Patents by Inventor W. Leo Hoarty

W. Leo Hoarty 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: 11966997
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for decoding watermarks in video frames. A media device may receive a video frame that includes a first predetermined region comprising a watermark and a second predetermined region having pixel values selected to reduce the perceptibility of the first predetermined region. The media device may detect the watermark in the first predetermined region of the video frame and identify one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to a first pixel value and one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to a second pixel value. The media device then assigns a first symbol to the one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to the first pixel value and second symbol the one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to the second pixel value. The media device then generates a first sequence of symbols from the assigned symbols.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: INSCAPE DATA, INC.
    Inventors: Brian Reed, W. Leo Hoarty
  • Patent number: 11917240
    Abstract: Methods, systems, devices, and computer-program products are described herein for providing dynamic content serving. The dynamic content serving technology can identify, in real-time, programming arriving at a client device, identify the specific segment being received, and determine which pre-stored video segment may be used to replace the identified segment. A dynamic content controller component can also identify what devices, in addition to the client device, may also be served with supplemental information either related or unrelated to the program currently displayed on the client device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: INSCAPE DATA, INC.
    Inventors: Zeev Neumeier, W. Leo Hoarty
  • Patent number: 11863804
    Abstract: This invention provides a means to identify unknown media programming using the audio component of said programming. The invention extracts audio information from the media received by consumer electronic devices such as smart TVs and TV set-top boxes then conveys said information to a remote server means which will in turn identify said audio information of unknown identity by way of testing against a database of known audio segment information. The system identifies unknown media programming in real-time such that time-sensitive services may be offered such as interactive television applications providing contextually related information or television advertisement substitution. Other uses include tracking media consumption among many other services.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: INSCAPE DATA, INC.
    Inventor: W. Leo Hoarty
  • Publication number: 20230370505
    Abstract: Systems and methods for creating video watch parties are shown and described. Video and audio data indicative of the content being displayed on a plurality of smart TVs is compared to stored data in a content recognition database to determine what content is being viewed by each of a plurality of viewers at a given time. Viewers watching the same content are invited to become members of a watch party, and the televisions of those who accept the invitation are operatively connected to one another in a peer-to-peer network, enabling them to view the watch party content on a watch party screen that displays the watch party content and images or graphical icon representations of each other member of the watch party who is watching the content. Watch party participants can communicate with one another on the watch party display orally, using text messages in a text message area of the display, or by projecting emojis in the content region of other participants' displays.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2023
    Publication date: November 16, 2023
    Inventors: William Wang, W. Leo Hoarty
  • Patent number: 11785280
    Abstract: A system and method for ingesting, normalizing and analyzing multiple disparate datasets surrounding live sports events combined with real-time viewing content recognition and understanding on a user device to enable digital services to recommend real-time, personalized interactive offers such as sports bet offers to the device that are synchronized to live events being visual or audibly projected proximate the user device despite inherent latency between the user device and the projected live event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: Epoxy.AI Operations LLC
    Inventors: Jonathan Howard Dakss, Nathan Anderson Offutt, Aaron Todd, W. Leo Hoarty, Tayyab Shahzada, Andrew James Princep, Jason Angelides, Christopher Thomas Reynolds, Ralph J. Pierre-Louis, Thomas Robert Alexander Weiss
  • Patent number: 11757951
    Abstract: Systems and methods for creating video watch parties are shown and described. Video and audio data indicative of the content being displayed on a plurality of smart TVs is compared to stored data in a content recognition database to determine what content is being viewed by each of a plurality of viewers at a given time. Viewers watching the same content are invited to become members of a watch party, and the televisions of those who accept the invitation are operatively connected to one another in a peer-to-peer network, enabling them to view the watch party content on a watch party screen that displays the watch party content and images or graphical icon representations of each other member of the watch party who is watching the content. Watch party participants can communicate with one another on the watch party display orally, using text messages in a text message area of the display, or by projecting emojis in the content region of other participants' displays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Vizio, Inc.
    Inventors: William Wang, W. Leo Hoarty
  • Publication number: 20230230192
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for decoding watermarks in video frames. A media device may receive a video frame that includes a first predetermined region comprising a watermark and a second predetermined region having pixel values selected to reduce the perceptibility of the first predetermined region. The media device may detect the watermark in the first predetermined region of the video frame and identify one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to a first pixel value and one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to a second pixel value. The media device then assigns a first symbol to the one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to the first pixel value and second symbol the one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to the second pixel value. The media device then generates a first sequence of symbols from the assigned symbols.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 23, 2022
    Publication date: July 20, 2023
    Applicant: INSCAPE DATA, INC.
