Abstract: The child car seat safety alarm is an alarm system. The child car seat safety alarm is configured for use with a child safety seat and a driver's seat. The child car seat safety alarm is configured to detect the weight of a first individual in the driver's seat. The child car seat safety alarm is configured to detect the weight of a second individual in the child safety seat. If the child car seat safety alarm detects the weight of the second individual in the child safety seat but does not detect the weight of the first individual, the child car seat safety alarm initiates a plurality audio and visual alarms to indicate that the second individual remains in the child safety seat. The child car seat safety alarm comprises a beacon module and a child safety seat module.

Abstract: This invention relates to the preparation of a dynamically vulcanized alloy comprising at least one elastomer and at least one thermoplastic resin. More specifically, the process produces dynamically vulcanized alloys with unique morphological features which have good impermeability and low temperature flexibility. In the process, the thermoplastic resin is added into the extruder in two stages with an intermediate addition of a compatibilizer. Also during the final addition of thermoplastic resin, the elastomeric curatives are added to the extruder.

Abstract: This invention relates to the preparation of a dynamically vulcanized alloy comprising at least one elastomer and at least one thermoplastic resin. More specifically, the process produces dynamically vulcanized alloys with unique morphological features which have good impermeability and low temperature flexibility. In the process, the thermoplastic resin is added into the extruder in two stages with an intermediate addition of a compatibilizer. Also during the final addition of thermoplastic resin, the elastomeric curatives are added to the extruder.

Abstract: A testing apparatus for testing a welding apparatus is disclosed. The testing apparatus includes a receptacle, a fault indicator, and a power supply. The receptacle includes a grounding socket and a plurality of power sockets. The power supply is electrically coupled to the grounding socket, the fault indicator, and at least one of the plurality of power sockets. When a plug of the welding apparatus is matingly coupled to the receptacle, the fault indicator indicates whether an electrical resistance between a grounding prong of the plug and at least one of a plurality of power prongs of the plug is below a predetermined threshold.

Abstract: A method for imparting control to an application program (AP) running on a mobile device, said method comprising the acts of displaying a graphical user interface (GUI) of the AP on a touch panel of the mobile device; capturing a touch input on a portion of the GUI; the method further comprising, when identifying the touch input as a touch input of a predefined first type, the acts of imparting a first AP control associated to the portion of the GUI; monitoring an occurrence of a spatial movement of the mobile device; imparting a second AP control associated to the portion of the GUI in response to the capture of a spatial movement.

Abstract: A testing apparatus for testing a welding apparatus is disclosed. The testing apparatus comprises a receptacle, a fault indicator, and a power supply, wherein: the receptacle comprises a grounding socket and a plurality of power sockets; the power supply is electrically coupled to the grounding socket, the fault indicator, and at least one of the plurality of power sockets; and when a plug of the welding apparatus is matingly coupled to the receptacle, the fault indicator indicates whether an electrical resistance between a grounding prong of the plug and at least one of a plurality of power prongs of the plug is below a predetermined threshold.

Abstract: The invention relates to method for managing a set of widgets displayed on the graphical user interface (GUI) of a device, said method comprising the acts of receiving contextual data from the device, querying with the received contextual data a repository of widget configurations for the set of widgets, said widgets configurations being described in said repository as functions of the possible contextual data values, displaying the set of widgets using the configuration that match the received contextual data.

Abstract: A mobile device is provided for imparting spatially articulable control to an application program. The device includes a display for presenting the GUI. A spatial detection unit is configured to detect spatial movement of the mobile device and provides an output responsive to the detected spatial movement. A data processor is configured to provide a platform for executable code, and, monitors and provides the output to a communication channel. Executable code executes on the platform of the data processor. The executable code includes, an interpreter library which is operably linked to the communication channel and is configured to implement communication with the data processor to receive the output. The interpreter generates events relative to the interpreter library. A plug-in has an interface cooperatively linked to the interpreter library to receive corresponding generated events. The generated events are provided to a script interface of the plug in.

Abstract: Enhanced speech recognition accuracy is provided by using geographic data, illustratively related to the geographic location of a mobile device, to automatically select a subset of words for use with a speech recognition procedure. The subset of words is selected from an element database including words that describe elements at each of a plurality of locations. Geographic data includes at least one of global positioning system (GPS) position data, cell identity (Cell-ID) data, caller identification (Caller ID) data, place name data, or zip code data. Elements include at least one of street names, businesses, merchants, points of interest, transportation facilities, individual households, activities, and landmarks. By selecting a subset of words, the total number of words used in the speech recognition procedure is substantially reduced, thereby improving speech recognition accuracy.

Abstract: A powered wheeled carriage includes a patient support and a wheeled base. An auxiliary wheel mechanism includes an auxiliary wheel spring support for biasing an auxiliary wheel into contact with a floor. Operating a control apparatus moves the auxiliary wheel away from the floor. A drive handle pivots about a single axis to control a drive motor that powers the auxiliary wheel. The drive handle controls driving of the wheeled carriage in forward and rearward directions. A decision/drive circuit ramps the speed of the wheeled carriage for a few second after start-up to prevent a jerking motion. A display/control panel displays the condition of the carriage brake and the condition of the auxiliary wheel to assist an operator.

