Patents Issued in April 17, 2018
  • Patent number: 9946311
    Abstract: Provided is a display control device including a communication unit that performs communication with an external device, a detecting unit that detects a direction of an operation device based on detection information representing motion of the operation device, and a display control unit that generates an imaging control command used to control an imaging operation based on the detected direction of the operation device, and controls display of an image obtained through an imaging operation by causing the communication unit to transmit the imaging control command to the external device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masatoshi Ueno, Shinobu Kuriya, Kenichi Kabasawa, Toshiyuki Nakagawa, Tetsuro Goto, Tsubasa Tsukahara
  • Patent number: 9946312
    Abstract: A cover for a mobile computing device includes two or more hinges so constructed that the hinges are substantially rigid when in-plane and flexible when out-of-plane. The cover includes segments made of a rigid material disposed between the hinges. The cover, when swiveled to the back side of the computing device, forms a contour around an object such as a stylus to secure the object to the back side of the computing device when the object is present. The cover becomes substantially flat and parallel to the back side of the computing device when the object is absent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Ivan Andrew McCracken, Hua Wang, Karsten Aagaard, David Otto Whitt, III, Robert James Bingham, Jr., Ralf Groene
  • Patent number: 9946313
    Abstract: A peripheral card for an information handling system mounts to an end of a chassis. The peripheral card has an opposite end secured to a base. The base has switchable features for accommodating different types of peripheral cards that may be installed in the chassis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: DELL PRODUCTS, LP
    Inventor: Neda Abdul-Razzak
  • Patent number: 9946314
    Abstract: The heat dissipation device is for a display card and includes an air cooling member on a power supply circuit of the display card, a water cooling member on a processing element of the display card, and an auxiliary member disposed to a side of the water cooling member adjacent to the display card. The auxiliary member has at least an opening corresponding to the processing element and an extension piece extended away from the opening corresponding to a memory of the display card. As such, the heat from power supply circuit, the processing element, and the memory is respectively dissipated by the air cooling member, the water cooling member, and the auxiliary member and its extension piece, thereby achieving significantly enhanced heat dissipation performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: EVGA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Tai-Sheng Han
  • Patent number: 9946315
    Abstract: An internal component and external interface arrangement for a cylindrical compact computing system is described that includes at least a structural heat sink having triangular shape disposed within a cylindrical volume defined by a cylindrical housing. A computing engine having a generally triangular shape is described having internal components that include a graphics processing unit (GPU) board, a central processing unit (CPU) board, an input/output (I/O) interface board, an interconnect board, and a power supply unit (PSU).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Brett W. Degner, Caitlin Elizabeth Kalinowski, Richard D. Kosoglow, Joshua D. Banko, David H. Narajowski, Jonathan L. Berk, Michael E. Leclerc, Michael D. McBroom, Asif Iqbal, Paul S. Michelsen, Mark K. Sin, Paul A. Baker, Harold L. Sontag, Wai Ching Yuen, Matthew P. Casebolt, Kevin S. Fetterman, Alexander C. Calkins, Daniel L. McBroom
  • Patent number: 9946316
    Abstract: The disclosed embodiments provide a component for a portable electronic device. The component includes a gasket containing a rigid portion disposed around a bottom of a heat pipe, wherein the rigid portion forms a duct between a fan and an exhaust vent of the electronic device. The gasket also includes a first flexible portion bonded to the rigid portion, wherein the first flexible portion comprises a flap that is open during assembly of the heat pipe in the electronic device and closed over the heat pipe and the rigid portion to seal the duct around the heat pipe after the assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Apple Inc.
