Patents on the soles of your shoes...

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Oh, patents! Tile tracker tags

ITRW [In the Real World] – Tracker tag technology, such as that which is for example disclosed in US2010283600, is embodied in such items as tracker Tiles by Tile Inc.

Tiles are small (approx. 2 square inches) white, tile-looking, Bluetooth®-enabled devices with an embedded one-year lithium cell CR battery, a small microprocessor and an application that executes on the tile. Thus, the tiles are designed to connect and periodically sync wirelessly via Bluetooth® communication protocol to your cell phone, where a proprietary Tile Inc app is downloaded. Using the app, you can thus call your tagged valuable by pressing on its Tile icon. This will cause the tag to beep at 90 dB, that is, loud enough for you to hear it even when it is hidden under a pile of linens!

Otherwise, if the tagged item is outside of the100-feet radius of your Bluetooth® range, then you can access the location where it was last synched to the cell phone and the signal strength was recorded. And if it is your phone that is lost, then you can double press on any one of the other Tiles that you own to make your Iphone or Android phone beep! Or you can use another device to make it ring, even when it is turned off. And finally, the app also uses Crowd GPS which means that it allows you to connect with an extended Tiler network, so that perhaps another Tile app, belonging to someone else can sync with your missing tagged item to show you where it is located.

One of the jingles for Tile Inc., tiled objects, sums it up: Your device can run away but it cannot hide!

So there you have it: a small, 1-year charged tracker tag that you can attach to your indispensables -- your keys, your wallet, your glasses, your bike or even your pooch—to assist you in retrieving all your misplaced items or finding your furry friends, and to prevent you from losing them.

Reference

Tile Inc.
https://www.thetileapp.com

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Oh, patents! Lost your keys? Just call 'em!

Copyright @ Françoise Herrmann

What’s the worst you can lose? Your cell phone? Your glasses? Your purse or wallet? Your suitcase? Your pooch?

Relax now! There is plenty of patented technology to prevent these catastrophic events.

Your basic Apple gear (Iphone, Ipad and Macbook), for example, is equipped with GPS tracking technology which enables you to logon to the ICloud Find my Iphone, Ipad or Macbook app to locate the whereabouts of your hardware! You can even remotely erase the contents of your lost hardware; lock the screen with a message requesting anyone who finds the equipment to call you; or have the hardware beep quite loudly (even when your device is turned off) so that you can finally locate it, and reboot your life!

Almost ditto with Android devices and the AndroidLost app.

However, this embedded GPS-enabled technology hardly works with everyday objects such as your keys, your glasses, your wallet or purse or even the furry, tail-wagging object of your affection.

In comes small, Bluetooth-enabled, tracking tags that you can attach directly to your indispensable possessions and interrogate using an app, downloaded to your cell phone! This way, you can tag your keys, your glasses, your wallet or even your lively, bouncy, furry pooch, to stay informed of the whereabouts of all your tagged possessions and companions, and even be alerted when they are out of range, or hidden out of sight (within range!).

So, for example, if you were to misplace your (tagged) glasses... you can just call them by pressing on their tag icon, on the app, (assuming you can still see the icons...) It's as easy as that!

US2010283600 titled Tracker tag low power apparatus for preventing loss of cell phone and other high-value items discloses just this possibility, with the additional bonuses of being both very low energy-consuming and very small tags (about the size of a quarter), so that the tracking system will work a long time on a lithium cell CR battery, informing you of your valuables whereabouts.

The Abstract for US2010283600 is included below.

A system for the prevention of loss of wallets, keys, purses and the like. The system uses a programmable wireless appliance such as a cell phone as a wireless tracker, and utilizes lightweight wireless tag devices attached to the items to protected. A software application executes on the wireless appliance to query the wireless tags and determines when any part of the system is going out of range.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Oh, patents! Caterpillar ancestors….

US6247934, granted on June 19, 2001, discloses a Sequence learning toy designed to teach children various sequences such the letters of the alphabet, numbers or colors. In particular, the toy is envisioned as a caterpillar with a plurality of body parts, each corresponding to an item of the learning sequence.

The invention further seeks to foster learning of sequences by providing opportunities for children to associate various symbols with their corresponding voiced sounds, in the process of learning how to read. Thus, the invention further discloses that each of the segmented portions of the toy contains a switch, designed to activate a voice synthesizer, and that another switch, associated with all of the segments of the toy, activates the full sequence of voice synthesized parts.

This means that a small child can depress the switches on the individual body parts of the caterpillar to hear an item of a sequence (for example to hear the letter of the alphabet appearing on the body part), and alternatively, depress the switch activating the whole sequence of synthesizer-equipped body parts to hear the whole sequence of voice synthesized symbols appearing on the body parts (i.e.; the whole alphabet sequence of letters).

Considering the 2001 prior art of learning sequence toys, such as puzzles and blocks -- without electronic components such as printed circuit boards, voice synthesizers and microprocessors, the inventive step taken in this invention resided in associating synthesized sound to the sequenced items for learning.

Below appears the abstract for US6247934 titled Learning sequence toy, and one of the patent drawings corresponding to this invention.

An educational toy for teaching a child a sequence of letters, numbers, colors or other sequences. The toy would be provided with a plurality of segmented body portions, each of the body portions associated with a single indicia. A switch is provided on each of the segmented body portions. When this switch is depressed, an audio output associated with the indicia would be produced. After the child has memorized a series of indicia to produce a learned sequence, a switch associated with a segmented body portion having demarcation indicia would be depressed, allowing the entire sequence to be vocalized in order. [Abstract US6247934]

Saturday, January 9, 2016

My favorite at CES 2016 - The Codeapillar™

The Fisher Price Codeapillar™ is coming soon!

