Patents by Inventor Brian Mark Fields

Brian Mark Fields 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: 9275552
    Abstract: A method includes, for each of two or more driving sessions in which a student driver operates a vehicle, gathering driving skill data indicative of at least one of behavior of the student driver, acceleration of the vehicle, braking of the vehicle, or steering of the vehicle, and generating a driving session report. The method further includes causing the driving session reports corresponding to the two or more driving sessions to be displayed to a driving instructor, and receiving comments from the driving instructor about the two or more driving sessions of the student driver. Still further, the method includes storing the driving session reports corresponding to the two or more driving sessions along with the received comments from the driving instructor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2016
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Jibo He, John A. Nepomuceno, Steve Roberson, Bryan Allen Plummer, Kurtis C. Houdek, Neeraj Jain
  • Patent number: 9275417
    Abstract: A method includes receiving and storing sensor data including a first plurality of data points indicative of a plurality of respective states of the environment external to a vehicle at a plurality of respective times, external data including a second plurality of data points indicative of an additional plurality of respective states of the external environment, and synchronization data. The external data is data that was received by the vehicle from a handheld mobile communication device of a pedestrian external to the vehicle via a wireless link, and is indicative of objects sensed by the handheld mobile communication device. The method also includes generating an animated re-creation of an event involving the vehicle using the stored data, and causing the animated re-creation of the event to be displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2016
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Todd Binion, Joe Harr, Brian Mark Fields, Steven Cielocha, Steve J. Balbach
  • Patent number: 9205842
    Abstract: The method, system, and computer-readable medium causes the monitoring of a vehicle operator during the course of vehicle operation to determine whether the vehicle operator is impaired and causes a mitigating response when an impairment is determined to exist. The vehicle operator, the environment surrounding the vehicle, or forces acting on the vehicle may be monitored using a variety of sensors, including optical sensors, accelerometers, or biometric sensors (e.g., skin conductivity, heart rate, or voice modulation). When the vehicle operator is determined to be impaired, an alert or other mitigating response is implemented, based on the sensor data. In some embodiments, mitigating actions may be taken to avoid vehicle operator impairment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2015
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Steve Roberson, Aaron Scott Chan, Kenneth Jason Sanchez, Matthew Christopher Jon Donovan
  • Publication number: 20150339527
    Abstract: A gaze tracking system captures images of a vehicle operator's face using an image sensor device positioned within a vehicle. The gaze tracking system may be detect facial features from each image and track the position of facial features over time. The gaze tracking system may use the detected facial features to track the vehicle operator's head pose and gaze direction. The images may be captured and analyzed in near-real time. By tracking movement of the driver's head and eyes over time, the gaze analysis system may predict or estimate head position and/or gaze direction when one or more facial features are not detectable. The gaze tracking system may generate a report regarding the vehicle operator's gaze distribution. The report may be saved to memory and may be graphically displayed at a screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 20, 2014
    Publication date: November 26, 2015
    Applicant: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Bryan Allen Plummer, Parker Andrew Brown, Brian Mark Fields, Steve Roberson
  • Patent number: 9180888
    Abstract: Tagged driving events may be generated during a driving session from sensor data collected via one or more sensors and/or entered by an instructor. The tagged driving events may include a description of each driving event and its associated severity or weight as it relates to a scoring process as well as a time and/or a location of the driving event. A driving session report may be generated using the tagged driving events and may include a driver feedback score that is weighted based on the severity associated with each of the tagged driving events and/or the collected data, a map of the driving session route that indicates a map location of each tagged driving event, and/or a listing of each tagged driving event. The driving session report may be displayed such that a user may select a tagged driving event to view information associated with the tagged driving event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Steve Roberson, Abhishek Harish, Hyunji Lim, Matthew James Waughtel
  • Patent number: 9165326
    Abstract: A method includes receiving data about potential impairment of a vehicle operator, wherein the data about potential impairment is generated by: (i) a first optical sensor monitoring a vehicle operator, and (ii) a second optical sensor monitoring an environment ahead of a vehicle operated by the vehicle operator. The computer-implemented method further includes assigning a plurality of scores based on the data about potential vehicle operator impairment, wherein each of the plurality of scores corresponds to a respective impairment indicator, determining an impairment score by performing a mathematical operation on the plurality of scores, and providing the impairment score to a remote device configured to alert the vehicle operator based on the impairment score.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Jibo He, Brian Mark Fields, Steve Roberson, Steve C. Cielocha, Jufeng Peng, Julian Coltea
  • Patent number: 9135803