    Inventors: Brett W. Degner, William F. Leggett, Jay S. Nigen, Frank F. Liang, Richard H. Tan
  • Patent number: 9946317
    Abstract: The user of a portable device defines the charging direction when two devices with bi-directional power transfers interfaces are interconnected. The device detects a gesture of the user and starts the power transfer to the defined direction. The user may also define the amount of charge to be transferred by the same gesture. The portable device may be operational for a longer period as long as there is another device sharing the battery charge. Embodiments of portable devices include smartphones, speakers, tablets, watches or other wearable devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Juha Backman, Marko Yliaho
  • Patent number: 9946318
    Abstract: A method for prioritized charging of battery backup units (BBUs) is provided. The method may include identifying critical system racks associated with computing data centers based on characteristics associated with the system racks on the computing data centers. The method may also include identifying critical system enclosures associated with the identified critical system racks based on system architectures associated with the computing data centers. The method may further include prioritizing the identified critical system enclosures based on parameters associated with the identified critical system enclosures. The method may also include identifying and ranking a plurality of critical BBUs associated with the identified and prioritized critical system enclosures based on prioritized charging rules associated with the plurality of critical BBUs. The method may further include charging the identified and ranked plurality of critical BBUs in an order based on the prioritized charging rules.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Ofir Elizov, Mudi M. Fluman, Igor Nabutovsky, Yehuda Shiran
  • Patent number: 9946319
    Abstract: The described embodiments include a computing device with a first entity and a second entity. In the computing device, a management controller dynamically sets a power-state limit for the first entity based on a performance coupling and a thermal coupling between the first entity and the second entity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES, INC.
    Inventors: Indrani Paul, Manish Arora, Srilatha Manne, William L. Bircher
  • Patent number: 9946320
    Abstract: An information processing method and an electronic apparatus are described to reduce the power consumption of electronic apparatus. The method is applied to an electronic apparatus that includes a processing module with at least two sensing units corresponding to at least two power consumption grades. The method includes, when the N sensing units among the at least two sensing units are in an OFF state and the M sensing units among the at least two sensing units are in an ON state, obtaining a first parameter through at least one sensing unit among the M sensing units; determining whether the first parameter satisfies a first predetermined condition; if so, controlling N1 sensing units among the N sensing units to be in the ON state, wherein N1 is a positive integer less than or equal to N.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: LENOVO (BEIJING) CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Qian Zhao, Yawei Cheng
  • Patent number: 9946321
    Abstract: A receiver of a serial communication channel including a memory to store an initial channel characteristic of the serial communication channel, a detector to measure a current channel characteristic of the serial communication channel, and a processor to compare the initial channel characteristic to the current channel characteristic, and to provide an indication when the difference between the initial channel characteristic to the current channel characteristic is greater than a threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: DELL PRODUCTS, LP
    Inventors: Minchuan Wang, Stuart Allen Berke, Bhyrav M. Mutnury
  • Patent number: 9946322
    Abstract: The apparatus is a wake-up circuit including a first comparator coupled to an input signal and configured to compare the input signal to a first comparison value. The wake-up circuit includes a second comparator coupled to the input signal and configured to compare the input signal to a second comparison value. The wake-up circuit further includes an exclusive OR gate. A first input of the exclusive OR gate is coupled to an output of the first comparator. A second input of the exclusive OR gate is coupled to an output of the second comparator. The wake-up circuit also includes a tunable charge pump coupled to an output of the exclusive OR gate and configured to convert a signal from the exclusive OR gate to a DC value to wake up a circuit being monitored.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventors: Alon Yehezkely, Oron Sasson
  • Patent number: 9946323
    Abstract: A wake-up processor for a communications processor has a receive signal amplifier for amplifying the signal level of received RF which has been transmitted as wireless local area network WLAN packets, an amplitude detector for indicating the envelope of the RF energy in the packets, a threshold detector which thresholds the detected RF envelope, and a correlator which compares the detected and thresholded RF envelope with a private pseudo-random number to determine the level of correlation between the received value and the private value. When the correlation exceeds a required threshold, a wake-up signal is asserted which is used to bring a WLAN processor into an active state for processing of subsequently sent packets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Redpine Signals, Inc.
