HOME OCCUPANCY INFORMATION SYSTEM
A home occupancy status and information system may be used to track information about human and animal occupants within a structure and provide information to first responders in the event of an emergency. A rescue beacon may be positioned near an entrance to a home, and when an audible alarm or alarm signal is detected by the beacon it will provide visual alerts and/or audible alerts to attract the attention of a first responder, and will provide information on occupants in the home, such as a number of pets, a number of humans, and other information. A rescue device may also be carried by each pet or other occupant in the house, which may be activated by a wireless signal from a rescue beacon, or by a detected alarm audio/signal. When activated, the rescue device will provide audible and/or visual alerts to aid first responders in locating the occupant.
1 . A home occupancy information system comprising:
(a) a beacon code scanner;
(b) a server comprising a processor, wherein the server is in communication with the beacon code scanner and is configured to store:
(i) an occupant dataset that describes one or more occupants of the home; and
(ii) a first responder dataset;
wherein the processor is configured to:
(i) receive a request from the beacon code scanner, the request comprising the occupant dataset and a first responder identifier;
(ii) provide a dataset to a first responder based on the occupant dataset, wherein the dataset is configured to cause the first responder to receive a status dashboard, wherein the status dashboard comprises a description of each occupant of the home based on the occupant dataset.
2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more rescue beacons, wherein each of the one or more rescue beacons are configured to detect an alarm state produced in response to detection of a home emergency condition.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the produced alarm state comprises one or more of an audible alarm signal and an encoded wireless alarm signal, and wherein the one or more rescue beacons further comprise one or more of a microphone and an encoded wireless signal receiver.
4 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the one or more rescue beacons further comprise a visual indicator configured to provide a visual indication that the alarm state has been detected; wherein the visual indicator comprises an LED indicator.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to, before providing the dataset to the first responder:
(i) provide a notification to one or more homeowner devices that are associated with the home;
(ii) receive a confirmation from the one or more homeowner devices approving access to the status dashboard; and
(iii) only provide the dataset in response to receiving the confirmation from the one or more homeowner devices.
6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to, when providing the notification to the one or more homeowner devices, provide information usable by the one or more homeowner devices to establish a real-time communication channel with the first responder, a first responder administrator, or both, wherein the real-time communication channel comprises one or more of audio communication, video communication, or electronic message communication.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the server is further configured to store a set of access rules, wherein the processor is further configured to, before providing the dataset to the first responder:
(i) evaluate each of the set of access rules to determine whether they pass or fail; and
(ii) only provide the dataset where no access rule fails.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the set of access rules comprises a location rule that fails if a first set of location information produced by a location sensor of the beacon code scanner of the first responder does not substantially match a second set of location information stored in the server.
9 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the set of access rules comprises a temporal rule that fails based on the time that the request is received and a set of preconfigured approved times.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to, before providing the dataset to the first responder:
(i) provide a notification to one or more homeowner devices that are associated with the home;
(ii) receive an occupancy update from the one or more homeowner devices, wherein the occupancy update indicates a number of immediate occupants that are present within the home at that time; and
(iii) provide the dataset to the first responder based on the occupant dataset and the occupancy update, wherein the status dashboard comprises a description of each occupant of the home and the number of immediate occupants based on the occupant dataset and the occupancy update.
11 . The system of claim 2 , further comprising a rescue tag comprising a tag alarm sensor configured to detect the alarm state, a tag visual indicator configured to provide a visual indication that the alarm state has been detected, a tag audio indicator configured to provide an audible indication that the alarm state has been detected, and a tag fastener configured to attach the rescue tag to an occupant within the home.
12 . The system of claim 2 , wherein each of the one or more rescue beacons comprise:
(a) a body having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface; and
(b) an adhesive ring on the first surface;
wherein the rescue beacon may be affixed to a window of the home by the adhesive ring.
13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the status dashboard comprises:
(i) a preconfigured description of whether each occupant is a human or an animal;
(ii) a preconfigured image of each occupant; and
(iii) a preconfigured description of where each occupant can primarily be found within the home.
14 . A method of utilizing a home occupancy information system during a home emergency condition, the method comprising:
providing a beacon code scanner;
providing a server comprising a processor, wherein the server is in communication with the beacon code scanner and is configured to store:
(i) an occupant dataset that describes one or more occupants of the home; and
(ii) a first responder dataset;
receiving, at the processor, a request from the beacon code scanner, wherein the request comprises the occupant dataset and an authenticated first responder identifier; and
providing, by the processor, a dataset to a first responder based on the occupant dataset, wherein the dataset is configured to cause the first responder to receive a status dashboard, wherein the status dashboard comprises a description of each occupant of the home based on the occupant dataset.
15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
providing one or more rescue beacons, wherein each of the one of more rescue beacons are configured to detect an alarm state produced in response to the home emergency condition;
providing, by the processor, a notification to one or more homeowner devices that are associated with the one or more rescue beacon;
receiving, at the processor, an occupancy update from the one or more homeowner devices, wherein the occupancy update indicates a number of immediate occupants that are present within the home at that time; and
displaying, at the rescue beacon, a beacon dashboard including a description of the number of immediate occupants based on the occupant update.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising:
providing a rescue tag, the rescue tag comprising a tag alarm sensor configured to detect the alarm state, a tag visual indicator configured to provide a visual indication that the alarm state has been detected, a tag audio indicator configured to provide an audible indication that the alarm state has been detected, a wireless signal transmitter, and a tag fastener configured to attach the rescue tag to an occupant within the home.
17 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
providing two or more triangulation beacons positioned within the home, wherein the triangulation beacons are configured to:
(i) receive signals from the wireless signal transmitter of the rescue tag;
(ii) determine location information of the rescue tag relative to the two or more triangulation beacons; and
(iii) provide the location information of the rescue tag to the one or more rescue beacons;
wherein the beacon dashboard includes a location of the rescue tag relative to the one or more rescue beacons based on the location information.
18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
producing a virtual mapping of the rescue tag's location over a period of time based on the location information;
determining a location of the rescue tag at a moment in time based on the location information and the virtual mapping; and
displaying, at the one or more rescue beacons, the beacon dashboard to include the location of the rescue tag at the moment in time.
19 . A home occupancy information system comprising:
(a) a rental party beacon code scanner;
(b) one or more beacons each configured to provide a beacon identifier when scanned by the rental party beacon code scanner;
(c) a server comprising a processor, wherein the server is in communication with the rental party beacon code scanner and is configured to store each beacon identifier of the one or more beacons configured at the home and a renter information dataset; and wherein the processor is configured to:
(i) receive a request from the rental party beacon code scanner, the request comprising one or more beacon identifiers of the one or more beacons and a rental party information dataset that describes an occupancy update which indicates a number of immediate occupants that will be present within the home during the period of time; and
(ii) validate the rental party beacon code scanner based on the rental party information dataset.
20 . The home occupancy information system of claim 19 , wherein the server is further configured to store a first responder dataset; and wherein the processor is further configured to:
(i) receive a request from a first responder beacon code scanner, the request comprising one or more beacon identifiers of the one or more beacons; and
(iii) provide a dataset to a first responder based on the rental party information dataset.