Patents by Inventor Mark Fields

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: 10720080
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method for determining a quality of driving of a vehicle is presented. Information indicating at least one driving condition may be received from at least one driving condition information indicating device. The at least one driving condition may be different from each of a plurality of driving metrics, and may affect a relationship between the quality of driving and at least one of the plurality of driving metrics. Information indicating the at least one driving metric may be received. At least one indication of the quality of driving of the vehicle may be determined based on the information indicating the at least one driving metric and the received information from the at least one driving condition information indicating device. The at least one indication of the quality of driving may be provided to at least one of the driver, a driving instructor, or an insurance provider.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2020
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Nicholas R. Baker, Lee Marvin John Assam
  • Publication number: 20200219197
    Abstract: Methods and systems for monitoring use, determining risk, and pricing insurance policies are provided. In one aspect, a computer-implemented method for generating or adjusting an insurance policy is provided. With an insurance customer's permission, data regarding several factors associated with the customer may be received via wireless communication from their mobile device, vehicle controller, or smart home controller. The data may be related to (i) the customer's home, (ii) an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle, and/or (iii) home and vehicle features, maintenance history, and/or repairs performed to each over time. Risk levels may be determined using the data received. Aspects of one or more insurance policies (auto, home, life, etc.) may be adjusted based upon the risk levels. An updated insurance discount may be transmitted to the customer's mobile device via wireless communication for their review and approval. As a result, insurance discounts may be provided to risk averse insurance customers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 6, 2015
    Publication date: July 9, 2020
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Chien Che Huang, Mohamed A. Wazeer, Shawn C. Bennett, Steven C. Cielocha, Ronny S. Bryant, Stephen Kohaus, Terry Quakenbush, Richard A. Novak, Aaron Scott Chan, Craig M. Main, Weixin Wu, Torri Wollenschlager, Carol Marie Csanda, Stacey Gorsuch, Todd Binion
  • Patent number: 10621859
    Abstract: An alert may be triggered to notify a pedestrian of the current operational mode of a nearby vehicle. For instance, a vehicle may operate in an autonomous or manual mode, and may occasionally switch from one mode to the other. A pedestrian who may be unaware of the current operational mode of a nearby vehicle may notice the alert and proceed accordingly. In one embodiment, an indication of the current operational mode of the nearby vehicle may be transmitted to an electronic device associated with the pedestrian. The device may generate a notification to the pedestrian based on the current operational mode. In an additional or alternative embodiment, the alert may be transmitted by the vehicle externally to be visible or audible to the pedestrian. In some embodiments, the alert may be triggered only for particular operational modes (e.g., only for autonomous or only for manual).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Steve Roberson
  • Patent number: 10618523
    Abstract: Human operators of autonomous vehicles may exhibit varying levels of operating proficiencies and may respond differently to changing road conditions or requests from the vehicle to assume more or less control over navigation. A system for assessing driver capability of an autonomous vehicle assesses human operator capabilities in a variety of circumstances to assemble a driving capability profile of the human operator. The autonomous vehicle may rely on the driving capability profile as well as an environmental profile and human operator parameters describing the environment surrounding the vehicle and an alertness level of the human operator, respectively. The vehicle may condition requests to increase or decrease driving responsibilities of the human operator depending on the driving capability profile in combination with the environmental profile and/or the human operator parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Leo Nelson Chan, Kristopher Keith Gaudin, Aaron Williams
  • Patent number: 10593182
    Abstract: The method, system, and computer-readable medium facilitates monitoring a vehicle operator during the course of vehicle operation to determine whether the vehicle operator is in an emotionally impaired state (e.g., aggressive or agitated) and presenting appropriate stimuli (e.g., music or sound recordings) to the vehicle operator when impairment is detected. 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 in an emotionally impaired state, stimuli are selected to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator. The selection is based on sensor data and data regarding prior responses of the vehicle operator to various stimuli. After selection, the stimuli are presented to the vehicle operator while monitoring continues.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2020
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Samuel C Weeks, Thasphon Chuenchujit, Kelsey Catherine Yoshie Stiles, Allison Lynne Diaz, Alisha Deshmukh, Mihir D Angal, Akash Duseja, Aaron Scott Chan, Matthew Christopher Jon Donovan
  • Patent number: 10554649
