Facial recognition lost pet identifying system

• US 9,342,735 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2012
• Issued: 05/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pets Reunited LLC
• Original Assignee: Finding Rover, Inc.
• Inventors: Polimeno, John, Polimeno, Jason John, Callahan, Steven P., Schreiner, John M., Chang, Rick S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Seth, Manav
• Application Number:
  US13/610,877
• Publication Number:
  US 20130142398A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,343 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1093 Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0241 Advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/16 Human faces, e.g. facial parts, sketches or expressions
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/171 Local features and components; Facial parts eye characteristics G06V40/18; Occluding parts, e.g. glasses; Geometrical relationships
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/50 Maintenance of biometric data or enrolment thereof

Abstract

A server system stores a database of records. Each record stores a digital image of a pet, facial recognition markers, and owner identification information. An owner may register his/her pet using a cellular telephone and a mobile app. The owner is prompted to supply a digital photograph of the pet and to enter eye and nose location information. The system generates therefrom facial recognition markers and stores the markers in a record. If a lost pet is found, a finding user can use a cellular telephone to take a picture of the animal and to enter eye and nose location information. The system generates markers and compares the markers in a facial recognition process to other stored markers to identify records of animals that resemble the lost pet. If the record of the lost pet is identified, then owner identification information in the record is used to contact the owner.

Claims

1. A first device, comprising;

a display;

a first processor; and

a first non-transitory computer-storage medium storing a first set of computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first processor, cause the first processor to;

(a) prompt an user to select a first digital image of an animal;

(b) prompt the user to indicate where on the first digital image of the animal an eye is located thereby generating user-indicated eye location information, and prompt the user to indicate where on the first digital image of the animal a nose is located thereby generating user-indicated nose location information;

(c) cause a first communication to be sent from the first device to a third device, wherein the first communication includes the first digital image of the animal, the user-indicated eye location information and the user-indicated nose location information;

(d) receive a second communication onto the first device from a third device in response to sending the first communication, wherein the second communication includes information resulting from comparing the user-indicated eye location information and user-indicated nose location information sent in the first communication with a pre-existing eye location information and a pre-existing nose location information stored on the third device, and in response displaying on the display an indication that an owner of the animal may have been identified;

(e) show a first query in response to receiving the second communication on the display that asks the user whether the user wants to send the thrid communication to a second device, wherein the second device is associated with the owner of the animal; and

(f) receive user input in response to the first query, and in response to receiving the user input sending a third communication to a second device, wherein the first query in (e) is both;

     1) a query that asks the user to confirm that the animal in the second digital image and the animal in the first digital image are the same animal, and

     2) a query that asks the user whether the user wants to send the third communication to the second device.

2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device further comprises a camera, and wherein the selecting of (a) further comprises:

(a1) enabling the camera, and

(a2) displaying the first digital image captured using the camera.

3. The first device of claim 1, wherein the display is a touch-screen display, and wherein the prompting of (b) further comprises:

(b1) displaying two circles on the touch-screen display;

(b2) displaying one triangle on the touch-screen display;

(b3) displaying instructions to;

(i) drag the first circle over a first eye of the animal;

(ii) drag the second circle over the second eye of the animal; and

(iii) drag the triangle over the nose of the animal.

4. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first communication of (c) is sent to the third device, wherein the third device comprises a third non-transitory computer-storage medium storing a third set of computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a third processor, cause the third processor to:

(i) receive the first communication;

(ii) perform a facial recognition process using;

(i) the first digital image of the animal, the user-indicated eye location information, and the user-indicated nose location information, and (ii) a pre-existing digital image of the animal, the pre-existing eyelocation information, and the pre-existing nose location information; and

(iii) send the second communication to the first device, wherein the second communication includes information associated with the second device.

5. The first device of claim 1, wherein the displaying an indication that the owner of the animal may have been found in (d) includes displaying a second digital image of the animal on the first device.

6. The first device of claim 1, wherein the displaying an indication that the owner of the animal may have been found in (d) includes displaying a plurality of images of animals on the first device.

7. The first device of claim 1, wherein the second communication includes a second digital image of the animal.

8. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device further comprises a Global Positioning System (GPS) circuit, and wherein the first communication of (c) further comprises geographical location information generated using the GPS circuit when the selecting of (a) was performed.

9. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device further comprises a wireless modem, and wherein the first communication, second communication, and third communication are all communicated via the wireless modem.

10. The first device of claim 1, wherein neither the first wireless communication of (c) nor the second wireless communication of (d) is a voice communication or an email communication.