    Inventor: Partha Saranthy Murali
  • Patent number: 9946324
    Abstract: In one embodiment, a computing system may access an image associated with an online social network, where the image portrays at least a first person. The computing system may determine, for each user in a first set of users, a facial recognition score with respect to the first person portrayed in the image, where the facial recognition score is based on a facial representation associated with each user of the first set of users, where the facial representation associated with each user is compared with the image, and a comparison of a location history of each user with a location associated with the image. The computing system may generate one or more tag suggestions for the first person portrayed in the image based on the determined facial recognition scores.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Facebook, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrea Vaccari, Yuntao Jia, Jun Ge, Pierre Moreels
  • Patent number: 9946325
    Abstract: A modem identifies an idle condition associated with a data network to be accessed and determines an opportunity to enter a first one of a set of low power device states based on the idle condition, where the set of low power device states further includes a second low power device state, and a host device consumes less power in the first low power device state than in the second low power device state. A notification is sent to an application processor of the host device that the modem is to enter a sleep state, where the notification identifies the first low power device state, and a low power link state is entered corresponding to the first low power device state based on a signal from the application processor. The low power link state applies to a link coupling a communications processor of the modem to the application processor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Intel IP Corporation
    Inventors: Ulrich Leucht-Roth, Pavel Peleska
  • Patent number: 9946326
    Abstract: A user interface device includes: a proximity sensor configured to detect proximity of a user; an electrostatic switch configured to detect capacitance changes of a plurality of electrodes; an acceleration sensor configured to detect an acceleration; and a microcomputer configured to control supply of electric current to the electrostatic switch and the acceleration sensor based on a detection result of the proximity sensor, and recognize a plurality of user operations based on detection results of the electrostatic switch and the acceleration sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Rohm Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideki Nishiyama, Hiroaki Sano
  • Patent number: 9946327
    Abstract: An apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a plurality of cores and a temperature sensor configured to monitor a temperature for the cores. The apparatus further includes t least one switch, each being configured to supply power to one of the cores. A thermal mitigation module is configured to operate the at least one switch at a duty cycle based on the monitored temperature. A method for thermal mitigation for an apparatus is provided. The method includes monitoring a temperature for a plurality of cores, supplying power to one of the cores at a duty cycle, and adjusting the duty cycle based on the monitored temperature. Another apparatus is provided. The apparatus includes a plurality of cores, means for monitoring a temperature for the cores, means for supplying power to one of the cores at a duty cycle, and means for adjusting the duty cycle based on the monitored temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: QUALCOMM Incorporated
    Inventor: Suresh Sugumar
  • Patent number: 9946328
    Abstract: In an approach to managing racks in a MAID system, a first rack of a data center is identified. The data center comprises a plurality of racks. The first rack corresponds to a request. The request is one of (i) a request to change a power status of a storage device of the first rack or (ii) a request to service the first rack. An optimal placement of the plurality of racks is calculated to satisfy a condition of the request. One or more of the racks are moved from a first location to a second location, based on the calculated optimal placement of the one or more racks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: John E. Moore, Jr., Jeffrey K. Price, Robert R. Wentworth, Stanley C. Wood
  • Patent number: 9946329
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus includes a connector, power circuit, and controller. The connector is connectable to a first or second external device. The connector includes a first contact configured to receive a first signal from the first external device or a second signal from the second external device. The second signal is different from the first signal and configured to control power inside the electronic apparatus. The power circuit is configured to generate power inside the electronic apparatus using voltage from the first external device or the second external device. The controller is configured to supply a control signal based on the second signal to the power circuit when the first contact receives the second signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Shoichi Shimizu, Shigenobu Ohmae, Nozomu Okazaki
  • Patent number: 9946330
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus includes transmitting-receiving units, response processing units, and a switching unit. The transmitting-receiving units transmit data to and receive data from networks. An operation state of each of the response processing units is able to be switched between a first state and a second state. The switching unit performs switching between the first state and the second state of each of the response processing units. The transmitting-receiving units and the response processing units are provided for plural respective networks. In a case where all the response processing units are in the second state, the switching unit switches, among all the response processing units, an operation state of a response processing unit that has received predetermined data from the second state to the first state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: FUJI XEROX CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masahiro Kouge
  • Patent number: 9946331
    Abstract: Signal processing may include determining a first component common to a first input signal and a second input signal and extracting the first component from at least one of the first input signal or the second input signal, a second component from the first input signal, and a second component from the second input signal. The second component of the first input signal may be different from the second component of the second input signal. An operation may be performed using the extracted, second components. The first component may be combined with a result of the operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Karthik Ramani, Kwontaek Kwon, John W. Brothers
  • Patent number: 9946332
    Abstract: A semiconductor device which makes it possible to reduce a wasteful standby time at power-on is provided. In this semiconductor device, a reset of an internal circuit is canceled as described below. When a data signal stored in a storage section is at “0,” the reset is canceled by bringing an internal reset signal to the “H” level when a relatively short time has passed after the rising edge of a power on reset signal. When the data signal is at “1,” the reset is canceled by bringing the internal reset signal to the “H” level when a relatively long time has passed after the rising edge of the power on reset signal. Therefore, a wasteful standby time at power-on can be reduced by writing the data signal logically equivalent to the rise time of supply voltage to the storage section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: RENESAS ELECTRONICS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshinori Tokioka, Soichi Kobayashi, Akira Oizumi
  • Patent number: 9946333
    Abstract: An accessory facilitating interaction with a projected image at least partially sourced by the image generation device. The accessory receives an input image from a device, and projects at least a derived image of the input image onto a surface on which the accessory sits. For instance, the accessory might project the input image itself, or perhaps some post-processed version of the input image. A camera system captures data representing user interaction with the projected image. Based on this data, an image input event is detected, and then communicated to the device. For instance, if the image generation device were a touch-sensitive device, the device may respond to the user contacting the projected image the same as it would if the user touched the image generation device at the same corresponding location. Embodiments described herein also relate color compensation of a displayed image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: MEP TECH, INC.