    Abstract: The method, system, and computer-readable medium causes the monitoring of a vehicle operator during the course of vehicle operation to determine whether the vehicle operator is impaired and causes a mitigating response when an impairment is determined to exist. The vehicle operator, the environment surrounding the vehicle, or forces acting on the vehicle may be monitored using a variety of sensors, including optical sensors, accelerometers, or biometric sensors (e.g., skin conductivity, heart rate, or voice modulation). When the vehicle operator is determined to be impaired, an alert or other mitigating response is implemented, based on the sensor data. In some embodiments, mitigating actions may be taken to avoid vehicle operator impairment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Steve Roberson, Aaron Scott Chan, Kenneth Jason Sanchez, Matthew Christopher Jon Donovan
  • Publication number: 20150254781
    Abstract: A method includes receiving and storing sensor data including a first plurality of data points indicative of a plurality of respective states of the environment external to a vehicle at a plurality of respective times, external data including a second plurality of data points indicative of an additional plurality of respective states of the external environment, and synchronization data. The external data is data that was received by the vehicle from a handheld mobile communication device of a pedestrian external to the vehicle via a wireless link, and is indicative of objects sensed by the handheld mobile communication device. The method also includes generating an animated re-creation of an event involving the vehicle using the stored data, and causing the animated re-creation of the event to be displayed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2015
    Publication date: September 10, 2015
    Inventors: Todd Binion, Joe Harr, Brian Mark Fields, Steve C. Cielocha, Steven J. Balbach
  • Publication number: 20150170289
    Abstract: A system and method for determining a vehicle insurance premium for a period of time based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data, the system comprising: a mobile device, comprising: one or more sensors associated with the mobile device and configured to automatically collect vehicle operation data during a data collection session; a processor; a non-transitory storage medium; a display; a transmitter; and a set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium and when executed by the processor configured to allow the mobile device to collect vehicle operation data and transmit the collected vehicle operation data; and a remote processing computer, comprising: a server that receives collected vehicle operation data; a database that stores collected vehicle operation data; and a rating engine that determines a vehicle insurance premium based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2015
    Publication date: June 18, 2015
    Applicant: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Benjamin F. Bowne, Jufeng "James" Peng, Nicholas R. Baker, Duane Lee Marzinzik, Matthew Eric Riley, Nick U. Christopulos, Brian Mark Fields, J Lynn Wilson, Bryan T. Wilkerson, David W. Thurber
  • Publication number: 20150170290
    Abstract: A method for providing vehicle operation data to a remote computer or server for calculation of a vehicle insurance premium for a period of time based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data, wherein the method includes steps of: collecting vehicle operation data via a mobile device while the mobile device is associated with an operating vehicle, wherein the vehicle operation data has insurance risk predictive power; and transmitting the collected vehicle operation data from the mobile device to a remote computer. The remote computer or server receives collected vehicle operation data, stores the collected vehicle operation data in a database, a determines a vehicle insurance premium via a rating engine based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 25, 2015
    Publication date: June 18, 2015
    Applicant: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Benjamin F. Bowne, Jufeng "James" Peng, Nicholas R. Baker, Duane Lee Marzinzik, Matthew Eric Riley, Nick U. Christopulos, Brian Mark Fields, J. Lynn Wilson, Bryan T. Wilkerson, David W. Thurber
  • Patent number: 9056616
    Abstract: Tagged driving events may be generated during a driving session from sensor data collected via one or more sensors and/or entered by an instructor. The tagged driving events may include a description of each driving event and its associated severity or weight as it relates to a scoring process as well as a time and/or a location of the driving event. A driving session report may be generated using the tagged driving events and may include a driver feedback score that is weighted based on the severity associated with each of the tagged driving events and/or the collected data, a map of the driving session route that indicates a map location of each tagged driving event, and/or a listing of each tagged driving event. The driving session report may be displayed such that a user may select a tagged driving event to view information associated with the tagged driving event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Steve Roberson, Abhishek Harish, Hyunji Lim, Matthew James Waughtel
  • Publication number: 20150149219
    Abstract: A method for providing vehicle operation data to a remote computer or server for calculation of a vehicle insurance premium for a period of time based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data, wherein the method includes steps of: collecting vehicle operation data via a mobile device while the mobile device is associated with an operating vehicle, wherein the vehicle operation data has insurance risk predictive power; and transmitting the collected vehicle operation data from the mobile device to a remote computer. The remote computer or server receives collected vehicle operation data, stores the collected vehicle operation data in a database, a determines a vehicle insurance premium via a rating engine based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2015
    Publication date: May 28, 2015
    Inventors: Benjamin F. Bowne, Jufeng "James" Peng, Nicholas R. Baker, Duane Lee Marzinzik, Matthew Eric Riley, SR., Nick U. Christopulos, Brian Mark Fields, J Lynn Wilson, Bryan T. Wilkerson, David W. Thurber
