Machine-differentiatable identifiers having a commonly accepted meaning

• US 9,459,693 B2
• Filed: 02/10/2014
• Issued: 10/04/2016
• 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): Simpson, Lixi C
• Assistant Examiner(s): PHAM LU, NGAN T
• Application Number:
  US14/177,101
• Publication Number:
  US 20140225823A1
• Time in Patent Office: 967 Days
• Field of Search: 345 7- 9
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/002 Specific input/output arrangements not covered by G06F3/01 - G06F3/16 other optical apparatus G02B27/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/174 Form filling; Merging
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/12 Details of acquisition arrangements; Constructional details thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/10 Character recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/1423 the instrument generating sequences of position coordinates corresponding to handwriting preprocessing or recognising digital ink G06V30/32
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/1448 based on markings or identifiers characterising the document or the area
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/32 Digital ink

Abstract

Embodiments include an article of manufacture, apparatus, device, system, computer-program product, and method. In an embodiment, system is provided that includes at least two machine-differentiatable identifiers, each identifier of the at least two machine-differentiatable identifiers being respectively keyed to a data recipient and associatable with a hand-formed mark on a surface. The system also includes a commonly accepted meaning respectively associated by a group of users with each machine-differentiatable identifier of the at least two machine-differentiatable identifiers. The system may include a surface displaying the at least two machine-differentiatable identifiers. The system may include a surface displaying the at least two machine-differentiatable identifiers and the commonly accepted meaning respectively associated by a group of users with each machine-differentiatable identifier of the at least two machine-differentiatable identifiers.

Claims

1. A head mountable system, comprising:

a gaze tracking device operable to track at least one eye gaze directed proximate to at least one item by a user of the head mountable system, the at least one item external to the head mountable system;

a detecting device operable to generate identification information associated with at least one aspect of the at least one item, the identification information generated at least partially based on the at least one eye gaze directed proximate to the at least one item;

an image capture device operable to obtain at least one image of at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user of the head mountable system, the at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item;

an annotating device operable to generate annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via image recognition of the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark; and

a transmitting device operable to transmit at least one of the identification information or the annotation information.

2. A head mountable system, comprising:

means for tracking at least one eye gaze directed proximate to at least one item by a user of the head mountable system, the at least one item external to the head mountable system;

means for generating identification information associated with at least one aspect of the at least one item, the identification information generated at least partially based on the at least one eye gaze directed proximate to the at least one item;

means for obtaining at least one image of at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user of the head mountable system, the at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item;

means for generating annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via image recognition of the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark; and

means for transmitting at least one of the identification information or the annotation information.

3. A head mountable system, comprising:

circuitry configured for tracking at least one eye gaze directed proximate to at least one item by a user of the head mountable system, the at least one item external to the head mountable system;

circuitry configured for generating identification information associated with at least one aspect of the at least one item, the identification information generated at least partially based on the at least one eye gaze directed proximate to the at least one item;

circuitry configured for obtaining at least one image of at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user of the head mountable system, the at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item;

circuitry configured for generating annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via image recognition of the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark; and

circuitry configured for transmitting at least one of the identification information or the annotation information.

4. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for generating annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via image recognition of the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark comprises:

circuitry configured for generating annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via image recognition of the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark captured in response to detecting at least one finger gesture, including at least detecting the user tapping a fingertip a predetermined number of times proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item to signal the system to obtain the at least one image.

5. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for generating identification information associated with at least one aspect of the at least one item, the identification information generated at least partially based on the at least one eye gaze directed proximate to the at least one item comprises:

circuitry configured for acquiring an image of the at least one aspect of the at least one item.

6. The head mountable system of claim 5, further comprising:

circuitry configured for rendering information associated with the image into textural information associated with one or more of an author name, a cover title, a page number, or a binding title related to a book tracked by the at least one eye gaze as the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via an optical character recognition process.

7. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for tracking at least one eye gaze directed proximate to at least one item by a user of the head mountable system, the at least one item external to the head mountable system comprises:

circuitry configured for determining at least one item substantially aligned with a gaze of at least one of a user'"'"'s eyes at least partially based on tracking the at least one eye gaze; and

circuitry configured for directing a lens track of an image capture device to a recognizable aspect of the at least one item substantially aligned with the gaze of the at least one of the user'"'"'s eyes in response to tracking the at least one eye gaze.

8. The head mountable system of claim 3, further comprising:

at least one eye cover facilitating at least one substantially unobstructed line of sight between at least one eye of the user of the head mountable system and at least one aspect of the at least one item, the at least one substantially unobstructed line of sight including at least the at least one eye gaze.

9. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for generating annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via image recognition of the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark comprises:

circuitry configured for generating the annotation information at least partially based on at least one user reaction associated with the at least one hand-formed mark to the at least one aspect of the at least one item.

10. The head mountable system of claim 3, the head mountable system including a pair of eyeglasses, the pair of eyeglasses including at least the circuitry configured for tracking at least one eye gaze, the circuitry configured for generating identification information, the circuitry configured for obtaining at least one image, the circuitry configured for generating annotation information, and the circuitry for transmitting at least one of the identification information or the annotation information.

11. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for generating annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via image recognition of the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark comprises:

circuitry configured for generating the annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item, the annotation information generated at least partially based on at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark captured in response to detecting at least one finger gesture, the at least one finger gesture proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item.

12. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for generating annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via image recognition of the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark comprises:

circuitry configured for generating the annotation information at least partially based on at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark captured in response to at least one user activatable switch, the at least one user activatable switch operable to indicate when the annotation information is to be generated.