    Inventors: Mark L. Davis, Matthew Lund Stoker, William Lorenzo Swank, Donald Roy Mealing, Roger H. Hoole, Jeffrey F. Taylor
  • Patent number: 9946334
    Abstract: A method of objectively measuring a driver's ability to operate a motor vehicle user interface. The method includes objectively measuring the driver's ability to perform each one of a plurality of calibration tasks of various degrees of difficulty including an easy task, a medium task, and a difficult task; generating a scale with which to evaluate the driver's ability to operate the user interface, the scale customized for the driver based on the objective measurements of the driver's ability to perform each calibration task; objectively measuring the driver's ability to operate a function of the motor vehicle user interface; and objectively evaluating the driver's ability to operate the function of the motor vehicle user interface using the scale to determine if the user interface is appropriate for the driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: DENSO International America, Inc.
    Inventors: Silviu Pala, Seishi Yoshida, Justin McBride, Carolina Rigney, Bo Sun
  • Patent number: 9946335
    Abstract: A display apparatus includes a transparent electronic display such as a non-backlit LCD screen, a display area disposed behind the transparent electronic display, and a light source for illuminating the display area. When the light source is activated, the pixels of the LCD screen, and objects behind the screen, become visible. Various examples of the display apparatus include additional enhancements to the visual image and/or functionality. These enhancements include additional monitors for coordinated displays, user-controlled turntables with coordinated informational displays, parallax compensation, RFID sensors for identifying objects to be displayed, and switchable liquid crystal films and/or polarized mirror coatings to further control revealing and concealing of objects behind the screen. Some examples of the display apparatus may include an animal habitat. The animal habitat may be selectively revealed or concealed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: IONTANK, LTD.
    Inventors: Stephen Streibig, Robert de la Cretaz
  • Patent number: 9946336
    Abstract: One illustrative system disclosed herein includes a display configured to receive a display signal and output an image, and an image capture device configured to capture an area image and transmit an image signal. The illustrative system also includes a processor in communication with the image capture device and the display, the processor configured to: receive the image signal; determine a virtual object based in part on the image signal; determine the display signal based in part on the image signal, wherein the display signal includes data associated with the virtual object; determine a haptic effect based at least in part on the virtual object; and transmit a haptic signal associated with the haptic effect. The illustrative system further includes a haptic output device configured to receive the haptic signal and output the haptic effect.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Immersion Corporation
    Inventors: Vincent Levesque, Danny Grant
  • Patent number: 9946337
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for utilizing an inertial measurement unit and one or more additional sensors on a head mounted display is provided. In an embodiment, a head mounted display system sends inertial measurement unit data and head mounted display removal data to a tracking computing device. The tracking computing device identifies a time of removal of the head mounted display from the head of the user and stores a portion of the inertial measurement unit data corresponding to the time of removal of the head mounted display from the head of the user. Based on the stored portion of the inertial measurement unit data, the tracking computing device determines a state of the user of the head mounted display system at the time of removal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Immersv, Inc.