  • Publication number: 20150127390
    Abstract: A system and method for determining a vehicle insurance premium for a period of time based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data, the system comprising: a mobile device, comprising: one or more sensors associated with the mobile device and configured to automatically collect vehicle operation data during a data collection session; a processor; a non-transitory storage medium; a display; a transmitter; and a set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium and when executed by the processor configured to allow the mobile device to collect vehicle operation data and transmit the collected vehicle operation data; and a remote processing computer, comprising: a server that receives collected vehicle operation data; a database that stores collected vehicle operation data; and a rating engine that determines a vehicle insurance premium based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2015
    Publication date: May 7, 2015
    Inventors: Benjamin F. Bowne, Jufeng "James" Peng, Nicholas R. Baker, Duane Lee Marzinzik, Matthew Eric Riley, SR., Nick U. Christopulos, Brian Mark Fields, J. Lynn Wilson, Bryan T. Wilkerson, David W. Thurber
  • Publication number: 20150046197
    Abstract: A method for using a mobile device arranged within a vehicle to provide risk analysis for a driver of the vehicle includes receiving sensor data representing information (i) collected by a sensor of the mobile device and (ii) indicative of a driving environment of the vehicle, storing the received sensor data in a memory, processing the stored sensor data to determine a set of one or more characteristics of the driving environment of the vehicle, and determining, based on the determined set of characteristics, a driving score indicative of risk for the driver of the vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2014
    Publication date: February 12, 2015
    Inventors: Jufeng Peng, Brian Mark Fields, Paul Christopher Rutkowski, Benjamin F. Bowne, Steve C. Cielocha
  • Patent number: 8930231
    Abstract: A method for providing vehicle operation data to a remote computer or server for calculation of a vehicle insurance premium for a period of time based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data, wherein the method includes steps of: collecting vehicle operation data via a mobile device while the mobile device is associated with an operating vehicle, wherein the vehicle operation data has insurance risk predictive power; and transmitting the collected vehicle operation data from the mobile device to a remote computer. The remote computer or server receives collected vehicle operation data, stores the collected vehicle operation data in a database, a determines a vehicle insurance premium via a rating engine based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
    Inventors: Benjamin F. Bowne, Jufeng “James” Peng, Nicholas R. Baker, Duane Lee Marzinzik, Matthew Eric Riley, Sr., Nick U. Christopulos, Brian Mark Fields, J Lynn Wilson, Bryan T. Wilkerson, David W. Thurber
  • Publication number: 20140278586
    Abstract: A method for assessing risk associated with a driver of a vehicle includes receiving a plurality of risk variables associated with a driver, the plurality of risk variables being gathered when the driver operates the vehicle. A driver is then identified based on the plurality of risk variables, and a risk profile is developed for the driver. The development of the risk profile involves determining the risk associated with at least some of the risk variables and generating a risk index, the risk index being a collective measure of risk associated with the driver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2014
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Sanchez, Aaron Scott Chan, Matthew R. Baker, Matthew Zettinger, Brian Mark Fields, John A. Nepomuceno
  • Publication number: 20140149145
    Abstract: A mobile device for capturing motion data of a vehicle when the mobile device is travelling with the vehicle, the mobile device comprising: at least one sensor; a processor; a non-transitory storage medium; and an orientation algorithm comprising a set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium and when executed by the processor configured to allow the mobile device to determine an orientation of the mobile device relative to an orientation of the vehicle; and a transformation algorithm comprising a set of computer readable instructions stored in the non-transitory storage medium and when executed by the processor configured to allow the mobile device to transform motion sensor data to remove secondary movement of the mobile device, which corresponds to the relative movement of the mobile device within the vehicle, and retain primary movement of the mobile device, which corresponds to the motion of the vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 29, 2012
    Publication date: May 29, 2014
    Applicant: STATE FARM INSURANCE
    Inventors: Jufeng Peng, Duane Lee Marzinzik, Brian Mark Fields, J. Lynn Wilson, Benjamin F. Bowne, Sunish Menon, Dustin Charles Schneider, Scott Thomas Christensen
  • Publication number: 20130179198
    Abstract: A method for determining a vehicle insurance premium for a period of time based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data, wherein a remote computer receives the collected vehicle operation data from a mobile device and calculates an insurance premium based at least in part on the collected vehicle operation data. A method for determining a vehicle insurance premium for a period of time based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data, wherein a server receives collected vehicle operation data, a database stores the collected vehicle operation data, and a rating engine determines a vehicle insurance premium based at least in part on collected vehicle operation data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2013
    Publication date: July 11, 2013
    Applicant: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Benjamin F. Bowne, Jufeng "James" Peng, Nicholas R. Baker, Duane Lee Marzinzik, Matthew Eric Riley, SR., Nick U. Christopulos, Brian Mark Fields, J Lynn Wilson, Bryan T. Wilkerson, David W. Thurber