Electronic association of a user expression and a context of the expression

• US 8,229,252 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2005
• Issued: 07/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Cohen, Alexander J., Jung, Edward K. Y., Levien, Royce A., Lord, Robert W., Malamud, Mark A., Rinaldo, John D. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): ENTEZARI, MICHELLE M
• Application Number:
  US11/114,245
• Publication Number:
  US 20060209175A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,647 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 382/313
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/1456 based on user interactions

Abstract

Embodiments include an apparatus, device, system, computer-program product, and method. In an embodiment, a method is provided. The method includes receiving an annotation environment signal that includes a context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item. The method also includes receiving an expression signal that includes an annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item. The method further includes electronically associating the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving an annotation environment signal that includes a context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item, the recognizable aspect of the item being indicative of an incidental element capable of distinguishing the item, the incidental element comprising at least a physical attribute of the item;

processing the annotation environment signal, the processing comprising at least a pre-recognition stage, a slicing stage, and a marking stage;

receiving an expression signal that includes an annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item; and

electronically associating the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

recognizing the recognizable aspect of an item in response to the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the recognizing the recognizable aspect of an item includes recognizing the recognizable aspect of an item to a degree.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the recognizing the recognizable aspect of an item to a degree includes recognizing a book in an environment.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the recognizing the recognizable aspect of an item to a degree includes recognizing the recognizable aspect of an item to a first degree, and recognizing the recognizable aspect of an item to a second degree of recognizing includes a higher resolution than the first degree of recognizing.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the recognizing the recognizable aspect of an item to a first degree includes recognizing a book in an environment, and the recognizing the recognizable aspect of an item to a second degree includes recognizing a title of the book in the environment.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the recognizing the recognizable aspect of an item includes:

requesting a recognition of the recognizable aspect of the item from a remote computing device; and

receiving the recognition of the recognizable aspect of the item from the remote computing device.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the recognizing the recognizable aspect of an item includes receiving a recognition of the recognizable aspect of the item from a remote computing device.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the recognizing the recognizable aspect of an item includes recognizing the recognizable aspect of an item in response to the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and in response to the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

recognizing the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item in response to the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the recognizing the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item includes recognizing the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item to a degree.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the recognizing the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item includes recognizing the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item to a first degree, and recognizing the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item to a second degree, wherein the second degree of recognizing includes a higher resolution than the first degree of recognizing.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the recognizing the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item includes:

requesting a recognition of the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item from a remote computing device; and

receiving the recognition of the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item from the remote computing device.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the recognizing the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item includes receiving the recognizition of the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item includes receiving the recognition of the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item from a remote computing device.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the recognizing the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item includes recognizing the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item in response to the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and in response to the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the recognizable aspect of the item includes recognizing a spoken user expression associated with a recognizable aspect of a book in an environment, the recognizing being in response to a context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of the book and in response to the annotation information indicative of a spoken user expression associated with the title of the book.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying the user expression.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronically associating the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item includes logically associating the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronically associating the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item includes temporally associating the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronically associating the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item includes correlating the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item such that one of the information may be retrieved by referring to the other information.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronically associating the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item includes electronically associating a recognized recognizable aspect and a recognized user expression.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving an annotation environment signal includes receiving an annotation environment signal generated by a handheld device, and the receiving an expression signal includes receiving an expression signal generated by the handheld device.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving an annotation environment signal includes receiving an annotation environment signal generated by a wearable device, and the receiving an expression signal includes receiving an expression signal generated by the wearable device.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

saving the electronically associated context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

44. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-recognition stage is a first degree of recognition.

45. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-recognition stage is a continuum of recognition ranging from a minimal recognition to a complete recognition.

46. The method of claim 1, wherein the slicing stage includes at least slicing the annotation environment signal into one or more temporal segments.

47. The method of claim 1, wherein the marking stage includes marking segments of the annotation environment signal based upon at least one of one or more GPS coordinates, and/or a temperature, and/or an orientation parameter of a device that generated the annotation signal.

25. A method comprising:

electronically associating a context information indicative of a recognizable item, the recognizable aspect of the item being indicative of an incidental element of distinguishing the item, capable of distinguishing the item, the incidental element comprising at least a physical attribute of the item, and an annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable item;

processing the context information, the processing comprising at least a pre-recognition stage, a slicing stage, and a marking stage; and

saving the electronically associated context information indicative of a recognizable item and annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable item.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the context information indicative of a recognizable item includes a context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable item includes annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

48. The method of claim 25, wherein the pre-recognition stage is a first degree of recognition.

49. The method of claim 25, wherein the pre-recognition stage is a continuum of recognition ranging from a minimal recognition to a complete recognition.

50. The method of claim 25, wherein the slicing stage includes at least slicing the annotation environment signal into one or more temporal segments.

51. The method of claim 25, wherein the marking stage includes marking segments of the annotation environment signal based upon at least one of one or more GPS coordinates, and/or a temperature, and/or an orientation parameter of a device that generated the annotation signal.