It’s a caterpillar-looking toy that teaches kids 3 to 8 the basics of programming, intuitively that is!

This adorable little critter’s body comes in 8 different segments, each of which can be connected to, and disconnected from, another segment via USB connector, and each of which has a different color, sound, light and function.

Thus, depending on the sequence and number of connected segments that are executed, the caterpillar will do different things in different orders. There are even additional segments that can be purchased separately, as extension kits for more caterpillar functions!

The beauty of this pet Codeapillar™, beyond the multiple possibilities of what it can do and how cute it looks, is that it really can be used by toddlers as small as 3. Indeed, little toddlers will have fun connecting and disconnecting the segments, perhaps being already familiar with snap-and-lock plastic segments. And no doubt that they will be making connections of their own with all the functions, while delighting in all the sounds, lights and colors, when the Codeapillar™ executes them all !

The Codeapillar™ will cost $50 when it becomes available later in the year, apparently in June 2016..

Take a peek at the Fisher Price marketing video, using the below-referenced link. You will be enchanted too!

Reference

Fisher Price Codeapillar™
http://www.fisher-price.com/en_US/codeapillar/index.html

Friday, January 8, 2016

Unveiled at CES 2016 - L'Oréal's My UV Patch

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

The French cosmetics giant L’Oréal unveiled a fun and clever, peel-and-stick, UV exposure detection patch at CES2016.

The L'Oréal UV detection patch is a small (1 square inch) heart-shaped, stretchable, film-like, UV radiation sensor, the thickness of a half a hair (50 micrometers), that is applied to the skin, and wearable for up to 5 days.

The patch contains photosensitive dyes that change color according to UV exposure. Users then take a picture of the patch with their smartphone where the My UV Patch app reads the shades of UV exposure, in view of providing both feedback and recommendations for sun protection.

Consistent with the low rates of sun protection behavior found in L'Oreal and La Roche-Posay research among 19,000 women in 23 countries (MC10), the My UV Patch system is thus designed primarily to provide feedback on sun exposure in view of assisting users in developing healthy sun-protection behavior.

My UV patches and the Android or IOs-compatible My UV Patch app will be available for free later this year with a purchase of La Roche-Posay skin care products, a company that is part of the Active Cosmetics Division of the L’Oréal Group.

L’Oréal developed the UV patch in the US, partnering with the PCH design firm for engineering, and with the medical biometric health technology firm MC10 Inc. which produces stretchable and film-like electronic circuits for monitoring vitals and treatment biometrics.

MC10 Inc biometric stretchable circuit technology is highly patented (e.g.; US8207473 US9226402, US 20120052268): However, it is unclear which specifications of this biometric stretchable circuit technology are leveraged for the photosensitive dye technology of in the UV sensor patch, available as a freebee later this year.

Below, an image of the whimsical, sun-behavior coaching, heart-shaped patch, with its 16 UV photosensitive dye boxes.

References

La Roche-Posay – My UV Patch

http://www.laroche-posay.co.uk/article/My-UV-Patch/a24995.aspx

MC10 Inc

http://mc10inc.com/our-products.html

MC10 Inc L'Oréal debut first ever stretchable electronic UV monitor at CES 2016

http://mc10inc.com/20160106-2_news.html

Friedman, V. (Jan 6, 2016) L’oréal’s wearable UV patch! The New York Times -

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/fashion/loreal-takes-the-wearables-war-to-the-beauty-counter.html

MC10 partners with L’oreal on sun sensor – The Boston Globe -

http://www.betaboston.com/news/2016/01/06/mc10-partners-with-loreal-on-sun-sensor/

PCH

http://www.pchintl.com/

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Now at CES2016 in Las Vegas, CA (Jan 6-9, 2016)

CES - Consumer Electronic Show!

Since 1967, CES – the year's biggest Consumer Electronics Show -- has unveiled some of the most popular and game-changing technology on earth… Indeed, items such as VCRs in 1970, CD players in 1981, DVDs in 1996 and digital radio in 2000 have all been unveiled at CES. And this year is no exception.

3673 companies are exhibiting at CES in Las Vagas this year, including 375 startups. 82% of Fortune 100 companies and 83% of top retailers are represented. 170,000 attendees from 153 countries are expected January 6-9. [CES by the numbers] And for anyone who misses Las Vegas… CES Asia will be held for the second time in Shanghai, May 10-13.

CES 2016 in Las Vegas is patent heaven!... Take new wearable tech such as Belty Good Vibes (a smart belt and trainer), DietSensor (a nutrition coach equipped with a molecular food sensor), Oura a smart ring and coach; Sensorwake, the first olfactory alarm clock that diffuses scents and wakes you up to the smell of coffee and croissants, IGrow®an FDA-approved, clinically tested laser hair growth headset; and driverless cars here already, and here to stay, with major car manufacturers such as Toyota, Ford and TESLA entering the autonomous car R and D playing field to develop and support new and much smaller radars such as the “UltraPuck” LiDar (light and radar sensor ) with 3D-imaging, and more expanded driving scenario programs.

All of this, and much more, is happening in Las Vegas... right now!

References

CES Asia

http://www.cesasia.cn/?p=4794

CES by the numbers

http://cesweb.org/Why-CES/CES-by-the-Numbers

Dietsensor

http://www.dietsensor.com/

Velodyne LiDar Ultrapuck

http://velodynelidar.com/

Oura ring

https://ouraring.com/