Video guidance for smart-home device installation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10049280-B2
Application number	US-201715451930-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 7, 2017
Priority date	Oct 7, 2013
Publication date	Aug 14, 2018
Grant date	Aug 14, 2018

Abstract

Various arrangements for assessing an installation of a smart home device are presented. A video camera device may capture video indicative of a location of the smart home device. The video indicative of the location of the smart home device may be analyzed to determine whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification. An indication may then be output indicative of whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for assessing an installation of a smart home device, the method comprising:
capturing, by a video camera device, video indicative of a location of the smart home device;
analyzing the video indicative of the location of the smart home device to determine whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification; and
outputting an indication of whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification based on analyzing the video indicative of the location of the smart home device.

2. The method for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 1 , wherein outputting the indication of whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification comprises causing a notification alert to be output to guide a user during installation of the smart home device to a suitable installation location for the smart home device.

3. The method for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 1 , wherein outputting the indication of whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification comprises outputting, by the smart home device, speech indicating the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification.

4. The method for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 1 , further comprising:
registering the smart home device with a remote server, comprising:
transmitting, to a cloud-based server system, a code indicative of the smart home device; and
linking the smart home device with an online management account maintained by the cloud-based server system.

5. The method for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 4 , wherein analyzing the video indicative of the location of the smart home device to determine whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification is performed by the cloud-based server system.

6. The method for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 1 , further comprising: transmitting, by the video camera device to the smart home device, the indication of whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification.

7. The method for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 1 , wherein the video camera device is a smartphone.

8. The method for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 1 , wherein the smart home device is a hazard detector and the hazard detector being able to operate within specification comprises the hazard detector being able to effectively detect one or more types of hazard.

9. The method for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 1 , further comprising:
based on the video indicative of the location of the smart home device, determining one or more distances between the smart home device and one or more surfaces, wherein:
analyzing the video indicative of the location of the smart home device to determine whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification comprises analyzing the one or more distances.

10. The method for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 1 , further comprising:
capturing, by the video camera device, audio, wherein the audio is captured while the video indicative of the location of the smart home device is being captured.

11. A system for assessing an installation of a smart home device, the system comprising:
the smart home device that is being installed in a home;
a video camera device that captures video indicative of a location of the smart home device; and
a cloud-based server system, wherein the system is configured to:
analyze the video indicative of the location of the smart home device to determine whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification; and
output an indication of whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification based on analyzing the video indicative of the location of the smart home device.

12. The system for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 11 , wherein the system being configured to output the indication of whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification comprises the system causing a notification alert to be output to guide a user during installation of the smart home device to a suitable installation location for the smart home device.

13. The system for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 11 , wherein the system being configured to output the indication of whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification comprises the system being configured to output, via the smart home device, speech indicating the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification.

14. The system for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 11 , wherein the cloud-based server system registers the smart home device, registration comprising:
the cloud-based server system receiving, from the video camera device, a code indicative of the smart home device; and
the cloud-based server system linking the smart home device with an online management account maintained by the cloud-based server system.

15. The system for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 14 , wherein the system being configured to analyze the video indicative of the location of the smart home device to determine whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification is performed by the cloud-based server system.

16. The system for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 11 , wherein the video camera device is a smartphone.

17. The system for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 11 , wherein the smart home device is a hazard detector and the hazard detector being able to operate within specification comprises the hazard detector being able to effectively detect one or more types of hazard.

18. The system for assessing the installation of the smart home device of claim 11 , wherein the system is further configured to:
determine one or more distances between the smart home device and one or more surfaces based on the video indicative of the location of the smart home device, wherein:
the system analyzing the video indicative of the location of the smart home device to determine whether the location of the smart home device prevents the smart home device from operating within specification comprises the system analyzing the one or more distances.

19. A video camera device for assessing an installation of a smart home device, the video camera device comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory communicatively coupled with and readable by the one or more processors and having stored therein processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
capture, via the video camera device, video indicative of a location of the smar

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Sloo David
• Webb Nick
• Matsuoka Yoky
• Fadell Anthony Michael
• Rogers Matthew Lee

Classifications

• H05B47/19

  via wireless transmission · CPC title

• H05B45/20

  Controlling the colour of the light · CPC title

• H05B47/11

  by determining the brightness or colour temperature of ambient light · CPC title

• G01N27/121

  for determining moisture content, e.g. humidity, of the fluid (moisture content of the tested material G01N27/048) · CPC title

• G08B29/185

  Signal analysis techniques for reducing or preventing false alarms or for enhancing the reliability of the system · CPC title