Patent Issued for Real Property Image Analysis System To Analyze Property Repairs And Improvements (USPTO 10,621,632)

2020 APR 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Cardona, Alexander (Bloomington, IL); Olander, Erin A. (Bloomington, IL); Schirano, John A. (Bloomington, IL); Hunt, Dana C. (Normal, IL), filed on April 30, 2019, was published online on April 27, 2020.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 10,621,632 is State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Bloomington, Illinois, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Individuals frequently browse or search for properties for sale or for rent, such as when looking to purchase (or rent) or sell a property, when gauging market conditions, or for other reasons. Technology and connected devices have made property searches easier and more efficient. In particular, certain mobile applications enable users to locate nearby properties for sale and view listing images associated with the properties, among other information.

“Individuals frequently consider whether to purchase or rent a property that may need certain repairs or improvements (and thus may be priced lower relative to other properties), or purchase or rent a ‘turnkey’ property that may not need similar repairs or improvements (and thus may be priced higher relative to other properties). Currently, these individuals must manually gauge the need for repairs or improvements and costs associated therewith, and manually determine which properties may offer better value or other benefits. However, these assessments are often inaccurate and time-consuming.

“Accordingly, there is an opportunity for systems and methods to analyze image data depicting portions of property to determine information related to necessary repairs or improvements.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “According to embodiments, a computer-implemented method in an electronic device of analyzing image data to identify property modifications is provided. The method may include capturing, by an image sensor, image data depicting a set of elements associated with a portion of a property, analyzing, by a processor, the image data to identify a set of characteristics associated with the set of elements, accessing a desired set of characteristics corresponding to the set of elements, calculating a monetary amount associated with modifying the set of elements having the set of characteristics to achieve the desired set of characteristics, and presenting, in a user interface, an indication of the monetary amount.

“In another embodiment, an electronic device configured to analyze image data to identify property modifications is provided. The electronic device may include an image sensor configured to capture image data, a user interface, a memory configured to store non-transitory computer executable instructions, and a processor configured to interface with the image sensor, the user interface, and the memory. The processor may configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the processor to, access the image data from the image sensor, the image data depicting a set of elements associated with a portion of a property, analyze the image data to identify a set of characteristics associated with the set of elements, access a desired set of characteristics corresponding to the set of elements, calculate a monetary amount associated with modifying the set of elements having the set of characteristics to achieve the desired set of characteristics, and cause the user interface to present an indication of the monetary amount.

“According to another embodiment, a computer-implemented method of analyzing image data to identify property modifications is provided. The method may include receiving, from an electronic device via a wireless network connection, image data depicting a set of elements associated with a portion of a property, analyzing, by a processor, the image data to identify a set of characteristics associated with the set of elements, accessing a desired set of characteristics corresponding to the set of elements, calculating a monetary amount associated with modifying the set of elements having the set of characteristics to achieve the desired set of characteristics, and sending, to the electronic device via the wireless network connection, data indicative of the monetary amount, wherein the electronic device presents an indication of the monetary amount.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“What is claimed is:

“1. A computer-implemented method in an electronic device of identifying property modifications, the method comprising: analyzing, by a processor, image data to identify a set of elements associated with a portion of a property; accessing a desired set of characteristics corresponding to the set of elements; determining, based on at least a portion of the desired set of characteristics, at least one modification recommendation for the property, wherein the at least one modification recommendation is not included in the desired set of characteristics; identifying an additional property comparable to the property and having the desired set of characteristics corresponding to the set of elements, the additional property having a price; and presenting, in the user interface, (i) an indication of the price of the additional property, and (ii) an indication of the at least one modification recommendation.

“2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the image data to identify the set of elements comprises: analyzing the image data to identify (i) the set of elements and (ii) a set of characteristics associated with the set of elements.

“3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein accessing the desired set of characteristics comprises: enabling a user to select, via a user interface of the electronic device, the desired set of characteristics corresponding to the set of elements.

“4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the set of elements associated with the portion of the property has a set of characteristics, and wherein the method further comprises: calculating a monetary amount associated with modifying the set of elements having the set of characteristics to achieve the desired set of characteristics.

