Patents by Inventor Christer Backstrom

Christer Backstrom 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: 8074875
    Abstract: The invention is especially intended for visually impaired persons who are not able to read text printed on products or product containers. With the invented method at least a part of a product description, which corresponds to a bar code read and which is fetched from a product information database, is stored in at least one memory accessible to the terminal. After this, in response to a command ordered by a user of the terminal, the RFID identifier attached to the terminal is read and the product description is presented in speech format so that the information readable in the memory and the RFID identifier is utilized in the presentation. The terminal is preferably a mobile station equipped with a speech synthesizer. A visually impaired person can point with the terminal to one or more products and listen via an audio system of the terminal to the product descriptions related to them. When RFID identifiers are attached to the product, the products need to be pointed to as precisely when reading bar codes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: Valtion Teknillinen Tutkimuskeskus
    Inventors: Ville Ollikainen, Christer Bäckström, Pekka Pursula
  • Publication number: 20080283584
    Abstract: The invention is especially intended for visually impaired persons who are not able to read text printed on products or product containers. With the invented method at least a part of a product description, which corresponds to a bar code read and which is fetched from a product information database, is stored in at least one memory accessible to the terminal. After this, in response to a command ordered by a user of the terminal, the RFID identifier attached to the terminal is read and the product description is presented in speech format so that the information readable in the memory and the RFID identifier is utilized in the presentation. The terminal is preferably a mobile station equipped with a speech synthesizer. A visually impaired person can point with the terminal to one or more products and listen via an audio system of the terminal to the product descriptions related to them. When RFID identifiers are attached to the product, the products need to be pointed to as precisely when reading bar codes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2005
    Publication date: November 20, 2008
    Applicant: VALTION TEKNILLINEN TUTKIMUSKESKUS
    Inventors: Ville Ollikainen, Christer Backstrom, Pekka Pursula
  • Publication number: 20070183652
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for detecting a code (40), and a mobile station adapted to the method. In the method, the mobile station (50) is used to capture an image of the subject (40) and the image is analysed and decoded into a numerical form in the mobile station (50). According to the invention, before the decoding of the bar code in the mobile station the edges of the subject (40) are determined from a high-resolution image, in the case of a 2D code, the location of the corner point of the subject (49) are estimated on the basis of adaptive thresholding, and in the case of a 2D code, a perspective transformation is formed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2005
    Publication date: August 9, 2007
    Applicant: Valtion Teknillinen Tutkimuskeskus
    Inventors: Christer Backstrom, Caj Sodergard