Method and device for generating information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9922530-B2
Application number	US-201615162083-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 23, 2016
Priority date	Aug 18, 2015
Publication date	Mar 20, 2018
Grant date	Mar 20, 2018

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a method and device for generating information. The method includes acquiring first information related to an amount of at least one food item remaining in a refrigerator; acquiring a rate of consumption of the at least one food item; calculating a number of meal servings of the at least one food item based on the first information and the rate of consumption; and generating a reminder message when the number of meal servings is less than a threshold number of meal servings.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for generating information, comprising:
acquiring first information related to an amount of at least one food item remaining in a refrigerator;
acquiring a rate of consumption of the at least one food item;
acquiring a first number of diners;
modifying the rate of consumption based on the first number of diners and a standard serving amount of the at least one food item;
calculating a number of meal servings of the at least one food item based on the first information and the rate of consumption; and
generating a reminder message when the number of meal servings is less than a threshold number of meal servings.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first information related to the amount of the at least one food item includes a type of the at least one food item and the amount of the at least one food item remaining in the refrigerator; and
wherein acquiring the first information includes:
determining the type of the at least one food item based on an image from inside the refrigerator acquired by a camera disposed in the refrigerator; and
determining the amount of the at least one food item stored in at least one storage region of the refrigerator based on one or more of (i) the image from inside the refrigerator acquired by the camera, and (ii) pressure data acquired by a pressure sensor disposed in the at least one storage region.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein acquiring the rate of consumption includes:
acquiring habit information of a user based on a history record of food consumption, the habit information indicating a single serving amount and a serving frequency of a designated food consumed by the user; and
determining the rate of consumption based on the single serving amount and the serving frequency.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the rate of consumption includes:
acquiring habit information of a user based on a history record of food consumption, the habit information indicating a single serving amount and a serving frequency of a designated food consumed by the user; and
determining the rate of consumption based on the single serving amount and the serving frequency.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining a preferred food item of the user based on the habit information of the user;
searching cooking parameters based on the preferred food item of the user, the cooking parameters including an amount of the preferred food item, a cooking apparatus, and a cooking operation parameter based on the cooking apparatus; and
sending the cooking parameters to the cooking apparatus, the cooking apparatus being one of an electric cooker, an electromagnetic oven, a microwave oven, and an oven.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the first number of diners includes at least one of:
a first manner of acquiring the first number of diners by (i) acquiring diner information from an image acquired by a camera, the camera being attached to the refrigerator or disposed outside of the refrigerator, and (ii) determining the first number of diners based on the diner information;
a second manner of acquiring the first number of diners by (i) acquiring a number of mobile terminals connected to a home gateway device, and (ii) determining the first number of diners based on the number of mobile terminals;
a third manner of acquiring the first number of diners by (i) acquiring visitor information in a terminal attached to the refrigerator, the visitor information including at least a number of visitors, and (ii) determining the first number of diners based on the number of visitors;
a fourth manner of acquiring the first number of diners by (i) acquiring travel information in a terminal attached to the refrigerator, the travel information including a travel schedule, and (ii) determining the first number of diners based on the travel schedule; and
a fifth manner of acquiring the first number of diners by (i) acquiring geographical location information of a mobile terminal attached to the refrigerator during a time period, the time period being a cooking period, (ii) determining that a user associated with the mobile terminal is a non-diner when the geographical location information indicates that a distance between the mobile terminal and the refrigerator is greater than a threshold distance, and (iii) determining the first number of diners based on the non-diner and a predetermined number of diners.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the reminder message includes:
acquiring price information associated with the at least one food item; and
adding the price information to the reminder message.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
acquiring a first storage duration of the at least one food item; and
generating a serving reminder message for reminding a user to serve the at least one food item when the first storage duration reaches a threshold storage duration associated with the at least one food item.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a storage state of the at least one food item via at least one of a camera and an odor sensor; and
generating a clean-up reminder message for reminding a user to clean out the at least one food item when the storage state indicates that the at least one food item has expired.

10. A device for generating information, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory for storing instructions executable by the processor, wherein the processor is configured to:
acquire first information related to an amount of at least one food item remaining in a refrigerator;
acquire a rate of consumption of the at least one food item;
acquire a first number of diners;
modify the rate of consumption based on the first number of diners and a standard serving amount of the at least one food item;
calculate a number of meal servings of the at least one food item based on the first information and the rate of consumption; and
generate a reminder message when the number of meal servings is less than a threshold number of meal servings.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the first information related to the amount of the at least one food item includes a type of the at least one food item and the amount of the at least one food item remaining in the refrigerator, and wherein the processor is configured to acquire the first information by:
determining the type of the at least one food item based on an image from inside the refrigerator acquired by a camera disposed in the refrigerator; and
determining the amount of the at least one food item stored in at least one storage region of the refrigerator based on one or more of (i) the image from inside the refrigerator acquired by the camera, and (ii) pressure data acquired by a pressure sensor disposed in the storage region.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the processor is configured to acquire the rate of consumption by:
acquiring habit information of a user based on a history record of food consumption, the habit information indicating a single serving amount and a serving frequency of a designated food consumed by the user; and
determining the rate of consumption based on the single serving amount and the serving frequency.

13. The device of claim 10 , wherein the processor is configured to acquire the rate of consumption by:
acquiring habit information of a user based on a history record of food consumption, the habit information indicating a single serving amount and a serving frequency of a designated food consumed by the user; and
determining the rate of consumption based on the single serving amount and the serving frequency.

Assignees

• Xiaomi Inc

Inventors

• Wu Ke
• Liu Xinyu

Classifications

• G09B19/0092

  Nutrition · CPC title

• H04L12/2829

  involving user profiles according to which the execution of a home appliance functionality is automatically triggered · CPC title

• H04L2012/2841

  Wireless · CPC title

• G08B21/182

  Level alarms, e.g. alarms responsive to variables exceeding a threshold · CPC title

• G06Q30/0633 Primary

  Managing shopping lists, e.g. compiling or processing purchase lists (shipping orders G06Q10/083; order filling G06Q10/087) · CPC title