Imagine you’re browsing the stores in a busy shopping mall when a madman hauls out an AK-47 and starts shooting at people inside one of the stores.

The mall alarms ring, but they don’t give you any information about what’s happening and what you should do next.

You’re panicked. What’s going on? Fire? Terrorist attack? Tornado?

Do you duck under an escalator, or head for the nearest exit? And if you decide to leave, which door is safe to use?

Now, a high-tech security system developed by Boeing and enhanced by The Bright Place promises to offer a solution — instant, detailed information, sent both to first responders (fire and police) and to shoppers in that mall.

 You get instant data on your cell phone, telling you the nature of the emergency, giving you the mall’s layout and pinpointing the shooter’s location.

You get instructions on what to do, which exits to use. Better yet, you wouldn’t have to sign up or even pay to get the stuff; it would just show up on your mobile phone, using a kind of Bluetooth technology that wouldn’t jam ordinary cellular networks.

The Bright Place is currently working with Boeing's VSOC product team to bring both Bluetooth and WiFi alerting systems to market, having performed successful trials in the USA during 2008/2009.