Patent Issued for Virtual reality visualization system with object recommendation engine (USPTO 11727477): Allstate Insurance Company

2023 SEP 05 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- From Alexandria, Virginia, NewsRx journalists report that a patent by the inventors Gore, Caleb Brian Slaughter (Buffalo Grove, IL, US), Reif, Colton J. (Winfield, IL, US), filed on May 25, 2021, was published online on August 15, 2023.

The patent’s assignee for patent number 11727477 is Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

News editors obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Virtual reality systems may provide a user with a virtual environment based on a real world environment. Virtual reality systems may provide a user interface allowing a user to interact with the virtual environment. For example, the user may manipulate electronic representations of objects in the virtual environment. Virtual reality user interfaces may be displayed on display interfaces such as user computing devices.

“Some companies offer tools that generate a virtual room and allow customers to place virtual objects in the virtual room to see how they may be arranged in the virtual room. Once a customer has configured their virtual room to their liking using products sold by the store, the customer may be able to purchase the real world counterparts to the virtual objects and install them in their home.

“When a home or other structure is damaged, homeowners may submit claims under homeowner’s insurance policies that cover the damage. As part of these claims, homeowners may seek reimbursement or replacement of damaged items and/or appliances in the home. The homeowner may fill out a claim form listing the damaged items and an insurer may evaluate the damage against the coverage of an insurance policy. The insurer may provide reimbursement in the form of a settlement, allowing the homeowner to purchase replacement items at a local retailer.

“Although existing tools may allow users to view a virtual room and place virtual objects therein, significant difficulties exist in accurately representing a real world room on a virtual reality system. Further, the user experience may suffer in instances where the system provides users an uncurated catalog of virtual objects for inclusion in the room, potentially overwhelming the user with choices. Further still, users are often unaware of the impact that the installation of new objects in a home may have on premiums associated with homeowner’s insurance policies.”

As a supplement to the background information on this patent, NewsRx correspondents also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent: “Aspects of the disclosure relate to virtual reality systems (and/or augmented reality systems) that facilitate visualization of replacement and/or additional items for rebuilding a damaged room. The system may provide a virtual representation of a subject real world room. A user may select items, such as appliances and furniture, for placement in the virtual room and the system may update the virtual room to include a representation of the items. In some embodiments, the system may utilize information about the user to provide recommendations regarding items that may be placed in a virtual room. For example, the system may utilize one or more service records to identify items covered under a service associated with the user. In some embodiments, the system may apply a monetary settlement to the cost of the real world items to facilitate the replacement of damaged items.

“A virtual reality visualization system may generate a virtual room corresponding to a real world room and cause the virtual room to be displayed on a display interface. The virtual room may be generated based on information about the real world room, such as dimensions, location, objects therein, and/or other attributes of the real world room. The system may gather visual and/or sensory information from the real world room using cameras and other sensors and determine the attributes of the room based on the gathered information. For example, the system may determine a set of dimensions for the room based on image data captured by a camera of a user device.

“Insured users may submit claims for damage to objects in the room covered by a service, such as an insurance policy. Where the damage justifies replacing the object, the insurer may provide an appropriate settlement amount to the insured covering costs associated with a replacement object and/or compensating the insured for their loss. The virtual reality visualization system may receive claim information including an identification of prior objects that occupied the real world room and were subject to damage or otherwise merit replacement and an associated settlement amount.

“The virtual reality visualization system may allow users to select replacement objects from a catalog of objects and present a representation of selected objects in the virtual room. According to some aspects, the system may recommend replacement objects based on the prior objects and/or based on attributes of the user and associated insurance policies. In some embodiments, the system may recommend comparable alternative objects based on attributes of the prior objects. In other embodiments, the system may select alternative objects for inclusion in a list of recommended objects based on determining an impact that object may have on a premium for an insurance policy associated with the user. The list of recommended replacement objects may be presented to the user on the display interface to facilitate selection of replacement objects for inclusion in the virtual room.

“In some embodiments, the system may further facilitate the user’s review and selection of replacement objects by providing an indication of an impact the object may have on an insurance policy associated with the user. According to some aspects, the system may determine a change in premium associated with a replacement object.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method comprising: storing, by a first data source of a visualization device, room information corresponding to a real room, wherein the room information comprises dimensions of the real room and a prior object listing of one or more prior objects associated with the real room; generating, by the visualization device, a replacement object listing comprising one or more replacement objects based at least in part on the prior object listing, wherein generating the replacement object listing based at least in part on the prior object listing comprises: determining a change in premium for the one or more replacement objects; and based on determining the change in premium for the one or more replacement objects, selecting at least one of the one or more replacement objects for the replacement object listing; generating, by the visualization device, a user interface displayed to a user via a display interface and comprising the replacement object listing, wherein the user interface comprises: a virtual reality user interface comprising a virtual representation of the real room, wherein a size of the virtual representation of the real room is based on the dimensions of the real room; or an augmented reality user interface dynamically overlaid on the user’s live view of the real room based at least in part on the dimensions of the real room; receiving, by the visualization device, a selection of a first replacement object of the replacement object listing from the user; updating the user interface to include a virtual representation of the first replacement object overlaid on the virtual representation or the user’s live view of the real room; and automatically generating an order to purchase the selected first replacement object in response to user input via the updated user interface.

