Providing social impact information associated with identified products or businesses

• US 9,530,145 B2
• Filed: 05/19/2016
• Issued: 12/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Calman, Matthew A., Ross, Erik Stephen, Hamilton, Alfred
• Primary Examiner(s): Padot, Timothy
• Application Number:
  US15/159,504
• Publication Number:
  US 20160267506A1
• Time in Patent Office: 222 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/00 Administration; Management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0203 Market surveys; Market polls
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0625 Directed, with specific intent or strategy
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0631 Item recommendations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0643 Graphical representation of items or shoppers
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention are directed to methods and apparatuses for capturing a real-time video stream using a mobile computing device, determining, using a computing device processor, which images from the real-time video stream are associated with goods and businesses consistent with a predetermined social impact, and presenting on a display of the real-time video stream, one or more indicators, each indicator being associated with an image determined to be consistent with a predetermined social impact.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a video capture device associated with a mobile device of a user for capturing a real-time video stream of a surrounding environment, wherein the real-time video stream comprises images of one or more goods or service providers;

a processor operably connected to the video capture device, configured to generate a predetermined social impact profile based on input from the user regarding the user'"'"'s self-defined social impact values, and determine which images from the real-time video stream are associated with goods or service providers consistent with a predetermined social impact profile based on analyzing the captured real-time video stream for one or more identifying markers associated with the one or more goods or service providers; and

a display device, operably connected to the processor, for presenting the real-time video stream of the surrounding environment with one or more indicators, each indicator of the one or more indicators being associated with an image of a good or service provider determined to be consistent with the predetermined social impact profile, the indicator comprising a virtual image superimposed on the image of the good or service provider presented in the real-time video stream;

wherein the processor is further configured to cause the display device to present a checking account statement of the user and determine which of one or more transactions conducted between the user and one or more identified goods or service providers are consistent with the predetermined social impact profile;

wherein the processor is further configured to;

generate a social impact score of the user based on the determined one or more transactions conducted between the user and the one or more identified goods or service providers that are consistent with the predetermined social impact profile and based in part on one or more transactions that are inconsistent with the predetermined social impact profile;

determine which of the determined transactions were used to generate the social impact score, resulting in a first set of transactions;

determine which of the transactions that are inconsistent with the predetermined social impact profile were used to generate the social impact score, resulting in a second set of transactions, wherein the first set of transactions and the second set of transactions together make up a third set of transactions; and

identify any purchases associated with any of the third set of transactions;

wherein the display device is further configured to present to the user, the identified purchases, wherein the user may use the identified purchases to adjust the user'"'"'s behavior to move the determined social impact score in a direction consistent with the user'"'"'s self-defined social impact values;

wherein the processor is further configured to transmit the generated social impact score of the user to one or more social network accounts;

wherein the processor is further configured to;

determine that the mobile device is associated with at least one trigger event, wherein the trigger event comprises;

(i) the mobile device being exposed to predetermined low levels of illumination for a first predetermined extended period of time, (ii) the mobile device being stationary for a second predetermined extended period of time or (iii) a power source of the mobile device being associated with predetermined low power levels;

disengage the continuous capture of the real-time video stream of the surrounding environment, based on the at least one trigger event; and

re-engage, automatically, the continuous capture of the real-time video stream of the surrounding environment, based on determining that the mobile device is not associated with the at least one trigger event.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a mobile phone.

3. The apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the processor, in determining which images from the real-time video stream are associated with goods or service providers consistent with the predetermined social impact profile, is further configured to:

collect data concerning social values of importance to the user;

generate the social impact profile for the user;

identify goods and service providers captured in the real-time video stream;

correlate the goods or service providers captured in the real-time video stream to information regarding the social impact of the goods or service providers;

assign a social impact profile to the goods or service provider captured in the real-time video stream; and

correlate the social impact profile for the user to the social impact profile of the goods or service provider.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the processor in collecting data concerning the social values of importance to the user is configured to collect user defined data concerning the social values of importance to the user.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the processor in collecting data concerning the social values of importance to the user is configured to:

analyze purchasing behavior of the user; and

identify the social values of importance to the user based on the purchasing behavior of the user.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the social impact of the goods or service provider comprises one or more of the following:

environmental impact, nature of production, product attributes, business attributes or charitable activities.

7. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the user defined data comprises responses to survey questions.

8. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the user defined data comprises search terms inputted by the user and the user'"'"'s desired correlation between the inputted search terms and the goods or service providers.

9. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the purchasing behavior comprises financial records available to a financial institution.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indicators are selectable by the user.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indicators, upon being selected present the user with additional information about the goods or service providers.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indicators, upon being selected present the user with an option to purchase one or more of the goods or a service provided by the service provider via the mobile device.