PHONE THAT PREVENTS CONCURRENT TEXTING AND DRIVING

• US 20130281079A1
• Filed: 06/20/2013
• Published: 10/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Joel Vidal, Yael Vidal
• Original Assignee: Joel Vidal, Yael Vidal
• Inventors: VIDAL, JOEL, VIDAL, YAEL
• Granted Patent: US 8,914,014 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/418
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6075 adapted for handsfree use in a vehicle H04M1/6058 takes precedence; arrangements for holding telephones in a vehicle B60R11/0241
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72463 to restrict the functionality of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724634 With partially locked states, e.g. when some telephonic functional locked states or applications remain accessible in the locked states
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/52 including functional features of a camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/48 for in-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring

Abstract

The present invention includes a phone able to detect or determine that a user of the phone is sitting in a driver seat of a moving vehicle. The determination may be based on, for example, captured front-side images, captured back-side images, captured audio, contextual analysis of textual messages, contextual analysis of phone conversations or intra-vehicular conversations, GPS data or other location data, or other parameters. Upon such determination, the phone may block one or more features or applications, such as texting or messaging. The present invention may reduce, eliminate or block occurrences of concurrent texting-and-driving, or other unsafe or illegal operations.

Claims

1. A phone comprising:

a wireless transceiver to send and receive wireless communication signals;

a processor to execute code;

wherein the processor is (a) to make a determination that a user of the phone is sitting in a driver seat of a moving vehicle, without relying on any signal transmitted by a steering wheel of said vehicle, and without relying on Global Positioning System (GPS) data to differentiate between a phone-user who is a vehicular driver and a phone-user who is a vehicular passenger; and

(b) based on the determination, to block one or more features of the phone.

2. The phone of claim 1, wherein the processor is to make the determination that the user of the phone is sitting in the driver seat of the moving vehicle without relying on any signal transmitted by any vehicular component.

3. The phone of claim 1, wherein the processor is to make the determination that the user of the phone is sitting in the driver seat of the moving vehicle without relying on any signal transmitted by any vehicular component.

4. The phone of claim 1, wherein the processor is to make the determination that the user of the phone is sitting inside said moving vehicle by taking into account Global Positioning System (GPS) data that is available to said phone;

and wherein the processor is to make the determination that the user of the phone is sitting particularly at the driver seat of said moving vehicle without relying on Global Positioning System (GPS) data that is available to said phone.

5. The phone of claim 1, wherein the processor is to make the determination that the user of the phone is sitting in the driver seat of the moving vehicle without relying on an estimation of a strength of a wireless signal received by the phone.

6. The phone of claim 1, wherein the processor is to make the determination that the user of the phone is sitting in the driver seat of the moving vehicle without relying on a sitting differentiation technique that utilizes a human body as a signal path for transferring a signal from a vehicular component to said phone.

7. The phone of claim 1, further comprising a camera to capture one or more images or videos;

wherein the processor is to determine that the user of the phone is sitting in the driver seat of the vehicle based on analysis of one or more images captured by said camera.

8. The phone of claim 7, wherein the analysis takes into account a determination of whether or not the one or more images captured by the camera comprise one or more vehicular components which are typically visible from a vehicular driver seat and which are typically non-visible from a vehicular passenger seat.

9. The phone of claim 7, wherein the analysis takes into account a characteristic of a vehicular component which appears, at least partially, in at least one image captured by the camera of the phone.

10. The phone of claim 1, wherein the processor is to determine that the user of the phone is seating in a driver seat of a vehicle based on a contextual analysis of one or more text messages exchanged by the user.

11. The phone of claim 1, further comprising a microphone to capture audio;

wherein the processor is to determine that the user of the phone is sitting in the driver seat of the vehicle based on a contextual analysis of one or more utterances in a phone conversation between the user of the phone and a remote person.

12. The phone of claim 1, further comprising a microphone to capture ambient audio;

wherein the processor is to determine that the user of the phone is sitting in the driver seat of the vehicle based on a contextual analysis of one or more utterances in a non-cellular conversation between the user of the phone and a nearby person.

13. The phone of claim 1, wherein the processor is to determine that the user of the phone is sitting in the driver seat of said moving vehicle, by taking into account an image analysis of an image captured by said camera;

wherein the image analysis indicates that the image comprises at least a portion of a vehicular dashboard that is visible exclusively from the driver seat and which is typically not visible from non-driver seats of said vehicle.

14. The phone of claim 1, wherein the processor is to determine that the user of the phone is sitting in the driver seat of said moving vehicle, by taking into account an image analysis of an image captured by said camera;

wherein the image analysis takes into account one or more extra-vehicular items which appear in said image.

15. The phone of claim 1, wherein the processor is to determine that the user of the phone is sitting in the driver seat of said moving vehicle, by taking into account an image analysis of an image captured by said camera;

wherein the image analysis takes into account a slanting of a vehicular component which appear in said image.

16. The phone of claim 1, wherein the processor is to block the one or more features of the phone unless the user of the phone overrides the blocking by performing at least one of:

(a) responding positively to a confirmation question presented to the user;

(b) correctly providing a pre-defined password;

(c) uttering a pre-defined phrase of speech in response to a confirmation question.

17. The phone of claim 1, wherein the processor is to update a log which tracks occurrences of concurrent driving and texting.

18. The phone of claim 1, wherein the processor is to determine that the user of the phone is sitting in the driver seat of the moving vehicle based on an incoming wireless communication signal received from a remote server which is located externally to the moving vehicle and which performed an analysis of data related to utilization of said phone.

19. The phone of claim 1, wherein the processor is to send, to a recipient external to the phone, a notification about one or more occurrences of concurrent texting-and-driving performed by a user of said phone.

20. A portable electronic device comprising:

a wireless transceiver to send and receive wireless communication signals;

a processor to execute code;

wherein the processor is (a) to make a determination that a user of the portable electronic device is sitting in a driver seat of a moving vehicle, and (b) based on the determination, to block one or more features of the portable electronic device;

wherein the processor is to make the determination that the user of the phone is sitting inside said moving vehicle by taking into account Global Positioning System (GPS) data that is available to said phone; and

wherein the processor is to make the determination that the user of the phone is sitting particularly at the driver seat of said moving vehicle without relying on Global Positioning System (GPS) data that is available to said phone.