Patents by Inventor Peter Shintani

Peter Shintani 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).

  • USING MICRO MIRRORS TO IMPROVE THE FIELD OF VIEW OF A 3D DEPTH MAP
    Publication number: 20180231641
    Abstract: A micro mirror assembly widens the field of view (FOV) of a 3D depth map sensor, alleviating the limitation of limited laser illumination power and limitations on the resolution of the available imaging device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2017
    Publication date: August 16, 2018
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Jose Omar Gonzalez Hernandez, William Clay, Pablo Antonio Espinosa, Fred Ansfield, Bibhudendu Mohapatra, Keith Resch, Morio Usami
  • Quick accessibility profiles
    Patent number: 10051331
    Abstract: An audio video device (AVD) such as a smart TV allows profiles to be defined on the TV. A user accessing the TV can select one of the profiles to have the TV instantly configure itself for the accessing user. This is useful not only for the hearing-impaired but also visually-impaired people, who may encounter difficulty navigating profile setup menus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Brant Candelore, Mahyar Nejat
  • Techniques for managing transition from ATSC 1.0 to ATSC 3.0
    Patent number: 10051227
    Abstract: A channel change detection feature is incorporated into future ATSC 1.0 receivers, future ATSC 3.0 receivers, and through a modification, to legacy ATSC 1.0 receivers that can detect new Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) signaling. A TV or other digital video receiver occasionally performs an automatic channel programming scan. If it detects that a channel has disappeared, then the receiver re-scans the spectrum to update the channel map. If any changes in the channel map occurs, an indication is implied that some ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 stations have been shuffled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Robert Noel Blanchard
  • Tracking details of activation of licensable component of consumer electronic device
    Patent number: 10049366
    Abstract: Instead of buying blanket licenses for all licensable components of its CE devices, a manufacturer enables users to activate licensable components on a device basis and then obtains the necessary licenses individually. Seldom used activation modes and seldom activated licensable components can be pruned from future devices, while widely activated licensable components can be automatically enabled by purchasing a blanket license for those components. Characteristics of license requests and the people making them can be used to focus marketing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2018
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Aran London Sadja, Ludovic Etienne Douillet
  • USING MULTIPLE CAMERAS TO STITCH A CONSOLIDATED 3D DEPTH MAP
    Publication number: 20180176530
    Abstract: Each of plural devices includes a laser emitter and a camera for detecting reflections of laser light emitted by the device, so that plural of the devices can generate their own depth maps showing images within the field of view of their cameras. The resulting 3D depth maps from multiple cameras at potentially arbitrary locations can be aggregated to create a more accurate 3D depth map of the area covered by all the individual cameras. Each device/camera may be assigned a unique identification such as a unique number and a mechanism to identify, either electronically or visually, devices in its field of view. Using this information, the relative locations of the cameras can be calculated for purposes of aggregating the multiple depth maps.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2016
    Publication date: June 21, 2018
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Jose Omar Gonzalez Hernandez, William Clay, Pablo Antonio Espinosa, Fred Ansfield, Bibhudendu Mohapatra, Keith Resch, Morio Usami
  • USING PATTERN RECOGNITION TO REDUCE NOISE IN A 3D MAP
    Publication number: 20180173990
    Abstract: To reduce the random noise in a depth map that is rendered using colors to convey the various depths, pattern recognition may be used to selectively apply noise reduction or to modulate the strength of the noise reduction. In this way, the potential adverse effect on the detail/sharpness of the image can be ameliorated. For example, in an image of a person, the skin does not have any sharp edges so noise reduction can be applied to such an image with little adverse consequence, whereas noise reduction applied to the image of a person's eye can cause loss of the detail of the iris, eyelashes, etc. Using pattern recognition on objects in the image, the appropriate level of noise reduction can be applied across an image while minimizing blurring/loss of detail.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2016
    Publication date: June 21, 2018
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Jose Omar Gonzalez Hernandez, William Clay, Pablo Antonio Espinosa, Fred Ansfield, Bibhudendu Mohapatra, Keith Resch, Morio Usami
  • COLOR NOISE REDUCTION IN 3D DEPTH MAP
    Publication number: 20180160094
    Abstract: A camera based depth mapping system. Depth information is coded with colors to make a laser-generated 3D depth map easier to interpret. In the event that the laser illumination is not sufficient, the depth information can have a low signal to noise ratio, i.e., the depth map can be noisy. Color noise reduction techniques are used to alleviate this problem.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2016
    Publication date: June 7, 2018
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Jose Omar Gonzalez Hernandez, William Clay, Pablo Antonio Espinosa, Fred Ansfield, Bibhudendu Mohapatra, Keith Resch, Morio Usami
  • OPTICAL MICROMESH FOR COMPUTERIZED DEVICES
