Method and system for generating real-time images of customer homes during a catastrophe

• US 10,565,659 B1
• Filed: 02/07/2018
• Issued: 02/18/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Harvey, Brian N., Tofte, Nathan L., Schmidgall, Roger D., Aviles, Michael Jeffrey, Pott, Kyle, Grant, Rosemarie Geier, Haefli, Eric, Jacob, Michael Shawn
• Primary Examiner(s): Ebersman, Bruce I
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sharvin, David P
• Application Number:
  US15/890,940
• Time in Patent Office: 741 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/176 Urban or other man-made structures

Abstract

A method and system may display real-time aerial images of insured properties in a neighborhood captured from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a manned aerial vehicle (MAV), or from a satellite device. For example, aerial images of a neighborhood having insured properties, that have been affected by a catastrophe, may be received from the UAV, MAV, or the satellite device. Aerial images of each insured property may be analyzed to determine a damage severity level and assign a damage severity level indicator to the damage severity level. As a result, the property owner may receive a notification that a catastrophe has impacted her neighborhood. Moreover, the real-time images, with damage severity level indicators overlaying the property, may be transmitted via a web page to the property owner'"'"'s web-enabled device after the property owner logs in to a customer account.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for displaying near real-time aerial images of insured properties impacted by a catastrophe, the method executed by one or more processors programmed to perform the method, the method comprising:

receiving, at one or more processors, a plurality of near real-time aerial images from an aerial image capturing device of insured properties in a neighborhood;

for each of the insured properties in the neighborhood;

determining, by the one or more processors, one or more near real-time aerial images of the plurality of near real-time aerial images which display at least a portion of an insured property of the insured properties;

determining, by the one or more processors, a damage severity level based upon the at least a portion of the insured property;

assigning, by the one or more processors, a damage severity level indicator to the damage severity level;

identifying, by the one or more processors, an owner of the insured property based upon a location of the insured property;

identifying, by the one or more processors, contact information for the owner of the insured property;

transmitting, by the one or more processors and over the network, a notification to a web-enabled device of the owner, using the owner contact information, that a property display web page including the one or more near real-time aerial images which display the at least a portion of the insured property has been generated; and

upon receiving and authenticating user login information to confirm that a user of the web-enabled device is the owner of the insured property, transmitting, by the one or more processors and over a network, the property display web page, to the web-enabled device, the property display web page including the damage severity level indicator displayed overlaying the at least a portion of the insured property.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising for each of the insured properties in the neighborhood:

determining, by the one or more processors, a predetermined period of time for updating the property display web page; and

when the predetermined period of time has elapsed;

receiving, at the one or more processors, one or more new near real-time aerial images which display at least a portion of the insured property;

updating, by the one or more processors, the property display web page with the new near real-time aerial images; and

transmitting, by the one or more processors and over the network, the updated property display web page to the web-enabled device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of near real-time aerial images are received via an unmanned aerial vehicle and further comprising:

directing, by the one or more processors, the unmanned aerial vehicle to one or more locations for capturing the plurality of near real-time aerial images.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of near real-time aerial images are received via a satellite.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the one or more processors, a location of each of the received plurality of near real-time aerial images; and

filtering, by the one or more processors, the plurality of near real-time aerial images based upon the determined locations to determine a subset of the plurality of near real-time aerial images, wherein each near real-time aerial image in the subset displays at least one insured property; and

wherein determining one or more near real-time aerial images of the plurality of near real-time aerial images comprises determining one or more near real-time aerial images of the subset of the plurality of near real-time aerial images which display at least a portion of the insured property.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the property display web page comprises:

aggregating, by the one or more processors, the one or more near real-time aerial images which display the at least a portion of the insured property to generate a three dimensional display of the insured property; and

transmitting, by the one or more processors and over the network, the property display web page including the three dimensional display of the insured property to the web-enabled device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a notification includes at least one of:

an email, a short message service (SMS) message, an automated voice recording, or an alert.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining one or more near real-time aerial images which display at least a portion of an insured property comprises:

