A system that creates an environment (e.g., ecosystem) for using, transmitting, and storing data from a CEW and other equipment. The information from a CEW includes a log maintained by the CEW. The log may include information related to the operation, maintenance, software, and deployment units used by the CEW. The information may be used alone or in combination with other information received and stored by an evidence management system for managing inventory, generating use-of-force reports, incident reports, and/or providing information related to equipment, such as a CEW, to the supplier of the equipment. Sources of information provided to an evidence management system includes equipment suppliers, CEWs, other cooperating equipment, records management systems of an agency, a dispatch system of an agency, and third parties. A CEW or other equipment may also receive information for storing in the log.

Some embodiments provide a method for a first device that identifies definitions of different groups of devices, each of which is defined by a set of properties required for a device to be a member. The method monitors properties of the first device to determine when the device is eligible for membership in a group. When the first device is eligible for membership in a first group of which the device is not a member, the method sends an application for membership in the first group signed with at least a private key of the device to at least one other device that is a member of the first group. When the first device becomes ineligible for membership in a second group of which the first device is a member, the method removes the device from the second group and notifies other devices that are members of the second group.

Some embodiments provide a method for a first device that identifies definitions of different groups of devices, each of which is defined by a set of properties required for a device to be a member. The method monitors properties of the first device to determine when the device is eligible for membership in a group. When the first device is eligible for membership in a first group of which the device is not a member, the method sends an application for membership in the first group signed with at least a private key of the device to at least one other device that is a member of the first group. When the first device becomes ineligible for membership in a second group of which the first device is a member, the method removes the device from the second group and notifies other devices that are members of the second group.

The main purpose is to provide an evacuation prediction system, etc. that can estimate the time required for the evacuation of disaster victims in accordance with situations in a road network, etc. serving as an evacuation route.

An evacuation prediction system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes prediction means for predicting time required for an evacuee to evacuate based on evacuation information relating to an evacuation route for the evacuee and recovery information relating to recovery timing at a trouble occurrence site that is a site where a trouble occurred on the evacuation route.

A sensing unit mounted at a venue can capture images of targets in the venue, and/or can sonically locate targets in the venue, and/or can read targets configured as radio frequency (RF) identification (RFID) tags in the venue. A control arrangement recognizes whether at least one of the targets is indicative of an emergency in the venue, and automatically executes a remedial action in response to the recognized emergency.

A method and system to gather and evaluate quality of life data is disclosed. A controller is provided in a vehicle to ask a series of questions relating to quality of life to a person in the vehicle via a speaker system. The controller receives responses to the questions orally via a microphone. The controller translates the responses into quality of life data. The controller analyzes the data to evaluate the quality of life of the person. The data is stored and may be used for further evaluation of quality of life for the person.

A system that creates an environment (e.g., ecosystem) for using, transmitting, and storing data from a CEW and other equipment. The information from a CEW includes a log maintained by the CEW. The log may include information related to the operation, maintenance, software, and deployment units used by the CEW. The information may be used alone or in combination with other information received and stored by an evidence management system for managing inventory, generating use-of-force reports, incident reports, and/or providing information related to equipment, such as a CEW, to the supplier of the equipment. Sources of information provided to an evidence management system includes equipment suppliers, CEWs, other cooperating equipment, records management systems of an agency, a dispatch system of an agency, and third parties. A CEW or other equipment may also receive information for storing in the log.

In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to facilitate expedient shopping in a physical retail facility. In one embodiment, a shopping system directed to pre-filling shopping carts with retail items prior to a customer's arrival at the physical retail shopping facility includes a user database of user profiles having one or more partialities associated with customers, a product database of retail products with identified vectorized characterizations or product vectors, a plurality of physical shopping carts, and a control circuit. By one approach, the control circuit is configured to access the user database and the product database and identify suggested retail items for a particular customer based, in part, on comparisons between the identified partialities and the identified vectorized product characterizations of the retail products.

In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods are provided herein useful to facilitate expedient shopping in a physical retail facility. In one embodiment, a shopping system directed to pre-filling shopping carts with retail items prior to a customer's arrival at the physical retail shopping facility includes a user database of user profiles having one or more partialities associated with customers, a product database of retail products with identified vectorized characterizations or product vectors, a plurality of physical shopping carts, and a control circuit. By one approach, the control circuit is configured to access the user database and the product database and identify suggested retail items for a particular customer based, in part, on comparisons between the identified partialities and the identified vectorized product characterizations of the retail products.

A vehicle safety alert system. The system includes a controller disposed within a vehicle and a plurality of transmitters disposed along a roadway. The controller receives speed limit data from the transmitters and then both notifies a driver of the current speed limit and alerts the driver if the vehicle exceeds the speed limit. The controller also includes GPS components and is configured to upload vehicle location data to a database and server via an existing network. The transmitters are configured to receive vehicle speed and identification information and relay the information to a server. The information regarding vehicle speed, location, and identification is then sent from the database to the appropriate monitoring agency via the server.