    Inventors: Brian Reed, W. Leo Hoarty
  • Publication number: 20230156264
    Abstract: Systems and method are provided for detecting latency in radio frequency connections. A computing device can detect, at a first time, light using an optical sensor and receive, at a second time, a first data packet over a connection with a first wireless device. The computing device may define a first signal latency value based on the first time and the second time. The computing device may then receive a media stream that includes a video component and an audio component and modify a presentation of the media stream by delaying the video component by a time interval based on the first signal latency value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2022
    Publication date: May 18, 2023
    Applicant: VIZIO, INC.
    Inventors: Kishore Tallapaneni, Maksym Shestirko, Rammohan Somalraju, Oleksandr Blazhko, W. Leo Hoarty
  • Publication number: 20230141658
    Abstract: Systems and method are provided for detecting latency in radio frequency connections. A computing device may present a first cue at a first time. In response, the computing device may receive a first input from a wireless device at a second time that indicates that a control of the wireless device associated with the first cue has been activated. The computing device may define a signal latency value based on the first time and the second time. The computing device may then receive a second input from the wireless device that includes an indication of a control activation at a third time. And in response, the computing device may process the control activation if the control activation is received at a fourth time that is prior to the third time. The time interval between the fourth time and the third time can be equal to the signal latency value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2022
    Publication date: May 11, 2023
    Applicant: VIZIO, INC.
    Inventors: Kishore Tallapaneni, Maksym Shestirko, Rammohan Somalraju, Oleksandr Blazhko, W. Leo Hoarty
  • Publication number: 20230055101
    Abstract: Systems and method are provided for detecting the display of media and/or specialized content using embedded watermarks. For example, a media device may receive video data including a set of video frames. The media device may detect, in at least one video frame of the set of video frames, a watermark embedded into the at least one video frame. The watermark may be usable to identify media to be displayed by the media device. The media device may display the media. The media device may then transmit an indication that the media has been presented by the media device to a destination device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 15, 2022
    Publication date: February 23, 2023
    Applicant: VIZIO, INC.
    Inventors: Brian Reed, Kyoungsoo Moon, W. Leo Hoarty
  • Patent number: 11538131
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for decoding watermarks in video frames. A media device may receive a video frame that includes a first predetermined region comprising a watermark and a second predetermined region having pixel values selected to reduce the perceptibility of the first predetermined region. The media device may detect the watermark in the first predetermined region of the video frame and identify one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to a first pixel value and one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to a second pixel value. The media device then assigns a first symbol to the one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to the first pixel value and second symbol the one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to the second pixel value. The media device then generates a first sequence of symbols from the assigned symbols.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: INSCAPE DATA, INC.
    Inventors: Brian Reed, W. Leo Hoarty
  • Publication number: 20220382535
    Abstract: Systems and methods for updating firmware in an audio device, such as a soundbar, operatively connected to a Smart TV, are shown and described. Firmware update data is transmitted to the audio device via an audio return channel (ARC) of an HDMI cable. In certain of the systems, the firmware update data is transmitted to the audio device when no audio is being transmitted to or played by the audio device. In other systems, the firmware update data and real-time audio data are multiplexed by the Smart TV and are sent to the audio device via the audio return channel for subsequent demultiplexing and playback of the audio.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2022
    Publication date: December 1, 2022
    Inventor: W. Leo Hoarty
  • Publication number: 20220385701
    Abstract: Systems and methods for creating video watch parties are shown and described. Video and audio data indicative of the content being displayed on a plurality of smart TVs is compared to stored data in a content recognition database to determine what content is being viewed by each of a plurality of viewers at a given time. Viewers watching the same content are invited to become members of a watch party, and the televisions of those who accept the invitation are operatively connected to one another in a peer-to-peer network, enabling them to view the watch party content on a watch party screen that displays the watch party content and images or graphical icon representations of each other member of the watch party who is watching the content. Watch party participants can communicate with one another on the watch party display orally, using text messages in a text message area of the display, or by projecting emojis in the content region of other participants' displays.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2022
    Publication date: December 1, 2022
    Inventors: William Wang, W. Leo Hoarty
  • Publication number: 20220329938
    Abstract: A remote control with a microphone subsystem comprising a pair of internal microphones is shown and described. When connected to a remote-control base station that is itself connected to an external power source, the microphone subsystem is continuously energized by the external power source, and the pair of internal microphones operate as far field microphones that receive oral commands uttered by a user from a distance. When the remote control is removed from the base, the microphone subsystem is configured for selective connection to an internal power source by actuating a user control on the remote control. In the external power source mode, signals from both microphones are digitally processed to provide a far-field microphone array with beam forming. In the direct current mode, only one microphone's signals are digitally processed as a simple monaural signal (or they are not digitally processed).