    Inventors: John Charles Gentilin, Mihir Shah, Marc Anthony Bourget, Jonathan Linsner
  • Patent number: 9946338
    Abstract: There is provided an information processing apparatus including a detection unit configured to detect a gaze point of a user in a display image displayed on a display unit, an estimation unit configured to estimate an intention of the user based on the gaze point detected by the detection unit, an image generation unit configured to generates a varying image that subtly varies from the display image to a final display image according to the intention estimated by the estimation unit, and a display control unit configured to control the display unit in a manner that the varying image generated by the image generation unit is displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazunori Hayashi, Yoichiro Sako, Takayasu Kon, Yasunori Kamada, Takatoshi Nakamura
  • Patent number: 9946339
    Abstract: A method to furnish input representing gaze direction in a computer system operatively coupled to a vision system. In this method, a first image of an eye at a first level of illumination is acquired by a camera of the vision system. The first image is obtained from the camera, and a second image of the eye corresponding to a second, different level of illumination is also obtained. Brightness of corresponding pixels of the first and second images is compared in order to distinguish a reflection of the illumination by the eye from a reflection of the illumination by eyewear. The input is then furnished based on the reflection of the illumination by the eye.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
    Inventors: Huimin Guo, Ibrahim Eden, Vaibhav Thukral, David Zachris Nister
  • Patent number: 9946340
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, an eye-worn electronic device includes a first nose pad, a first electrode, a second nose pad, a second electrode and a third electrode. The first electrode is on the first nose pad. The second electrode is on the second nose pad. The first electrode and the second electrode are in a first straight line extending in a first direction and are used for measuring first ocular potentials in the first direction. The third electrode is on the second nose pad and is at a position distance away from the first straight line. The first electrode and the third electrode are in a second straight line extending in a second direction different from the first direction and are used for measuring second ocular potentials in the second direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Kanishima, Hiroaki Komaki
  • Patent number: 9946341
    Abstract: The present application discloses an information observation method and an information observation apparatus, and relates to the field of multimedia information processing technologies. The method comprises: detecting a position of a sightline focusing point of an observer; in response to that it is detected that the sightline focusing point of the observer moves away from an observed object, judging whether the observer has observed all important information on the observed object; and in response to that it is judged that the observer has not observed all important information on the observed object, reminding the observer. For the method and the apparatus in embodiments of the present application, from the perspective of an actual observation behavior of an observer, a position of a sightline focusing point of the observer is detected to determine an observation behavior of the observer for important information, so as to radically prevent missing of important information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: BEIJING ZHIGU RUI TUO TECH CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Weicai Huang, Hanning Zhou
  • Patent number: 9946342
    Abstract: A programmable display device connectable to a programmable logic controller in a communicable manner includes a sightline estimate unit, which estimates a direction of a sightline using image data obtained by capturing an image of a person, a display control unit, which displays a screen including an object on a display, a measurement unit, which measures a time period for which the sightline is directed to the object when the sightline is determined to be directed to the object through the estimation, and a storage unit, which stores image identification information identifying the object and time information indicating the measured time period in association with each other. This allows a third person to determine a time period for which a user has gazed at an object.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: OMRON Corporation
    Inventors: Kiyotaka Fujiwara, Takayoshi Yamashita, Fumio Kawakami
  • Patent number: 9946343
    Abstract: A head-mounted display device includes a display element with a two-dimensional array of pixels, and an enclosure at least partially enclosing the display element. The head-mounted display device also includes a plurality of light sources located on the enclosure for determining a position of the head-mounted display device. Each light source of the plurality of light sources is uniquely identifiable based at least in part on light emitted by the light source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: OCULUS VR, LLC
    Inventor: Youngshik Yoon
  • Patent number: 9946344
