Patent Application
20200159277
The disclosure relates to the field of electronic devices, and more particularly to the field of control input devices.
The dual joystick controller has become a standard input device in a number of fields. In computer gaming, a single piece handheld controller with dual thumb joysticks is very common, with less common variants being two separate handheld controllers, each with a thumb joystick. Joystick controllers with dual thumb joysticks are also standard for controlling model airplanes and aerial drones. In other fields, such as control of construction equipment, dual full-hand joystick controllers can be used to control small wheeled and tracked loaders.
These implementations of dual joystick controllers are useful, but they have a significant drawback from the standpoint of health and exercise. These devices all use just the muscles of the hands and wrists, and require the use of fine motor skills. As a result, they all but require the user to remain stationary during use, discouraging movement and activity.
There are also existing systems that allow for other than dual joystick controller input, such as virtual reality (VR) headsets and hand-held motion-sensing wand controllers, but all such existing systems still have substantial drawbacks. VR headsets are cumbersome as they must hold a viewing screen in front of the eyes. As a result, they cannot be used while exercising vigorously. VR hand-held controllers still require the use of fine motor skills. Further, VR headsets only allow the equivalent of operation of a single joystick, typically controlling the camera angle within computer games, and therefore must be paired with at least one hand-held controller to allow the equivalent of operation of a second joystick, typically controlling movement of an in-game avatar. Third, the systems and games for VR headsets and wands must be specially designed and programmed to allow the user of VR headsets, which limits accessibility to many users.
What is needed is a system that enables a user to engage in full body movement while retaining the benefits of standardized dual joystick controls and without requiring the use of hand-held controllers.
Accordingly, the inventor has conceived and reduced to practice a system and method for full body movement control of dual joystick operated devices. The system comprise separates motion sensors: a first motion sensor for body lean and tilt, and a second motion sensor for head rotation and tilt. The output from the first motion sensor is converted into a virtual joystick output signal corresponding to a first standard joystick which controls one aspect of movement, and the output from the second motion sensor is converted into a virtual joystick output signal corresponding to a second standard joystick which controls a different aspect of movement. In this way, a user of the system is free to engage exercise, balance activities, and other full-body movements, while using body movements and head movements to control a game or device designed for control by a standard dual joystick controller. Thus, the user enjoys health, fitness, balance, engagement, and interactivity benefits while being able to use standard games and devices designed for dual joystick controllers.
According to a preferred embodiment, a system for full body movement control of dual joystick operated devices is disclosed, comprising: a first motion sensing device configured to detect motion comprising a lean angle and a tilt angle of the torso of a user and transmit a first data stream to a composition server; and a second motion sensing device configured to detect motion comprising a rotation angle and tilt angle of the head of a user and transmit a second data stream to a composition server; and a third motion sensing device configured to detect motion comprising a direction of motion of a limb of a user and transmit a third data stream to a composition server; and a composition server comprising at least a plurality of programming instructions stored in a memory and operating on a processor of a network-connected computing device and configured to: receive the first data stream from the first motion sensing device; receive the second data stream from the second motion sensing device; receive the third data stream from the third motion sensing device; create a first virtual joystick output wherein the lean angle and the tilt angle of the torso of the user corresponds to a direction of a first joystick; create a second virtual joystick output wherein the rotation angle and tilt angle of the head of the user corresponds to a direction of a second joystick; create a third virtual joystick output wherein the direction of motion of a limb corresponds to a button push of a joystick; convert each virtual joystick output into a format that would be recognized as a standard joystick output by a device configured to accept a standard joystick output; and send each virtual joystick output to the device.
According to another preferred embodiment, a method for full body movement control of dual joystick operated devices is disclosed, comprising the steps of: capturing data from a first motion sensing device configured to detect motion comprising a lean angle and a tilt angle of the torso of a user and transmitting a first data stream to a composition server; and capturing data from a second motion sensing device configured to detect motion comprising a rotation angle and tilt angle of the head of a user and transmitting a second data stream to a composition server; and capturing data from a third motion sensing device configured to detect motion comprising a direction of motion of a limb of a user and transmitting a third data stream to a composition server; and using a composition server comprising at least a plurality of programming instructions stored in a memory and operating on a processor of a network-connected computing device to perform the additional steps of: receiving the first data stream from the first motion sensing device; receiving the second data stream from the second motion sensing device; receiving the third data stream from the third motion sensing device; creating a first virtual joystick output wherein the lean angle and the tilt angle of the torso of the user corresponds to a direction of a first joystick; creating a second virtual joystick output wherein the rotation angle and tilt angle of the head of the user corresponds to a direction of a second joystick; creating a third virtual joystick output wherein the direction of motion of a limb corresponds to a button push of a joystick; converting each virtual joystick output into a format that would be recognized as a standard joystick output by a dual joystick operated device.
According to an aspect of an embodiment, the dual joystick operated device is a computer game.
According to an aspect of an embodiment, the lean angle of the first virtual joystick controls left and right movement of an in-game avatar and the tilt angle of the first virtual joystick controls forward and backward movement of the in-game avatar, and the rotation angle of the second virtual joystick controls the left and right view control in the game and the tilt angle of the first virtual joystick controls up and down view control in the game.
According to an aspect of an embodiment, the dual joystick operated device is a radio-controlled aircraft or drone.
