New features for Siri

[moonman239]

Emergency detection. You're walking in the alleyway. Unfortunately, there's a gang there. They're coming after you. You know that if you call 911, they'll definitely kill you. Luckily, you don't have to. Siri was kind enough to talk to a police dispatcher for you.

You wake up in the middle of the night because the smoke alarm is going off. You can confirm there's a fire! Oh, no! Luckily for your sleeping neighbors, Siri knows there's a fire and is talking to a fire dispatcher right now. She will even tell the dispatcher if there is any animal, human or dog, that could be trapped!

You're having another heart attack? No problem, Siri heard your complaints and could verify you're probably having a heart attack, and is talking to an EMS dispatcher. You fell unconscious? No problem, Siri heard you collapse and told the dispatcher accordingly.

The alarm went off at your house. Siri's on the job yet again. She will do everything she can to see if the alarm was triggered on accident. If you're not home, that means she will text everyone who has an access code - if nobody says yes in 5 minutes, she'll assume something's up.

 

[S.B.G]

How exactly could this be implemented? How would the power management for an active system like that be mitigated?

 

[cyks]

Just what I need...a phone that is actively listening to everything I say or do and, if I was to play around with my friends or simply watch TV, there's a good chance it'll call the authorities.

 

[moonman239]

How exactly could this be implemented? How would the power management for an active system like that be mitigated?

OK, new idea: modify the existing emergency call function so that you can tap a button, then tap "Police" or "Fire/EMS." (In the US, most fire departments are in charge of providing EMS services to those they serve). The phone will then call the appropriate emergency number without asking you to dial it. You can fill Siri in on the details by typing them in, and Siri will report the details to the dispatcher and tell the dispatcher if anything's gone wrong (e.g, if she hears a gunshot or if she detects you've fallen.)

If Siri could tell me how the political candidates are doing in the polls, that'd be great, too.

 

[cyks]

OK, new idea: modify the existing emergency call function so that you can tap a button, then tap "Police" or "Fire/EMS." (In the US, most fire departments are in charge of providing EMS services to those they serve). The phone will then call the appropriate emergency number without asking you to dial it. You can fill Siri in on the details by typing them in, and Siri will report the details to the dispatcher and tell the dispatcher if anything's gone wrong (e.g, if she hears a gunshot or if she detects you've fallen.)

"Siri, call 911."

The responder will contact the appropriate department for you... without you having to dial it.

During emergencies, most people can talk better than they can type - especially on a phone handset... and, if you can't type, they'll often send police and ambulance as precaution.


The 911 system itself is in need of an overhaul, but Siri isn't the answer in the meantime.

 

[Avatarshark]

Why not just put the command "Siri, call 911 (or whatever the emergency number in your country [Country standardizes it])" 911, which is in Canada and the US auto-sends you to city emergency, and can dispatch all three services, or have "Siri, call 911 (type of emergency, fire, police, ambulance)" and then have Siri send GPS coordinates.

 

[Comeagain?]

What if she misinterprets you? "Emergency" and "I want tea" sound quite similar, and I don't think the fire department can help with the latter.

 

[zbarvian]

So Siri would have to be an always-on, always-connected super genius?

This wouldn't work, not for a long time.

 

[moonman239]

Why not just put the command "Siri, call 911 (or whatever the emergency number in your country [Country standardizes it])" 911, which is in Canada and the US auto-sends you to city emergency, and can dispatch all three services, or have "Siri, call 911 (type of emergency, fire, police, ambulance)" and then have Siri send GPS coordinates.

OK, idea revision #3: You tell Siri to "call 911." Siri will know you want to call the appropriate dispatcher. She will call 911 in the US & Canada, 999 in the UK. However, you can still be more discreet about calling for help by pulling out your phone and tapping "Emergency!", then tapping to confirm there's an emergency.

I don't see why the latter has not already been implemented. There are two flaws with the current system:

1) Something could happen, preventing me from dialing the correct number and pressing "Call"
2) I could be in a foreign country and not know what number I'm supposed to use to call for help.

By the way, I just thought I'd let you know that wireless 911 calls don't always go to the appropriate people. The call will either go to the city, county, or state. It depends on which one has a PSAP that is set up to handle wireless calls. If the city you're in can handle wireless 911 calls, it will go to them. If it can't handle the call, but the county can, the call will go to the county's 911 system. If it can't handle the call, the call will go to the state.

Here in California, the California Highway Patrol handles wireless 911 calls in most areas. There are some jurisdictions who have opted to handle wireless 911 calls from people they serve.

 

[Avatarshark]

OK, idea revision #3: You tell Siri to "call 911." Siri will know you want to call the appropriate dispatcher. She will call 911 in the US & Canada, 999 in the UK. However, you can still be more discreet about calling for help by pulling out your phone and tapping "Emergency!", then tapping to confirm there's an emergency.

