Semi-automated, distributed, interactive relationship counseling system

• US 10,681,311 B1
• Filed: 10/30/2018
• Issued: 06/09/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Affective Software, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Affective Software, Inc.
• Inventors: Gottman, John, Lisitsa, Rafael
• Primary Examiner(s): Zenati, Amal S
• Application Number:
  US16/175,547
• Time in Patent Office: 588 Days
• Field of Search: 348 141
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/015 Input arrangements based on nervous system activity detection, e.g. brain waves [EEG] detection, electromyograms [EMG] detection, electrodermal response detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/22 Social work or social welfare, e.g. community support activities or counselling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/141 between two video terminals, e.g. videophone telephonic communication systems combined with television receiver for reception of entertainment or information matter H04M11/085
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/155 involving storage of or access to video conference sessions tracking arrangements for later retrieval of a computer conference content or participants activities H04L12/1831

Abstract

The current document is directed to a semi-automated, distributed, interactive relationship-counseling system. The currently disclosed interactive relationship-counseling system employs, in one configuration, two smart phones, tablets, or other personal, processor-controlled, video-enabled electronic devices and one or more server computer systems. A relationship-counseling session, in a disclosed implementation, includes a discussion, by two participants, during which the participants are isolated from one another physically, but during which each participant hears and views a real-time video of his or her partner participant on his or her video-enabled electronic device. During the discussion, each participant may be monitored by one or more physiological sensors. This stored data, along with additional input data provided by each participant when viewing a playback of the discussion, is used by analysis and processing subsystems within the server computer system to identify, evaluate, and diagnose aspects of the relationship between the two participants, following which the participants may receive reports, counseling, advice, and other information to assist the participants in understanding and improving the relationship.

Claims

1. A semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system comprising:

a pair of processor-controlled, video-enabled user devices, each employed by one of a pair of participants and each running a relationship-counseling application; and

a server that includes a user-interface subsystem, a client/server communications subsystem, a synchronization-and-analytics subsystem, an analysis subsystem, and a session controller;

the semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system

providing a first-phase real-time audio/video session during which the participants discuss one or more topics,

generating a high-quality recording of synchronized audio, video, and physiology signals collected from both participants;

synchronizing and mapping the collected audio, video, and physiology signals to a single high precision reference clock,

outputting the synchronized audio, video, and physiology signals to the user devices that preserve precise timing relationship between the synchronized signals while providing a second-phase real-time audio/video session between the participants, and

providing relationship-counseling outputs to the participants following the second-phase real-time audio/video session.

2. The semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system of claim 1 wherein the one or more topics are proposed to the participants via the pair of processor-controlled, video-enabled user devices.

3. The semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system of claim 1 wherein, during the first-phase real-time audio/video session, the two participants are isolated from one another and each participant views himself or herself and view and hears the other participant on a split-screen display provided to the participant via the participant'"'"'s processor-controlled, video-enabled user device.

4. The semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system of claim 1 wherein the first phase terminates as a result of one of:

reaching an elapsed time equal to a fixed time limit;

or

determination, by the session controller, that the discussion has reached a termination point.

5. The semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system of claim 1 wherein, during the second-phase real-time audio/video session, each participant separately annotates the first-phase discussion previously recorded during the initial phase of the relationship-counseling session.

6. The semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system of claim 5 wherein each participant views the first-phase discussion previously recorded during the initial phase of the relationship-counseling session via a split-screen display on the participant'"'"'s processor-controlled, video-enabled user device and annotates the played-back discussion using a slidable rating feature also displayed on the participant'"'"'s processor-controlled, video-enabled user device.

7. The semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system of claim 1 wherein the relationship-counseling outputs are separately provided to the participants following the second-phase real-time audio/video session.

8. The semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system of claim 7 wherein the relationship-counseling outputs include one or more of:

numerical and textural results provided to the participant via the participant'"'"'s processor-controlled, video-enabled user device;

graphically illustrated reports provided to the participant via the participant'"'"'s processor-controlled, video-enabled user device;

one or more automated therapy sessions provided to the participant via the participant'"'"'s processor-controlled, video-enabled user device; and

one or more human-practitioner-administered therapy sessions.

9. The semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system of claim 1 wherein the communications subsystem provides for electronic communications with the two video-enabled participant electronic devices.

10. The semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system of claim 1 wherein the analysis subsystem includes an emotion-classifier engine and a counseling-and-therapy-decision engine.

11. The semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system of claim 1 wherein the session controller cooperates with the user-interface subsystem and the communications subsystem to control initial-phase discussions and second-phase annotation sub-sessions.

12. The semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system of claim 1 wherein each processor-controlled, video-enabled user device includes:

a user-interface component;

an audio/video communications component;

a client/server communications component;

a peer-to-peer communications component;

a slidable-rating-feature-management component;

a client-side synchronization and analytics component; and

a client-side timing-and-synchronization-management component.

13. The semi-automated, distributed interactive relationship-counseling system of claim 1 wherein each processor-controlled, video-enabled user device additionally includes a pulse oximeter management component.