13. The head mountable system of claim 12, wherein circuitry configured for generating the annotation information at least partially based on at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark captured in response to at least one user activatable switch, the at least one user activatable switch operable to indicate when the annotation information is to be generated comprises:

circuitry configured for generating the annotation information at least partially based on at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark captured in response to at least one user activatable switch including at least one of a hardware switch, a motion sensitive switch, a predetermined condition activated switch, a sound activated switch, or a voice activated switch.

14. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for generating annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via image recognition of the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark comprises:

circuitry configured for generating the annotation information at least partially based on at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark, the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark indicating at least an elevated priority aspect.

15. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for generating annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via image recognition of the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark comprises:

circuitry configured for generating the annotation information at least partially based on at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark, the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark indicating at least an aspect of high interest.

16. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for generating identification information associated with at least one aspect of the at least one item, the identification information generated at least partially based on the at least one eye gaze directed proximate to the at least one item comprises:

circuitry configured for generating identification information associated with at least one product code or at least one bar code, the identification information generated at least partially based on the at least one eye gaze directed proximate to at least one product code or at least one bar code of the at least one item.

17. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for generating identification information associated with at least one aspect of the at least one item, the identification information generated at least partially based on the at least one eye gaze directed proximate to the at least one item comprises:

circuitry configured for generating identification information associated with at least one aspect of the at least one item, including at least;

circuitry configured for identifying the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via detecting the at least one aspect of the at least one item in substantial alignment with the at least one eye gaze; and

circuitry configured for recognizing textural information associated with the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via image information captured via a camera mounted atop the head mountable system.

18. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for generating identification information associated with at least one aspect of the at least one item, the identification information generated at least partially based on the at least one eye gaze directed proximate to the at least one item comprises:

circuitry configured for acquiring at least one image of the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via a camera mounted atop the head mountable system in response to detecting, via the camera mounted atop the head mountable system, at least one finger pointing to the at least one aspect of the at least one item.

19. The head mountable system of claim 18, further comprising:

circuitry configured for performing text recognition with respect to the at least one image of the at least one aspect of the at least one item.

20. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for transmitting at least one of the identification information or the annotation information comprises:

circuitry configured for associating the identification information with the annotation information; and

circuitry configured for providing the associated identification information and annotation information.

21. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for transmitting at least one of the identification information or the annotation information comprises:

circuitry configured for associating the identification information with the annotation information; and

circuitry configured for providing the associated identification information and annotation information for storage, the annotation information capable of being retrieved at least partially via at least one query including at least the identification information.

22. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for transmitting at least one of the identification information or the annotation information comprises:

circuitry configured for saving at least one of the identification information or the annotation information in at least one digital storage medium physically associated with the head mountable system.

23. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for transmitting at least one of the identification information or the annotation information comprises:

circuitry configured for transmitting at least one of the identification information or the annotation information for storage in at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of the head mountable system.

24. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for transmitting at least one of the identification information or the annotation information comprises:

circuitry configured for transmitting at least one of the identification information or the annotation information at least partially via at least one wireless network connection of the head mountable system.

25. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for generating annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via image recognition of the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark comprises:

circuitry configured for obtaining the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark from at least one handheld marking device wirelessly coupled with the head mountable system.

26. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for obtaining at least one image of at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user of the head mountable system, the at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item comprises:

circuitry configured for obtaining the at least one image of at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user of the head mountable system, the at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item using at least one handheld marking device wirelessly coupled with the head mountable system.

27. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for obtaining at least one image of at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user of the head mountable system, the at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item comprises:

circuitry configured for obtaining at least one image of at least one hand-formed gesture formed by the user of the head mountable system, the at least one hand-formed gesture formed by the user proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item.

28. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for obtaining at least one image of at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user of the head mountable system, the at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item comprises:

circuitry configured for obtaining at least one image of at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user of the head mountable system, the at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item using at least one handheld marking device wirelessly coupled with the head mountable system, the at least one image obtained from at least one image sensor integrated with the at least one handheld marking device.

29. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for obtaining at least one image of at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user of the head mountable system, the at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item comprises:

circuitry configured for obtaining at least one image of at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user of the head mountable system, the at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item using at least one handheld marking device wirelessly coupled with the head mountable system, the at least one image derived from at least one motion sensor integrated with the at least one handheld marking device in response to motion of the handheld marking device imparted by the user in forming the hand-formed mark.

30. The head mountable system of claim 29, wherein circuitry configured for obtaining at least one image of at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user of the head mountable system, the at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user proximate to the at least one aspect of the at least one item using at least one handheld marking device wirelessly coupled with the head mountable system, the at least one image derived from at least one motion sensor integrated with the at least one handheld marking device in response to motion of the handheld marking device imparted by the user in forming the hand-formed mark comprises:

circuitry configured for obtaining at least one image of at least one hand-formed mark formed by the user of the head mountable system derived from at least one motion sensor integrated with the at least one handheld marking device, the at least one motion sensor including one or more of at least one accelerometer, at least one gyroscopic sensor, at least one reflective light sensor, or at least one RFID-based sensor of the at least one handheld marking device.

31. The head mountable system of claim 3, wherein circuitry configured for generating annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via image recognition of the at least one image of the at least one hand-formed mark comprises:

circuitry configured for generating annotation information related to the at least one aspect of the at least one item at least partially via optical character recognition of text associated with the at least one hand-formed mark at least partially based on the at least one image.