Patent Issued for Method and system for curating a virtual model for feature identification (USPTO 11636659): State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

2023 MAY 11 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States) has been issued patent number 11636659, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Ho, An (Phoenix, AZ, US), King, Vicki (Bloomington, IL, US), Little, Rebecca A. (Mesa, AZ, US), Nussbaum, Bryan R. (Bloomington, IL, US), Stockweather, Deanna L. (Normal, IL, US), Summers, Nathan C. (Mesa, AZ, US).

This patent was filed on May 5, 2021 and was published online on April 25, 2023.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “Virtual visualization enables one to view an overall physical region without having to actually visit the physical region. Virtual visualization is particularly useful in situations in which physically visiting the physical region is difficult or expensive. For example, when features or objects of real property (e.g., buildings, homes) within the physical region need to be assessed for various reasons, such as during a risk evaluation procedure that takes into account the cost of risk associated with the real property for underwriting the risk, it is often expensive or time-consuming to dispatch subject matter experts out into the physical region to gather information about the real property. In addition, subject matter experts are a limited resource, or have limited availability.

“However, traditionally, it is difficult to incorporate information related to real property into virtual models. For example, conventional virtual models used by applications such as Google® Earth typically render 3D representations of Earth based on satellite imagery and cities from generally aerial angles, but do not provide detailed views of real property, particularly at side angles, to be of use for real property evaluators to efficiently and effectively assess the real property and various features or objects of the real property. In addition to this under-inclusive nature, conventional virtual models sometimes may be over-inclusive by modeling features that are irrelevant to assessing a particular real property. For instance, virtual models that capture a city-wide view showing a high-resolution representation of a location of a park miles away from the real property of interest are generally not tailored for assessing the real property of interest. Accordingly, there is an opportunity for systems and methods for generating virtual models tailored for efficient and effective real property evaluation in a virtual environment.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In one aspect, a computer-implemented method is provided. The method may include (1) receiving, by the one or more processors, a data request from a user electronic device, wherein the data request comprises at least one or more properties of interest located at a particular portion of an overall region; (2) dynamically acquiring, by one or more processors, a virtual model for rendering the one or more properties of interest located at the particular portion of the overall region within a virtual environment at the user electronic device based on the data request, the virtual model being generated based upon a plurality of images; (3) curating, by one or more processors, the virtual model into a curated virtual model in accordance with curation rules to emphasize one or more features associated with the one or more properties that are relevant to assessing risks associated with the one or more properties; (4) obtaining, by one or more processors, one or more annotation records corresponding to an annotation object associated with the one or more features of the one or more properties from a database; and (5) populating, by one or more processors, an annotations overlay rendered in the virtual environment with information included in the one or more annotation records.

“In another aspect, a system is provided. The system may include (i) one or more processors; (ii) one or more transceivers operatively connected to the one or more processors and configured to send and receive communications over one or more communication networks; and (iii) one or more non-transitory memories coupled to the one or more processors and storing computer-executable instructions. The instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, may cause the system to (1) receive a data request from a user electronic device, wherein the data request comprises at least one or more properties of interest located at a particular portion of an overall region; (2) dynamically acquire a virtual model for rendering the one or more properties of interest located at the particular portion of the overall region within a virtual environment at the user electronic device based on the data request, the virtual model being generated based upon a plurality of images; (3) curate the virtual model into a curated virtual model in accordance with curation rules to emphasize one or more features associated with the one or more properties that are relevant to assessing risks associated with the one or more properties; (4) obtain one or more annotation records corresponding to an annotation object associated with the one or more features of the one or more properties from a database; and (5) populate an annotations overlay rendered in the virtual environment with information included in the one or more annotation records.

“In yet another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions is provided. The instructions, when executed by one or more processors, may cause one or more processors to (1) receive a data request from a user electronic device, wherein the data request comprises at least one or more properties of interest located at a particular portion of an overall region; (2) dynamically acquire a virtual model for rendering the one or more properties of interest located at the particular portion of the overall region within a virtual environment at the user electronic device based on the data request, the virtual model being generated based upon a plurality of images; (3) curate the virtual model into a curated virtual model in accordance with curation rules to emphasize one or more features associated with the one or more properties that are relevant to assessing risks associated with the one or more properties; (4) obtain one or more annotation records corresponding to an annotation object associated with the one or more features of the one or more properties from a database; and (5) populate an annotations overlay rendered in the virtual environment with information included in the one or more annotation records.

