Patent Issued for Processing systems and methods having a machine learning engine for providing a surface dimension output (USPTO 11257132): Allstate Insurance Company

2022 MAR 10 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States) has been issued patent number 11257132, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventors are Brickman, Daniel (Chicago, IL, US), Cornelison, Michael T. (LaGrange Highlands, IL, US), Daniels, Andrew (Columbus, OH, US), Genc, Steven (Hainesville, IL, US), Gilkison, David L. (Libertyville, IL, US), Patel, Pinal (Libertyville, IL, US), Sharma, Anurag (Buffalo Grove, IL, US), Zahn, David M. (Lake Villa, IL, US).

This patent was filed on May 4, 2018 and was published online on February 22, 2022.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “Mobile devices comprise cameras, or other image capturing devices, that may be used to collect images associated with various objects. For instance, cameras or other image capturing devices may be used to capture images or objects, devices, homes, vehicles, or portions thereof, that have been damaged. Once the images are collected, it may be difficult to determine the actual size of the damaged item, portion, or other objects in the images without placing a reference object (e.g., an object having a known size, shape, dimension, or the like) into the camera frame. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to instruct a mobile device to capture images including a standardized reference object, and to analyze the standardized reference object to generate surface dimension outputs. This may improve image processing associated with evaluating damage.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “In light of the foregoing background, the following presents a simplified summary of the present disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the disclosure or to delineate the scope of the disclosure. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description provided below.

“Methods, systems, and non-transitory computer-readable media are described herein. In some embodiments an image analysis and device control system including a processor may transmit, to a mobile device, an instruction to capture at least one image. Further, the image analysis and device control system may receive the at least one image. In addition, the image analysis and device control system may use the one or more machine learning algorithms to determine a standardized reference object output comprising an indication that the at least one image comprises a standardized reference object. In some arrangements, the image analysis and device control system may determine, based on an actual standardized reference object dimension output and/or a standardized reference object pixel dimension output, a ratio output comprising a correlation between the actual standardized reference object dimension output and the standardized reference object pixel dimension output. Further, the image analysis and device control system may determine, using edge detection, a surface boundary output comprising an indication of boundaries of a surface comprising the standardized reference object. In some examples, the image analysis and device control system may determine a surface pixel dimension output comprising pixel dimensions for the surface. Additionally or alternatively, the image analysis and device control system may determine, based on the ratio output and the surface pixel dimension output, an actual surface dimension output comprising actual dimensions for the surface. Subsequently, the image analysis and device control system may transmit, to the mobile device, the actual surface dimension output.

“In some examples, the image analysis and device control system may receive, from the mobile device, a damage indication output, and may transmit the instruction to capture the at least one image in response to receiving the damage indication output.

“In some instances, the instruction to capture the at least one image may comprise a link to download a damage processing application.

“In some instances, the actual standardized reference object dimension output may comprise an indication of actual dimensions for the standardized reference object and the standardized reference object pixel dimension output may comprise pixel dimensions for the standardized reference object.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method comprising: transmitting, by an image analysis and device control system including a processor and to a mobile device, an instruction to capture at least one image; receiving, by the image analysis and device control system, the at least one image; determining, by the image analysis and device control system and using one or more machine learning algorithms, a standardized reference object output comprising an indication that the at least one image comprises a standardized reference object, wherein the determining the standardized reference object output comprises: determining, using the one or more machine learning algorithms, a plurality of bounding boxes comprising the at least one image, wherein determining the plurality of bounding boxes includes adjusting dimensions of the plurality of bounding boxes to match predetermined dimensions for a neural network, and inputting, into the neural network, the plurality of bounding boxes for analysis by the one or more machine learning algorithms to determine whether the at least one image comprises the standardized reference object; determining, by the image analysis and device control system and based on an actual standardized reference object dimension output and a standardized reference object pixel dimension output, a ratio output comprising a correlation between the actual standardized reference object dimension output and the standardized reference object pixel dimension output; determining, by the image analysis and device control system and using edge detection, a surface boundary output comprising an indication of boundaries of a surface comprising the standardized reference object; determining, by the image analysis and device control system, a surface pixel dimension output comprising pixel dimensions for the surface; determining, by the image analysis and device control system and based on the ratio output and the surface pixel dimension output, an actual surface dimension output comprising actual dimensions for the surface; and transmitting, by the image analysis and device control system and to the mobile device, the actual surface dimension output.

“2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the image analysis and device control system and from the mobile device, a damage indication output, and wherein the transmitting the instruction to capture the at least one image is responsive to the receiving the damage indication output.

“3. The method of claim 1, wherein the instruction to capture the at least one image comprises a link to download a damage processing application.

“4. The method of claim 1, wherein the actual standardized reference object dimension output comprising an indication of actual dimensions for the standardized reference object and wherein the standardized reference object pixel dimension output comprising pixel dimensions for the standardized reference object.

