Sensor based recommendations

• US 9,007,229 B1
• Filed: 06/20/2012
• Issued: 04/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wakim, Peter A.
• Primary Examiner(s): MCNALLY, KERRI L
• Application Number:
  US13/528,288
• Time in Patent Office: 1,028 Days
• Field of Search: 340/669
• US Class Current: 340/669
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0271 Personalized advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/12 by the breaking or disturbance of stretched cords or wires

Abstract

User devices are used to access various forms of electronic content. Sensors in the user device or information about environmental data associated with the device, such as weather at the locale of the user device, may be used to determine the occurrence of physical events. Recommendations such as offers for sale of extended warranties, warranty replacement, and so forth may be provided based at least in part on the physical events.

Claims

1. A device, comprising:

an accelerometer configured to provide acceleration data indicative of one or more physical motions of the device;

a location device configured to provide location data indicative of a position or speed of the device;

at least one memory storing computer-executable instructions;

at least one processor communicatively coupled to the accelerometer, the location device and the at least one memory and configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to;

receive the acceleration data provided by the accelerometer and the location data provided by the location device;

determine occurrence of one or more physical events when the acceleration data exceeds a pre-determined minimum threshold and is below a pre-determined maximum threshold;

at least partly based on the determination of the occurrence of one or more physical events, perform a diagnostic of at least a portion of the device to generate diagnostic data; and

present an advertisement for one or more items based at least in part on the location data, diagnostic data, and the determination of the occurrence of one or more physical events.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the acceleration data includes information indicative of an acceleration of the device.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein when the diagnostic returns diagnostic data indicating that one or more components of the device are operating within pre-determined limits, the one or more items comprise an extended warranty for the device.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein when the diagnostic returns diagnostic data indicating that the device is operational outside pre-determined limits or non-operational, and the one or more items comprise a repair service, a warranty replacement, or both.

5. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, configure the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving sensor data from two sensors of a user device;

detecting occurrence of two physical events of the user device, wherein for at least one physical event of the two physical events the sensor data from the two sensors exceeds a pre-determined minimum magnitude threshold and is below a pre-determined maximum magnitude threshold; and

based at least in part on the detected occurrence of the two physical events, generating a recommendation of one or more items.

6. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 5, the sensor data comprising data for two or more of acceleration, exposure to moisture, temperature, or proximity to another object.

7. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 5, wherein the two physical events comprise an automobile accident and the recommendation of one or more items comprises recommendation of personal services.

8. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 5, the operations further comprising determining environmental data associated with the user device and the generating the recommendation based at least in part on the environmental data.

9. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 8, the operations further comprising retrieving the environmental data from a server via a network interface.

10. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 8, the environmental data comprising current weather, predicted weather, past weather, or a combination thereof associated with a location of the user device.

11. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 5, further comprising receiving diagnostic data from the user device, and the generating the recommendation based at least in part on the diagnostic data.

12. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 11, the diagnostic data from the user device comprising an indication that a display is damaged.

13. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 5, wherein the pre-determined maximum magnitude threshold is a damage threshold at which damage to the user device is highly likely.

14. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, configure the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

determining occurrence of two or more physical events associated with a user device;

determining one or more recommendation factors based at least in part on the occurrence of the two or more physical events associated with the user device, wherein determining the occurrence of the two or more physical events comprises analyzing a portion of sensor data from the user device, wherein the portion of the sensor data is in excess of one or more pre-determined thresholds of minimum severity and is below one or more pre-determined thresholds of maximum severity; and

generating one or more recommended items based at least in part on the one or more recommendation factors.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the determining occurrence of the two or more physical events associated with the user device further comprises detecting a sound of water with a microphone of the user device.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 14, the one or more recommendation factors comprising one or more of:

an elapsed time since purchase of the user device;

an elapsed time since initial activation of the user device;

an elapsed time since the two or more physical events;

or

a nature of at least one of the two or more physical events.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the determining the occurrence of the two or more physical events further comprises analyzing a location of the user device and environmental data associated with the location.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 14, further comprises receiving an order for at least a portion of the one or more recommended items.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the one or more recommended items comprises a warranty service for the user device when sensor data monitored during occurrence of the two or more physical events does not exceed a pre-determined damage threshold.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 14, further comprising, based at least in part on a previously specified preference associated with the user device, initiating an order for at least a portion of the one or more recommended items.

21. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 14, further comprising one or more of the following sensors coupled to the user device and configured to generate the sensor data:

an accelerometer;

a microphone;

a hygrometer;

a thermometer;

a global positioning system receiver;

a pressure sensor;

or

a proximity sensor.