“Advantageously, embodiments described herein integrate data for particular real property and the various features or objects therein into a virtual model for rendering in a virtual environment. In doing so, end users of the virtual environment are able to evaluate features or objects of the desired real property remotely using the virtual environment without stepping foot onto the physical region. Further, the virtual models may be curated to exclude features or objects that may be irrelevant to assessing risk for the real property of interest, and include other data that may be relevant to assessing risk for the real property of interest.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving, by a processor, a data request from a user electronic device, wherein the data request identifies a property; generating, by the processor and based on the data request, a virtual model for rendering the property within a virtual environment at the user electronic device, the virtual model generated based upon a plurality of images; modifying, by the processor, the virtual model in accordance with curation rules, wherein the curation rules include defining a predetermined image resolution threshold and evaluating an image resolution of the plurality of images to determine whether the image resolution meets the predetermined image resolution threshold and replace one or more images of the plurality of images with higher-resolution image data of the property if the image resolution does not meet the predetermined image resolution threshold, wherein modifying the virtual model produces a curated virtual model identifying a feature associated with the property and relevant to assessing risk associated with the property, wherein identifying the feature includes: defining templates data to include templates of model edge or appearance characteristics of the feature, and determining at least one of: an edge of the feature depicted in the plurality of images matches the model edge in the templates data, or an appearance of the feature depicted in the plurality of images matches the appearance characteristics in the templates data; obtaining, by the processor and from a database, an annotation record corresponding to an annotation object associated with the feature, the annotation record including information associated with the feature stored in the database; adding, by the processor, an annotation overlay to the curated virtual model, the annotation overlay including the information; and providing, by the processor, the curated virtual model to the user electronic device, the curated virtual model being configured such that, when executed at the user electronic device, the annotation overlay is rendered in the virtual environment with the property.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the curation rules cause the processor to: define the templates data to include templates of the model edge of features or objects relevant to assessing risks for the property; and compare the edge depicted in the plurality of images with the templates data to identify at least an inclusion portion of the plurality of images that match the templates for inclusion in the curated virtual model or an exclusion portion of the plurality of images that do not match the templates for exclusion from the curated virtual model.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the curation rules cause the processor to: receive location identification information for the property; compare the location identification information to location metadata included in the plurality of images; and upon identifying a portion of the plurality of images that includes the location metadata that matches the location identification information.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the curation rules cause the processor to: associate at least one of the annotation object or a data object with the feature that is relevant to assessing the risk associated with the property in the curated virtual model.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising: obtaining, by the processor and from the database, one or more data records associated with the data object; and populating, by the processor, a data records overlay rendered in the virtual environment with records information included in the one or more data records, wherein the records information comprises at least one of an age, an address, a market value, a name of business, a name of owner, agent affiliation, zoning information, or historical claims data associated with the property.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising: transmitting, to the user electronic device, the virtual environment, wherein the user electronic device comprises at least one of a first virtual reality device or a first mixed-reality device.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the curation rules cause the processor to: receive, from the first virtual reality device or the first mixed-reality device, a user selection of the feature in the virtual environment; and generate the annotation overlay corresponding to the feature to depict the information included in the annotation object.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising: transmitting, to at least a second virtual reality device or a second mixed-reality device, the virtual environment and the annotation overlay on the virtual environment.

“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the feature comprises at least one of: a type of structure of the property, a route of egress, or an external element located outside of or along an exterior of the property.

“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein adding the annotation overlay comprises: adding a first annotations overlay associated with a first feature rendered in a first depiction characteristic; and adding a second annotations overlay associated with a second feature rendered in a second depiction characteristic.

“11. A system comprising: a processor; one or more transceivers operatively connected to the processor and configured to send and receive communications over one or more communication networks; and one or more non-transitory memories coupled to the processor and storing computer-executable instructions, that, when executed by the processor, cause the system to: receive a data request from a user electronic device, wherein the data request identifies a property; generate, based on the data request, a virtual model for rendering the property within a virtual environment at the user electronic device, the virtual model generated based upon a plurality of images; modify the virtual model in accordance with curation rules, wherein the curation rules include defining a predetermined image resolution threshold and evaluating an image resolution of the plurality of images to determine whether the image resolution meets the predetermined image resolution threshold and replace one or more images of the plurality of images with higher-resolution image data of the property if the image resolution does not meet the predetermined image resolution threshold, wherein modifying the virtual model produces a curated virtual model identifying a feature associated with the property and relevant to assessing risk associated with the property, wherein identifying the feature includes: defining templates data to include templates of model edge or appearance characteristics of the feature, and determining at least one of: an edge of the feature depicted in the plurality of images matches the model edge in the templates data, or an appearance of the feature depicted in the plurality of images matches the appearance characteristics in the templates data; obtain, from a database, an annotation record corresponding to an annotation object associated with the feature, the annotation record including information associated with the feature stored in the database; add an annotation overlay to the curated virtual model, the annotation overlay including the information; and provide the curated virtual model to the user electronic device, the curated virtual model being configured such that, when executed at the user electronic device, the annotation overlay is rendered in the virtual environment with the property.

“12. The system of claim 11, wherein the curation rules are configured to further cause the system to: define the templates data to include templates of model edge or appearance characteristics of features or objects relevant to assessing risks for the property; and compare edge or appearance characteristics depicted in the plurality of images with the templates data to identify at least an inclusion portion of the plurality of images that match the templates for inclusion in the curated virtual model or an exclusion portion of the plurality of images that do not match the templates for exclusion from the curated virtual model.

“13. The system of claim 11, wherein the curation rules are configured to further cause the system to: receive location identification information for the property; compare the location identification information to location metadata included in the plurality of images; and upon identifying a portion of the plurality of images that includes the location metadata that matches the location identification information, evaluate an image resolution of the portion of the plurality of images to determine whether the image resolution meets a predetermined image resolution threshold.

“14. The system of claim 11, wherein the curation rules are configured to further cause the system to: associate at least one of the annotation object or a data object with the feature that is relevant to assessing the risk associated with the property in the curated virtual model.

“15. The system of claim 14, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the system to: obtain one or more data records associated with the data object from the database; and populate a data records overlay rendered in the virtual environment with records information included in the one or more data records, wherein the records information comprises at least one of an age, an address, a market value, a name of business, a name of owner, agent affiliation, zoning information, or historical claims data associated with the property.”

There are additional claims. Please visit full patent to read further.

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Ho, An. Method and system for curating a virtual model for feature identification. U.S. Patent Number 11636659, filed May 5, 2021, and published online on April 25, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11636659)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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