    Abstract: Systems and methods are described for performing blockchain validation of user identity and authority. In various aspects one or more processors receive a first blockchain ID and a second blockchain ID, where each of the first blockchain ID and the second blockchain ID is associated with a user and is further associated with a first and second blockchain, respectively. A plurality of blockchain transactions may be aggregated where the plurality of blockchain transactions includes at least a first blockchain transaction associated with the first blockchain and a second blockchain transaction associated with the second blockchain. A first validation event providing a first indication of validity for the user may be identified based on the first blockchain transaction or the second blockchain transaction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Lee Marvin John Assam
  • Patent number: 10540892
    Abstract: Systems and methods for real-time detection and mitigation anomalous behavior of a remote vehicle are provided, e.g., vehicle behavior that is consistent with distracted or unexpectedly disabled driving. On-board and off-board sensors associated with a subject vehicle may monitor the subject vehicle's environment, and behavior characteristics of a remote vehicle operating within the subject vehicle's environment may be determined based upon collected sensor data. The remote vehicle's behavior characteristics may be utilized to detect or determine the presence of anomalous behavior, which may be anomalous for the current contextual conditions of the vehicles' environment. Mitigating actions for detected remote vehicle anomalous behaviors may be suggested and/or automatically implemented at the subject vehicle and/or at proximate vehicles to avoid or reduce the risk of accidents, injury, or death resulting from the anomalous behavior. In some situations, authorities may be notified.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, John A. Nepomuceno, Scott Thomas Christensen, Duane Christiansen, Steven C. Cielocha, Kristopher Keith Gaudin, Michael Bernico, Nathan L. Tofte, Steve Roberson
  • Patent number: 10504188
    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: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
    Inventors: Benjamin F. Bowne, Jufeng “James” Peng, Nicholas R. Baker, Duane Lee Marzinzik, Matthew Eric Riley, Nicholas U. Christopulos, Brian Mark Fields, J. Lynn Wilson, Bryan T. Wilkerson, David W. Thurber
  • Patent number: 10493994
    Abstract: Systems and methods for determining the performance of a driver of a vehicle based on changes, over time, in the context and environment in which the vehicle operates, and any resultant driver behavior are disclosed. A set of driver response data is created from based on an analysis of time-series data indicative of the driver's operation of the vehicle in conjunction with time-series data indicative of changes in the vehicle's context/environment. The driver response data indicates the types and magnitudes of the driver's responses to various changes in the vehicle's operating context/environment and the driver's time-to-respond for each of the responses. That is, the driver response data indicates how a driver compensated his or her behavior (if at all) in response to different changes in the vehicle's context and/or environment. The driver response data may be compared to one or more thresholds to determine the driver's performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2019
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventor: Brian Mark Fields
  • Patent number: 10490078
    Abstract: Systems and approaches relate to, inter alia, providing near real-time route safety and risk information. The systems and approaches may receive a request for a desired destination for vehicular travel. The systems and approaches may then access historical route data for a plurality of potential travel routes to arrive at the desired location and also access near real-time route data for the plurality of potential travel routes. The systems and approaches may further determine a risk index based on the historical route data and the near real-time route data, and present at least one travel route for the vehicle based on the calculated risk index.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Aaron Williams, Kristopher Keith Gaudin
  • Patent number: 10446047
    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: September 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOTIVE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Jibo He, John Adrian Nepomuceno, Steve Roberson, Bryan Allen Plummer, Kurtis C. Houdek, Neeraj Jain
  • Patent number: 10445331
    Abstract: A method for electronically mining intellectual property using an associative discovery process may include determining a set of documents containing keywords and/or phrases associated with an industry trend of interest and, for each document, assigning a weight. The method may also include selecting a subset of the documents based at least upon the assigned weights, and determining a feedback score for each document in the subset. The method may further include determining an optimal weighing scheme for the determined keywords and/or phrases using a statistical learning model and the feedback scores, ranking all documents in the set of documents according to the optimal weighing scheme, and providing results of the associative discovery process to a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Jufeng Peng, Jason Freeck, James Maxwell McWilliams, Mark O'Flaherty, Pat J. Johnson
  • Patent number: 10431018
