Systems and methods for scanning a user environment and evaluating data of interest

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9734369-B2
Application number	US-201615334088-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 25, 2016
Priority date	Mar 1, 2012
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

According to various embodiments, a mobile device continuously and/or automatically scans a user environment for tags containing non-human-readable data. The mobile device may continuously and/or automatically scan the environment for tags without being specifically directed at a particular tag. The mobile device may be adapted to scan for audio tags, radio frequency tags, and/or image tags. The mobile device may be configured to scan for and identify tags within the user environment that satisfy a user preference. The mobile device may perform an action in response to identifying a tag that satisfies a user preference. The mobile device may be configured to scan for a wide variety of tags, including tags in the form of quick response codes, steganographic content, audio watermarks, audio outside of a human audible range, radio frequency identification tags, long wavelength identification tags, near field communication tags, and/or a Memory Spot device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for capturing and evaluating data of interest to a user, comprising:
automatically scanning a user environment by a mobile device for tags containing non-human-readable data, wherein at least some of the tags specify one or more actions to be performed by a computing device;
identifying at least one tag within the user environment that satisfies one or more user-defined criteria;
determining, via the mobile device, which of a plurality of actions associated with the identified tag is to be performed based on the identified tag; and
performing, via the computing device, the action specified by the at least one identified tag that satisfies the one or more user-defined criteria.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tag comprises at least one of a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, a long wavelength identification (LWID) tag, a near field communication (NFC) device and a Memory Spot device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically scanning the user environment comprises continuously scanning the user environment.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one user-defined criteria is based at least in part on historical user input or actions.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the action specified by the identified tag comprises using information provided by the identified tag to obtain supplemental content via a communication network associated with the mobile device.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
determining a second action based on the supplemental content obtained from the owner of the tag; and
performing the second action by a computing device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the action comprises notifying the user about the identified tag in the user environment.

8. A system for capturing and evaluating data of interest to a user, comprising:
a mobile device to automatically scan a physical user environment for one or more tags containing non-human-readable data, wherein at least some of the tags specify one or more actions to be performed by a computing device;
an identification component to identify an tag within a physical user environment that satisfies one or more user-defined criteria; and
an action component to determine which of a plurality of actions associated with the identified tag is to be performed by the computing device based the identified tag.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the action causes the computing device to transmit a request to a third party on behalf of the user.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the action causes the computing device to send user information to a third party.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the user information includes one or more of demographic information, contact information, a username, a password, financial information, a user location, a user comment, and social network information associated with the user.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the user information is provided to a creator of the tag.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the action causes the computing device to send information to an entity associated with the tag.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the action causes the computing device to place an order for an item referenced by the identified tag.

15. The system of claim 8 , wherein the action causes the computing device to send a coupon to the user for a product or service referenced by the identified tag.

16. The system of claim 8 , wherein the identified tag comprises at least one of a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, a long wavelength identification (LWID) tag, a near field communication (NFC) device, and a Memory Spot device.

17. The system of claim 8 , wherein the mobile device comprises a cellular telephone.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising program code that, when executed, causes a system to perform operations comprising:
automatically scanning a user environment by a mobile device for tags containing non-human-readable data, wherein at least some of the tags specify one or more actions to be performed by a computing device;
identifying at least one tag within the user environment that satisfies one or more user-defined criteria;
determining, via the mobile device, which of a plurality of actions associated with the identified tag is to be performed based on the identified tag; and
performing, via the computing device, the action specified by the at least one identified tag that satisfies the one or more user-defined criteria.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the tag comprises at least one of a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, a long wavelength identification (LWID) tag, a near field communication (NFC) device and a Memory Spot device.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the action specified by the identified tag comprises using information provided by the identified tag to obtain supplemental content via a communication network associated with the mobile device.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 , further comprising:
determining a second action based on the supplemental content obtained from the owner of the tag; and
performing the second action by a computing device.

Assignees

• Elwha Llc
• Lord Julie G

Inventors

• Gerrity Daniel A
• Gates William
• Holman Pablos
• Hyde Roderick A
• Ishikawa Muriel Y
• Jung Edward K Y
• Kare Jordin T
• Levien Royce A
• Lord Richard T
• Lord Robert W
• Malamud Mark A
• Myhrvold Nathan P
• Rinaldo Jr John D
• Rosema Keith D
• Tegreene Clarence T
• Weaver Thomas Allan
• Wood Jr Lowell L

Classifications

• G02B2027/0178

  Eyeglass type (eyeglass details G02C) · CPC title

• G06F3/0304

  Detection arrangements using opto-electronic means (constructional details of pointing devices not related to the detection arrangement using opto-electronic means G06F3/033; optical digitisers G06F3/042) · CPC title

• G02B2027/0138

  comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera · CPC title

• G02B27/017 Primary

  Head mounted · CPC title

• G06F3/0317

  in co-operation with a patterned surface, e.g. absolute position or relative movement detection for an optical mouse or pen positioned with respect to a coded surface · CPC title