Patents by Inventor Luis von Ahn Arellano

Luis von Ahn Arellano 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: 7980953
    Abstract: A methodology to determine the contents of an image uses an online game that is played by a large number of people at once. Each player may be randomly assigned a partner to form a pair. Partners do not know each other's identity and cannot communicate with one another. Players cannot see what their partners are typing, and the only thing the two partners have in common is an image that they can both see. One object of the game is to have each player type exactly what his or her partner is typing or has already typed. Once both players type the same string of words or letters, they receive a new image (the players are not required to type the string at the same time). The string upon which the two players agree is used as a label for that image. When trying to agree on a word, players may not be able to type certain specific strings of characters or “forbidden words”. When humans play the electronic game (online or over the Internet), they help computers determine the contents of images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2011
    Assignee: Carnegie Mellon University
    Inventor: Luis von Ahn Arellano
  • Patent number: 7603343
    Abstract: A system combines individual estimates of the subjective appeal of web pages into a combined rating for each web page that can be used to rank web pages during a web search. In a gaming implementation, a web page recipient estimates the combined rating that other recipients of the web page have formulated. The recipient can be rewarded for accurately estimating the combined rating by receiving a subsequent web page that possesses a high rating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2009
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Luis von Ahn Arellano, Josh D. Benaloh
  • Patent number: 7478110
    Abstract: The subject invention provides a unique system and method that facilitates an interactive game-powered search engine that serve the purposes of both users who may be looking for information as well as game participants who may desire to earn some reward or level of enjoyment by playing the game. More specifically, the system and method provides feedback to a user based on the user's input string or a string derived therefrom. The feedback can be a response or answer to the user's input in the form of text, an image, audio or sound, video, and/or a URL that is provided by one or more game participants when there is some degree of consistency or agreement between the responses or when individual players have demonstrated good reliability in their responses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2009
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Luis A. von Ahn Arellano, Eric D. Brill, John C. Platt, Josh Benaloh
  • Publication number: 20060179053
    Abstract: A system combines individual estimates of the subjective appeal of web pages into a combined rating for each web page that can be used to rank web pages during a web search. In a gaming implementation, a web page recipient estimates the combined rating that other recipients of the web page have formulated. The recipient can be rewarded for accurately estimating the combined rating by receiving a subsequent web page that possesses a high rating.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 4, 2005
    Publication date: August 10, 2006
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Luis von Ahn Arellano, Josh Benaloh
  • Publication number: 20060167874
    Abstract: The subject invention provides a unique system and method that facilitates an interactive game-powered search engine that serve the purposes of both users who may be looking for information as well as game participants who may desire to earn some reward or level of enjoyment by playing the game. More specifically, the system and method provides feedback to a user based on the user's input string or a string derived therefrom. The feedback can be a response or answer to the user's input in the form of text, an image, audio or sound, video, and/or a URL that is provided by one or more game participants when there is some degree of consistency or agreement between the responses or when individual players have demonstrated good reliability in their responses.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2005
    Publication date: July 27, 2006
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Luis von Ahn Arellano, Eric Brill, John Platt, Josh Benaloh
  • Publication number: 20050014118
    Abstract: A methodology to determine the contents of an image uses an online game that is played by a large number of people at once. Each player may be randomly assigned a partner to form a pair. Partners do not know each other's identity and cannot communicate with one another. Players cannot see what their partners are typing, and the only thing the two partners have in common is an image that they can both see. One object of the game is to have each player type exactly what his or her partner is typing or has already typed. Once both players type the same string of words or letters, they receive a new image (the players are not required to type the string at the same time). The string upon which the two players agree is used as a label for that image. When trying to agree on a word, players may not be able to type certain specific strings of characters or “forbidden words”. When humans play the electronic game (online or over the Internet), they help computers determine the contents of images.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 24, 2004
    Publication date: January 20, 2005
    Inventor: Luis von Ahn Arellano