“5. The method of claim 1, wherein the standardized reference object comprises at least one of: a light switch, an outlet, an outlet plate, a light bulb, a can light, a phone outlet, a data jack, a base board, a nest, a smoke detector, a kitchen sink, a faucet, a stove, a dishwasher, a floor tile, hot and cold faucets, a heat vent, a key hole, a door handle, a door frame, a deadbolt, a door, a stair, a railing, a table, a chair, a bar stool, a toilet, and a cabinet.

“6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, by the image analysis and device control system and to the mobile device, an instruction to prompt for a room indication input comprising an indication of a type of room in which the at least one image was captured; receiving, by the image analysis and device control system and from the mobile device, the room indication input; determining, by the image analysis and device control system and based on the room indication input, a room indication output; and determining, by the image analysis and device control system and based on the room indication output, a plurality of standardized reference objects.

“7. The method of claim 6, wherein the determining the standardized reference object output comprises determining that the at least one image comprises at least one of the plurality of standardized reference objects.

“8. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the image analysis and device control system and to the mobile device, an acceptability output comprising an indication that the at least one image comprises the standardized reference object and that the at least one image is acceptable.

“9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, by the image analysis and device control system and to the mobile device, an instruction to prompt a user for confirmation that the at least one image contains the standardized reference object; and receiving, by the image analysis and device control system and from the mobile device, a confirmation output comprising an indication of the confirmation.

“10. The method of claim 9, wherein the determining, by the image analysis and device control system and using the one or more machine learning algorithms, that the at least one image comprises the standardized reference object comprises determining, based on the indication of the confirmation, that the at least one image comprises the standardized reference object.

“11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the image analysis and device control system, a second image; determining, by the image analysis and device control system and using the one or more machine learning algorithms, that the second image does not comprise the standardized reference object; transmitting, by the image analysis and device control system, to the mobile device, and in response to determining that the second image does not comprise the standardized reference object, an instruction to prompt a user to place a reference object in front of the surface and to capture, using the mobile device, a new image of the surface; receiving, by the image analysis and device control system and from the mobile device, the new image; and analyzing, by the image analysis and device control system and using the reference object, the new image.

“12. The method of claim 1, further comprising converting, by the image analysis and device control system and prior to analyzing the at least one image, the at least one image to greyscale.

“13. The method of claim 1 wherein: the determining, by the image analysis and device control system and using the one or more machine learning algorithms, the standardized reference object output comprises: reducing, by the image analysis and device control system, image quality of the plurality of bounding boxes; adjusting, by the image analysis and device control system, the dimensions of the plurality of bounding boxes to match the predetermined dimensions for the neural network comprises transposing the plurality of bounding boxes on top of a black image that comprises the predetermined dimensions.

“14. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one image comprises an image of damage in a home and wherein the surface comprises one of: a wall, a ceiling, and a floor.

“15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: determining, by the image analysis and device control system, a damage size output comprising an indication of a size of the damage; determining, by the image analysis and device control system, using the one or more machine learning algorithms, based on the damage size output, and based on a type of the damage, an estimated cost to repair the damage; determining, by the image analysis and device control system and based on the estimated cost to repair the damage, a settlement output comprising an automated settlement amount; and transmitting, by the image analysis and device control system and to the mobile device, an instruction to cause display of the settlement output.

“16. The method of claim 15, wherein the determining the estimated cost comprises comparing, by the image analysis and device control system and using the one or more machine learning algorithms, the damage to other previously determined instances of damage and repair costs associated with each of the other previously determined instances of damage.

“17. The method of claim 15, further comprising: determining, by the image analysis and device control system and based on the type of the damage, repair service recommendations and availability; transmitting, by the image analysis and device control system and to the mobile device, a repair output comprising an indication of the repair service recommendations and availability; and transmitting, by the image analysis and device control system, to the mobile device, and along with the repair output, an instruction to cause display of the repair service recommendations and availability.

“18. The method of claim 15, wherein the determining, by the image analysis and device control system, the damage size output further comprises: transmitting, by the image analysis and device control system and to the mobile device, an instruction to display the at least one image and to display a prompt for a user to trace an outline of the damage; receiving, by the image analysis and device control system, from the mobile device, and responsive to transmitting the instruction to display the at least one image and to display the prompt, a marked version of the at least one image, wherein the marked version comprises the at least one image with the outline drawn around the damage; determining, by the image analysis and device control system, an amount of pixels comprising dimensions of the damage; and determining, by the image analysis and device control system and based on the amount of pixels and the ratio output, the damage size output.”

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

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Brickman, Daniel. Processing systems and methods having a machine learning engine for providing a surface dimension output. U.S. Patent Number 11257132, filed May 4, 2018, and published online on February 22, 2022. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=11257132.PN.&OS=PN/11257132RS=PN/11257132

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