Patents by Inventor Michael Andrew Howard

Michael Andrew Howard 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: 11468616
    Abstract: The disclosed computer-implemented method may include identifying a set of action units (AUs) associated with a face of a user. Each AU may be associated with a muscle group engaged by the user to produce a viseme associated with a sound produced by the user. The method may also include, for each AU in the set of AUs, determining a set of AU parameters associated with the AU and the viseme. The set of AU parameters may include (1) an onset curve, and (2) a falloff curve. The method may also include (1) detecting that the user has produced the sound, and (2) directing a computer-generated avatar to produce the viseme in accordance with the set of AU parameters in response to detecting that the user is producing the sound. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: Meta Platforms Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: William Arthur Hugh Steptoe, Michael Andrew Howard, Melinda Ozel, Giovanni F. Nakpil, Timothy Naylor
  • Patent number: 11270487
    Abstract: The disclosed computer-implemented method may include identifying a muscle group engaged by a user to execute a predefined body action by (1) capturing a set of images of the user while the user executes the predefined body action, and (2) associating a feature of a body of the user with the muscle group based on the predefined body action and the set of images. The method may also include determining, based on the set of images, a set of parameters associated with the user, the muscle group, and the predefined body action. The method may also include directing a computer-generated avatar that represents the body of the user to produce the predefined body action in accordance with the set of parameters. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: Facebook Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: William Arthur Hugh Steptoe, Michael Andrew Howard, Melinda Ozel, Giovanni F. Nakpil, Timothy Naylor
  • Patent number: 10841404
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes identifying one or more social network events that satisfy a query condition in a social-networking system, determining an event score for each of the identified events, where the event score is based on one or more signals that are each related to a first interaction between a target user and the social-networking system, and the first interaction associates the target user with the identified event, and presenting one or more of the identified events to the target user in an order based on the event score of each identified event. The interaction may establish an association between the target user and an entity associated with the event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Andrew Howard, Jasper Reid Hauser, Scott Joseph Robert Horsfall, Vijay Sivakumar, Dan Ionut Fechete, Zhiyuan Zhang, Xuan Jiang, Xun Gong
  • Publication number: 20180013818
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes identifying one or more event categories that are of interest to a user of a social-networking system, where each of the event categories comprises one or more social-networking events. generating an event category interface element that represents the event category, where the event category interface element comprises category content that is based on historical information associated with the user, and presenting the event category interface elements to the user. The category content may be based on at least one of the one or more social-networking events in the event category. The category content may be based on a highest-ranking event in the event category. The category content may be based on an image of the highest-ranking event in the event category.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 11, 2016
    Publication date: January 11, 2018
    Inventors: Michael Andrew Howard, Jasper Reid Hauser, Scott Joseph Robert Horsfall, Vijay Sivakumar, Dan Ionut Fechete, Zhiyuan Zhang, Xuan Jiang, Xun Gong
  • Publication number: 20180013861
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a method includes identifying one or more social network events that satisfy a query condition in a social-networking system, determining an event score for each of the identified events, where the event score is based on one or more signals that are each related to a first interaction between a target user and the social-networking system, and the first interaction associates the target user with the identified event, and presenting one or more of the identified events to the target user in an order based on the event score of each identified event. The interaction may establish an association between the target user and an entity associated with the event.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 11, 2016
    Publication date: January 11, 2018
    Inventors: Michael Andrew Howard, Jasper Reid Hauser, Scott Joseph Robert Horsfall, Vijay Sivakumar, Dan Ionut Fechete, Zhiyuan Zhang, Xuan Jiang, Xun Gong