    Abstract: Methods and systems for monitoring use, determining risk, and pricing insurance policies for a vehicle having one or more autonomous or semi-autonomous operation features are provided. According to certain aspects, the operating status and/or configuration of autonomous operation features of an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle may be determined, such as via an on-board computer system or mobile device, and/or then directly or indirectly wirelessly communicated via data transmission from the vehicle computer system or mobile device to a remote server. An adjustment to one or more risk levels associated with operation of the autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle may also be determined, and an auto insurance policy, premium, or discount may be adjusted based upon the adjustment to the risk levels and presented to the customer for their review and approval. As a result, insurance cost savings may be passed onto risk averse customers that opt into to a rewards program.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Chien Che Huang, Mohamed A. Wazeer, Shawn C. Bennett, Steven C. Cielocha, Ronny S. Bryant, Stephen Kohaus, Terry Quakenbush, Richard A. Novak, Aaron Scott Chan, Craig M. Main, Weixin Wu, Torri Wollenschlager, Carol Marie Csanda, Stacey Gorsuch, Todd Binion
  • Patent number: 10424022
    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: January 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Benjamin F. Bowne, James Peng, Nicholas R. Baker, Duane Lee Marzinzik, Matthew Eric Riley, Sr., Nicholas Christopulos, Brian Mark Fields, J. Lynn Wilson, Bryan T. Wilkerson, David W. Thurber
  • Patent number: 10416670
    Abstract: According to certain aspects, a computer-implemented method for operating an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle may be provided. With the customer's permission, an identity of a vehicle operator may be identified and a vehicle operator profile may be retrieved. Operating data regarding autonomous operation features operating the vehicle may be received from vehicle-mounted sensors. When a request to disable an autonomous feature is received, a risk level for the autonomous feature is determined and compared with a driver behavior setting for the autonomous feature stored in the vehicle operator profile. Based upon the risk level comparison, the autonomous vehicle retains control of vehicle or the autonomous feature is disengaged depending upon which is the safer driver—the autonomous vehicle or the vehicle human occupant. As a result, unsafe disengagement of self-driving functionality for autonomous vehicles may be alleviated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Chien Che Huang, Mohamed A. Wazeer, Shawn C. Bennett, Steven C. Cielocha, Ronny S. Bryant, Stephen Kohaus, Terry Quakenbush, Richard A. Novak, Aaron Scott Chan, Craig M. Main, Weixin Wu, Torri Wollenschlager, Carol Marie Csanda, Stacey Gorsuch, Todd Binion
  • Patent number: 10414408
    Abstract: Real-time feedback may be generated during a driving session from status data collected via one or more sensors. This feedback data may include various metrics related to a student's driving skills, which may be utilized to generate tagged driving events. A user may also manually enter tagged driving events. The tagged driving events may include real-time information based on the collected status data, such as acceleration, braking, cornering data, descriptions entered by the user. The location of these tagged driving events may be mapped in real time. Sensors used to collect this data may be integrated within the device displaying the feedback or located on another device, in which case the status data may be communicated to the device displaying the feedback. The displayed real-time feedback may be viewed by an instructor to assess a student's driving skills in real time and to calculate a driver feedback score.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Steve Roberson, Abhishek Harish, Hyunji Lim, Matthew James Waughtel
  • Patent number: 10410288
    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: January 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2019
    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
  • Patent number: 10402907
    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: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2019
    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
  • Patent number: 10373387
    Abstract: Systems and methods are disclosed for enhancing and developing a damage scene virtual reality (VR) visualization. Annotated immersive multimedia image(s) may be received from a first user, where the annotated immersive multimedia image(s) can be associated with a damage scene. A VR visualization of the annotated immersive multimedia image(s) may be rendered using a VR device associated with a second user. The VR visualization may be used to determine a damage amount, where the damage amount is determined from one or more damaged items identifiable in the annotated immersive multimedia image(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Lee Marvin John Assam
  • Patent number: 10373523
    Abstract: During driving sessions, data may be collected via one or more sensors that are incorporated within a vehicle or as part of a device carried within the vehicle. Using this data, a driving session report may be generated and a driving session feedback score may be calculated, which provides feedback regarding a students' driving skills Driver profiles may be generated for each student including contact information and/or any number of driving session reports saved over the course of several driving sessions. A user interface is described that facilitates interaction by allowing a user to create driver profiles, group driver profiles, display driver profiles as a single list view or as a grouped list view, select driver profiles from these displayed lists, edit driver information and/or delete driver profiles, and display driving session reports stored as part of a driver profile together such that comparisons may be made.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY
    Inventors: Brian Mark Fields, Steve Roberson, Abhishek Harish, Hyunji Lim, Matthew James Waughtel, Bryan Allen Plummer, Parker Andrew Brown