Digital Commons Network^™

Sensor Configuration For Data Collection In A Voice Activated Computing System, John D. Lanza

Defensive Publications Series

This document describes a technique for managing multiple sensors in one or more devices carried by the user in a voice activated computing system. The sensors can include, for example, location sensors, temperature sensors, light sensors, acoustic sensors, directional sensors, motion sensors, velocity sensors, etc. In some instances, the user may carry multiple devices, such as smartphones, smartwatches, navigation systems, etc., where more than one device include similar sensors. The system can manage the function, capability, and use of these sensors across the user’s multiple devices. The system may request sensor data, such as location data, from a sensor on …

Delivery Of Content Across Multiple Interfaces In A Voice Activated Computing System, John D. Lanza

Defensive Publications Series

This document describes a technique for processing voice commands received by a voice activated computing system to identify non-sponsored content as well as sponsored content related to the voice commands. The system sends the non-sponsored content to a user device or interface over which the voice command was received. But the system sends the sponsored content to a different interface on the same user device, or a different user device associated with the user. The system can poll the capabilities and availability of various interfaces or user devices, and select an interface or a device to which the sponsored content …

Multi-Threaded Tasks, John D. Lanza, John D. Lanza

Defensive Publications Series

Systems and methods described herein allow for optimizing handling of sequence dependent tasks in voice activated computer environment. A data processing system can receive a first audio input signal and a second input audio signal from a user device associated with a corresponding user. The data processing system can determine, for each of the first and second input audio signals, a respective user request indicative of a service or online action requested by the user. The data processing system can generate a first action data structure and a second action data structure based on the user requests identified from the …

Prediction And Selection Of Sequence Of Actions Related To Voice Activated Computing Systems, John D. Lanza

Defensive Publications Series

This document describes a technique for processing voice commands in a voice activated computing system. In particular, the system processes the voice commands to not only determine explicitly requested content and services, but to also predict likely content and services that may be useful to the user in the context of the explicitly requested content and services. The computing system can generate actions related to the predicted content and services, and execute these actions prior to the execution of the actions related to the explicitly requested content and services.

Easy Accessibility To Offline App Content, Devesh Kothari

Defensive Publications Series

A system and method are disclosed that enable easy accessibility to offline app and content transfer from the salesperson’s device to a customer’s device. The salesperson signs up for the service provider’s offline app store and gains access to a set of apps and media content. The salesperson installs a special offline store app from the app store server that authenticates and provides reports on transactions. A customer discovers a physical storefront and purchases the desired media content from the salesperson. The salesperson then transfers the content via local p2p technology. The purchase may be authenticated and/or activated using the …

Verifying Authenticity Of Currency And Tracking Duplicates, Mansoor Alicherry

Defensive Publications Series

To enable merchants and other persons to verify the validity and/or authenticity of paper currency notes, a digital signature can be applied to the currency notes. The digital signature is generated based on a serial number included on the note and a private key. Persons can verify the authenticity of the notes by sending either the serial number and signature, or a photograph of the note, to a server. The server can indicate whether the signature is valid for the serial number, indicating the authenticity of the note. In case of counterfeit notes that duplicate the serial numbers and signatures …

In-Ad Real-Time Video Communication And Assisted Selling, Adam Ruxton, Christopher Ivester

Defensive Publications Series

A system and method are disclosed that enable an online real-time ad viewer to interact with an ad assistant for information about the advertised product or service. When the ad viewer opens an ad, the system analyzes and matches a human ad assistant who may be capable of describing the product/service to the user. The system may match ad viewers to ad assistants based on viewer-selected preferences (e.g. talkativeness, personality type, language, cognitive abilities). The online ad viewer could then interact with the ad assistant through a webcam in real-time. The system tailors an online ad experience with a human …

Dynamic Framerate Adjustment, Srivatsan Ravindran, Katie Roberts-Hoffman

Defensive Publications Series

Presentation of content from a computer or other device on a large screen, such as a projector or a television, is a common activity. The computer is connected to the large screen via a wired or a wireless connection. The content to be presented can include documents and presentation slides with static content such as text and graphics, or content that includes motion such as videos. Default encoders that target high frame rates do not account for content type. The content of a document or slide may appear blurry or include undesirable artifacts if presented at a high frame rate. …

Adjustable Aggressive Pre-Buffer Amount Based On User Location, Justin Lewis, Abhiram Kasina

Defensive Publications Series

A system and method for aggressively pre-buffering media content on a device is disclosed. The system includes a mobile computing device installed with an application (app) for accessing a digital distribution platform through a network connection. The app is in communication with a server including a user database. The method includes providing instructions for choosing when to aggressively pre-buffer media content by classifying the likelihood the user will change to a lower quality connection. This likelihood is determined based on the past median connection duration of other users on the same connection. The disclosed system and method reduce the total …

Touch-Triggered Payment Using A Wearable Device, Jonathan Moeller

Defensive Publications Series

A system and method is disclosed that triggers touch enabled payment using a wearable device. The system includes a wearable such as a wrist or finger worn device and a point of sale terminal (“PoS” below) configured for touch payment. The wearable includes a low-power wireless transmission device and a metallic contact that connects its antenna to the wearer’s body. The PoS has a contact zone that is similarly connected to its antenna. During payment, the wireless transmission device on the PoS sends a discovery signal. When the user touches the contact point on the PoS, the wearable device matches …

Methods And Systems To Identify Potential Users Using Click-Based Referral Of Website Visitors, Sittichai Jiampojamarn, Jing Wang, Deepak Ravichandran, Eu-Jin Goh

Defensive Publications Series

This document describes systems and processes for an advertising platform. The advertising platform increases a size of a target audience (e.g., advertising list of an advertising campaign) of an advertiser by using information that is known about the visitors to the advertiser’s website. The advertising platform can enable advertisers (e.g., website administrators or other such online content providers) to expand advertising to web users that have similar interests to users that have visited the website (e.g., visitors, customers, etc.) of the advertiser. These similar users are more likely to purchase a product from the advertiser than a typical web user. …

Determining User Location Using Ip Address And Historical Device Locations, Oliver Voggenreiter, Ankit Gupta

Defensive Publications Series

Abstract

An enhanced location system uses both IP address (e.g., subnet) and user ID information (e.g., cookie) to differentiate, in view of historical information, a most likely location of a user. Using the IP information a part of a location inference key, the system quickly and easily filters the historical information to identify the location. Having the location enables the system to provide, in real time, location relevant answer or other results responsive to a user’s query.

Millimeter-Wave Radio System, Mark Felipe, Sean Keys

Defensive Publications Series

A millimeter-wave radio system enables a need-based communication between a set of radios to improve performance metrics, such as signal strength/power performance, that impact the quality of service. The system monitors performance of a radio receiver using a software engine present within the radio receiver. Based on the monitored power performance, the system makes adjustments internally as a first course of action and then provides an update to a radio transmitter. Based on this update, the radio transmitter transmits a message to the radio receiver which acts as a second course of action for the receiver to optimize the power …

Method Of Controlling Devices Using Sub-Vocal Commands, Matthew Susskind, Paul Lazarescu

Defensive Publications Series

ABSTRACT

Devices, systems and methods are disclosed that enable voice commands via sub-vocal communication which are directed to a wearable device and sent to a user device to execute the command. The user device could be a phone, tablet or other device configured to receive the commands. This system includes a device worn or attached to the user that detects user commands that are whispered or otherwise subvocalized. The detected voice information is communicated to the user’s phone or other device using wireless communication such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or NFC and executed. The system and method prevents the user from …

Calibration-Free Estimation Of User-Specific Bending Of A Head-Mountable Device, Erfan Davami, Thad Starner

Defensive Publications Series

Disclosed is an approach for determining camera rotation relative to an individual’s eye, which could then be used for applications such as calibration-free estimation of user-specific bending of a device (e.g., a head-mountable device (HMD)), among others. Due to biological conditions, an average gaze vector of an eye most often corresponds to a straight-forward gaze by an individual. Therefore, the average gaze vector is often known with respect to a coordinate system of an individual’s eye. Additionally, when the HMD is worn by a user, the HMD uses an eye-facing camera to determine the average gaze vector of the user’s …

Defense Against Biometric Reproduction Attacks, Nicholas Peterson, Jesper Johansson, Hunter King

Defensive Publications Series

Systems and methods for defense against biometric reproduction attack are disclosed. The system includes one or more mobile devices installed with a security feature integrated to the operating system or installed to the device as an app. The security feature is in communication with a server installed with a mobile device management solution. The device includes a multi-factor authentication system including at least one biometric authenticator and at least one non-biometric authenticator. The method includes prompting for biometric authentication, if the network is reachable. In the absence of an active network, the server may instruct the device to stop using …

Intelligent Generation Of Physical Products, Luke Mulcahy

Defensive Publications Series

Users search for products via a search engine by submitting search queries. Users are presented with search results based on the search queries. The search results may include offers for products that are relevant to a search query or may include no relevant offers. The search system logs search query data including logging whether offers related to the search query were presented in the search result and whether users submitting the search queries selected any offers associated with the search results. The search system designates search queries in which users selected offers in the search results as converted search queries …

Test Token Management, Rebecca Hughes, Jose Damico

Defensive Publications Series

Electronic payment systems employing tokens allow a user to create a virtual card that can be stored securely on a smartphone or in the cloud. The user can use these stored cards to complete payment transactions for items either in applications or via the Internet, for example, via a web browser. To ensure such payments are secure, these systems encrypt the card details in what is known as a “token.” This token contains the card information, as well additional information to authorize/verify the transaction. Successful implementation of tokenized electronic payment in a production environment requires testing of new functionality in …

Expanding User Lists Using Location Data, Jianjun Qiu

Defensive Publications Series

This document describes computer-implemented systems, methods, devices, and techniques for identifying users whose location histories or travel patterns indicate shared interests or characteristics of the users. In some implementations, the techniques are applied to expand a remarketing list by adding users to the remarketing list who have similar location histories or travel patterns to one or more users that were initially identified on the remarketing list. The similar location histories or travel patterns can be identified with respect to particular location features that are determined to have sufficient explanatory power in predicting specified interests or other characteristics of a user.

Dynamic Media Unit Switching Between Different Media Types Based On Loading State And User Interaction, Robert Neale, Yuan Zhang, Lloyd Thompson, Armen Mkrtchyan, Brian Mulford, Murtaza Halai

Defensive Publications Series

A data processing system can generate multimedia units for display with information resources on client devices that allow dynamic adjustment of media content, for example, based on client device capabilities, user's browsing behavior and actions, loading state of the media content, or a combination thereof. Each multimedia unit can include a thumbnail image, a first link to a first video sequence, a second link to a second video sequence, and a software module (e.g., controller) for controlling display of the image thumbnail and content associated with the first and second video sequences.

User Interface For Modular Conversational Assistant, Zachary Alcorn, Aparna Ramchandran, Jennifer Chen

Defensive Publications Series

Conversational assistants are available on various computing devices, e.g., smartphones. With greater popularity, conversational assistants are being deployed in multiple different computing devices such as televisions, laptops, tablets, speakers, Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, etc. Per techniques of this disclosure, user interface state of a conversational assistant is adjusted as appropriate for the device and the conversational context. Such adjustment can include dynamically adjusting the display of the conversational assistant, e.g., to one of a set of predetermined states and/ or dynamically scaling the display of the conversational assistant.

Secure Separation And Control Of Multiple Virtual Machines, David Weekly

Defensive Publications Series

A hypervisor provides secure separation of multiple virtual machines on a device, thus removing conflicts when using the device for multiple purposes, including business and personal use. The hypervisor ensures security and privacy amongst the multiple virtual machines and prevents malicious attacks on one virtual machine from threatening another virtual machine. A switch provides a dedicated interface to the hypervisor, enabling secure switching between the multiple virtual machines. In addition, an indicator enables the hypervisor to identify an active virtual machine. Furthermore, the hypervisor hibernates inactive virtual machines in order to conserve power and provide another layer of protection against …

Techniques For Disambiguation Of Uncertain User Input, Philip Weaver, Maya Ben Ari

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes techniques to perform disambiguation of uncertain or inaccurate user inputs to a computing device. Uncertain input can occur, for example, by an inadvertent touching of the touchscreen of a smartphone in a user’s pocket, inadvertent detection of gesture, etc. Current devices often interpret such input incorrectly, and respond in a manner that is unexpected for the user. Techniques disclosed herein determine a user intent based on the detected gesture. Machine learning is used to disambiguate user-intended input from inadvertent input. The framework described herein detects input and triggers an analyzer. The analyzer receives data from various sources, …

Systems And Method To Deliver Addressable Advertisements, Kevin Flanagan, Timothy Olds, Jose Gonzalez

Defensive Publications Series

System and method are disclosed for customizable ad delivery to targeted clients with efficient bandwidth usage. The system includes an ad server, asynchronous ad delivery server and an ad client. The ad client in a set top box (STB) device periodically requests for a set of possible ads from the asynchronous ad delivery server. The asynchronous ad delivery server is directly interfaced to the ad server and communicates with the ad server to determine a set of possible ads. The ad delivery server responds to the client request for possible ads by generating the customized ads. The asynchronous ad delivery …

Vehicle To Android Communication Mode, Tanmay Wadhwa, Neil Dhillon

Defensive Publications Series

System and method for vehicle-to-Android (V2A) communication mode is disclosed. The system includes an Android smartphone with the real time operating system (RTOS) responsible specifically for V2A communication. The RTOS-enabled device is connected to the vehicle’s OBD-II port using a special cable, providing both vehicle data and power. The device reads data from the vehicle’s CAN-bus and from neighboring V2X messages received by the device’s WiFi module. The inference obtained is then securely broadcast to neighboring V2X systems. The information is sent to Android where it may be logged, analyzed, and displayed to the driver with insights about his/her driving …

Linescan Projector And Camera Offset From Each Other Around Display For Creating Image That Appears To Be Captured From Middle Of Display, Andrew Ian Russell

Defensive Publications Series

A linescan projector and camera can be offset from each other around a display, such as the linescan projector being at the top of the display and the camera being at the side of the display. The linescan projector can sweep vertical lines horizontally, and the camera can capture horizontal images at different vertical locations. A processor can construct an image of a user’s face that appears to have been taken from a middle of the screen, creating the appearance that the user is looking directly into the camera.

Browser That Archives Webpages, Ricardo Garcia

Defensive Publications Series

An Internet web browser can archive webpages visited by a user. The archived pages can be verified by a trusted third party. The archived pages can include signatures and/or certificates that can be verified by the trusted third party, ensuring authenticity of the archived pages. The web browser can archive and request the trusted third party to verify the webpages by use of a plugin provided by the trusted third party.

Keyboard With Built-In Calculator, Dong Kim, Peter Ciccotto

Defensive Publications Series

Calculator applications are available for most platforms, e.g., as a built-in feature of an operating system or as an add-on application. Mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, etc. provide software keyboards that can be used for data entry with a touchscreen display. To use a calculator, a user needs to leave a current application includes data or context for a calculation, open the calculator application, and toggle between the two applications to perform a calculation. This is both inconvenient and prone to mistakes as the user loses the context of the original application when switching to the calculator application. Techniques …

A Method To Improve The Call Handling On Reciprocal Peer To Peer Calls, Yann Grostete, Jérôme Elleouet, Ronan Thepaut

Defensive Publications Series

The solution consists in implementation of algorithms inside the call handling to determine if two distinct calls have finally the same objective and could automatically be merged.

Dynamic User-Affinity Based Curation, Justin Lewis, Scott Davies

Defensive Publications Series

Online content providers recommend content based on the user’s viewing history, e.g. to sustain user interest and promote content that users are likely to be interested in. Current recommendation systems generally focus on one signal, e.g., content viewed by others who also viewed the present content (“co-watch signal”), to make recommendations. Co-watch signal-based recommendations tend to skew towards lowest-common-denominator content and are not capable of accurately recommending niche content. Niche content recommendations that are poorly targeted result in low click-through / view-through rates (CTR/VTR) and miss truly interested audiences. This disclosure describes recommendation systems that take contextual information into account. …