    Publication number: 20180156900
    Abstract: Multiple camera systems which use laser illumination for ranging benefit from a heartbeat to synchronize the timing of the individual lasers to eliminate collisions of multiple simultaneous laser emissions. An optical micromesh system provides for the dynamic entry and egress of mobile and stationary nodes. The optical communication between nodes may be controlled using time domain multiplexing (TDM) to avoid cross talk and communication collision due to overlapping laser illumination. By using an optical, laser based micromesh network, laser ranging can be used to dynamically map node location.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2016
    Publication date: June 7, 2018
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Jose Omar Gonzalez Hernandez, William Clay, Pablo Antonio Espinosa, Fred Ansfield, Bibhudendu Mohapatra, Keith Resch, Morio Usami
  • Microphone gain using a time of flight (ToF) laser range finding system
    Patent number: 9984690
    Abstract: Range to a human speaker is determined using a laser-based time of flight (ToF) system, with the range then being used to adjust the gain of a microphone receiving the speaker's voice. If desired, an acoustic-based Direction of Arrival (DoA) system uses acoustic information to determine the direction of incoming sound, such as a person talking, and the direction of the sound is then used to focus the area of laser illumination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignees: Sony Corporation, SONY INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT INC.
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Morio Usami, Keith Resch
  • Methods, information providing system, and reception apparatus for protecting content
    Patent number: 9980014
    Abstract: An information providing system, reception apparatus, and methods thereof are provided for protected content data. The method for providing the protected content data includes generating or receiving the protected content data, and generating a digital television broadcast signal including at least one data field sync segment and the protected content data. The digital television broadcast signal is provided to a reception apparatus. The at least one data field sync segment carries information necessary to identify a framing structure of the digital television broadcast signal and includes one of security information for accessing the protected content data and a location of the security information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 22, 2018
    Assignee: SATURN LICENSING LLC
    Inventors: Luke Fay, Brant Candelore, Frederick J. Zustak, Peter Shintani
  • Accessibility remote control for the blind
    Patent number: 9959782
    Abstract: A remotely controlled device receives a command from a remote control (RC) but does not execute the command. Instead, the remotely controlled device accesses an audio file pertaining to the command and announces what the command is, so that a vision-impaired person can hear the command caused by the key that was just pressed. If the person wishes the command to be executed, he presses the key again within a threshold period. In another embodiment, the RC receives a press of a key but does not send the associated command. Instead, the RC announces the command. If the user wishes to send the command to a remotely controlled device, he presses the key again.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2018
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Brant Candelore, Mahyar Nejat, Peter Shintani
  • System and method to communicate an emergency alert message
    Patent number: 9955235
    Abstract: Various aspects of a system related to communication of emergency alert messages are disclosed herein. The system comprises one or more circuits in an electronic device communicatively coupled to a broadcast server. The one or more circuits are configured to register one or more output preferences based on one or more input parameters provided by a user. An emergency alert message and associated metadata of an emergency event is received from the broadcast server. The associated metadata includes time-sensitive information of the emergency event. Based on the associated metadata and the registered one or more output preferences, the received emergency alert message is modified to a user-accessible format. According to the registered one or more output preferences, the modified emergency alert message is communicated to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Robert Blanchard
  • Locality systems and methods for digital broadcasting
    Patent number: 9948982
    Abstract: Systems and methods for determining location of a digital broadcast receiver. The system includes the digital broadcast receiver receiving digital broadcasting, and at least one computing device configured to determine a location of the device. In one embodiment the receiver communicates with the at least one nearby location-enabled device and receives a device location. In one embodiment the system uses acoustic pings to determine the proximity of the device to the receiver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Peter Shintani
  • DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING VIDEO CONTENT FOR DISPLAY CONTROL
    Publication number: 20180102106
    Abstract: Various aspects of a video processing device and method for display control includes detection, from a sequence of image frames received from a video source, a transition from one or more frames associated with a first metadata to one or more other frames associated with a second metadata. First visual properties of the one or more frames are determined based on the first metadata. Second visual properties of the one or more other frames are determined based on the second metadata. The determined second visual properties of the one or more other frames are controlled in accordance with the determined first visual properties of the one or more frames to enable a smooth transition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 7, 2016
