“Three-Dimensional Risk Maps” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20220299326): Allstate Insurance Company

2022 OCT 06 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent application by the inventor Slusar, Mark (Chicago, IL, US), filed on March 8, 2022, was made available online on September 22, 2022, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application is assigned to Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Recently, many vehicles come equipped with global positioning system (GPS) devices that help drivers to navigate roads to various locations. Moreover, many drivers use other mobile devices (e.g., smart phones) that have GPS devices therein to help the drivers navigate roads. These GPS devices may provide location information and use maps for navigation purposes. As GPS devices have become more prevalent, the different uses for their location information have come to light. In some instances, the danger level of different routes is determined by combining location information and accident history information. Although some entities may find the danger level of certain routes useful and interesting, such information alone might not significantly reduce the likelihood of accidents occurring. Therefore, there remains a desire for methods and systems that may help drivers avoid accidents. Moreover, in the event of an accident, there is a desire for methods and systems that utilize information regarding the environment in which the accident occurred to help other drivers avoid a similar accident.

“Additionally, it is difficult to use the location information to determine the cause of the accident when the location information merely includes GPS coordinates. Insurance providers may find determining the cause of an accident particularly important. When an accident occurs, a driver (or insurance policy holder of the damaged vehicle) may file an insurance claim with an insurance provider to cover the cost of repairing a vehicle. The insurance provider may wish to determine the cause of the accident in order to properly process the insurance claim and curtail insurance fraud. In some cases, employees of an insurance provider (e.g., insurance adjusters) may be dispatched to inspect a damaged vehicle or to inspect the site of the accident to determine the cause of the accident. Inspecting the site or vehicle may be important for record keeping or determining whether insurance coverage is applicable. As such, insurance customers may become frustrated and inconvenienced by the processing time of an insurance claim. Accordingly, there is a desire for methods and systems that facilitate the automatic processing of insurance claims.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent application: “The following summary is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit or constrain the detailed description. The following summary merely presents various described aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description provided below.

“Various approaches to helping users identify and mitigate risk are presented. In accordance with aspects of the disclosure, a computing system may generate, based on a vehicle traveling on a segment of road, a three-dimensional (3D) map for identifying and alerting a user of a potential risk (e.g., a risk object). The system may receive various types of information, including but not limited to, accident information, geographic information, environmental information, risk information, and vehicle information from one or more sensors. The system may generate a 3D risk map using the received information. The system may calculate a risk value (e.g. risk score, route risk score, road risk score, road segment risk score, risk object risk score, etc.) and associate the risk score to a particular road segment. Further, the system may provide alerts to a user by indicating an identification of a risk object based on the calculated risk score of the risk object.

“In other aspects of the present disclosure, a personal navigation device, mobile device, and/or personal computing device may communicate, directly or indirectly, with a server (or other device) to transmit and receive a risk score(s), a 3D risk map(s), and/or received information. The device may receive travel route information and query the memory for associated risk scores and 3D risk maps. The risk scores may be sent for display on the device (via the 3D risk map) or for recording in memory. The contents of memory may also be uploaded to a system data storage device for use by a network device (e.g., server) to perform various actions. For example, an insurance company may use the information stored in the system data storage device to take various actions (e.g., file a claim, adjust a user’s insurance premium, etc.).

“In other aspects of the disclosure, a personal navigation device, mobile device, and/or personal computing device may access a database of risk scores to assist in identifying and indicating alternate lower-risk travel routes. A driver may select among the various travel routes presented, taking into account one or more factors such as the driver’s tolerance for risk or the driver’s desire to lower the cost of their insurance. These factors may be saved in memory designating the driver’s preferences. Depending on the driver’s selection or preference, the cost or other aspects of the vehicle’s insurance coverage may be adjusted accordingly for either the current insurance policy period or a future insurance policy period.

“Certain other aspects of the disclosure include a system comprising one or more sensors coupled to a vehicle and configured to detect sensor information. The system may also include a first computing device configured to communicate with the one or more sensors to receive the sensor information; analyze the sensor information to identify one or more risk objects; generate a three-dimensional (3D) risk map illustrating the one or more risk objects as one or more point clouds, respectively, within a virtual world representation of the vehicle’s surroundings; and display the 3D risk map to a passenger in the vehicle.

“Certain other aspects of the disclosure may include a system comprising one or more sensors coupled to a vehicle and configured to detect sensor information. The system may also include a first computing device configured to communicate with the one or more sensors to receive the sensor information; analyze the sensor information to identify one or more risk objects; generate a three-dimensional (3D) risk map illustrating the one or more risk objects as one or more point clouds, respectively, within a virtual world representation of the vehicle’s surroundings; store the 3D risk map; determine, based on the sensor information, that the vehicle was in an accident; analyze the 3D risk map to determine a cause of the accident; and construct, based on the cause of the accident, an insurance claim.

“The details of these and other aspects of the disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and descriptions below. Other features and advantages of aspects of the disclosure may be apparent from the descriptions and drawings.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A system comprising: a global positioning system device configured to determine geographic location information for a vehicle; one or more sensors coupled to the vehicle and configured to detect sensor information; and a first computing device configured to: receive template map data comprising environmental information indicating environments along road segments for generating one or more three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds representing the environments; communicate with the global positioning system device to receive the geographic location information; generate a 3D virtual world based on the geographic location information and the template map data; receive the sensor information; analyze the sensor information to identify one or more risk objects; generate one or more point clouds illustrating the one or more risk objects, respectively; generate, by superimposing the one or more point clouds into the 3D virtual world, a 3D risk map; determine a risk score for at least one of the one or more risk objects; output a first alert if the risk score is above a threshold; and output a second alert if the risk score is below the threshold.

