Abstract: Systems, controllers and methods for contextual-based searching are provided. A system includes one or more devices configured to collect at least one audio stream and a contextual search system. The contextual search system includes a data analyzer and a search engine. The data analyzer is configured to receive the at least one audio stream from among the one or more devices and to determine contextual information from the received at least one audio stream. The search engine is configured to perform a search of at least one search term using the contextual information, to produce a search result.

Abstract: Distributed systems, controllers and methods for processing information from a plurality of devices are provided. A distributed system includes a plurality of devices distributed in an environment. Each device has at least a communication capability for interchanging information with others of the devices and/or with a communication system. Each of at least some of the devices has one or more sensors for acquiring sensor data related to the environment proximate to the device. At least one of the communication system or one or more of the devices is configured as a controller configured to: select a subset of devices from among the plurality of devices, receive information based on the acquired sensor data of the selected subset, and combine the received information from the selected subset to determine a characteristic of the environment proximate to one or more of the devices.