I don't see why the latter has not already been implemented. There are two flaws with the current system:

1) Something could happen, preventing me from dialing the correct number and pressing "Call"
2) I could be in a foreign country and not know what number I'm supposed to use to call for help.

By the way, I just thought I'd let you know that wireless 911 calls don't always go to the appropriate people. The call will either go to the city, county, or state. It depends on which one has a PSAP that is set up to handle wireless calls. If the city you're in can handle wireless 911 calls, it will go to them. If it can't handle the call, but the county can, the call will go to the county's 911 system. If it can't handle the call, the call will go to the state.

Here in California, the California Highway Patrol handles wireless 911 calls in most areas. There are some jurisdictions who have opted to handle wireless 911 calls from people they serve.

You do realized that iPhone has GPS which has a pretty accurate pinpointing, you aren't calling using VOIP, the call will still go through regular cell networks. I mean if you can call your 911, you can get a pretty accurate GPS location.

In regards to 911, or 999, you can just say whichever you are comfortable with, why not have a database of emergency numbers, if you know you are in the UK, have it smart enough, to have it if you say call 911, have it recognized that you are in UK and auto call 999 instead. I mean if you can detect cell network, you know location, so if you say the wrong one, it would auto detect.

 

[moonman239]

You do realized that iPhone has GPS which has a pretty accurate pinpointing, you aren't calling using VOIP, the call will still go through regular cell networks. I mean if you can call your 911, you can get a pretty accurate GPS location.

In regards to 911, or 999, you can just say whichever you are comfortable with, why not have a database of emergency numbers, if you know you are in the UK, have it smart enough, to have it if you say call 911, have it recognized that you are in UK and auto call 999 instead. I mean if you can detect cell network, you know location, so if you say the wrong one, it would auto detect.

Yes, I know my phone doesn't use VOIP.

 

[MrMacBookPro]

Siri would be Onstar for your phone lol

 

[gglittle]

Emergency detection. You're walking in the alleyway. Unfortunately, there's a gang there. They're coming after you. You know that if you call 911, they'll definitely kill you. Luckily, you don't have to. Siri was kind enough to talk to a police dispatcher for you.

You wake up in the middle of the night because the smoke alarm is going off. You can confirm there's a fire! Oh, no! Luckily for your sleeping neighbors, Siri knows there's a fire and is talking to a fire dispatcher right now. She will even tell the dispatcher if there is any animal, human or dog, that could be trapped!

You're having another heart attack? No problem, Siri heard your complaints and could verify you're probably having a heart attack, and is talking to an EMS dispatcher. You fell unconscious? No problem, Siri heard you collapse and told the dispatcher accordingly.

The alarm went off at your house. Siri's on the job yet again. She will do everything she can to see if the alarm was triggered on accident. If you're not home, that means she will text everyone who has an access code - if nobody says yes in 5 minutes, she'll assume something's up.

Well, it could be done today ... but would require multiple terabytes of memory, a hexagonal cored processor, require at least an auto battery or multiple fuel cells, and your cellphone most likely would require a backpack that you would not like strapped to your back, or an option for a little red wagon.

 

[SteveAbootman]

I think the house alarm scenarios are quite plausible in the near future, it will just take Apple opening up the API's for Siri.

Knowing if the family pet is trapped in a fire might be a bit of a stretch, but for any home automation system that also has an iOS app accompanying it, Siri integration could really raise the bar on home security.

As far as the other scenarios you mentioned... we're quite a ways away from that autonomous monitoring & smart decision making without human interaction.

 

[HMI]

"Siri knows there's a fire and is talking to a fire dispatcher right now."

Even with home integration, she might only know an alarm is going off, probably because someone burned the pot roast again. Not a fire. Now you are not only paying city fines when they knock on your door without you even knowing they were coming, but you are stopping firemen from helping others wih legitimate emergencies. Classy!

 

[Gutwrench]

Auto detection for EMS or LE seems a little out of reach.

I can imagine every New Years Day or Fourth of July LE switchboards are jammbed from Siri reporting firecrackers as gunshots.

EMS racing to houses and schools all around the country over kids screaming while playing cops and robbers.

EMS racing to Oceanaire because I swallowed my water wrong and having a coughing fit.

Or the resources that would have staged up in the eight inning last night at Comerica Park when Tiger fans let out their collective grief?

There are things in life we should expect some live interaction to prevent false calls. Otherwise be prepared for a flood of assets reimbursement bills from your local EMS/LE for ANY and EVERY false call. I don't care to see my tax money used to chase ghosts.

 

[itsmemuffins]

Future possible

 

[dawgfang]

For your first scenario, just carry a gun. If you don't live where you can legally carry, move.
If there is a gang that's close enough to do you harm, only one thing will save you and it ain't an iPhone.

 

[frayne182]

lol I can only imagine this.



"Siri Call 911"


*DING DING*

"Want me to search the web for Cobb 911? "


Siri is pretty useless most times.