System for image analysis in a network that is structured with multiple layers and differentially weighted neurons

• US 7,729,532 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2006
• Issued: 06/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Inventor Holdings LLC (Walker Innovation Inc. (f/k/a Patent Properties, Inc.))
• Original Assignee: Walker Digital LLC (Walker Innovation Inc. (f/k/a Patent Properties, Inc.))
• Inventors: Tedesco, Daniel E., Gelman, Geoffrey M., Tulley, Stephen C., Alderucci, Dean P., Jorasch, James A., O'Neil, Vincent M., Walker, Jay S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Desire, Gregory M
• Application Number:
  US11/427,480
• Publication Number:
  US 20070070213A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,433 Days
• Field of Search: 340/5.83, 340/541, 348/143, 348/153, 382/103, 382/118, 382/127, 382/159, 382/156, 702/188
• US Class Current: 382/159
• CPC Class Codes: A61P 29/00 Non-central analgesic, antipyretic or antiinflammatory agents, e.g. antirheumatic agents; Non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs [NSAID]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5838 using colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5854 using shape and object relationship
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19641 Multiple cameras having overlapping views on a single scene
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19656 Network used to communicate with a camera, e.g. WAN, LAN, Internet
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19663 Surveillance related processing done local to the camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19673 Addition of time stamp, i.e. time metadata, to video stream
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1968 Interfaces for setting up or customising the system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for facilitating the usage of an online workforce to remotely monitor security-sensitive sites and report potential security breaches.

In some embodiments, cameras are configured to monitor critical civilian infrastructure, such as water supplies and nuclear reactors. The cameras are operatively connected to a central computer or series of computers, and images captured by the cameras are transmitted to the central computer. After initially registering with the central computer, Guardians “log on” to a central website hosted by the central computer and monitor the images, thereby earning compensation. In one embodiment, images of “no-man” zones—areas where no humans or vehicles should be present or monitored—are sent to Guardians for a simple determination of whether or not a human exists in the picture. Site owners compensate the operator of the computer system for this monitoring service, and the operator in turn compensates Guardians based on, for example, (i) the amount of time spent monitoring, and/or (ii) the degree of a given Guardian'"'"'s responsiveness to real or fabricated security breaches.

Among other things, systems and methods are disclosed herein for facilitating (a) the registration of monitored sites, (b) the registration of Guardians, and (c) the management of monitoring sessions, including the routing of real and fabricated images to Guardians, the rating of Guardians, and the compensation of Guardians. Many additional and alternative embodiments are contemplated, including the following example of one embodiment.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a central server and from a potential guardian, a request to register as a guardian;

prompting, by the central server and after the receiving of the request, the potential guardian for required registration information;

receiving, by the central server and after the prompting, the required registration information;

conducting, by the central server and after the receiving of the required registration information and based at least in part on the required registration information, a background check of the potential guardian;

providing to the potential guardian, by the central server and in the case that the conducting of the background check is successful, information instructive of how to participate in remote monitoring sessions of sites;

testing, by the central server, the potential guardian;

storing, by the central server and in the case that the potential guardian passes the testing, information associated with the potential guardian in a database; and

providing, by the central server and in the case that the potential guardian passes the testing, software necessary for participation in remote monitoring sessions of sites.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is transmitted from a device associated with the potential guardian.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the device comprises a mobile terminal.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the mobile terminal comprises a cellular telephone.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is received via a website associated with the central server.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the prompting comprises:

providing a fillable form to the potential guardian.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the prompting comprises:

providing an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menu to the potential guardian.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the required registration information comprises one or more of (i) a Social Security Number (SSN) of the potential guardian, (ii) a driver'"'"'s license number of the potential guardian, (iii) a financial account identifier associated with the potential guardian, and (iv) a biometric identifier associated with the potential guardian.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requiring the potential guardian to answer one or more registration questions.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requiring the potential guardian to take an oath.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requiring the potential guardian to agree to terms of a contract.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

recording an indication of the received required registration information.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the conducting of the background check comprises:

confirming, via one or more remote databases, at least a portion of the received required registration information.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the information instructive of how to participate in monitoring sessions of remote sites comprises one or more of (i) text information, (ii) audio information, and (iii) video information.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the information instructive of how to participate in monitoring sessions of remote sites comprises instructions regarding how to respond to remote monitoring session images that may be presented to the potential guardian during one or more remote monitoring sessions of sites.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the testing of the potential guardian comprises:

providing one or more questions regarding the information instructive of how to participate in monitoring sessions of remote sites to the potential guardian;

receiving, from the potential guardian, one or more answers to the one or more questions;

comparing the one or more answers to stored indications of correct answers to the one or more questions;

determining, based on the comparing, a score associated with the potential guardian; and

determining if the score satisfies a predetermined threshold score.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the testing of the potential guardian comprises:

conducting a mock remote monitoring session.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the mock remote monitoring session comprises:

