SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SCANNING A USER ENVIRONMENT AND EVALUATING DATA OF INTEREST

• US 20130230178A1
• Filed: 03/01/2012
• Published: 09/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Gates, William, Gerrity, Daniel A., Holman, Paul, Hyde, Roderick A., Ishikawa, Muriel Y., Jung, Edward K.Y., Kare, Jordin T., Levien, Royce A., Lord, Richard T., Lord, Robert W., Malamud, Mark A., Myhrvold, Nathan P., Rinaldo, John D. Jr., Rosema, Keith D., Tegreene, Clarence T., Weaver, Thomas A., Wood, Lowell L. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 9,230,261 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 381/56
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/028 associated with devices performing functions other than acoustics, e.g. electric candles
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2430/23 Direction finding using a sum-delay beam-former

Abstract

According to various embodiments, a mobile device continuously and/or automatically scans a user environment for tags containing non-human-readable data. The mobile device may continuously and/or automatically scan the environment for tags without being specifically directed at a particular tag. The mobile device may be adapted to scan for audio tags, radio frequency tags, and/or image tags. The mobile device may be configured to scan for and identify tags within the user environment that satisfy a user preference. The mobile device may perform an action in response to identifying a tag that satisfies a user preference. The mobile device may be configured to scan for a wide variety of tags, including tags in the form of quick response codes, steganographic content, audio watermarks, audio outside of a human audible range, radio frequency identification tags, long wavelength identification tags, near field communication tags, and/or a Memory Spot device.

Claims

1. A method for capturing and evaluating data of interest to a user, comprising:

automatically scanning a user environment by a mobile listening device for one or more audio tags;

identifying an audio tag within the user environment that satisfies one or more user preferences;

determining an action associated with the identified audio tag; and

performing the action by a computing device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically scanning the user environment comprises continuously scanning the user environment.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one user preference is specified by the user.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one user preference is based at least in part on historical user input or actions.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the action comprises using the identified tag to obtain a first set of supplemental content.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the first set of supplemental content is obtained from an owner of the audio tag.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining a second action based on the supplemental content obtained from the owner of the audio tag; and

performing the second action by a computing device.

27. The method of claim 20, wherein the action comprises retrieving the first set of supplemental content from an external source using a link in the identified audio tag.

29. The method of claim 20, wherein the action comprises aggregating the first set of supplemental content with other sets of supplemental content associated with previously scanned audio tags.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the action comprises comparing the first set of supplemental content with other sets of supplemental content associated with previously scanned tags.

32. The method of claim 1, wherein the action comprises notifying the user about the identified audio tag in the user environment.

38. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

determining a second action to be performed following the notification of user; and

performing the second action by a computing device.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the second action is automatically performed by the computing device unless the user cancels the performance of the second action.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein the second action is only performed by the computing device if the user authorizes the performance of the second action.

83. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically scanning the user environment comprises sweeping the listening device across a wide area.

84. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying an audio tag within the user environment comprises enhancing a scanning parameter associated with the mobile listening device.

85. The method of claim 84, wherein enhancing a scanning parameter associated with the mobile listening device comprises one of adjusting the aim of the mobile listening device, adjusting the sensitivity of the mobile listening device, adjusting the focus point of the mobile listening device, and applying a noise-reduction algorithm to an audio tag.

5-19. -19. (canceled)

23-26. -26. (canceled)

28. (canceled)

31. (canceled)

33-37. -37. (canceled)

41-82. -82. (canceled)

86-95. -95. (canceled)

96. A system for capturing and evaluating data of interest to a user, comprising:

a mobile listening device to automatically scan a user environment for one or more audio tags;

an identification component to identify an audio tag within the user environment that satisfies one or more user preferences; and

an action component to determine an action associated with the identified audio tag to be performed by a computing device.

146. The system of claim 96, wherein the user environment comprises a store display.

147. The system of claim 96, wherein the user environment comprises audiovisual media.

148. The system of claim 96, wherein the user environment comprises a television broadcast.

149. The system of claim 96, wherein the user environment comprises a radio broadcast.

150. The system of claim 96, wherein user environment comprises a live audio event.

151. The system of claim 96, wherein the identified audio tag comprises a code that is only readable within a determined frequency range.

152. The system of claim 96, wherein the identified audio tag comprises data steganographically encoded in audio content.

153. The system of claim 96, wherein the identified audio tag comprises an audio watermark.

154. The system of claim 96, wherein the identified audio tag comprises audio content outside of a human audible range.

166. The system of claim 96, wherein the mobile listening device comprises a cellular telephone.

167. The system of claim 96, wherein the mobile listening device comprises a personal listening device.

170. The system of claim 167, wherein the personal listening device comprises a wearable listening device.

97-145. -145. (canceled)

155-165. -165. (canceled)

168-169. -169. (canceled)

171-188. -188. (canceled)

189. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising program code for performing a method comprising:

automatically scanning a user environment by a mobile listening device for one or more audio tags;

identifying an audio tag within the user environment that satisfies one or more user preferences;

determining an action associated with the identified audio tag; and

performing the action by a computing device.