    Publication date: April 12, 2018
    Inventor: PETER SHINTANI
  • Smoothing brightness transition during channel change
    Patent number: 9875694
    Abstract: First and second brightness metadata pertaining to respective first and second contents are accessed, and responsive to receiving a command to change presentation from the first content to the second content, a composite brightness is established using the first and second metadata. At least one of the contents using the composite brightness at a start time of a transition period. During the transition period, video is presented using a changing brightness that starts at the composite brightness at the start time of the transition period and ends at the second brightness at an end time of the transition period. Subsequent to the end time of the transition period, the second content is presented using the second metadata and not using the first metadata.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Peter Shintani
  • LOCALITY SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DIGITAL BROADCASTING
    Publication number: 20180014070
    Abstract: Systems and methods for determining location of a digital broadcast receiver. The system includes the digital broadcast receiver receiving digital broadcasting, and at least one computing device configured to determine a location of the device. In one embodiment the receiver communicates with the at least one nearby location-enabled device and receives a device location. In one embodiment the system uses acoustic pings to determine the proximity of the device to the receiver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 5, 2016
    Publication date: January 11, 2018
    Inventor: PETER SHINTANI
  • METHODOLOGIES AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING DELAYS WHEN RECEIVING, PROCESSING, OR SWITCHING CONTENT
    Publication number: 20180007309
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses are provided for receiving content. The method includes receiving a first service, by a receiver of a reception apparatus, the first service providing first content and first metadata associated with the first content. The first content is encoded in one of a plurality of formats decodable by the reception apparatus. Further, the method includes generating, by circuitry of the reception apparatus, first codec mode in formation based on the first metadata received with the first content. The first codec mode information indicates the one of the plurality of formats or a codec for decoding the one of the plurality of formats. The generated first codec mode information in association with the first service is stored, by the circuitry, in a table. The table includes codec mode information for a plurality of different services, which includes the first service.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2017
    Publication date: January 4, 2018
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Robert Blanchard
  • Gimbal-mounted linear ultrasonic speaker assembly
    Patent number: 9826330
    Abstract: Audio spatial effects are provided using a gimbal-mounted ultrasonic speaker array in which a vertical line of ultrasonic speakers are provided on a speaker mount and are angled to direct sound at respective different elevation angles. The speaker mount can be rotated by a gimbal. In this way, the azimuth angle of the linear array is established in response to a control signal from, e.g., a game console or video player, with elevational angle of the desired sound beam being established by selecting one or more of the speakers in the linear array with the appropriate elevation angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2017
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Gregory Carlsson
  • Methodologies and apparatus for reducing delays when receiving, processing, or switching content
    Patent number: 9800819
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses are provided for receiving content. The method includes receiving a first service, by a receiver of a reception apparatus, the first service providing first content and first metadata associated with the first content. The first content is encoded in one of a plurality of formats decodable by the reception apparatus. Further, the method includes generating, by circuitry of the reception apparatus, first codec mode information based on the first metadata received with the first content. The first codec mode information indicates the one of the plurality of formats or a codec for decoding the one of the plurality of formats. The generated first codec mode information in association with the first service is stored, by the circuitry, in a table. The table includes codec mode information for a plurality of different services, which includes the first service.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2017
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Robert Blanchard
  • Ultrasonic speaker assembly using variable carrier frequency to establish third dimension sound locating
    Patent number: 9794724
    Abstract: Audio effects are played on ultrasonic (US) speakers mounted on a gimbal assembly. The audio effects channel demands an elevation, azimuth, and radial distance along which the audio effects are to be transmitted, and the gimbal assembly moves or a speaker is selected according to the audio effects channel. The demanded radial distance is established by altering the carrier frequency of the US sound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Peter Shintani, Gregory Carlsson