“2. The system of claim 1 wherein the first computing device is further configured to: determine a plurality of at risk objects based on the sensor information; determine a risk score for each of any of additional ones of the plurality of at risk objects; and filter the plurality of at risk objects based on the risk score for each object to identify the one or more risk objects.

“3. The system of claim 1, wherein the first computing device is further configured to: determine a route of travel of the vehicle; calculate a route risk score of the route; and update, based on the route risk score, the 3D risk map to indicate a level of risk associated with the route.

“4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first computing device is further configured to: determine, based on the 3D risk map, one or more road segments the vehicle has traveled; calculate one or more road segment risk scores for the one or more road segments; and transmit the one or more road segment risk scores.

“5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first computing device is further configured to: output an audio alert based on the risk score exceeding a threshold.

“6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first computing device is further configured to: assign a color to each of the one or more risk objects, wherein the color is based on the risk score and represents a level of risk for each of the one or more risk objects.

“7. The system of claim 6, wherein the first computing device is further configured to: update the 3D risk map to change the color of a particular risk object among the one or more risk objects to red if the level of risk associated with the particular risk object is greater than a predetermined threshold.

“8. The system of claim 1, wherein: the first computing device is further configured to receive weather information, and generation of the particular 3D virtual world is further based on the weather information, such that the particular 3D virtual world illustrates a weather condition.

“9. The system of claim 1, further comprising: one or more second sensors coupled to a second vehicle or an element of infrastructure, wherein the one or more second sensors are configured to detect second sensor information; and a second computing device configured to: analyze the second sensor information to identify one or more second risk objects; and transmit additional information indicating the one or more second risk objects, wherein the first computing device is further configured to: receive the additional information transmitted by the second computing device; based on the additional information, update the 3D risk map by superimposing one or more second point clouds corresponding to the one or more second risk objects, respectively, into the particular 3D virtual world; and display, using a display device of the vehicle, the updated 3D risk map to a person in the vehicle.

“10. The system of claim 1, wherein the first computing device is further configured to dynamically update the 3D risk map to provide an updated virtual world representing environments along subsequent road segments as the vehicle moves.

“11. The system of claim 1, wherein the first computing device is further configured to: determine that the vehicle was in an accident; analyze the 3D risk map to determine a cause of the accident; determine if the accident is on a pre-determined list of accidents that indicate which accidents are eligible for insurance claim processing by the system; and if the accident is on the pre-determined list, construct, based on the cause of the accident, an insurance claim.

“12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first computing device is further configured to: compare information regarding damage to the vehicle with a location of the one or more risk objects within the 3D risk map.

“13. The system of claim 11, wherein the first computing device is further configured to: transmit a notification to a driver or owner of the vehicle in response to constructing the insurance claim.

“14. The system of claim 11, wherein the first computing device is further configured to: adjust an insurance premium of an insurance policy associated with the vehicle based on the cause of the accident.

“15. The system of claim 1, wherein generating a 3D virtual world comprises: determine, based on the geographic location information, a particular road segment on which the vehicle is located among the road segments of the template map data; determine, based on a portion of the environmental information of the template map data corresponding to the particular road segment, a particular environment along the particular road segment; and generate a particular 3D virtual world representing the particular environment along the particular road segment on which the vehicle is located.

“16. A method comprising: receiving, by a computing device, template map data comprising environmental information indicating environments along road segments for generating one or more three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds representing the environments; receiving, by the computing device and from a global positioning system device, geographic location information for a vehicle; generating a 3D virtual world based on the geographic location information and the template map data; receiving, by the computing device from one or more sensors coupled to the vehicle, sensor information; analyzing, by the computing device, the sensor information to identify one or more risk objects; generating, by the computing device, one or more point clouds illustrating the one or more risk objects, respectively; generating, by the computing device, a 3D risk map by superimposing the one or more point clouds into the 3D virtual world; outputting, by the computing device and to a display device of the vehicle, the 3D risk map for display; determining a risk score for at least one of the one or more risk objects; and outputting one or more alerts based on a comparison of the risk score to a threshold.

“17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: determining a route of travel of the vehicle; and calculating a route risk score of the route, wherein the generating the 3D risk map is further based on the route risk score.

“18. The method of claim 16, further comprising: determining a road segment associated with a location of the vehicle; calculating a road segment risk score for the road segment; and updating, based on the road segment risk score, the 3D risk map to alert a person about a level of risk associated with the road segment.

“19. The method of claim 16, wherein when the risk score is above the threshold based on the comparison of the risk score and the threshold, outputting the one or more alerts.

“20. An apparatus comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to: receive template map data comprising environmental information indicating environments along road segments for generating one or more three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds representing the environments; receive, from a global positioning system device, geographic location information for a vehicle; generate a 3D virtual world based on the geographic location information and the template map data; receive, from one or more sensors coupled to the vehicle, sensor information; analyze the sensor information to identify one or more risk objects; generate one or more point clouds illustrating the one or more risk objects, respectively; generate a 3D risk map by superimposing the one or more point clouds into the 3D virtual world; determine a risk score for at least one of the one or more risk objects; and output one or more alerts based on a comparison of the risk score and a threshold, wherein the threshold is at least one of a predetermined threshold or a user selected threshold.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Slusar, Mark. Three-Dimensional Risk Maps. Filed March 8, 2022 and posted September 22, 2022. Patent URL: https://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220220299326%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20220299326&RS=DN/20220299326

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