Abstract: A power assisted wheeled carriage includes a patient support having a length, a wheeled base supporting the patient support, and an auxiliary wheel mechanism including an auxiliary wheel spring support for biasing an auxiliary wheel into contact with a floor. The carriage further includes a control apparatus for moving the auxiliary wheel away from the floor. The auxiliary wheel spring support can be a spring steel member having an opening and biased to move the auxiliary wheel into contact with the floor. The control apparatus can include a foot pedal for turning a rotatable shaft that enables a cam apparatus to apply an upward force to the auxiliary wheel. The wheeled carriage also includes a drive handle pivotable about a single axis to control a drive motor for the auxiliary wheel. The drive handle controls driving of the wheeled carriage in forward and rearward directions. Safety sensors on the drive handle require grasping thereof at a specific location to operate the carriage.

Abstract: A power assisted wheeled carriage includes a patient support having a length, a wheeled base supporting the patient support, and an auxiliary wheel mechanism including an auxiliary wheel spring support for biasing an auxiliary wheel into contact with a floor. The carriage further includes a control apparatus for moving the auxiliary wheel away from the floor. The auxiliary wheel spring support can be a spring steel member having an opening and biased to move the auxiliary wheel into contact with the floor. The control apparatus can include a foot pedal for turning a rotatable shaft that enables a cam apparatus to apply an upward force to the auxiliary wheel. The wheeled carriage also includes a drive handle pivotable about a single axis to control a drive motor for the auxiliary wheel. The drive handle controls driving of the wheeled carriage in forward and rearward directions.

Abstract: An active public user interface in a computerized kiosk senses humans visually using movement and color to detect changes in the environment indicating the presence of people. Interaction spaces are defined and the system records an initial model of its environment which is updated over time to reflect the addition or subtraction of inanimate objects and to compensate for lighting changes. The system develops models of the moving objects and is thereby able to track people as they move about the interaction spaces. A stereo camera system further enhances the system's ability to sense location and movement. The kiosk presents audio and visual feedback in response to what it “sees.

Abstract: A technique for providing a computer generated face having coordinated eye and head movement is realized by providing a computer generated movable head and at least one computer generated movable eye. The movement of the computer generated movable head and the movement of the at least one computer generated movable eye are coordinated such that the movement of the computer generated movable head follows the movement of the at least one computer generated movable eye.

Abstract: A method for mapping a digitized image of a face on to a reference wireframe topology in a computer system is provided, the image composed of pixels, the wireframe composed of interconnected nodes, the method including the steps of determining facial features from the pixels, determining facial landmark points from the facial features, computing displacements for each one of the interconnected nodes, and manually finetuning the displacements in response to the step of computing.

Abstract: A method for mapping a digitized image of a face to a wireframe is provided. The wireframe is composed of a plurality of nodes connected by lines. The method includes the steps of detecting a plurality of facial features from the plurality of pixels of a reference facial image. Corresponding facial landmark nodes in the wireframe topology are determined. A transform between the facial features and the landmark nodes is computed to map the wireframe topology to reference facial image. The reference facial image and a target facial image are cropped using a bounding box. The cropped reference facial image is registered with the cropped target facial image to determine a displacement field. The displacement field is applied to the mapped wireframe topology for the reference facial image to map the target facial image to the wireframe topology.

Abstract: In a touch activated computer system, a display terminal displays an image on a screen of the terminal. The image includes one or more visual option buttons arranged in a predetermined pattern. Each button corresponds to a specific application program which can be executed by the system. A camera has a lens oriented to capture frames representing a scene in front of the screen. Each frame includes a plurality of regularized pixel values. The system includes an image registration subsystem for comparing the pixel values of successive frames. A particular application is selected for execution when the pixel values corresponding to that portion of the scene directly in front of a particular button differ in successive frames more than a predetermined threshold value.

Abstract: In a computerized method, speech signals are analyzed using statistical trajectory modeling to produce time aligned acoustic-phonetic units. There is one acoustic-phonetic unit for each portion of the speech signal determined to be phonetically distinct. The acoustic-phonetic units are translated to corresponding time aligned image units representative of the acoustic-phonetic units. An image including the time aligned image units is displayed. The display of the time aligned image units is synchronized to a replaying of the digitized natural speech signal.

Abstract: A method and apparatus provide a video image of facial features synchronized with synthetic speech. Text input is transformed into a string of phonemes and timing data, which are transmitted to an image generation unit. At the same time, a string of synthetic speech samples is transmitted to an audio server. The audio server produces signals for an audio speaker, causing the audio signals to be continuously audibilized; additionally, the audio server initializes a timer. The image generation unit reads the timing data from the timer and, by consulting the phoneme and timing data, determines the position of the phoneme currently being audibilized. The image generation unit then calculates the facial configuration corresponding to the position in the string of phonemes, calculates the facial configuration, and causes the facial configuration to be displayed on a video device.