determining, by the one or more processors, a location of each of the plurality of near real-time aerial images;

obtaining, by the one or more processors, a location of each of the insured properties in the neighborhood;

comparing, by the one or more processors, the locations of the plurality of near real-time aerial images to the locations of the insured properties; and

when there is a match, determining, by the one or more processors, that the near real-time aerial image displays the matched insured property.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the catastrophe is a natural or man-made disaster and includes at least one of:

a tornado, a hurricane, an avalanche, an earthquake, a flood, a tsunami, a volcanic eruption, a hail storm, a wildfire, a thunderstorm, a nuclear incident, a war, a train derailment, a chemical spill, an explosion, or an act of terrorism.

10. A computer system for displaying near real-time aerial images of insured properties impacted by a catastrophe, the system comprising:

one or more computing devices communicatively coupled to a communication network, and an aerial image capturing device, each of the one or more computing devices having a memory and one or more processors and at least one of the computing devices configured to;

receive a plurality of near real-time aerial images from the aerial image capturing device, wherein the plurality of near real-time aerial images display insured properties within a neighborhood;

for each of the insured properties in the neighborhood;

determine one or more near real-time aerial images of the plurality of near real-time aerial images which display at least a portion of an insured property of the insured properties;

determine a damage severity level based upon the at least a portion of the insured property;

assign a damage severity level indicator to the damage severity level;

identify an owner of the insured property based upon a location of the insured property;

identify contact information for the owner of the insured property;

transmit, over the communication network, a notification to a web-enabled device of the owner, using the owner contact information, that a property display web page including the one or more near real-time aerial images which display the at least a portion of the insured property has been generated; and

upon receiving and authenticating user login information to confirm that a user of the web-enabled device is the owner of the insured property, transmit, over the communication network, the property display web page, to the web-enabled device, the property display web page including the damage severity level indicator displayed overlaying the at least a portion of the insured property.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein for each of the insured properties in the neighborhood the at least one computing device is configured to:

determine a predetermined period of time for updating the property display web page; and

when the predetermined period of time has elapsed;

receive one or more new-real time aerial images which display at least a portion of the insured property;

update the property display web page with the new near real-time aerial images; and

transmit over the communication network, the updated property display web page to the web-enabled device.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of near real-time aerial images are received via an unmanned aerial vehicle.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the plurality of near real-time aerial images are received via a satellite.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one computing device is configured to:

determine a location of each of the received plurality of near real-time aerial images; and

filter the plurality of near real-time aerial images based upon the determined locations to determine a subset of the plurality of near real-time aerial images, wherein each near real-time aerial image in the subset displays at least one insured property; and

wherein to determine one or more near real-time aerial images of the plurality of near real-time aerial images, the at least one computing device is configured to determine one or more near real-time aerial images of the subset of the plurality of near real-time aerial images which display at least a portion of the insured property.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein to transmit a property display web page the at least one computing device is configured to:

aggregate the one or more near real-time aerial images which display the at least a portion of the insured property to generate a three dimensional display of the insured property; and

transmit, over the communication network, the property display web page including the three dimensional display of the insured property to the web-enabled device.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein a notification includes at least one of:

an email, a short message service (SMS) message, an automated voice recording, or an alert.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein to determine one or more near real-time aerial images which display at least a portion of an insured property, the at least one computing device is configured to:

determine a location of each of the plurality of near real-time aerial images;

obtain a location of each of the insured properties in the neighborhood;

compare the locations of the plurality of near real-time aerial images to the locations of the insured properties; and

when there is a match, determine that the near real-time aerial image displays the matched insured property.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the catastrophe is a natural or man-made disaster and includes at least one of:

a tornado, a hurricane, an avalanche, an earthquake, a flood, a tsunami, a volcanic eruption, a hail storm, a wildfire, a thunderstorm, a nuclear incident, a war, a train derailment, a chemical spill, an explosion, or an act of terrorism.