Moving information between computing devices

• US 8,244,043 B2
• Filed: 10/04/2011
• Issued: 08/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Chang, Tsung-Hsiang, Li, Yang
• Primary Examiner(s): CHAWAN, SHEELA C
• Application Number:
  US13/252,699
• Publication Number:
  US 20120070090A1
• Time in Patent Office: 315 Days
• Field of Search: 382/100, 382/103, 382/218, 719/312, 719/329, 707/609, 707/610, 707/617, 707/621, 707/999.008, 707/999.201, 707/999.202, 707/E17.007, 710/304, 713/323, 361/679.4, 709/201, 709/212, 709/230, 715/209, 715/715, 715/790, 345/173, 708/141, 708/110, 348/E5.097, 348/E7.063, 348/E7.073, 348/E5.096, 348/E7.071, 324/323, 324/339, 474/12, 474/18, 372/12, 372/45.013, 372/46.01
• US Class Current: 382/218
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/00 Pattern recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/005 Input arrangements through a video camera

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for moving information between computing devices includes capturing a digital image of a display of a first computing device using a camera of a second computing device, transmitting, to the first computing device, data that corresponds to the digital image; analyzing the transmitted data on the first computing device to determine whether the digital image matches a current display of the first computing device, and using the analysis to cause one of the first or second computing devices to invoke an application and match a state of an application that is executing on the other of the first or second computing devices.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for moving information between computing devices, the method comprising:

capturing a digital image of a display of a first computing device using a camera of a second computing device;

transmitting, to the first computing device, data that corresponds to the digital image;

analyzing the transmitted data on the first computing device to determine whether the digital image matches a current display of the first computing device; and

using the analysis to cause one of the first or second computing devices to invoke an application and match a state of an application that is executing on the other of the first or second computing devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second computing device provides, to the first computing device and with the data that corresponds to the digital image, state information about an application executing on the second computing device, and wherein the second computing device launches the application in a state that corresponds to the state information after determining that the digital image shows a current display of the first computing device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first computing device determines whether it is shown in the digital image.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first computing device receives the data that corresponds to the digital image from the second computing device, and provides, in a responsive message to the second computing device, identification of an application running on the first computing device and a state of the application.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the transmitted data on the first computing device comprises comparing a feature set from the transmitted data to a feature set from a current screen shot of the first computing device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically transmitting the data that corresponds to the digital image to all devices that are registered with a messaging system to a user of the first computing device.

7. A computer-implemented method for moving information between computing devices, the method comprising:

obtaining a digital image of a display screen of a first computing device that is displaying a first application having a first state, wherein the digital image was acquired by a second computing device;

analyzing the digital image to identify aspects of the display screen from the digital image and encoding those aspects as one or more parameters;

identifying a currently operating application on the first computing device or on the second computing device, and a current state of the application; and

providing data for causing the identified application to be activated on the other computing device on which the application was not operating, and for causing the application on the other computing device to enter a state that corresponds to identified current state.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the digital image has been sent from the second computing device to the first computing device, and the second computing device performs the analyzing of the digital image.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first computing device identifies a currently operating application on the first computing device and provides an identifier for the application and a current state of the application to the first computing device.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the first computing device analyzes the digital image to determine whether the first computing device is shown in the digital image.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first computing device activates the application based on a determination that the first computing device is shown in the digital image, and uses state information received from the second computing device to establish a state of the activated application.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the first computing device declines to activate an application on the first computing device based on a determination that the first computing device is not shown in the digital image.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein analyzing the image comprises determining whether a portion of the image matches a current video display of the first or second computing devices.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein analyzing the digital image comprises using optical character recognition to identify words, and identifying a currently operating application comprises using the words to select an application from multiple possible applications.

15. The method of claim 7, wherein analyzing the digital image comprises performing feature analysis on the digital image and comparing results of the feature analysis to results of feature analysis previously performed on images of known computer applications, and wherein identifying a currently operating application comprises identifying a particular application that corresponds to a match in feature analysis results.

16. The method of claim 7, wherein providing data for causing the identified application to be activated on the other computing device comprises sending a URI to the second computer, the URI corresponding to the identified application and the state.

17. The method of claim 7, wherein the state includes a state of the first computing device accessing a hosted document stored at a computer server system, and wherein providing the data for causing the identified application to be activated comprises providing data that causes the second computing device to open an instance of the hosted document.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein providing the data for causing the identified application to be activated causes the first computing device and the second computing device to have instances of the document open simultaneously, and wherein users of the first and second computing devices can collaboratively edit the document.

19. A computer-implemented system for moving information between computing devices, the system comprising:

a first computing device arranged to present one or more applications, each having a current state, on a display screen;

a second computing device having a digital camera capable of capturing an image of the first computing device; and

messaging interfaces on the first computing device and the second computing device to communicate messages through a network and central messaging service between the devices,

wherein one or more of the first and second computing devices is programmed, alone or in combination, to;

obtain data corresponding to a digital image of the display screen captured by the camera;

analyze the data to identify aspects of the display screen from the digital image and encode those aspects as one or more parameters;

identify a currently operating application on the first computing device or on the second computing device, and a current state of the application; and

provide data for causing the identified application to be activated on the other computing device on which the application was not operating, and for causing the application on the other computing device to enter a state that corresponds to the identified current state.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the second computer is programmed to automatically send the digital image, upon its capture, to one or more other computing devices corresponding to a user of the second computer device, which other computing devices include the first computing device.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the first computing device is programmed to identify a currently operating application on the first computing device and provide an identifier for the application and a current state of the application to the first computing device.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the first computing device is programmed to analyze the data corresponding to the digital image to determine whether the first computing device is shown in the digital image.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the first computing device is programmed to activate the application based on a determination that the first computing device is shown in the digital image, and to use state information received from the second computing device to establish a state of the activated application.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the first computing device is programmed to decline to activate an application on the first computing device based on a determination that the first computing device is not shown in the digital image.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein analyzing the data comprises determining whether a portion of the image matches a current video display of the first or second computing devices.

26. The system of claim 19, wherein analyzing the data comprises using optical character recognition to identify words, and identifying a currently operating application comprises.

27. The system of claim 19, wherein analyzing the digital image comprises performing feature analysis on the digital image and comparing results of the feature analysis to results of feature analysis previously performed on images of known computer applications, and wherein identifying a currently operating application comprises identifying a particular application that corresponds to a match in feature analysis results.

28. The system of claim 19, wherein providing data for causing the second computer to automatically display the first application in state that corresponds to the identified current state comprises sending a URI to the second computer, the URI corresponding to the first application and the identified current state.

29. The system of claim 19, wherein the state includes a state of the first computing device accessing a hosted document stored at a computer server system, and wherein providing the data for causing the identified application to be activated comprises providing data that causes the second computing device to open an instance of the hosted document.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein providing the data for causing the identified application to be activated causes the first computing device and the second computing device to have instances of the document open simultaneously, and wherein users of the first and second computing devices can collaboratively edit the document.