A luminaire and network for use in assisting persons in a building comprising: at least one lighting module, at least one communications component, a controller, an uninterruptible power supply in or coupled to the luminaire to power the lighting module, communications component and/or controller in the absence of a regular (e.g. AC) power supply, wherein the controller: triggers the lighting module to illuminate upon an activation event, facilitates communication via the communications and/or facilitates positioning of persons (or their devices) using the communications component and/or other components.

A method for identifying a mechanical impedance of an electromagnetic load may include generating a waveform signal for driving an electromagnetic load, the waveform signal comprising a first tone at a first driving frequency and a second tone at a second driving frequency. The method may also include during driving of the electromagnetic load by the waveform signal or a signal derived therefrom, receiving a current signal representative of a current associated with the electromagnetic load and a back electromotive force signal representative of a back electromotive force associated with the electromagnetic load. The method may further include determining amplitude and phase information of the current signal responsive to the first tone and second tone, determining amplitude and phase information of the back electromotive force signal responsive to the first tone and second tone, and identifying parameters of the mechanical impedance of the electromagnetic load based on the amplitude and phase information of the current signal and the amplitude and phase information of the back electromotive force signal.

An occupancy alarm system for warning a driver of vehicle occupancy includes an electronics module that is configured to couple to a vehicle, and which is operationally couplable to an electronic control unit (ECU) and an electrical circuit of the vehicle. The electronics module comprises a module transceiver and a plurality of sensors, which is configured to determine an occupancy status of the vehicle. A fob device that is retained by a driver who exits the vehicle comprises a fob receiver, which is GPS enabled, a fob transceiver, and a speaker. CPU programming code that is positioned on a CPU of the ECU enables the ECU to selectively actuate the module transceiver, based on occupancy status of the vehicle and a position of the driver relative to the vehicle, to communicate an alert signal to the fob device via the fob transceiver to alert the driver to the occupancy status.

A method for identifying a mechanical impedance of an electromagnetic load may include generating a waveform signal for driving an electromagnetic load, the waveform signal comprising a first tone at a first driving frequency and a second tone at a second driving frequency. The method may also include during driving of the electromagnetic load by the waveform signal or a signal derived therefrom, receiving a current signal representative of a current associated with the electromagnetic load and a back electromotive force signal representative of a back electromotive force associated with the electromagnetic load. The method may further include determining amplitude and phase information of the current signal responsive to the first tone and second tone, determining amplitude and phase information of the back electromotive force signal responsive to the first tone and second tone, and identifying parameters of the mechanical impedance of the electromagnetic load based on the amplitude and phase information of the current signal and the amplitude and phase information of the back electromotive force signal.

An alert communication device, an alert activation device, and an alert management system are provided. The alert management system may include one or more alert communication devices communicatively coupled to one or more other alert communication devices and configured to provide one or more of a visual alert and an audio alert and one or more alert activation devices communicatively coupled to at least one alert communication device of the one or more alert communication devices.

An alert communication device, an alert activation device, and an alert management system are provided. The alert management system may include one or more alert communication devices communicatively coupled to one or more other alert communication devices and configured to provide one or more of a visual alert and an audio alert and one or more alert activation devices communicatively coupled to at least one alert communication device of the one or more alert communication devices.

An alarm and monitoring system including a primary device and at least one secondary device, the alarm and monitoring system including a transceiver that receives a notification signal from a primary device or a secondary device, the notification signal including the alarm event signal; a controller coupled to the transceiver, the controller being configured to receive the notification signal from the transceiver and generate a rendering signal; and a rendering device coupled to the controller, the rendering device being configured to receive the rendering signal and render an alarm event, wherein the primary device receives the notification signal from a cloud system, and wherein the cloud system receives a communication signal from a linked user device or an external services server and forwards the notification signal to the primary device.

An alarm and monitoring system including a primary device and at least one secondary device, the alarm and monitoring system including a transceiver that receives a notification signal from a primary device or a secondary device, the notification signal including the alarm event signal; a controller coupled to the transceiver, the controller being configured to receive the notification signal from the transceiver and generate a rendering signal; and a rendering device coupled to the controller, the rendering device being configured to receive the rendering signal and render an alarm event, wherein the primary device receives the notification signal from a cloud system, and wherein the cloud system receives a communication signal from a linked user device or an external services server and forwards the notification signal to the primary device.

A method for providing notifications is provided. The method includes a tangible user interface (TUI) element the receives an input from a computing device coupled to the TUI element. The input is indicative of an outcome corresponding to a functionality of an application on the computing device. Based on the outcome, the TUI element determines at least one illumination pattern from a plurality of pre-stored illumination patterns. Thereafter, the TUI element generates an output based on the at least one determined illumination pattern.

A method for providing position-based communication is provided. The position-based communication system determines a list of registered users; associating an ear bud for each listed registered user, wherein each ear bud is coupled to a speaker. The position-based communication system receives, via one or more beacons, one or more configurable security parameters defining a geofence environment, or alternatively a configurable geolocation distance from a software application. Each computing device when within the geofence environment or configurable geolocation distance is adapted to activate an operatively associated microphone; identify one or more registered users within the geofence environment or the configurable geolocation distance; and transmit signals received by the microphone to the speaker of each ear bud.