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 7, 2022
    Publication date: October 13, 2022
    Inventors: W. Leo Hoarty, Glen Gihong Kim
  • Publication number: 20220270556
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a system and method for controlling a television display in such a matter that some portion of that display is re-purposed as a light emitting device intended to provide improved video scene lighting when using a video camera associated with the television display for communications as part of video conferencing or other activities. The systems and methods of the disclosure may be activated and controlled utilizing the television's remote-control device or a paired mobile device, using manual or verbal commands from the user. This results in an overall brightening of the television display or a reduction of that portion of the screen displaying the current programming, thereby exposing remaining pixels that can be independently illuminated to a greater brightness and color tinted. This action improves the illumination of the video scene area of those subjects in front of the television.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2022
    Publication date: August 25, 2022
    Inventors: Zeev Neumeier, W. Leo Hoarty, John Schindler
  • Publication number: 20220224952
    Abstract: This invention provides a means to identify unknown media programming using the audio component of said programming. The invention extracts audio information from the media received by consumer electronic devices such as smart TVs and TV set-top boxes then conveys said information to a remote server means which will in turn identify said audio information of unknown identity by way of testing against a database of known audio segment information. The system identifies unknown media programming in real-time such that time-sensitive services may be offered such as interactive television applications providing contextually related information or television advertisement substitution. Other uses include tracking media consumption among many other services.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2022
    Publication date: July 14, 2022
    Applicant: INSCAPE DATA, INC.
    Inventor: W. Leo Hoarty
  • Patent number: 11272226
    Abstract: This invention provides a means to identify unknown media programming using the audio component of said programming. The invention extracts audio information from the media received by consumer electronic devices such as smart TVs and TV set-top boxes then conveys said information to a remote server means which will in turn identify said audio information of unknown identity by way of testing against a database of known audio segment information. The system identifies unknown media programming in real-time such that time-sensitive services may be offered such as interactive television applications providing contextually related information or television advertisement substitution. Other uses include tracking media consumption among many other services.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: INSCAPE DATA, INC.
    Inventor: W. Leo Hoarty
  • Publication number: 20220044347
    Abstract: Methods, devices, and computer-program products are provided for adding data to a digital video signal in a visually imperceptible manner. For example, a region of pixels can be identified in a video frame, and one or more pixel characteristics of the region of pixels can be determined. Based on the one or more pixel characteristics of the region of pixels, at least one pixel characteristic of a subset of pixels from the region of pixels can be modified in order to encode a set of data into the region of pixels. An output frame can be provided that includes the modified at least one pixel characteristics for the subset of pixels.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2021
    Publication date: February 10, 2022
    Applicant: INSCAPE DATA, INC.
    Inventors: W. Leo Hoarty, Zeev Neumeier
  • Publication number: 20220036495
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for decoding watermarks in video frames. A media device may receive a video frame that includes a first predetermined region comprising a watermark and a second predetermined region having pixel values selected to reduce the perceptibility of the first predetermined region. The media device may detect the watermark in the first predetermined region of the video frame and identify one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to a first pixel value and one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to a second pixel value. The media device then assigns a first symbol to the one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to the first pixel value and second symbol the one or more contiguous subsets of pixels that correspond to the second pixel value. The media device then generates a first sequence of symbols from the assigned symbols.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2021
    Publication date: February 3, 2022
    Applicant: INSCAPE DATA, INC.
    Inventors: Brian Reed, W. Leo Hoarty
  • Publication number: 20210400296
    Abstract: Methods, devices, and computer-program products are provided for adding and decoding data to a digital video signal in a visually imperceptible manner. For example, an encoded video frame can be obtained, and one or more blocks of the encoded video frame can be decoded. Binary data can be added to a subset of pixels from a set of pixels of the one or more blocks. For instance, a pixel component can be modulated to add the binary data. The one or more blocks can be re-encoded using at least one coding mode. The re-encoded one or more blocks can be added to the encoded video frame.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2021
    Publication date: December 23, 2021
    Applicant: INSCAPE DATA, INC.
    Inventors: W. Leo Hoarty, Kyoungsoo Moon, Brian Reed, Zeev Neumeier