System and method for item self-assessment as being extant or displaced

An electronic device configured to be operated while in collocation with a portable item, and configured to assess a state of the collocated portable item, the electronic device comprising:

• a hardware processor;
• a memory ;
• and
• an environmental sensor configured to detect a location of the portable item and a personal motion of the portable item, said personal motion comprising at least one of:
• (i) a local movement of the portable item caused by movement of a person who possesses said portable item, and (ii) a lack of motion of said portable item wherein the portable item is stationary;
• wherein:
• the hardware processor is configured to store locally at the portable item in the memory:
• (i) an expected time interval of portable item use (TimeInt_PI_Use), as designated by an authorized user of the portable item, comprising at least one of (A) a specified usage date and (B) a specified usage time range starting at a first designated time and ending at a later second designated time falling within a specified day or within a specified plurality of consecutive days, wherein:
• said specified usage date or said specified usage time range pertain to a use of the portable item by the authorized user or a storage of the portable item as designated by the authorized user;
• and
• said authorized user is an owner of the portable item or a person to whom portable item control has been delegated by the portable item's owner;
• and
• (ii) a portable item usage expectation which is associated in the memory with the TimeInt_PI_Use, wherein the portable item usage expectation comprises expectations for location data and for personal motion data, for the portable item during the TimeInt_PI_Use, in consequence of at least one of:
• an anticipated use of the portable item during the TimeInt_PI_Use by the authorized user, and
• an anticipated storage of the portable item during the TimeInt_PI_Use as designated by the authorized user;
• wherein the expected location data, the expected personal motion data, and the at least one of the specified usage date and specified usage time range are locally stored at the portable item;
• the memory is configured to provide storage for a communications address of a remote processing device which is designated to receive an item displacement alert message on behalf of the authorized user;
• upon determining by the hardware processor that at least one of the current date and the current time fall within said specified usage date or said specified usage time range of the designated TimeInt_PI_Use,
• (a) the environmental sensor is configured to monitor a real-time usage data for the portable item during the TimeInt_PI_Use, the real-time usage data comprising the location of the portable item and the personal motion of the portable item during the TimeInt_PI_Use;
• and
• (b) the hardware processor of the electronic device is further configured to:
• compare locally at the portable item the real-time usage data comprising the location of the portable item and the personal motion of the portable item within said specified usage date or said specified usage time range of the designated TimeInt_PI_Use, with the stored item usage expectation comprising the expectations for the location and for personal motion of the portable item during the TimeInt_PI_Use;
• and
• determine locally at the portable item, via the comparison, and based on a combined assessment of the real-time location data and the real-time personal motion data, whether the portable item is one of:
• extant, wherein the real-time usage data for the portable item detected by the environmental sensor which is configured to detect the location and the personal motion of the portable item is in conformance with the item usage expectation during the TimeInt_PI_Use;
• or
• displaced, wherein the real-time usage data for the portable item detected by the environmental sensor which is configured to detect the location and the personal motion of the portable item is not in conformance with the item usage expectation during the TimeInt_PI_Use;
• and
• upon determining that the portable item is displaced, the hardware processor is configured to transmit the item displacement alert message, which is indicative of the portable item's state of displacement, to the communications address of the remote processing device;
• wherein at least one of said authorized user and a party designated by said authorized user may be automatically alerted, via the designated remote processing device, to the displacement of the portable item.