METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING ELECTRONIC DATA VIA A FAMILIAR PRINTED MEDIUM

• US 20120325906A1
• Filed: 09/06/2012
• Published: 12/27/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/1994
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Marshall Feature Recognition LLC
• Original Assignee: Marshall Feature Recognition LLC
• Inventors: Rathus, Spencer A., Nevid, Jeffrey S.
• Granted Patent: US 8,910,876 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/380
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/062 Combinations of audio and printed presentations, e.g. magnetically striped cards, talking books, magnetic tapes with printed texts thereon

Abstract

The disclosed methods and apparatus relate generally to the electronics media industry, such as cable television (CATV), home shopping services, on-line computer services and computer memory applications. These methods and apparatus allow a user to access and make use of electronic media input and output devices by reference to and/or utilization of standard printed matter, such as magazines, textbooks, or any other printed matter that can be correlated to electronic media. The methods and apparatus further allow the user to tailor the retrieval of electronic data by using a user profile.

Claims

1. A method for displaying selected programming material on a user device by means of a machine recognizable feature within a printed matter and a user profile comprising a user preference, comprising the steps of:

recognizing the machine recognizable feature of the printed matter using a feature recognizing device coupled to the user device;

identifying encoded data associated with the machine recognizable feature of the printed matter;

transmitting, using the user device, the encoded data associated with the machine recognizable feature to a remote server;

receiving programming material from the remote server selected from a plurality of programming materials associated with the machine recognizable feature based on said user preference; and

displaying the selected programming material on a display.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said user profile is stored on said user device, said remote server, a third party remote server, a database, an online account, or any combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein in creating the user profile the user inputs user information to said user device, said remote server, a third party service provider, an online service, a database, or a combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user provides answers to a plurality of predetermined questions in creating the user profile.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the user profile comprises information selected from the group consisting of medical information, musical preferences, food preferences, recreational preferences, occupation information, real estate preferences, travel preferences, product preferences, dating preferences, educational history, shopping preferences, religious preferences, political preferences, learning style, and any combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the medical information is selected from the group consisting of medical history, record of allergic reactions, prescription medication history, hospitalization history, surgical operations history, medical illness history, family medical illness history, medical imaging test results, laboratory test results, test results selected from the group consisting of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, computed tomography (CT) scan, position emission tomography (PET) scan, X-ray, an electroencephalograph (EEG), blood tests, urine analysis tests, and any combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the musical preferences are selected from the group consisting of artists, genres, time periods, playlists, and any combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the food preferences are selected from the group consisting of seasonal information, location of origin, classification, organic or non-organic, ethnicity of food, nutritional information, and any combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the recreational preferences are selected from the group consisting of sports of interest, favorite sports teams, favorite sports venues, types of art, artists, recreational activities, recreational establishments, recreational venues, and any combination thereof.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the occupational information is selected from the group consisting of occupational title, occupational preferences, job preferences, benefits preferences, occupational industry, location of occupation, occupational history, occupational trajectory, current or desired salary, current or desired occupational work hours, and any combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein the real estate preferences are selected from the group consisting of property locations, property listings, property values, property sizes, property listing prices, property layouts, types of desired domiciles, comparative properties, and any combination thereof.

12. The method of claim 5, wherein the travel preferences are selected from the group consisting of travel history, number of travelers, ages of travelers, desired locations, means of travel, types of lodging, climate, activities, food or meal plans, occupational travel, and any combination thereof.

13. The method of claim 5, wherein the product preferences are selected from the group consisting of brand, cost, quality, features, duration of use, quantity, location of use, temperature at which used, and any combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 5, wherein the dating preferences are selected from the group consisting of user'"'"'s demographic information, prospective dating partner'"'"'s demographic information, and user'"'"'s or prospective dating partner'"'"'s age, gender, ethnicity, occupation, educational level, religion, family background, interests, hobbies, likes and dislikes, political orientation, income level, physical characteristics, weight, height, race, hair color, eye color, and any combination thereof.

15. The method of claim 5, wherein the educational history is selected from the group consisting of colleges or universities attended, degrees earned, major areas of study, year of degree conferral, educational trajectory, subjects studied, and any combination thereof.

16. The method of claim 5, wherein the shopping preferences are selected from the group consisting of stores, vendors, location of stores or vendors, distance from stores or vendors, gender, age, clothing size, clothing styles, clothing color preferences, store classification, and any combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 5, wherein the religious preferences are selected from the group consisting of religious history, religious denomination, current religious beliefs, desired religious services, location of religious practice, desired religious information, and any combination thereof.