providing a test image to the potential guardian;

receiving, from the potential guardian, a response to the test image; and

determining, based on the response, an accuracy associated with the potential guardian.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the test image comprises a stored test image.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the test image comprise a live image from a remote site.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

determining if the accuracy associated with the potential guardian satisfies a predetermined accuracy threshold.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning, in the case that the potential guardian passes the testing, a unique identifier to the potential guardian.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the unique identifier comprises a guardian identifier and wherein the potential guardian becomes, upon being assigned the guardian identifier, a registered guardian.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the information stored in the database in association with the potential guardian comprises the unique identifier.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the information stored in the database in association with the potential guardian comprises at least a portion of the received required registration information.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein, subsequent to the providing of the software, the potential guardian is considered to be a registered guardian, further comprising:

receiving a request, from the registered guardian, to participate in a remote monitoring session;

determining, after the receiving of the participation request, a monitoring rule associated with one of a plurality of sites registered with a remote monitoring service;

determining, after the determining of the monitoring rule, that the registered guardian satisfies the monitoring rule;

providing to the registered guardian, based on the determining that the registered guardian satisfies the monitoring rule, data from a monitoring device associated with the one of the plurality of sites; and

determining, based on a response of the registered guardian to the provided data, whether a potential security breach is likely to exist at the one of the plurality of sites.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the monitoring rule comprises a requirement specifying a minimum number of remote guardians desired to monitor the one of the plurality of sites.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the monitoring rule comprises a requirement specifying how to select one or more guardians to monitor the one of the plurality of sites.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the requirement specifying how to select one or more guardians to monitor the one of the plurality of sites defines a minimum desired rating for guardians that monitor the site.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the requirement specifying how to select one or more guardians to monitor the one of the plurality of sites defines a minimum distance between the one of the plurality of sites and a residence of the any guardian that monitors the site.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the requirement specifying how to select one or more guardians to monitor the one of the plurality of sites specifies that guardians be randomly selected.

32. The method of claim 28, wherein the requirement specifying how to select one or more guardians to monitor the one of the plurality of sites specifies that a guardian can only monitor the data from the monitoring device a maximum number of times.

33. The method of claim 28, wherein the requirement specifying how to select one or more guardians to monitor the one of the plurality of sites specifies that a probability of a guardian being selected to monitor the data from the monitoring device be based on a number of times that the guardian has previously monitored data from the monitoring device.

34. The method of claim 26, wherein the providing of the data to the registered guardian comprises:

actively suppressing the transmission of location specific information to the registered guardian.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the actively suppressing of the transmission of location specific information comprises:

pre-screening the data from the monitoring device; and

redacting the data to remove information relevant to the location of the one of the plurality of sites.

36. The method of claim 26, wherein the providing of the data to the registered guardian is triggered by an occurrence of an event at the one of the plurality of sites.

37. The method of claim 26, wherein the providing of the data to the registered guardian is triggered by a determination that an image of the one of the plurality of sites does not match a reference image of the one of the plurality of sites.

38. The method of claim 26, wherein the one of the plurality of sites comprises one or more of (i) a power facility, (ii) a nuclear power facility, (iii) a manufacturing facility, (iv) a chemical plant, (v) a privately-owned water reservoir, (vi) an airport, (vii) a swimming pool, (viii) the inside of a kitchen cabinet, (ix) a liquor cabinet, (x) a day care facility, (xi) a school, and (xii) a senior living facility.

39. The method of claim 26, wherein the one of the plurality of sites comprises a computer system.

40. The method of claim 26, wherein the monitoring device comprises a camera.

41. The method of claim 26, wherein the monitoring device comprises a microphone.

42. The method of claim 26, wherein the monitoring device comprises a network pattern software analysis tool.

43. The method of claim 26, wherein the monitoring device is mounted to a pole erected at the one of the plurality of sites.

44. The method of claim 26, wherein the monitoring device is mounted to a mobile vehicle.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the mobile vehicle comprises one or more of (i) a patrol car and (ii) an unmanned flying drone.

46. The method of claim 26, wherein the monitoring device is supplied with power from an off-grid power source.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the off-grid power source comprises a solar panel.

48. The method of claim 46, wherein the off-grid power source comprises a high-capacity energy cell.

49. The method of claim 46, wherein the off-grid power source utilizes cellular or satellite communications for networking.

50. The method of claim 26, wherein the monitoring device is situated to monitor a no-man zone at the one of the plurality of sites.

51. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

triggering, in the case that the determining of whether a potential security breach is likely to exist at the one of the plurality of sites results in an indication that a security breach is likely, an alarm condition.

52. The method of claim 26, wherein the data from the monitoring device is provided to the registered guardians as an image associated with a reel of a virtual slot machine.

53. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

facilitating a conferring regarding the data between the registered guardian and at least one other registered guardian.