11. A method, comprising:

(a) maintaining a database of records, wherein each record includes facial recognition markers derived from an image of an animal, and wherein each of at least some of the records includes an image of an animal and owner contact information about an owner of the animal, wherein the recognition markers include pre-existing eye location information and pre-existing nose location information;

(b) receiving information from a wireless communication device of a finder of a particular animal, wherein the information includes a digital image of the particular animal, user-indicated eye location information, user-indicated nose location information, and geographical location information;

(c) using a computer-implemented facial recognition process to derive facial recognition markers from the digital image, the user-indicated eye location information and the user-indicated nose location information;

(d) comparing the facial recognition markers derived in (c) to facial recognition markers stored in the database and thereby identifying a record from the database of records, wherein the geographical location information received in (b) is used in (d) to limit a number of facial recognition markers with which the facial recognition markers derived in (c) is compared; and

(e) in response to the identifying of the record in (d) sending a wireless communication to the mobile communication device of the finder of the particular animal.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the wireless communication sent in (e) includes a digital image of the particular animal, wherein the wireless communication sent in (e) further includes a request to confirm that the particular animal in the digital image sent in (e) and the particular animal in the image received in (c) are the same animal, wherein the method further comprises:

(f) receiving a wireless communication from the wireless communication device of the finder of the particular animal, wherein the wireless communication received in (f) includes a confirmation that the particular animal in the digital image sent in (e) and the particular animal in the image received in (c) are the same animal.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the wireless communication sent in (e) includes a query.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the wireless communication sent in (e) includes a query, and wherein the query asks the finder of the particular animal whether the finder would like to send a communication to a device associated with the owner of the particular animal.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein (a) through (e) are performed by a server system.

16. A method comprising:

(a) receiving a first communication from a first user, wherein the first communication includes a first digital image of an animal, a first user-indicated eye location information and a first user-indicated nose location information;

(b) using a computer-implemented facial recognition process to derive first facial recognition markers from the first digital image, and wherein the user-indicated eye location information and the user-indicated nose location information are used in (b) to derive the first facial recognition markers;

(c) storing the first facial recognition markers as part of first record, wherein the first record is one record of a plurality of stored records, and wherein the first record includes information about the first user;

(d) receiving a second communication from a second user, wherein the second communication includes a second digital image of the animal, a second user-indicated eye location information and a first user-indicated nose location information;

(e) using the computer-implemented facial recognition process to derive second facial recognition markers from the second digital image;

(f) comparing the first facial recognition markers and the second facial recognition markers and thereby identifying the first record; and

(g) sending a third communication to the second user, wherein the third communication includes information from the identified first record.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first user is an owner of the animal, and wherein the second user is a finder of the animal.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the first user is a finder of the animal, and wherein the second user is an owner of the animal.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the second user is a finder of the animal, and wherein the first user is neither an owner of the animal nor the finder of the animal.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first user is taken from the group consisting of:

a veterinarian, an employee of a veterinarian, a person working at a retail store, an employee of a retail store, a person working at an animal shelter, an employee of an animal shelter.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the first communication is sent by the first user via a first mobile device, and wherein the first communication is received by a server.

22. The method of claim 16, wherein the second communication is sent by the second user via a second mobile device, and wherein the second communication is received by a server.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the first communication from the first user is received from a mobile communication device of the first user, wherein the first communication includes geographical location information generated by the mobile communication device when the first digital image of an animal was generated, and wherein the comparing of (f) uses the geographical location information to limit a number of facial recognition markers compared in (f).

24. The method of claim 16, wherein the information sent in (g) includes a digital image of the animal.

25. The method of claim 16, wherein the information sent in (g) includes an email address of the first user.

26. The method of claim 16, wherein the third communication sent in (g) is a push notification sent to a mobile communication device of the first user.

27. The method of claim 16, wherein the information sent in (g) is a telephone number of the first user.

28. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

(h) receiving scheduling information indicating when a notice is to be sent; and

(i) using information about the first user stored in the database to send the notice to the first user, wherein the notice is sent at a time determined by the scheduling information.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the scheduling information is received in (h) from a person taken from the group consisting of:

a veterinarian, an employee of a veterinarian, a person working at a veterinarian office.

30. A system, comprising:

first means for maintaining a database of records, wherein each record includes facial recognition markers derived from an image of an animal, a pre-existing eye location information, and a pre-existing nose location information, and wherein each of at least some of the records includes an image of an animal and owner contact information about an owner of the animal; and

second means for receiving information from a wireless communication device, wherein the information received includes a digital image of a particular animal, user-indicated eye location information, user-indicated nose location information, and geographical location information, wherein the second means is also for causing the first means to generate facial recognition markers at least in part from the digital image, the user-indicated eye location information and the user-indicated nose location information.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the first means is also for comparing facial recognition markers associated with a lost animal to other facial recognition markers stored in the database in a facial recognition process thereby identifying a record in the database.

32. The system of claim 30, wherein the system is a server system, wherein the first means is a plurality of IP servers, wherein the second means is a plurality of web servers and a load balancer, and wherein the database is stored at least in part on the second means and at least in part on the first means.

33. The system of claim 30, wherein the first and second means are parts of in a single server.