Patents by Inventor Christian Holz

Christian Holz 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).

  • Publication number: 20190155404
    Abstract: A virtual reality system is described herein. The virtual reality system includes a cane controller and a computing system. The cane controller comprises a rod, a sensor, and a brake mechanism, wherein the sensor is configured to generate a signal that is indicative of position, direction of movement, and velocity of the rod, and wherein the brake mechanism is configured to apply a force to the rod. The computing system receives the signal, computes a position, direction of movement, and velocity of a virtual rod in a virtual space, and outputs a control signal to the brake mechanism based upon such computation. The brake mechanism applies the force to the rod in a direction and with a magnitude indicated in the control signal, thereby preventing the user from causing the virtual rod to penetrate a virtual barrier in the virtual space.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2017
    Publication date: May 23, 2019
    Inventors: Edward CUTRELL, Christian HOLZ, Hrvoje BENKO, Michael J. SINCLAIR, Meredith June MORRIS, Yuhang ZHAO, Cynthia Lynn BENNETT
  • Patent number: 10216956
    Abstract: One or more systems and/or methods for storing personal information within a first device and/or for providing personal information from the first device to the second device are provided. The first device (e.g., a smartphone) may identify a user interface (e.g., a movie streaming website) populated with user specified data (e.g., a password). The user specified data may be evaluated to identify personal information of the user (e.g., a movie streaming website password). The personal information may be stored within the first device. Responsive to determining that a second device (e.g., a smart television) displays a personal information input field (e.g., a movie streaming website password input field), an input event comprising the personal information may be provided from the first device to the second device. The input event may invoke the second device to input the movie streaming website password into the movie streaming website password input field.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: Oath Inc.
    Inventor: Christian Holz
  • Patent number: 10198068
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for blink detection, tracking, and stimulation. In one implementation, a device can include a sensor configured to receive an input, the input corresponding to perceiving one or more blinks of an eye of a user. The input can be processed to determine a blink rate or an elapsed time interval since a blink of the user. Based on the blink rate or the elapsed time interval, a blink stimulation action directed to the user can be initiated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Christian Holz, Artem Dementyev
  • Publication number: 20190028675
    Abstract: A system consisting of a vehicle which is autarchically mobile in the outdoor area on a property and a surveillance module which can be attached to the vehicle, wherein the surveillance module has surveillance sensors for carrying out surveillance of the property. The surveillance module can be replaced with a work module. Plant care activities can be performed with the work module.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2018
    Publication date: January 24, 2019
    Applicant: Vorwerk & Co. Interholding GmbH
    Inventors: Georg HACKERT, Martin HELMICH, Lorenz HILLEN, Christian HOLZ, Gerhard ISENBERG, Hendrik KOETZ, Andrej MOSEBACH, Roman ORTMANN, Robin DULINSKI
  • Publication number: 20190022854
    Abstract: A working device that can move self-sufficiently over terrain, which carries task-specific tools. The tools are allocated to different working modules. The different working modules can optionally be used by the working device. The working modules can be a watering tool, a cutting tool, a mowing tool, a sweeping tool, a fertilizer distributing tool or a soil treating tool. The plants are processed with the help of a planning aid which has a database. The planning aid is used to transmit task data to the working device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2018
    Publication date: January 24, 2019
    Applicant: Vorwerk & Co. Interholding GmbH
    Inventors: Georg HACKERT, Martin HELMICH, Lorenz HILLEN, Christian HOLZ, Gerhard ISENBERG, Hendrik KOETZ, Andrej MOSEBACH, Roman ORTMANN, Robin DULINSKI
  • Publication number: 20190023396
    Abstract: A sensor module is assigned to a vehicle that can be displaced in a terrain or designed for being positioned in the terrain. The sensor module has a sensor system with sensors that acquire sensor data in a contactless fashion. The sensors are designed for detecting the spatial extent of the plant at a location in the terrain. The sensor data makes it possible to determine whether the plant should be pruned. To this end, the sensor data is evaluated by utilizing a knowledge database.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 23, 2018
    Publication date: January 24, 2019
    Applicant: Vorwerk & Co. Interholding GmbH
    Inventors: Georg HACKERT, Martin HELMICH, Lorenz HILLEN, Christian HOLZ, Gerhard ISENBERG, Hendrik KOETZ, Andrej MOSEBACH, Roman ORTMANN, Robin DULINSKI
  • Publication number: 20180360283
    Abstract: A system has at least two floor treatment apparatuses for treating a surface in an automatically controlled fashion based on defined adjustment parameters of the floor treatment apparatus, wherein each of the floor treatment apparatuses features at least one detection device for detecting at least one detection parameter of the floor treatment apparatus and/or of an environment of the floor treatment apparatus. In order to enhance a system of this type in such a way that the floor treatment apparatuses advantageously cooperate and support one another, the system features a common database that is assigned to the floor treatment apparatuses. Detection parameters of at least two floor treatment apparatuses are stored in the database in association with the adjustment parameters of the respective floor treatment apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2018
