Patents by Inventor Robert Francis Tow

Robert Francis Tow 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).

  • Vision-assist systems and methods for assisting visually impaired users with navigating an environment using simultaneous audio outputs
    Patent number: 9993384
    Abstract: A system and method for assisting a visually impaired user with navigating an environment. The system and method include determining a first navigational path to a first target destination and a second navigational path to a second target destination and providing the user with directional information in the form a first audio output associated with the first target destination and a second audio output associated with the second target destination. The system and method vary an audio characteristic of the first audio output in relation to the current orientation of the user with respect to the first navigational path and vary an audio characteristic of the second audio output in relation to the current orientation of the user with respect to the second navigational path. The system and method control the audio output unit to simultaneously output the first audio output and the second audio output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Tiffany Chen, Robert Francis Tow