“2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving second user input comprising an indication of a location in the real room for the first replacement object, wherein updating the user interface to include a virtual representation of the first replacement object comprises placing the virtual representation of the first replacement object such that the virtual representation appears to be at the location in the user’s live view of the real room or the virtual representation of the real room.

“3. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the replacement object listing based at least in part on the prior object listing comprises: determining whether a given replacement object fits in the real room at the location based on the dimensions of the real room.

“4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information regarding prior objects associated with the user is determined based on image data associated with the real room.

“5. The method of claim 1, wherein the prior object list is received from a digital locker database configured to store information regarding prior objects reported by the user.

“6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the replacement object listing based at least in part on the prior object listing comprises: determining one or more replacement objects associated with a given prior object of the one or more prior objects; for each of the one or more replacement objects, determining a change in premium for a service associated with the user based on attributes of a given replacement object relative to attributes of the given prior object; and selecting a recommended replacement object of the one or more replacement objects for inclusion in the replacement object listing based on the determined changes in premiums for the one or more replacement objects.

“7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a change in a premium for a service associated with the user based on the selection of the first replacement object; and causing a display of the change in premium to the user.

“8. A system comprising: a display interface in communication with a visualization device, wherein the display interface is configured to present a graphical user interface dynamically overlaid on a user’s live view of a real room or a virtual representation of the real room, wherein the graphical user interface comprises a replacement object listing comprising one or more replacement objects for inclusion in the real room; and the visualization device, wherein the visualization device comprises: one or more processors; a first data source configured to store room information corresponding to the real room, wherein the room information comprises dimensions of the real room and a prior object listing of one or more prior objects associated with the real room; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the visualization device to: generate the user interface overlaid on the user’s live view of the real room, or the virtual representation of the real room, based at least in part on the dimensions of the real room; generate the replacement object listing comprising the one or more replacement objects based at least in part on the prior object listing, wherein generating the replacement object listing based at least in part on the prior object listing comprises: determining a change in premium for the one or more replacement objects; and based on determining the change in premium for the one or more replacement objects, selecting at least one of the one or more replacement objects for the replacement object listing; cause display of the user interface comprising the replacement object listing on the display interface; receive first user input comprising a selection of a first replacement object of the replacement object listing from the user; update the user interface to include a virtual representation of the first replacement object relative to the real room or the virtual representation of the real room; cause display of the updated user interface on the display interface overlaid on the user’s live view of the real room; and automatically generate an order to purchase the selected first replacement object in response to second user input via the updated user interface.

“9. The system of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the visualization device to: receive third user input comprising an indication of a location in the real room for the first replacement object, wherein the instructions cause the visualization device to update the user interface to include a virtual representation of the first replacement object by causing the visualization device to place the virtual representation of the first replacement object such that the virtual representation appears to be at the location in the user’s live view of the real room or the virtual representation of the real room.

“10. The system of claim 9, wherein the instructions cause the visualization device to generate the replacement object listing based at least in part on the prior object listing by causing the visualization device to: determine whether a given replacement object fits in the real room at the location based on the dimensions of the real room.

“11. The system of claim 8, wherein the information regarding prior objects associated with the user is determined based on image data associated with the real room.

“12. The system of claim 8, wherein the first data source is a digital locker database configured to store information regarding prior objects reported by the user.

“13. The system of claim 8, wherein the instructions cause the visualization device to generate the replacement object listing based at least in part on the prior object listing by causing the visualization device to: determine one or more replacement objects associated with a given prior object of the one or more prior objects; for each of the one or more replacement objects, determine a change in premium for a service associated with the user based on attributes of a given replacement object relative to attributes of the given prior object; and select a recommended replacement object of the one or more replacement objects for inclusion in the replacement object listing based on the determined changes in premiums for the one or more replacement objects.

“14. The system of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the visualization device to: determine a change in a premium for a service associated with the user based on the selection of the first replacement object; and cause a display of the change in premium to the user.”

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

For additional information on this patent, see: Gore, Caleb Brian Slaughter. Virtual reality visualization system with object recommendation engine. U.S. Patent Number 11727477, filed May 25, 2021, and published online on August 15, 2023. Patent URL (for desktop use only): https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/external.html?q=(11727477)&db=USPAT&type=ids

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