    Abstract: Described herein are fNIR-based brain computer interfaces. Training of individuals to intentionally control neural activity in specific cortical areas, thereby up-regulating and down-regulating oxygenation levels in specific locations in the brain is also provided herein. Further, continuous and/or binary control over computing environments using fNIR brain computer interfaces. Further still, a scale for brain interface index for oxygenation of a portion of the brain is provided herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Drexel University
    Inventors: Hasan Ayaz, Patricia A. Shewokis, Scott C. Bunce, Banu Onaral
  • Patent number: 9946345
    Abstract: A portable terminal and a method for providing a haptic effect to an input unit are provided. The method includes displaying at least one object on a touch screen, detecting a touch input by the input unit with respect to the object displayed on the touch screen, determining a preset mode based on the detected touch input of the input unit, and transmitting a control signal corresponding to a predetermined haptic pattern based on the preset mode to the input unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd
    Inventors: Jin-Hyoung Park, Ju-Youn Lee, Sang-Hyup Lee
  • Patent number: 9946346
    Abstract: A notification control apparatus is provided with a moving image acquisition unit 41 that acquires a moving image, an identification unit 44 that identifies a frame according to forwarding operation, out of a plurality of frames constituting the moving image, a determination unit 46 that determines whether or not the identified frame is a predetermined frame, and a notification control unit 49 that notifies determination result by the determination unit 46.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Kawamura, Kouichi Nakagome, Tomohiko Murakami
  • Patent number: 9946347
    Abstract: There is provided an information processing apparatus including an acquisition unit configured to acquire a vibration signal that indicates a detected vibration of a prescribed real object and a sound signal that indicates a collected sound from the real object, a control unit configured to synchronize the acquired vibration signal with the acquired sound signal, and associate the vibration signal and the sound signal with each other, the vibration signal and the sound signal having been synchronized, and a recoding unit configured to record the vibration signal and the sound signal which have been associated with each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yusuke Nakagawa, Akihiro Komori
  • Patent number: 9946348
    Abstract: A system that generates haptic effects receives input media that includes audio data, video data, or sensory data. The system automatically generates a haptic effect track from the input media. The system then applies at least one filter to the automatically generated haptic effect track to generate a tuned haptic effect track.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Immersion Corporation
    Inventors: Jamal Saboune, William Rihn
  • Patent number: 9946349
    Abstract: A shift register, a driving method, a gate driving circuit and a display device are provided. The shift register includes a scan control module, an output module, a pull-down module, a turn-off restoring module and a touch control module. The turn-off restoring module is electronically connected to the scan control module at a first node and electronically connected to the touch control module and the output module at a second node. The turn-off restoring module controls the first node to be electrically insulated from the second node during a touch scan phase, and restores a potential of the second node to a potential at a time instant before the touch scan phase when the touch scan phase is finished. The touch control module controls the output module to output a touch scan signal to an output terminal of the shift register during the touch scan phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignees: SHANGHAI TIANMA MICRO-ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., TIANMA MICRO-ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Lihua Wang, Conghua Ma, Jialing Li, Qijun Yao
  • Patent number: 9946350
    Abstract: Systems and methods may utilize cutaneous feedback for enhanced control of various types of manipulandum. Embodiments of the present invention may include a haptic feedback system comprising: an actuator that exerts force to a user when engaging the actuator that provides cutaneous feedback to the user when using the system. The systems and methods may allow for adjustable and customizable operation of the system to improve the relationship between human and mechanical or virtual devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: QATAR UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Tauseef Gulrez, Woon Jong Yoon
  • Patent number: 9946351
    Abstract: Devices, systems, and methods for empathetic computing are described. A method of interfacing with an empathetic computing system may include the steps of receiving sensor data from sensors of an empathetic computing device, wherein the sensor data is generated by user interaction with the empathetic computing device, the user interaction comprising a plurality of interaction units, receiving contextual information associated with the user interaction, classifying the sensor data as a sequence of interaction units using stored associations between exemplary sensor data and pre-determined interaction units, and providing feedback with the empathetic computing device, wherein the feedback is based, at least in part, on the sequence of interaction units and the contextual information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: SomniQ, Inc.