    Publication date: December 20, 2018
    Applicant: Vorwerk & Co. Interholding GmbH
    Inventors: Georg HACKERT, Martin HELMICH, Lorenz HILLEN, Christian HOLZ, Gerhard ISENBERG, Hendrik KOETZ, Andrej MOSEBACH, Roman ORTMANN, Robin DULINSKI
  • Publication number: 20180364052
    Abstract: A system has at least two self-traveling floor treatment apparatuses, wherein each of the floor treatment apparatuses features a navigation and self-localization device that is designed for generating an environment map based on environment data of the environment of the floor treatment apparatus, which is recorded by means of a detection device. In order to realize an advantageous cooperation between the floor treatment apparatuses, it is proposed that a common memory unit for storing environment maps and a computing unit are assigned to the floor treatment apparatuses, wherein the computing unit is designed for comparing an environment map of a first floor treatment apparatus with an environment map of a second floor treatment apparatus and/or with an environment map stored in the common memory unit and for specifying which of the environment maps is stored in the common memory unit and/or in a local memory of a floor treatment apparatus based on a defined selection criterion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2018
    Publication date: December 20, 2018
    Applicant: Vorwerk & Co. Interholding GmbH
    Inventors: Georg HACKERT, Martin HELMICH, Lorenz HILLEN, Christian HOLZ, Gerhard ISENBERG, Hendrik KOETZ, Andrej MOSEBACH, Roman ORTMANN, Robin DULINSKI
  • Publication number: 20180364661
    Abstract: A household appliance has a controller for the preparation of a meal according to a sequence of prescribed steps. In order to enable an advantageous interaction with the device, the controller is designed and set up to output a control command for controlling an external device depending on a progress of the sequence of steps.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2018
    Publication date: December 20, 2018
    Applicant: Vorwerk & Co. Interholding GmbH
    Inventors: Georg HACKERT, Martin HELMICH, Lorenz HILLEN, Christian HOLZ, Gerhard ISENBERG, Hendrik KOETZ, Andrej MOSEBACH, Roman ORTMANN, Robin DULINSKI
  • Publication number: 20180361569
    Abstract: A system has at least two floor processing fixtures of one or several automatically moving floor processing devices for the automatically controlled processing of a surface. In order to further develop such a system in particular with the aim of having the floor processing fixtures advantageously interact and support each other, the system has a shared database allocated to the floor processing fixtures, which is stored in an external memory designed separately from the floor processing device, and in which operational activities for the floor processing fixtures are planned according to defined rules, as well as a central computing device allocated to the database, which plans operational activities according to defined rules.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2018
    Publication date: December 20, 2018
    Applicant: Vorwerk & Co. Interholding GmbH
    Inventors: Georg HACKERT, Martin HELMICH, Lorenz HILLEN, Christian HOLZ, Gerhard ISENBERG, Hendrik KOETZ, Andrej MOSEBACH, Roman ORTMANN, Robin DULINSKI
  • Publication number: 20180333088
    Abstract: Embodiments relate to using a display and camera of a computing device to perform pulse oximetry. The display of the device is used as an illuminant, a finger is placed over a portion of the display and a camera facing in the same direction as the display. One or more colors are selected to enhance hemoglobin-deoxyhemoglobin contrast in view of display and camera sensitivities. The one or more colors are displayed while a body part covers the displayed color and the camera. The camera captures images of light that has passed through the finger and been internally reflected to the camera. The light reaching the camera has been absorbed by arterial hemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin at different rates in respective different wavebands. Differences in attenuation of display light at the different wavebands provide sufficient contrast to compute an accurate pulse oxygenation estimate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 17, 2017
    Publication date: November 22, 2018
    Inventors: Christian Holz, Eyal Ofek
  • Patent number: 10133889
    Abstract: A reader device for short-range wireless tags comprises a sensing module coupled to one or more RF antennas. The sensing module is arranged to selectively activate and deactivate individual RF antennas and to read data from a plurality of objects comprising short-range wireless tags which are proximate to an active RF antenna. A scheduler module within the reader device is arranged to obtain device characteristics for the plurality of objects based at least in part on data read by the sensing module and then to generate a powering schedule for the plurality of objects based on the device characteristics. The generated powering schedule is then implemented by the sensing module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Daniel Cletheroe, Nicolas Villar, Greg Saul, Haiyan Zhang, Christian Holz
  • Patent number: 10088894
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention generally relate to electronic devices capable of being implanted beneath the skin of a human user. The electronic devices include input devices for receiving input from a user, and output devices for output signals or information to a user. The electronic devices may optionally include one or more sensors, batteries, memory units, and processors. The electronic devices are protected by a protective packaging to reduce contact with bodily fluids and to mitigate physiological responses to the implanted devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: AUTODESK, INC.
