Patents by Inventor Alexander Shoulson

Alexander Shoulson 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: 10783689
    Abstract: A user interface may be presented to a user that may provide an intuitive interface configured for generating animations. The user interface may be users of varying levels of expertise, while retaining the freedom of authoring complex narratives in an animation. A given narrative may be constrained by user input related to one or more of events to occur in an animation, individual animation components that may be included in the events, and/or other input. The system may be configured to “fill in” missing gaps in a narrative to generate a consistent animation while still meeting one or more narrative constraints specified by user input. By way of non-limiting example, gaps may be “filled in” by effectuating non-user selections of one or more of events, animation components, and/or other information used to generate an animation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2020
    Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander Shoulson, Mubbasir Kapadia, Robert Sumner
  • Patent number: 10042506
    Abstract: There is provided a method for use by an interactive story development system. The method includes receiving a story state including an attribute state of each of a plurality of items present in a storyline, wherein the plurality of items include a plurality of objects of the storyline and a plurality of characters of the storyline. The method also includes creating a story web, wherein the story web includes a node for every possible interaction between the plurality of objects and the plurality of characters in the storyline, and calculating a narrative value for each of the nodes of the story web, receiving a first input from a user selecting user criteria including at least one of a story telling option of the storyline and a sentiment selection, and determining based on the narrative value and the user criteria, a plurality of candidate nodes of the story web.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2018
    Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventors: Mubbasir Kapadia, Robert Sumner, Alexander Shoulson
  • Publication number: 20170148200
    Abstract: A user interface may be presented to a user that may provide an intuitive interface configured for generating animations. The user interface may be users of varying levels of expertise, while retaining the freedom of authoring complex narratives in an animation. A given narrative may be constrained by user input related to one or more of events to occur in an animation, individual animation components that may be included in the events, and/or other input. The system may be configured to “fill in” missing gaps in a narrative to generate a consistent animation while still meeting one or more narrative constraints specified by user input. By way of non-limiting example, gaps may be “filled in” by effectuating non-user selections of one or more of events, animation components, and/or other information used to generate an animation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2015
    Publication date: May 25, 2017
    Inventors: Alexander Shoulson, Mubbasir Kapadia, Robert Sumner
  • Publication number: 20160274705
    Abstract: There is provided a method for use by an interactive story development system. The method includes receiving a story state including an attribute state of each of a plurality of items present in a storyline, wherein the plurality of items include a plurality of objects of the storyline and a plurality of characters of the storyline. The method also includes creating a story web, wherein the story web includes a node for every possible interaction between the plurality of objects and the plurality of characters in the storyline, and calculating a narrative value for each of the nodes of the story web, receiving a first input from a user selecting user criteria including at least one of a story telling option of the storyline and a sentiment selection, and determining based on the narrative value and the user criteria, a plurality of candidate nodes of the story web.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2015
    Publication date: September 22, 2016
    Inventors: Mubbasir Kapadia, Robert Sumner, Alexander Shoulson