# US 12,604,169 B1 · Digital assistant for providing emergency assistance

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- Number: US 12,604,169 B1
- Document ID: US12604169B1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B1
- Application number: 18/117,280
- Filed: 2023-03-03
- Granted: 2026-04-14
- Earliest claimed: 2022-03-04
- Assignees: Apple Inc.
- Applicants: Apple Inc.
- Inventors: Brad K. Herman; Shiraz Akmal
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12604169B1

## CPC

- H04W 4/90: Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
- G08B 25/016: {Personal emergency signalling and security systems (emergency non-personal manually actuated alarm activators G08B25/12)}
- G06F 40/289: Phrasal analysis, e.g. finite state techniques or chunking
- G10L 15/22: Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
- G10L 2015/223: {Execution procedure of a spoken command}
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)
- G08B: SIGNALLING SYSTEMS, e.g. PERSONAL CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING

## Abstract

This relates generally to intelligent automated assistants and, more specifically, to provide real-time emergency assistance. An example method includes receiving a user input from a user of the electronic device, determining whether the user is in an emergency situation in response to the user input, and in response to determining that the user is in the emergency situation: enabling an emergency mode on the electronic device, connecting to an emergency service to facilitate a communication between the user and the emergency service, providing information about the emergency situation to the emergency service, and providing instructions to the user to handle the emergency situation based on one or more additional inputs from the user.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to:
receive a user input from a user of the electronic device;
determine whether the user is in an emergency situation in response to the user input;
in response to determining that the user is in the emergency situation:
enable an emergency mode on the electronic device;
connect to an emergency service to facilitate a communication between the user and the emergency service;
provide information about the emergency situation to the emergency service;
provide instructions to the user to handle the emergency situation based on one or more additional inputs from the user;
evaluate the emergency scene to determine whether the user is following the instructions; and
in response to determining that the user is not following the instructions, provide feedback to the user.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining whether the user is in the emergency situation comprises:
determining whether the user input provides an indication of the emergency situation;
querying the user to confirm a presence of an emergency; and
receiving a user input confirming the emergency.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the indication includes one or more phrase relevant to an emergency situation.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining whether the user is in an emergency situation comprises:
determining whether the user input includes one or more phrases tagged as relevant to an emergency situation.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining whether the user is in an emergency situation comprises:
determining that the user is in emergency by evaluating information related to the user from one or more sensors.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein determining whether the user is in an emergency situation comprises:
determining whether the user's input includes one or more phrases relevant to an emergency situation; and
determining whether data from one or more sensors connected to the electronic device are relevant to the emergency situation.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein enabling the emergency mode includes:
enabling one or more applications on the electronic device to support the emergency situation; and
disabling one or more outputs from one or more applications unrelated for the emergency situation.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the information includes at least one of a Global Positioning System (GPS) location of the electronic device, a recording of an emergency scene, type of an emergency situation, and an assessment of the emergency situation.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein providing instructions to the user includes:
establishing a communication session with the user;
providing instructions for handling the emergency situation to the user; and
receiving the one or more additional inputs from the user in response to the instructions.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein providing instructions to the user includes:
repeating one or more steps of instructions to the user in response to the one or more additional inputs from the user, Wherein the one or more additional inputs are at least one of audio input, gaze, gesture input, textual input, and digital touch input.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein providing instructions to the user includes at least one of voice instructions, text instructions, image, video, and animation.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein in response to enabling the emergency mode:
identify a position of an emergency scene using one or more sensors of the electronic device on the screen of the electronic device; and
provide instructions on the electronic device based on the position of the emergency scene.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the one or more programs further include instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electronic device to:
in response to determining that the user is not following the instructions, repeat the instructions to the user.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions are provided using one or more devices in a near-field vicinity or connected to the electronic device.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein providing the one or more outputs to the user includes displaying the one or more outputs on a portion of a user interface of the electronic device while announcing information about the one or more outputs to the user.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein providing the one or more outputs to the user includes announcing information about one or more outputs to the user.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein in response to enabling the emergency mode:
evaluate available battery power for the electronic device;
determine that a battery life is above a predetermined threshold based on available battery power; and
perform audio or video recording of the situation of the user.

### Claim 18 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the user input is at least one of a textual input or a speech input, wherein the speech input is a natural language input from the user in form of a spoken command presented at the electronic device.

### Claim 19 (depends on 1)

The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the user input includes an input from one or more sensors attached to the electronic device.