    Inventors: Tovi Grossman, George Fitzmaurice, Anne Agur, Christian Holz
  • Publication number: 20180246568
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for blink detection, tracking, and stimulation. In one implementation, a device can include a sensor configured to receive an input, the input corresponding to perceiving one or more blinks of an eye of a user. The input can be processed to determine a blink rate or an elapsed time interval since a blink of the user. Based on the blink rate or the elapsed time interval, a blink stimulation action directed to the user can be initiated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2017
    Publication date: August 30, 2018
    Inventors: Christian Holz, Artem Dementyev
  • Publication number: 20180232050
    Abstract: A computing system including a head mounted display device with a processor and an associated display is provided. A sensor in communication with the processor is configured to detect a movable body part of a user. A plurality of physical haptic feedback structures are configured to be contacted by the movable body part. The processor is configured to operate the display device, receive data from the sensor, and determine an intended virtual target of the movable body part and a target physical structure having haptic characteristics corresponding to the intended virtual target. Also, the processor is configured to compute a path in real three-dimensional space from the movable body part to the target physical structure, compute a spatial warping pattern, and display via the display the virtual space and the virtual reality representation according to the spatial warping pattern.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2017
    Publication date: August 16, 2018
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Eyal Ofek, Andrew Wilson, Hrvoje Benko, Christian Holz, Lung-Pan Cheng
  • Patent number: 10049287
    Abstract: Disclosed are systems and methods for improving interactions with and between computers in an authentication system supported by or configured with authentication servers or platforms. The systems interact to identify access and retrieve data across platforms, which data can be used to improve the quality of results data used in processing interactions between or among processors in such systems. The disclosed anti-spoofing systems and methods provide improved functionality to facial recognition systems by enabling enhanced “spoof” (or attempts to impersonate a user) detection while authenticating a user. The disclosed systems and method provide additional functionality to existing facial recognition systems that enables such systems to actually determine whether the image being captured and/or recorded is that of an actual person, as opposed to a non-human representation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: OATH INC.
    Inventors: Christian Holz, Miteshkumar Patel, Senaka Wimal Buthpitiya
  • Publication number: 20180227061
    Abstract: Disclosed is a three-dimensional ad-hoc tracking system and method between two or more devices at a location. The disclosed systems and methods can be implemented on commodity mobile devices with no added components and require no cross-device calibration, in order to track surrounding devices. Such tracking can be achieved by fusing three types of signals: 1) the strength of Bluetooth low energy signals reveals the presence and rough distance between devices; 2) a series of inaudible acoustic signals and the difference in their arrival times produces a set of accurate distances between devices, from which 3D offsets between the devices can be derived; and 3) the integration of dead reckoning from the orientation and acceleration sensors of all devices at a location to refine the estimate and to support quick interactions between devices. The disclosed systems and methods can be implemented by cross-device applications on mobile devices.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2018
    Publication date: August 9, 2018
    Inventors: Christian HOLZ, Haojian JIN
  • Publication number: 20180206735
    Abstract: Examples are disclosed herein related to a head-mounted device, such as wearable eyeglasses, to continuously monitor pulse data and blood pressure data. One example provides a head-mounted device, comprising a first optical sensor positioned to measure pulse data at a first arterial location that is a first distance from a heart, a second optical sensor spaced apart from the first optical sensor and positioned to measure pulse data at a second arterial location that is a second, different distance from the heart, and a controller wired to the first optical sensor and the second optical sensor and configured to determine blood pressure data from the pulse data measured by the first optical sensor and the second optical sensor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2017
    Publication date: July 26, 2018
    Applicant: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Christian HOLZ, Edward Jay WANG
  • Publication number: 20180192834
    Abstract: A self-propelled cleaning device has a housing, a fan and a surface cleaning system for cleaning a surface to be cleaned. In order to also be able to clean an above-floor surface, in particular a plateau of a baseboard, the cleaning device also has an above-floor cleaning system for cleaning an above-floor surface vertically offset relative to the surface to be cleaned. The above-floor cleaning system has a flow connection to a suction and/or blower unit having a fan, the flow opening of which has a difference in height of roughly 3 cm or more relative to a standing surface of the cleaning device by comparison to a usual orientation of the cleaning device for a cleaning operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 8, 2018
    Publication date: July 12, 2018
    Applicant: Vorwerk & Co. Interholding GmbH
    Inventors: Gerhard ISENBERG, Roman ORTMANN, Christian HOLZ
  • Publication number: 20180192837
    Abstract: A self-propelled cleaning device has a surface cleaning system for cleaning a surface to be cleaned. In order to also be able to clean an above-floor surface, the cleaning device also has an above-floor cleaning element for mechanically cleaning an above-floor surface offset in terms of height relative to the surface. The above-floor cleaning element can be rotated and/or pivoted around a rotational axis, and at least one partial cleaning area of the above-floor cleaning element has a difference in height of roughly 3 cm or more relative to a lowermost standing surface of the cleaning device by comparison to a usual orientation of the cleaning device for a cleaning operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 8, 2018
    Publication date: July 12, 2018
    Applicant: Vorwerk & Co. Interholding GmbH
    Inventors: Gerhard ISENBERG, Roman ORTMANN, Christian HOLZ