    Inventors: Rikko Sakaguchi, Hidenori Ishikawa, Takuya Nishimoto, Ken Yano
  • Patent number: 9946352
    Abstract: There is provided an information processing apparatus including a data acquiring unit configured to acquire content to which metadata is attached and the metadata attached to the content, the metadata being generated from data obtained from a sensor mounted on a subject, and a display control unit configured to reflect contents of the metadata acquired by the data acquiring unit in display of the content to which the metadata acquired by the data acquiring unit is attached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Nakanishi, Kosei Yamashita, Ryo Mukaiyama, Takaomi Kimura, Hideyuki Matsunaga, Naofumi Fukasawa
  • Patent number: 9946353
    Abstract: A message processing method for a portable electronic device includes the steps of: detecting, by a motion sensor, a plurality of first knocks of an object on the portable electronic device and generating a plurality of first detecting signals according to the plurality of first knocks; and encoding, by an encoding system, the plurality of first detecting signals to generate a first message code, wherein a first message is decodable from the first message code by a decoding system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: HTC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Cheng-Hsi Liu, Wei-Chien Wang
  • Patent number: 9946354
    Abstract: The claimed subject matter includes techniques for processing gestures. An example method includes receiving a gesture from an application. The gesture includes one or more primitives from a language that is domain-specific to gestures. The method also further includes receiving skeletal data from a motion detection system. The method also includes comparing the skeletal data with the gesture from the application in a runtime module. The method also further includes sending a gesture event to the application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Benjamin Livshits, Margus Veanes, Loris D'Antoni, Lucas S. Figueiredo, David A. Molnar
  • Patent number: 9946355
    Abstract: A mobile device responsive to hand gestures or hand motions detected by a camera. The mobile device comprises: i) transmit path circuitry and receive path circuitry configured to communicate with a wireless network; ii) a memory configured to store a plurality of application programs; iii) a digital camera configured to record an image and to generate a live video stream; and iv) processing circuitry configured to analyze the live video stream and to detect therein a gesture made by a person in the recorded image. In response to detection of the gesture, the processing circuitry performs an operation associated with the detected gesture, such as taking a picture of the image or playing music.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Sejin Choi
  • Patent number: 9946356
    Abstract: Systems and methods according to the present invention describe 3D pointing devices which enhance usability by transforming sensed motion data from a first frame of reference (e.g., the body of the 3D pointing device) into a second frame of reference (e.g., a user's frame of reference). One exemplary embodiment of the present invention removes effects associated with a tilt orientation in which the 3D pointing device is held by a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc.
    Inventor: Matthew G. Liberty
  • Patent number: 9946357
    Abstract: A movement of an object is recognized as a predetermined movement, by transmitting signals between transmitter-receiver pairs, which are reflected from the object. A first event is recorded for one of the transmitter-receiver pairs if a reflected signal meets a predetermined proximity criterion, and a second event is recorded for a second transmitter-receiver pair if, after the first event, a subsequent reflected signal meets a predetermined proximity criterion. The first and second events are used to identify the movement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Elliptic Laboratories AS
    Inventor: Tobias Dahl
  • Patent number: 9946358
    Abstract: A flexible display device and a data displaying method thereof are disclosed. The device includes a touch sensor to generate touch events according to touch actions, a flexible sensor to generate a bend signal as one side of the device is bent, a storage unit to store a function table, and a controller to control the components of the device. The function table is configured to define control operations to reproduce currently output contents based on the touch events and the bend events.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tae Young Kang, Kyoung Woon Hahm, Hyun Jin Kim, Ju Yun Sung
  • Patent number: 9946359
    Abstract: A key cap includes a cap body having a bottom surface, and at least one pivot retainer protrusively disposed on the bottom surface of the cap body. The pivot retainer includes a position-limiting portion, two lateral portions and a shaft-received recess. The lateral portions are connected to the same side of the position-limiting portion, and the shaft-received recess is disposed in the position-limiting portion, and is located between the two lateral portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Chicony Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Po-Chun Hou
  • Patent number: 9946360
    Abstract: A handheld electronic device enabled with disambiguation software. The device provides output in the form of a default output and a number of variants. The output is based largely upon the frequency, i.e., the likelihood that a user intended a particular output, but various features of the device provide additional variants that are not based solely on frequency and rather are provided by various logic structures resident on the device. The device enables editing during text entry and also provides a learning function that allows the disambiguation function to adapt to provide a customized experience for the user. The disambiguation function can be selectively disabled and an alternate keystroke interpretation system provided. Additionally, the device can facilitate the selection of variants by displaying a graphic of a special <NEXT> key of the keypad that enables a user to progressively select variants generally without changing the position of the user's hands on the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Vadim Fux, Michael G. Elizarov, Sergey V. Kolomiets