“5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising: identifying, using a location module, a location of the electronic device; wherein calculating the monetary amount comprises: calculating, based on at least the location of the electronic device, the monetary amount associated with modifying the set of elements having the set of characteristics to achieve the desired set of characteristics.

“6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising: identifying a price associated with the property; calculating a price difference between (i) a sum of the monetary amount and the price associated with the property and (ii) the price of the additional property; and presenting, in the user interface, an indication of the price difference.

“7. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising: identifying a contractor who specializes in modifying the set of elements having the set of characteristics to achieve the desired set of characteristics; and presenting, in the user interface, an indication of the contractor.

“8. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein analyzing the image data to identify the set of elements comprises: analyzing the image data to identify that at least a portion of the set of elements need replacement; and wherein calculating the monetary amount associated with modifying the set of elements having the set of characteristics to achieve the desired set of characteristics comprises: calculating the monetary amount based on at least a replacement cost for the portion of the set of elements.

“9. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein calculating the monetary amount associated with modifying the set of elements having the set of characteristics to achieve the desired set of characteristics comprises: determining, based on the set of characteristics and the desired set of characteristics, a set of needed modifications; accessing a cost of each of the set of needed modifications; and calculating the monetary amount based on at least the cost of each of the set of needed modifications.

“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising: presenting, in the user interface, an indication of the monetary amount.

“11. A system configured to identify property modifications, comprising: a user interface; a memory configured to store non-transitory computer executable instructions; and a processor configured to interface with the user interface and the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute the non-transitory computer executable instructions to cause the processor to: analyze image data to identify a set of elements associated with a portion of a property, access a desired set of characteristics corresponding to the set of elements, determine, based on at least a portion of the desired set of characteristics, at least one modification recommendation for the property, wherein the at least one modification recommendation is not included in the desired set of characteristics, identify an additional property comparable to the property and having the desired set of characteristics corresponding to the set of elements, the additional property having a price, and cause the user interface to present (i) an indication of the price of the additional property, and (ii) an indication of the at least one modification recommendation.

“12. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor analyzes the image data to further identify a set of characteristics associated with the set of elements.

“13. The system of claim 11, wherein to access the desired set of characteristics, the processor is configured to: receiving, from a user via a user interface, the desired set of characteristics corresponding to the set of elements.

“14. The system of claim 11, wherein the set of elements associated with the portion of the property has a set of characteristics, and wherein the processor is further configured to: calculate a monetary amount associated with modifying the set of elements having the set of characteristics to achieve the desired set of characteristics.

“15. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to: identifying, using a location module, a location of the electronic device; wherein calculating the monetary amount comprises: calculating, based on at least the location of the electronic device, the monetary amount associated with modifying the set of elements having the set of characteristics to achieve the desired set of characteristics.

“16. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to: identifying a price associated with the property; calculating a price difference between (i) a sum of the monetary amount and the price associated with the property and (ii) the price of the additional property; and presenting, in the user interface, an indication of the price difference.

“17. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to: identifying a contractor who specializes in modifying the set of elements having the set of characteristics to achieve the desired set of characteristics; and presenting, in the user interface, an indication of the contractor.

“18. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor analyzes the image data to identify that at least a portion of the set of elements need replacement, and wherein the processor calculates the monetary amount based on at least a replacement cost for the portion of the set of elements.

“19. The system of claim 14, wherein to calculate the monetary amount, the processor is configured to: determine, based on the set of characteristics and the desired set of characteristics, a set of needed modifications, access a cost of each of the set of needed modifications, and calculate the monetary amount based on at least the cost of each of the set of needed modifications.

“20. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to: cause the user interface to present an indication of the monetary amount.”

For additional information on this patent, see: Cardona, Alexander; Olander, Erin A.; Schirano, John A.; Hunt, Dana C. Real Property Image Analysis System To Analyze Property Repairs And Improvements. U.S. Patent Number 10,621,632, filed April 30, 2019, and published online on April 27, 2020. 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=10,621,632.PN.&OS=PN/10,621,632RS=PN/10,621,632

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