18. The method of claim 5, wherein the political preferences are selected from the group consisting of political history, political ideology, current political party affiliation, preferred political candidates, political activities, and any combination thereof.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the user preference comprises geographical positioning information obtained through a global positioning system.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the user preference comprises past scanning history.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the machine recognizable feature is selected from the group consisting of a printed matter, a code, a barcode, a two-dimensional barcode, a QR code, a magnetic strip, an audible audio emitting device, a biometric sample, a watermark, a digital watermark, a transponder, a radio frequency identification device tag, a touch sensor, an infrared tag, a quantum dot, and any combination thereof.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the printed matter is selected from the group consisting of a book, a textbook, a newspaper, an editorial, a letter-to-the-editor, an advertisement, a magazine, a passport, a boarding pass, a real estate listing, an identification card, a smart card, a student identification card, a license, a registration, a receipt, a ticket, a business card, a credit card, a cash card, and a document.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the user device is selected from the group consisting of a personal computer, a hand-held communications device, a cellular telephone, a camera-enabled cellular telephone, a scanner, a personal digital assistant, an Internet-enabled telephone, an Internet-enabled device, an intelligent terminal, a television, a pager, a simulated book, a laptop computer, and a wireless communications device.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the machine recognizable feature has associated therewith a data link for retrieving programming material, which is recognized by the user device.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the data link is selected from the group consisting of an image data link, a video data link, an audio data link, a programming data link, an online data link, a pictorial data link, an electronic data link, an electronic media link, an “

information superhighway”

data link, Internet data link, a computer network data link, a local area network data link, a wide area network data link, a wireless network data link, an Ethernet network data link, a Radio Frequency cellular network data link, an Integrated Services Digital Network data link, a telephone line data link, a cable television line data link, and any combination thereof.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the feature recognizing device is selected from the group consisting of a scanner, a camera, a barcode scanner, a code reader, a magnetic stripe reader, a transceiver, a biometric reading device, a watermark reader, a receiver a radio frequency identification device reader, an infrared reader, a quantum dot reader, an optical reader, and an optical mouse.

27. A method for providing selected programming material on a user device by means of a machine recognizable feature within a printed matter, comprising the steps of:

receiving encoded data associated with the machine recognizable feature of the printed matter obtained by a feature recognizing device;

accessing a plurality of programming materials associated with the machine recognizable feature based on the encoded data;

accessing a user profile comprising a user preference;

selecting programming material based on said user preference; and

transmitting the selected programming material to the user device.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein said feature recognizing device is coupled to the user device, a third party device, or any combination thereof.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein said user profile is stored on said user device, a third party device, a remote server, a third party remote server, a database, an online account, or any combination thereof.

33. The method of claim 27, wherein in creating the user profile the user inputs user information to said user device, a remote server, a third party service provider, an online service, a database, or a combination thereof.

34. The method of claim 27, wherein the user provides answers to a plurality of predetermined questions in creating the user profile.

35. The method of claim 27, wherein the user profile comprises shopping preferences.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein the shopping preferences is selected from the group consisting of food preferences, product preferences, musical preferences, stores, vendors, location of stores or vendors, distance from stores or vendors, gender, age, clothing size, clothing styles, clothing color preferences, store classification, and any combination thereof.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the product preferences are selected from the group consisting of brand, cost, quality, features, duration of use, quantity, location of use, temperature at which used, and any combination thereof.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the user preference comprises past scanning history.

39. The method of claim 27, wherein the user device is selected from the group consisting of a personal computer, a hand-held communications device, a cellular telephone, a camera-enabled cellular telephone, a scanner, a personal digital assistant, an Internet-enabled telephone, an Internet-enabled device, an intelligent terminal, a television, a pager, a simulated book, a laptop computer, and a wireless communications device.

40. The method of claim 27, wherein the feature recognizing device is selected from the group consisting of a scanner, a camera, a barcode scanner, a code reader, a magnetic stripe reader, a transceiver, a biometric reading device, a watermark reader, a receiver a radio frequency identification device reader, an infrared reader, a quantum dot reader, an optical reader, and an optical mouse.

41. The method of claim 27, wherein the printed matter is selected from the group consisting of a book, a textbook, a newspaper, an editorial, a letter-to-the-editor, an advertisement, a magazine, a passport, a boarding pass, a real estate listing, an identification card, a smart card, a student identification card, a license, a registration, a receipt, a ticket, a business card, a credit card, a cash card, and a document.

28. A system for displaying selected programming material to a user, the system comprising:

a printed matter having a machine recognizable feature;

a user device including;

a feature recognition device configured to recognize said machine recognizable feature;

a transmitter configured to transmit a coded signal containing data from said machine recognizable feature;

a receiver configured to receive said selected programming material; and

a display for displaying said selected programming material;

a remote server including;

a receiver configured to receive said coded signal from said user device;

a processor configured to access a user preference from a user profile, access a plurality of programming materials associated with the machine recognizable feature, and select programming material based on said user preference; and

a transmitter configured to transmit said selected programming material.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein said user profile is stored on said user device, said remote server, a third party remote server, a database, an online account, or any combination thereof.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein said plurality of programming materials are stored on said remote server, a third party remote server, a database, a content provider, or any combination thereof.

42. A system for displaying selected programming material to a user, the system comprising:

a printed matter having a machine recognizable feature;

a first device including;

a feature recognition device configured to recognize said machine recognizable feature; and

a transmitter configured to transmit a coded signal containing data from said machine recognizable feature;

a remote server including;

a receiver configured to receive said coded signal from said first device;

a processor configured to access a user preference from a user profile, access a plurality of programming materials associated with the machine recognizable feature, and select programming material based on said user preference; and

a transmitter configured to transmit said selected programming material; and

a user device including;

a receiver configured to receive said selected programming material; and

a display for displaying said selected programming material.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein said user profile is stored on said first device, said remote server, said user device, a third party remote server, a database, an online account, or any combination thereof.

44. The system of claim 42, wherein in creating the user profile the user inputs user information to said user device, said server, a remote server, a third party service provider, an online service, a database, or a combination thereof.