54. The method of claim 53, wherein the facilitating comprises initiating one or more instant messaging sessions associated with the data.

55. The method of claim 26, wherein the response from the registered guardian comprises a binary indication of whether a security breach is likely to exist at the one of the plurality of sites.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the binary determination comprises a determination of whether less than two people are present at the one of the plurality of sites.

57. The method of claim 1, wherein the potential guardian comprises a member of the public that is unable to determine the identity of a monitored site via participation in a remote monitoring session.

58. The method of claim 1, wherein the testing of the potential guardian comprises training the potential guardian.

59. The method of claim 58, wherein the training of the potential guardian comprise providing one or more practice routines to the potential guardian.

60. The method of claim 1, wherein the testing of the potential guardian comprises testing particular capabilities of the potential guardian.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein the particular capabilities comprise one or more of (i) an attention level associated with the potential guardian and (ii) a vision of the potential guardian.

62. The method of claim 60, further comprising:

providing, to the potential guardian, data from a monitoring device associated with the one of a plurality of sites registered with a remote monitoring service, wherein the providing of the data is conducted in a manner based upon a result of the testing of the particular capabilities of the potential guardian.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein the manner of providing the data that is based upon the result of the testing of the particular capabilities of the potential guardian comprises providing the data to the potential guardian at a higher level of contrast.

64. The method of claim 62, wherein the manner of providing the data that is based upon the result of the testing of the particular capabilities of the potential guardian comprises providing the data to the potential guardian at a higher level of resolution.

65. The method of claim 62, wherein the data comprise a series of images and wherein the manner of providing the data that is based upon the result of the testing of the particular capabilities of the potential guardian comprises providing the series of images to the potential guardian at particular rate.

66. The method of claim 1, wherein the testing of the potential guardian comprise:

conducting remote diagnostics of a computing device associated with the remote guardian.

67. The method of claim 66, wherein the conducting of the remote diagnostics of the computing device associated with the remote guardian, comprises:

determining one or more of (i) a processor speed of the computing device, (ii) a connection speed of network connection associated with the computing device, (iii) a video card capability of the computing device, and (iv) a screen resolution associated with the computing device.

68. The method of claim 67, further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the conducting of the remote diagnostics of the computing device associated with the remote guardian, how to provide data from remote monitoring devices to the computing device associated with the remote guardian.

69. The method of claim 67, further comprising:

determining, based at least in part on the conducting of the remote diagnostics of the computing device associated with the remote guardian, a configuration of the software provided to the potential guardian.

70. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor; and

a storage device in communication with the processor and storing instructions adapted to be executed by the processor to;

receive, from a potential guardian, a request to register as a guardian;

prompt, after the receiving of the request, the potential guardian for required registration information;

receive, after the prompting, the required registration information;

conduct, after the receiving of the required registration information and based at least in part on the required registration information, a background check of the potential guardian;

provide to the potential guardian, in the case that the conducting of the background check is successful, information instructive of how to participate in remote monitoring sessions of sites;

test the potential guardian;

store, in the case that the potential guardian passes the testing, information associated with the potential guardian in a database; and

provide, in the case that the potential guardian passes the testing, software necessary for participation in remote monitoring sessions of sites.

71. A computer-readable memory device storing instructions adapted to be executed by a processor to:

receive, from a potential guardian, a request to register as a guardian;

prompt, after the receiving of the request, the potential guardian for required registration information;

receive, after the prompting, the required registration information;

conduct, after the receiving of the required registration information and based at least in part on the required registration information, a background check of the potential guardian;

provide to the potential guardian, in the case that the conducting of the background check is successful, information instructive of how to participate in remote monitoring sessions of sites;

test the potential guardian;

store, in the case that the potential guardian passes the testing, information associated with the potential guardian in a database; and

provide, in the case that the potential guardian passes the testing, software necessary for participation in remote monitoring sessions of sites.

72. A communications system operable to:

transmit, from a device associated with a potential guardian to a server, a request to register as a guardian;

transmit, from the server to the potential guardian device, and after a transmittal of the request to register as a guardian, a prompt for the potential guardian to provide required registration information;

transmit, from the potential guardian device to the server, and after a transmittal of the prompt, an indication of the required registration information;

transmit information between the server and a remote database to facilitate a conducting by the server, and after a transmittal of the indication of the required registration information, and based at least in part on the required registration information, a background check of the potential guardian;

transmit, from the server to the potential guardian device, and in the case that the conducting of the background check by the server is successful, information instructive of how to participate in remote monitoring sessions of sites;

transmit, between the server and the potential guardian device, information to facilitate a testing, by the server, of the potential guardian; and

transmit, between the server and the potential guardian device, information to facilitate a providing, by the server and to the potential guardian device, and in the case that the potential guardian passes the testing, software necessary for the potential guardian'"'"'s participation in remote monitoring sessions of sites.