or configured to operate within a system according to any one of .5 claims 1 to 14, or a method according to claim 15, or in connection with a personal positioning and communication device according to claim 16. 31