27. A method comprising:

recognizing an aspect of an item in response to an annotation environment signal that includes a context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item, the recognizable aspect of the item being indicative of an incidental element capable of distinguishing the item, the incidental element comprising at least a physical attribute of the item;

processing the annotation environment signal, the processing comprising at least a pre-recognition stage, a slicing stage, and a marking stage;

recognizing a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item in response to an expression signal that includes an annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item; and

electronically associating the recognized user expression and the recognizable aspect of the item.

52. The method of claim 27, wherein the pre-recognition stage is a first degree of recognition.

53. The method of claim 27, wherein the pre-recognition stage is a continuum of recognition ranging from a minimal recognition to a complete recognition.

54. The method of claim 27, wherein the slicing stage includes at least slicing the annotation environment signal into one or more temporal segments.

55. The method of claim 27, wherein the marking stage includes marking segments of the annotation environment signal based upon at least one of one or more GPS coordinates, and/or a temperature, and/or an orientation parameter of a device that generated the annotation signal.

28. A device comprising:

a context receptor module operable to;

receive an annotation environment signal that includes a context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item, the recognizable aspect of the item being indicative of an incidental element capable of distinguishing the item; and

process the annotation environment signal, the processing of the annotation environment signal comprising at least a pre-recognition stage, a slicing stage, and a marking stage;

an annotation receptor module operable to receive an expression signal that includes an annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item; and

an associator module operable to associate the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

29. The device of claim 28, further comprising:

a context identifier module operable to recognize the recognizable aspect of an item in response to the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item.

30. The device of claim 29, further comprising:

a first coupler between the context identifier module and the annotation receptor module and operable to communicate a first signal.

31. The device of claim 28, further comprising:

an annotation identifier module operable to recognize the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item in response to the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

32. The device of claim 31, further comprising:

a second coupler between the annotation identifier module and the context receptor module operable to communicate a second signal.

33. The device of claim 28, further comprising:

a context identifier module operable to recognize the recognizable aspect of an item in response to the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item; and

an annotation identifier module operable to recognize the user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item in response to the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

34. The device of claim 33, further comprising:

a third coupling between the annotation identifier module and the context identifier module operable to communicate a third signal.

35. The device of claim 28, wherein the associator module operable to associate the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item includes an associator module operable to establish a correlation between the context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

36. The device of claim 28, further comprising:

a storage device operable to save the electronically associated context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

37. The device of claim 36, wherein the storage device includes a non-volatile storage device.

56. The device of claim 28, wherein the pre-recognition stage is a first degree of recognition.

57. The device of claim 28, wherein the pre-recognition stage is a continuum of recognition ranging from a minimal recognition to a complete recognition.

58. The device of claim 28, wherein the slicing stage includes at least slicing the annotation environment signal into one or more temporal segments.

59. The device of claim 28, wherein the marking stage includes marking segments of the annotation environment signal based upon at least one of one or more GPS coordinates, and/or a temperature, and/or an orientation parameter of a device that generated the annotation signal.

38. A computer-program product, comprising:

a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing program instructions operable to perform a process that associates information in a computer system, the process comprising;

receiving an annotation environment signal that includes a context information indicative of a recognizable item, the recognizable item being indicative of an incidental element primarily employed by a non-human reader and capable of distinguishing the item, the incidental element comprising at least a physical attribute of the item;

processing the annotation environment signal, the processing comprising at least a pre-recognition stage, a slicing stage, and a marking stage;

receiving an expression signal that includes an annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable item; and

associating the context information indicative of a recognizable item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable item.

39. The computer-program product of claim 38, wherein the process further comprises:

recognizing the recognizable item in response to the context information indicative of a recognizable item.

40. The computer-program product of claim 38, wherein the process further comprises:

recognizing the user expression associated with the recognizable item in response to the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable item.

41. The computer-program product of claim 38, wherein the process further comprises:

requesting a recognition of the recognizable item from a remote computing device; and

receiving the recognition of the recognizable item from the remote computing device.

42. The computer-program product of claim 38, wherein the process further comprises:

saving the associated context information indicative of a recognizable item and annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable item.

43. The computer-program product of claim 38, wherein the context information indicative of a recognizable item includes a context information indicative of a recognizable aspect of an item and the annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable item includes annotation information indicative of a user expression associated with the recognizable aspect of the item.

60. The computer-program product of claim 38, wherein the prerecognition stage is a first degree of recognition.

61. The computer-program product of claim 38, wherein the prerecognition stage is a continuum of recognition ranging from a minimal recognition to a complete recognition.

62. The computer-program product of claim 38, wherein the slicing stage includes at least slicing the annotation environment signal into one or more temporal segments.

63. The computer-program product of claim 38, wherein the marking stage includes marking segments of the annotation environment signal based upon at least one of one or more GPS coordinates, and/or a temperature, and/or an orientation parameter of a device that generated the annotation signal.