Bone conduction tags

• US 10,276,003 B2
• Filed: 03/06/2017
• Issued: 04/30/2019
• 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:
  US15/450,624
• Publication Number:
  US 20170178472A1
• Time in Patent Office: 785 Days
• Field of Search: 3404071
• 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 package comprising:

a structure formed from a first material; and

a bone conduction tag associated with the structure comprising a substrate comprising a plurality of elevations, a plurality of spaces, and universal product code data encoded in the plurality of elevations and the plurality of spaces, wherein each elevation of the plurality of elevations is representative of a first binary digit of a universal product code and each space of the plurality of spaces is representative of a second binary digit of the universal product code.

2. The package of claim 1, wherein the bone conduction tag also is formed from the first material.

3. The package of claim 2, wherein the bone conduction tag is attached to the structure.

4. The package of claim 2, wherein the bone conduction tag is built-in to the structure.

5. The package of claim 1, wherein the bone conduction tag is formed from a second material.

6. The package of claim 5, wherein the bone conduction tag is attached to the structure.

7. The package of claim 5, wherein the bone conduction tag is built-in to the structure.

8. A system comprising:

a bone conduction tag comprising a substrate comprising a plurality of elevations, a plurality of spaces, and universal product code data encoded in the plurality of elevations and the plurality of spaces, wherein each elevation of the plurality of elevations is representative of a first binary digit of a universal product code and each space of the plurality of spaces is representative of a second binary digit of the universal product code; and

a device comprising

a transducer,

a processor, and

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 the bone conduction tag, and wherein the vibration signal is representative of the universal product code data encoded in the plurality of elevations and the plurality of spaces of the substrate, and

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

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

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

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the action comprises launching an application.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the action comprises launching a web page.

13. A bone conduction tag comprising:

a substrate comprising a plurality of elevations and a plurality of spaces; and

universal product code data encoded in the plurality of elevations and the plurality of spaces, wherein each elevation of the plurality of elevations is representative of a first binary digit of a universal product code and each space of the plurality of spaces is representative of a second binary digit of the universal product code.

14. The bone conduction tag of claim 13, wherein the substrate is formed from a first material.

15. The bone conduction tag of claim 14, wherein the substrate is further formed from a second material.

16. The bone conduction tag of claim 13, wherein the substrate forms, at least in part, a package.

17. The bone conduction tag of claim 13, wherein the substrate forms, at least in part, an object.

18. The bone conduction tag of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of elevations comprises a width, and wherein the universal product code data encoded in the plurality of elevations is encoded, at least in part, based upon physical differences between widths of the plurality of elevations.

19. The bone conduction tag of claim 13, wherein the first binary digit comprises a binary digit one and the second binary digit comprises a binary digit zero.

20. The bone conduction tag of claim 13, wherein the first binary digit comprises a binary digit zero and the second binary digit comprises a binary digit one.