Bone conduction tags

• US 9,589,482 B2
• Filed: 09/10/2014
• Issued: 03/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Baldwin, Christopher, Amento, Brian S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wang, Jack K
• Application Number:
  US14/482,087
• Publication Number:
  US 20160071382A1
• Time in Patent Office: 909 Days
• Field of Search: 340/457, 340/407.1, 345/173, 345/174, 600/28
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/00 Methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns methods or arrangements for marking the record carrier in digital fashion G06K1/00; pattern recognition G06F18/00; arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding G06V10/00; character recognition, recognising digital ink or document-oriented image-based pattern recognition G06V30/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 1/08 using electric transmission ; transformation of alarm signals to electrical signals from a different medium, e.g. transmission of an electric alarm signal upon detection of an audible alarm signal
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 6/00 Tactile signalling systems, e.g. personal calling systems
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 21/00 Teaching, or communicating with, the blind, deaf or mute audible presentation of material to be studied G09B5/04; devices or methods for replacing direct visual or auditory perception by another kind of perception A61F9/08, A61F11/04; audible indication of meter readings or of colour G01D7/12; watches for blind persons G04B25/02; speech analysis, speech recognition G10L; sound-recording or reproducing, per se G11B
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 21/003 using tactile presentation of the information, e.g. Braille displays
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 21/007 using both tactile and audible presentation of the information

Abstract

Concepts and technologies are disclosed herein for bone conduction tags. According to one aspect of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a device can receive, via a transducer, a vibration signal from a body of a user. The vibration signal can be generated in response to the user interacting with a bone conduction tag. For example, the vibration signal can be generated in response to the user moving one or more fingers across the bone conduction tag. The device can analyze the vibration signal to determine an action that is to be performed. The device can perform the action or can instruct a further device to perform the action.

Claims

1. A computer storage medium that stores computer-readable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a device, cause the device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, via a transducer, a vibration signal from a body of a user, wherein the vibration signal is generated in response to the user physically interacting with a bone conduction tag, wherein the bone conduction tag comprises a substrate, wherein the bone conduction tag comprises data encoded using at least a portion of a plurality of variations in the substrate, and wherein the vibration signal is representative of the data encoded using at least the portion of the plurality of variations of the substrate; and

analyzing the vibration signal to determine an action to be performed.

2. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise performing the action.

3. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise instructing a further device to perform the action.

4. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein analyzing the vibration signal to determine the action to be performed comprises comparing the vibration signal to tag data, and wherein the tag data uniquely identifies the bone conduction tag and the action associated therewith.

5. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein the action comprises establishing a wireless connection.

6. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein the action comprises adding an item associated with the bone conduction tag into a list of items that the user might purchase.

7. The computer storage medium of claim 1, wherein the action comprises launching an application.

8. A device comprising:

a transducer;

a processor; and

a memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising;

receiving, via the transducer, a vibration signal from a body of a user, wherein the vibration signal is generated in response to the user physically interacting with a bone conduction tag, wherein the bone conduction tag comprises a substrate, wherein the bone conduction tag comprises data encoded using at least a portion of a plurality of variations of the substrate, and wherein the vibration signal is representative of the data encoded using at least the portion of the plurality of variations of the substrate, and

analyzing the vibration signal to determine an action to be performed.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise performing the action.

10. The device of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise instructing a further device to perform the action.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the further device comprises a wearable device that is worn by the user.

12. A bone conduction tag comprising:

a substrate formed from a first material and comprising a plurality of variations, wherein the plurality of variations, when physically interacted with by a user, cause a vibration signal to be generated; and

data encoded in the plurality of variations, wherein the vibration signal propagates through a bone of the user to a device that analyzes the vibration signal to determine an action to be performed based upon the data encoded in the plurality of variations.

13. The bone conduction tag of claim 12, wherein the substrate is formed further from a second material;

and wherein the plurality of variations comprises variations between the first material and the second material.

14. The bone conduction tag of claim 12, wherein the plurality of variations comprises modifications to the first material.

15. The bone conduction tag of claim 12, wherein the plurality of variations comprises a plurality of elevations, wherein each of the plurality of elevations comprises a width, and wherein the data encoded in the plurality of variations is encoded, at least in part, based upon physical differences between widths of the plurality of elevations.

16. The bone conduction tag of claim 15, wherein the plurality of variations further comprises a plurality of spaces between the plurality of elevations, and wherein the data encoded in the plurality of variations is encoded, at least in part, based upon the plurality of spaces.

17. The bone conduction tag of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of elevations is representative of a binary digit one and each of the plurality of spaces is representative of a binary digit zero.

18. The bone conduction tag of claim 12, wherein the bone conduction tag is built-in to an object.

19. The bone conduction tag of claim 12, wherein the bone conduction tag is attached to an object.

20. The bone conduction tag of claim 12, wherein the bone conduction tag is a stand-alone tag.