System and method for identifying a lock associated with a given key
First Claim
1. A method for facilitating identifying a lock corresponding to a key, the method comprising:
- presenting, in a field of view of a camera coupled to a computing device, a key including a unique indicia element affixed to a handle of the key such that the unique indicia element is in view of the camera, the unique indicia element having at least three categories of distinct visual characteristics;
displaying, on a graphical display of the computing device, the field of view of the camera including the key and unique indicia element;
capturing an image of the field of view by the camera, including the unique indicia element;
processing the image by the computing device using an image recognition process to recognize the distinct visual characteristics of the unique indicia element;
cross referencing the identified distinct visual characteristics with a database to find a record corresponding to the key, the record containing information about the lock corresponding to the key; and
presenting, on the graphical user interface of the computing device, the information about the lock;
wherein the unique indicia element is unique among a defined plurality of indicia elements, each of the plurality of indicia elements having a unique set of the at least three categories visual characteristics.
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Abstract
An apparatus and system facilitates the identification of a key and its corresponding lock by marking each key with a unique indicia element that has a unique set of indicia. The indicia is easily recognized by a computing device using an image recognition process, and can map the unique indicia into a corresponding unique identifier to create a record that correlates the key with a specific lock, indicating the lock'"'"'s location and other information about the lock. A user, given a key with indicia element on it, can then determine the lock to which the key corresponds by the indicia being automatically recognized, and used to locate a record corresponding to the indicia, and presenting the information in the record to the user.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method for facilitating identifying a lock corresponding to a key, the method comprising:
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presenting, in a field of view of a camera coupled to a computing device, a key including a unique indicia element affixed to a handle of the key such that the unique indicia element is in view of the camera, the unique indicia element having at least three categories of distinct visual characteristics; displaying, on a graphical display of the computing device, the field of view of the camera including the key and unique indicia element; capturing an image of the field of view by the camera, including the unique indicia element; processing the image by the computing device using an image recognition process to recognize the distinct visual characteristics of the unique indicia element; cross referencing the identified distinct visual characteristics with a database to find a record corresponding to the key, the record containing information about the lock corresponding to the key; and presenting, on the graphical user interface of the computing device, the information about the lock; wherein the unique indicia element is unique among a defined plurality of indicia elements, each of the plurality of indicia elements having a unique set of the at least three categories visual characteristics. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system for recording information about a lock and associating a key with the lock, comprising:
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a plurality of unique indicia elements, each having indicia including a unique combination of at least three unique visual characteristics, each of the three unique visual characteristics being of a different type of visual characteristic that are each human readable, each of the plurality of unique indicia elements configured to fit on, and be adhered to, a handle of a key; a computing device having a camera, a graphical display, and a processor, the computing device being operably coupled to a data store, the processor is configured, by execution of instruction code to operate in an input mode and a query mode, wherein; in the input mode the processor is configured to; display an image of a field of view of the camera including the key on the graphical display; process an initial image taken by the camera of the image of the field of view including the key having a selected indicia element of the plurality of unique indicia elements affixed thereto; recognize, in the initial image, using an image recognition process, the at least three distinct visual characteristics of the selected indicia element and map the at least three distinct visual characteristics to a unique digital identifier; receive input from a user including information that identifies a lock to which the key corresponds; and create a record in the data store including the digital identifier and the information; in the query mode the processor is configured to; display an image of a field of view of the camera on the graphical display, including a subject key having a subject indicia element that is one of the plurality of unique indicia elements affixed thereto; process a query image taken by the camera of the image of the field of view including the subject key; recognize, in the query image, the at least three distinct visual characteristics of the subject indicia element and map the at least three distinct visual characteristics of the subject indicia element to a unique subject digital identifier; search the data store for a subject record including a digital identifier that matches the subject digital identifier, the record including information indicating a lock that corresponds to the subject key; and present the information of the subject record on a graphical user interface displayed on the graphical display of the computing device that indicates the lock corresponding to the subject key. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification