Patents by Inventor Stephen Edward Hodges

Stephen Edward Hodges has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10198233
    Abstract: A system is described which comprises an input arranged to receive attention tracking data from attention tracking hardware. The attention tracking data, along with parameters associated with each display change request, is then used to select a display change request from a plurality of stored display change requests received from a plurality of different applications and a change defined by the selected display change request is then rendered in a GUI on a display device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Tobias Alexander Grosse-Puppendahl, James Scott, Stephen Edward Hodges, John Franciscus Marie Helmes, Stuart Alastair Taylor, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, Pascal Knierim, Gavin Wood, Josh Fromm, Albrecht Schmidt
  • Patent number: 10079001
    Abstract: An autonomous pixel comprises a display element, a plurality of different sensors and a control element. The sensors are arranged to detect one or more external stimuli and the control element is arranged to generate, entirely within the autonomous pixel, a control signal to drive the display element based, at least in part, on a magnitude of an external stimulus detected by one or more of the different sensors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Stephen Edward Hodges, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, David Sweeney, Anja Thieme, Tobias Grosse-Puppendahl, Helene Steiner
  • Patent number: 10062352
    Abstract: A display comprises a plurality of autonomous pixels on a substrate. Each autonomous pixel comprises a display element, a sensing element and a control element. The sensing element is arranged to detect an external stimulus and the control element is arranged to generate, entirely within the autonomous pixel, a control signal to drive the display element based, at least in part, on a magnitude of the external stimulus detected by the sensing element. Additionally, the control element comprises one or more groups of transistors, each group comprising two or more transistors arranged to perform the same function and connected in parallel with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Stephen Edward Hodges, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, David Sweeney, Tobias Grosse-Puppendahl
  • Patent number: 10049458
    Abstract: Systems and methods for reducing interference between multiple infra-red depth cameras are described. In an embodiment, the system comprises multiple infra-red sources, each of which projects a structured light pattern into the environment. A controller is used to control the sources in order to reduce the interference caused by overlapping light patterns. Various methods are described including: cycling between the different sources, where the cycle used may be fixed or may change dynamically based on the scene detected using the cameras; setting the wavelength of each source so that overlapping patterns are at different wavelengths; moving source-camera pairs in independent motion patterns; and adjusting the shape of the projected light patterns to minimize overlap. These methods may also be combined in any way. In another embodiment, the system comprises a single source and a mirror system is used to cast the projected structured light pattern around the environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Shahram Izadi, David Molyneaux, Otmar Hilliges, David Kim, Jamie Daniel Joseph Shotton, Stephen Edward Hodges, David Alexander Butler, Andrew Fitzgibbon, Pushmeet Kohli
  • Publication number: 20180204524
    Abstract: A method of operating an emissive display is described in which an ambient light level is detected using a light sensor. If the detected ambient light level is in a predefined region, the method comprises setting a backlight level to a minimum level, generating a correction factor based on the detected ambient light level and modifying color values of content to be displayed using the correction factor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 19, 2017
    Publication date: July 19, 2018
    Inventors: Jan Kucera, John Franciscus Marie Helmes, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, Tobias Grosse-Puppendahl, James Scott, Stephen Edward Hodges, Stuart Taylor, Matthias Baer
  • Publication number: 20180204504
    Abstract: A display comprises a plurality of autonomous pixels on a stretchable substrate. Each autonomous pixel comprises a display element and a control element arranged to sense an external stimulus and to generate, entirely within the autonomous pixel, a control signal to drive the display element based, at least in part, on a magnitude of the sensed external stimulus. The stretchable substrate comprises a plurality of less elastic regions separated by stretchable areas, where the less elastic regions are less stretchable than the surrounding stretchable areas and each control element of an autonomous pixel is located in or on a less elastic region of the stretchable substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2018
    Publication date: July 19, 2018
    Inventors: Stephen Edward Hodges, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, David Sweeney, Anja Thieme, Tobias Grosse-Puppendahl, Helene Steiner
  • Publication number: 20180197034
    Abstract: A system is described which comprises an electronic display device, an annotation capture module and a camera. The annotation capture module is configured to trigger a change in an image displayed on the electronic display device responsive to a capture trigger and the camera is configured to capture one or more images of the electronic display device in response to the capture trigger and/or a trigger received from the annotation capture module. The annotation capture module is further arranged to identify any manual annotations made by a user on the electronic display device by analyzing the images of the electronic display device captured by the camera, wherein at least one of the images was captured after the change in the image displayed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 9, 2017
    Publication date: July 12, 2018
    Inventors: James Scott, Stephen Edward Hodges, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, Stuart Alastair Taylor, John Franciscus Marie Helmes, Tobias Grosse-Puppendahl
  • Patent number: 10002588
    Abstract: A display device is described that comprises an electronic paper display but that does not include a power source that is capable of providing sufficient power to update the electronic paper display. Instead, the electronic paper display can only be updated when receiving external power via a digital data and power bus. The bus also provides pixel data for content to be displayed on the electronic paper display and at least one externally generated bias voltage level for the electronic paper display. The display device further comprises a processor that configured to drive the electronic paper display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, James Scott, Stephen Edward Hodges, John Franciscus Marie Helmes, Stuart Taylor, Thomas Robert Kubitza, Sergey Antonovich, Refael Zabdi Whyte, Nicolas Villar
  • Patent number: 9947262
    Abstract: A display comprises a plurality of autonomous pixels on a stretchable substrate. Each autonomous pixel comprises a display element and a control element arranged to sense an external stimulus and to generate, entirely within the autonomous pixel, a control signal to drive the display element based, at least in part, on a magnitude of the sensed external stimulus. The stretchable substrate comprises a plurality of less elastic regions separated by stretchable areas, where the less elastic regions are less stretchable than the surrounding stretchable areas and each control element of an autonomous pixel is located in or on a less elastic region of the stretchable substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Stephen Edward Hodges, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, David Sweeney, Anja Thieme, Tobias Grosse-Puppendahl, Helene Steiner
  • Patent number: 9891704
    Abstract: Augmented reality with direct user interaction is described. In one example, an augmented reality system comprises a user-interaction region, a camera that captures images of an object in the user-interaction region, and a partially transparent display device which combines a virtual environment with a view of the user-interaction region, so that both are visible at the same time to a user. A processor receives the images, tracks the object's movement, calculates a corresponding movement within the virtual environment, and updates the virtual environment based on the corresponding movement. In another example, a method of direct interaction in an augmented reality system comprises generating a virtual representation of the object having the corresponding movement, and updating the virtual environment so that the virtual representation interacts with virtual objects in the virtual environment. From the user's perspective, the object directly interacts with the virtual objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Otmar Hilliges, David Kim, Shahram Izadi, David Molyneaux, Stephen Edward Hodges, David Alexander Butler
  • Publication number: 20170352306
    Abstract: A display comprises a plurality of autonomous pixels on a stretchable substrate. Each autonomous pixel comprises a display element and a control element arranged to sense an external stimulus and to generate, entirely within the autonomous pixel, a control signal to drive the display element based, at least in part, on a magnitude of the sensed external stimulus. The stretchable substrate comprises a plurality of less elastic regions separated by stretchable areas, where the less elastic regions are less stretchable than the surrounding stretchable areas and each control element of an autonomous pixel is located in or on a less elastic region of the stretchable substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 6, 2016
    Publication date: December 7, 2017
    Inventors: Stephen Edward Hodges, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, David Sweeney, Anja Thieme, Tobias Grosse-Puppendahl, Helene Steiner
  • Publication number: 20170352321
    Abstract: A display comprises a plurality of autonomous pixels on a substrate. Each autonomous pixel comprises a display element, a sensing element and a control element. The sensing element is arranged to detect an external stimulus and the control element is arranged to generate, entirely within the autonomous pixel, a control signal to drive the display element based, at least in part, on a magnitude of the external stimulus detected by the sensing element. Additionally, the control element comprises one or more groups of transistors, each group comprising two or more transistors arranged to perform the same function and connected in parallel with each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 6, 2016
    Publication date: December 7, 2017
    Inventors: Stephen Edward Hodges, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, David Sweeney, Tobias Grosse-Puppendahl
  • Publication number: 20170352327
    Abstract: An autonomous pixel comprises a display element, a plurality of different sensors and a control element. The sensors are arranged to detect one or more external stimuli and the control element is arranged to generate, entirely within the autonomous pixel, a control signal to drive the display element based, at least in part, on a magnitude of an external stimulus detected by one or more of the different sensors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 6, 2016
    Publication date: December 7, 2017
    Inventors: Stephen Edward Hodges, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, David Sweeney, Anja Thieme, Tobias Grosse-Puppendahl, Helene Steiner
  • Publication number: 20170286371
    Abstract: A computing device comprises an electronic paper display, a processor and a memory. The memory is arranged to store platform software and application software for at least one application that is not adapted to work with an electronic paper display. The platform software comprises a UI conversion module comprising device-executable instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: access a UI element tree for the application; generate a modified UI element tree for the application by removing and/or re-styling at least one UI element; and render data from the application using the modified UI element tree for display on the electronic paper display.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2016
    Publication date: October 5, 2017
    Inventors: John Franciscus Marie Helmes, James Scott, Stuart Alastair Taylor, Stephen Edward Hodges, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, Tobias Alexander Grosse-Puppendahl, Josh Fromm, Pascal Knierim, Gavin Wood, Albrecht Schmidt, Thomas Denney
  • Publication number: 20170285828
    Abstract: A display device is described which can be updated by applying pressure with a passive object. The display device comprises a transparent top conductor layer, a middle conductor layer and a bottom conductor layer. The middle conductor layer is segmented into a plurality of independent areas and a pixel of the display device is defined based at least in part on the way that the middle conductor layer is segmented. The display device further comprises an electrophoretic ink layer between the top and middle conductor layers, a layer of piezo-electric material between the middle and bottom conductor layers, and an electrical connection between the bottom and top conductor layers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2016
    Publication date: October 5, 2017
    Inventors: Tobias Alexander Grosse-Puppendahl, Stuart Taylor, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, James Scott, David Sweeney, John Franciscus Marie Helmes, Stephen Edward Hodges
  • Publication number: 20170286328
    Abstract: A device, which may be a peripheral device or a host computing device, comprises a communication interface, a memory and a processor. The processor is arranged to detect imminent disconnection of a communication link between the peripheral device and the host computing device and in response to detecting the imminent disconnection of the communication link, to trigger a data transfer from the host computing device to the peripheral device via the communication interface. The data transfer defines, at least in part, a fixed output data set which, after disconnection, is output via an output device in the peripheral device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2016
    Publication date: October 5, 2017
    Inventors: Tobias Alexander Grosse-Puppendahl, James William Scott, Stephen Edward Hodges, John Franciscus Marie Helmes, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, Stuart Alastair Taylor, Pascal Knierim, Josh Fromm, Gavin Wood, Albrecht Schmidt
  • Publication number: 20170255439
    Abstract: A system is described which comprises an input arranged to receive attention tracking data from attention tracking hardware. The attention tracking data, along with parameters associated with each display change request, is then used to select a display change request from a plurality of stored display change requests received from a plurality of different applications and a change defined by the selected display change request is then rendered in a GUI on a display device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2016
    Publication date: September 7, 2017
    Inventors: Tobias Alexander Grosse-Puppendahl, James Scott, Stephen Edward Hodges, John Franciscus Marie Helmes, Stuart Alastair Taylor, Nicholas Yen-Cherng Chen, Pascal Knierim, Gavin Wood, Josh Fromm, Albrecht Schmidt
  • Patent number: 9740187
    Abstract: An instruction-storage machine holds instructions that, when executed by a logic machine, cause the logic machine to find a human subject in depth data acquired with one or more depth cameras arranged to image an environment, and to compute an aspect of the human subject from the depth data. Based on the computed aspect, the logic machine determines a change to be made in the environment and actuates appropriate hardware in the environment to make the change.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Ken Lobb, Andrew Wilson, Stephen Edward Hodges
  • Patent number: 9696427
    Abstract: Embodiments for a depth sensing camera with a wide field of view are disclosed. In one example, a depth sensing camera comprises an illumination light projection subsystem, an image detection subsystem configured to acquire image data having a wide angle field of view, a logic subsystem configured to execute instructions, and a data-holding subsystem comprising stored instructions executable by the logic subsystem to control projection of illumination light and to determine depth values from image data acquired via the image sensor. The image detection subsystem comprises an image sensor and one or more lenses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Andrew Wilson, Hrvoje Benko, Jay Kapur, Stephen Edward Hodges
  • Publication number: 20170123531
    Abstract: A flexible multi-layer sensing surface comprises a first flexible layer and a second flexible layer. The first flexible layer is a sensing layer and the second sensing layer is another sensing layer or an output layer. The sensing surface also comprises a calibration module which is configured to use the first flexible sensing layer to detect the relative position of the first and second flexible layers and this detected relative position is then used to update one or more stored operating parameters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2016
    Publication date: May 4, 2017
    Inventors: Greg Saul, Daniel Cletheroe, Nicolas Villar, Haiyan Zhang, Oscar Salandin, Christian Holz, Andrew Fitzgibbon, Stephen Edward Hodges