### Claim 20

An electronic device comprising:
one or more processors;
a memory; and
one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:
receiving a user input from a user of the electronic device;
determining whether the user is in an emergency situation in response to the user input;
in response to determining that the user is in the emergency situation:
enabling an emergency mode on the electronic device;
connecting to an emergency service to facilitate a communication between the user and the emergency service;
providing information about the emergency situation to the emergency service;
providing instructions to the user to handle the emergency situation based on one or more additional inputs from the user;
evaluating the emergency scene to determine whether the user is following the instructions; and
in response to determining that the user is not following the instructions, providing feedback to the user.

### Claim 21

A method comprising:
at an electronic device with one or more processors and memory:
receiving a user input from a user of the electronic device;
determining whether the user is in an emergency situation in response to the user input;
in response to determining that the user is in the emergency situation:
enabling an emergency mode on the electronic device;
connection to an emergency service to facilitate a communication between the user and the emergency service;
providing information about the emergency situation to the emergency service;
providing instructions to the user to handle the emergency situation based on one or more additional inputs from the user;
evaluating the emergency scene to determine whether the user is following the instructions; and
in response to determining that the user is not following the instructions, providing feedback to the user.

### Claim 22 (depends on 20)

The electronic device of claim 20, wherein determining whether the user is in the emergency situation comprises:
determining whether the user input provides an indication of the emergency situation;
querying the user to confirm a presence of an emergency; and
receiving a user input confirming the emergency.

### Claim 23 (depends on 20)

The electronic device of claim 20, wherein determining whether the user is in an emergency situation comprises:
determining whether the user input includes one or more phrases tagged as relevant to an emergency situation.

### Claim 24 (depends on 20)

The electronic device of claim 20, wherein determining whether the user is in an emergency situation comprises:
determining that the user is in emergency by evaluating information related to the user from one or more sensors.

### Claim 25 (depends on 20)

The electronic device of claim 20, wherein determining whether the user is in an emergency situation comprises:
determining whether the user's input includes one or more phrases relevant to an emergency situation; and
determining whether data from one or more sensors connected to the electronic device are relevant to the emergency situation.

### Claim 26 (depends on 20)

The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the information includes at least one of a Global Positioning System (GPS) location of the electronic device, a recording of an emergency scene, type of an emergency situation, and an assessment of the emergency situation.

### Claim 27 (depends on 20)

The electronic device of claim 20, wherein providing instructions to the user includes:
establishing a communication session with the user;
providing instructions for handling the emergency situation to the user; and
receiving the one or more additional inputs from the user in response to the instructions.

### Claim 28 (depends on 20)

The electronic device of claim 20, wherein in response to enabling the emergency mode:
identifying a position of an emergency scene using one or more sensors of the electronic device on the screen of the electronic device; and
providing instructions on the electronic device based on the position of the emergency scene.

### Claim 29 (depends on 20)

The electronic device of claim 20, wherein the one or more programs further include instructions for:
in response to determining that the user is not following the instructions, repeating the instructions to the user.

### Claim 30 (depends on 21)

The method of claim 21, wherein determining whether the user is in the emergency situation comprises:
determining whether the user input provides an indication of the emergency situation;
querying the user to confirm a presence of an emergency; and
receiving a user input confirming the emergency.

### Claim 31 (depends on 21)

The method of claim 21, wherein determining whether the user is in an emergency situation comprises:
determining whether the user input includes one or more phrases tagged as relevant to an emergency situation.

### Claim 32 (depends on 21)

The method of claim 21, wherein determining whether the user is in an emergency situation comprises:
determining that the user is in emergency by evaluating information related to the user from one or more sensors.

### Claim 33 (depends on 21)

The method of claim 21, wherein determining whether the user is in an emergency situation comprises:
determining whether the user's input includes one or more phrases relevant to an emergency situation; and
determining whether data from one or more sensors connected to the electronic device are relevant to the emergency situation.

### Claim 34 (depends on 21)

The method of claim 21, wherein the information includes at least one of a Global Positioning System (GPS) location of the electronic device, a recording of an emergency scene, type of an emergency situation, and an assessment of the emergency situation.

### Claim 35 (depends on 21)

The method of claim 21, wherein providing instructions to the user includes:
establishing a communication session with the user;
providing instructions for handling the emergency situation to the user; and
receiving the one or more additional inputs from the user in response to the instructions.

### Claim 36 (depends on 21)

The method of claim 21, wherein in response to enabling the emergency mode:
identifying a position of an emergency scene using one or more sensors of the electronic device on the screen of the electronic device; and
providing instructions on the electronic device based on the position of the emergency scene.

### Claim 37 (depends on 21)

The method of claim 21, further comprising:
in response to determining that the user is not following the instructions, repeating the instructions to the user.