Systems and methods for augmented reality for disaster simulation

• US 10,579,749 B1
• Filed: 06/16/2016
• Issued: 03/03/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Original Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm)
• Inventors: Davis, Timothy Joel, Engelhorn, Amy
• Primary Examiner(s): Milef, Elda G
• Application Number:
  US15/184,886
• Time in Patent Office: 1,356 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00

Abstract

An augmented reality (AR) system for generating and displaying a pre-disaster Enhanced Situation Visualization (ESV) is provided. The AR system may include an ESV computing device, a user computing device operated by a user and a reference database. The user computing device may transmit a reference request message to the ESV device, the reference request message including an image and/or GPS location of a property. The ESV computing device may determine the subject of the image is the property, retrieve reference information including peril maps associated with the property from the reference database, and determine situation information specific to the subject. The reference and situation information including a loss estimate may be displayed on the user computing device to provide an ESV of the property. The ESV may be used for insurance-related activities, such as handling, adjusting, and/or generating an insurance policy, premium, and/or discount, and/or generating insurance-related recommendations.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for generating and displaying a pre-disaster Enhanced Situation Visualization (ESV) on a user interface of a user computing device, the method comprising:

receiving, by an ESV computing device, a reference request message from the user computing device, the reference request message including an image representative of a current view of a property from a perspective of the user computing device and at least one user-input variable, the image including the property in a current state, and the user-input variable associated with a characteristic of a potential natural event that may occur at the property;

determining a first subject of the image, wherein the first subject is the property;

retrieving, from a reference database, reference information associated with the first subject of the image, wherein the reference information includes a peril map indicating a risk level associated with the potential natural event for the property;

determining, based upon the reference request message and the reference information, situation information specific to a situation of the property, wherein the situation information includes (i) at least one potential effect on the property due to the potential natural event occurring at the property and (ii) a loss estimate based upon the peril map, the at least one user-input variable, and the potential natural event;

generating a reference response message including the situation information and the reference information; and

transmitting the reference response message to the user computing device, wherein the reference response message is configured to cause an Enhanced Situation Visualization including the situation information to be displayed on the user computing device as the at least one potential effect on the property overlaid upon the current view of the property from the perspective of the user computing device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the potential natural event is a flood, and wherein the at least one user-input variable is one of rainfall amount, rainfall duration, and season, the method further comprising displaying the Enhanced Situation Visualization as an overlay of predicted water level.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the potential natural event is a wildfire, and wherein the at least one user-input variable is one of rainfall amount, season, maximum temperature, and wind speed, the method further comprising displaying the Enhanced Situation Visualization as an overlay of the at least one potential effect on the property as a wildfire path.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the Enhanced Situation Visualization as a simulated animation of the at least one potential effect on the property.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising generating a risk-mitigating suggestion based upon the situation information.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving an indication of user compliance with the risk-mitigating suggestion; and

facilitating adjustment of an insurance policy associated with the property.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein facilitating adjustment of the insurance policy associated with the property further comprises:

transmitting, by the ESV computing device, the indication of user compliance with the risk-mitigating suggestion to an insurance server; and

adjusting, by the insurance server, the insurance policy.

8. An Enhanced Situation Visualization (ESV) computing device comprising a memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to:

receive a reference request message from the user computing device, the reference request message including an image representative of a current view of a property from a perspective of the user computing device and at least one user-input variable, the image including the property in a current state, and the user-input variable associated with a characteristic of a potential natural event that may occur at the property;

determine a first subject of the image, wherein the first subject is the property;

retrieve, from a reference database, reference information associated with the first subject of the image, wherein the reference information includes a peril map indicating a risk level associated with the potential natural event for the property;

determine, based upon the reference request message and the reference information, situation information specific to a situation of the property, wherein the situation information includes (i) at least one potential effect on the property due to the potential natural event occurring at the property and (ii) a loss estimate based upon the peril map, the at least one user-input variable, and the potential natural event;

generate a reference response message including the situation information and the reference information; and

transmit the reference response message to the user computing device, wherein the reference response message is configured to cause an Enhanced Situation Visualization including the situation information to be displayed on the user computing device as the at least one potential effect on the property overlaid upon the current view of the property from the perspective of the user computing device.

9. The ESV computing device of claim 8, wherein the potential natural event is a flood, and wherein the at least one user-input variable is one of rainfall amount, rainfall duration, and season, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to display the Enhanced Situation Visualization as an overlay of predicted water level.

10. The ESV computing device of claim 8, wherein the potential natural event is a wildfire, and wherein the at least one user-input variable is one of rainfall amount, season, maximum temperature, and wind speed, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to display the Enhanced Situation Visualization as an overlay of the at least one potential effect on the property as a wildfire path.

11. The ESV computing device of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to display the Enhanced Situation Visualization as a simulated animation of the at least one potential effect on the property.

12. The ESV computing device of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to generate a risk-mitigating suggestion based upon the situation information.

13. The ESV computing device of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to:

receive an indication of user compliance with the risk-mitigating suggestion; and

facilitate adjustment of an insurance policy associated with the property.

14. The ESV computing device of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to transmit the indication of user compliance with the risk-mitigating suggestion to an insurance server to adjust the insurance policy.

15. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein when executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the processor to:

receive a reference request message from the user computing device, the reference request message including an image representative of a current view of a property from a perspective of the user computing device and at least one user-input variable, the image including the property in a current state, and the user-input variable associated with a characteristic of a potential natural event that may occur at the property;

determine a first subject of the image, wherein the first subject is the property;

retrieve, from a reference database, reference information associated with the first subject of the image, wherein the reference information includes a peril map indicating a risk level associated with the potential natural event for the property;

determine, based upon the reference request message and the reference information, situation information specific to a situation of the property, wherein the situation information includes (i) at least one potential effect on the property due to the potential natural event occurring at the property and (ii) a loss estimate based upon the peril map, the at least one user-input variable, and the potential natural event;

generate a reference response message including the situation information and the reference information; and

transmit the reference response message to the user computing device, wherein the reference response message is configured to cause an Enhanced Situation Visualization including the situation information to be displayed on the user computing device as the at least one potential effect on the property overlaid upon the current view of the property from the perspective of the user computing device.

16. The computer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein the potential natural event is a flood, and wherein the at least one user-input variable is one of rainfall amount, rainfall duration, and season, and wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to display the Enhanced Situation Visualization as an overlay of predicted water level.

17. The computer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein the potential natural event is a wildfire, and wherein the at least one user-input variable is one of rainfall amount, season, maximum temperature, and wind speed, and wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to display the Enhanced Situation Visualization as an overlay of the at least one potential effect on the property as a wildfire path.

18. The computer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to display the Enhanced Situation Visualization as a simulated animation of the at least one potential effect on the property.

19. The computer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to generate a risk-mitigating suggestion based upon the situation information.

20. The computer-readable storage media of claim 19 wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to:

receive an indication of user compliance with the risk-mitigating suggestion; and

facilitate adjustment of an insurance policy associated with the property.