The accompanying drawings illustrate several embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention according to the embodiments. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the particular embodiments illustrated in the drawings are merely exemplary, and are not to be considered as limiting of the scope of the invention or the claims herein in any way.
The inventor has conceived, and reduced to practice a system and method for full body movement control of dual joystick operated devices.
The system comprises separate motion sensors: a first motion sensor for body lean and tilt, and a second motion sensor for head rotation and tilt. The output from the first motion sensor is converted into a virtual joystick output signal corresponding to a first standard joystick which controls one aspect of movement, and the output from the second motion sensor is converted into a virtual joystick output signal corresponding to a second standard joystick which controls a different aspect of movement. Optionally, additional motion sensors may be used to capture the movement of a limb of the user, such that movement of the limb can be converted into a virtual button push. In some embodiments, different limbs may represent different buttons, or different limb movements may represent different buttons.
A user of the system is free to engage exercise, balance activities, and other full-body movements, while using body movements and head movements to control a game or device designed for control by a standard dual joystick controller. Thus, the user enjoys health, fitness, balance, engagement, and interactivity benefits while being able to use standard games and devices designed for dual joystick controllers.
Dual joystick controllers are a ubiquitous and easily-accessible means of controlling any number of devices. They are used extensively in console gaming, for example, where the left joystick is typically used to position and move the body of an in-game avatar in a 3D dimensional virtual environment. The avatar's movements corresponding to joystick movements will depend on game settings, but in a typical example when the joystick is pushed forward, the in-game avatar is moved forward in the 3D virtual space, and when the joystick is pushed left, the in-game avatar turns to the left, etc. Simultaneously, the right joystick is typically used either to position and move the in-game avatar's head (i.e. where the avatar is looking) or to position and move an in-game virtual camera that determines the view seen by the user. Again, the avatar's movements corresponding to joystick movements will depend on game settings, but in a typical example when the joystick is pushed forward, the view or look angle in the 3D virtual space moves downward (e.g., the view moves toward the “ground” in the game), and when the joystick is pushed left, view turns to the left, etc. Because of the simultaneous and separate joystick movements, it is possible to move the two joysticks such that the body of the avatar is turning left at the same rate as the view is turning right, such that movement is occurring but the user's view of the in-game environment remains the same.
One or more different inventions may be described in the present application. Further, for one or more of the inventions described herein, numerous alternative embodiments may be described; it should be appreciated that these are presented for illustrative purposes only and are not limiting of the inventions contained herein or the claims presented herein in any way. One or more of the inventions may be widely applicable to numerous embodiments, as may be readily apparent from the disclosure. In general, embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice one or more of the inventions, and it should be appreciated that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural, logical, software, electrical and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the particular inventions. Accordingly, one skilled in the art will recognize that one or more of the inventions may be practiced with various modifications and alterations. Particular features of one or more of the inventions described herein may be described with reference to one or more particular embodiments or figures that form a part of the present disclosure, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments of one or more of the inventions. It should be appreciated, however, that such features are not limited to usage in the one or more particular embodiments or figures with reference to which they are described. The present disclosure is neither a literal description of all embodiments of one or more of the inventions nor a listing of features of one or more of the inventions that must be present in all embodiments.
Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the title of this patent application are for convenience only, and are not to be taken as limiting the disclosure in any way.
Devices that are in communication with each other need not be in continuous communication with each other, unless expressly specified otherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with each other may communicate directly or indirectly through one or more communication means or intermediaries, logical or physical.
A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. To the contrary, a variety of optional components may be described to illustrate a wide variety of possible embodiments of one or more of the inventions and in order to more fully illustrate one or more aspects of the inventions. Similarly, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods and algorithms may generally be configured to work in alternate orders, unless specifically stated to the contrary. In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may be described in this patent application does not, in and of itself, indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order. The steps of described processes may be performed in any order practical. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously despite being described or implied as occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is described after the other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by its depiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process is exclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not imply that the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to one or more of the invention(s), and does not imply that the illustrated process is preferred. Also, steps are generally described once per embodiment, but this does not mean they must occur once, or that they may only occur once each time a process, method, or algorithm is carried out or executed. Some steps may be omitted in some embodiments or some occurrences, or some steps may be executed more than once in a given embodiment or occurrence.
When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readily apparent that more than one device or article may be used in place of a single device or article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein, it will be readily apparent that a single device or article may be used in place of the more than one device or article.
The functionality or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices that are not explicitly described as having such functionality or features. Thus, other embodiments of one or more of the inventions need not include the device itself.
Techniques and mechanisms described or referenced herein will sometimes be described in singular form for clarity. However, it should be appreciated that particular embodiments may include multiple iterations of a technique or multiple instantiations of a mechanism unless noted otherwise. Process descriptions or blocks in figures should be understood as representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternate implementations are included within the scope of embodiments of the present invention in which, for example, functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art.
The term “virtual reality” as used herein means a computer game comprising a 3D dimensional virtual environment in which an avatar representing the user (also known as the player) of the game can interact with the virtual environment.
The terms “mixed reality” and “augmented reality” as used herein mean computer-generated objects and environments overlaid onto images of the real world.
The term “joystick” as used herein means a control device that uses a stick or lever in combination with a sensor to produce a control signal. Joysticks can be one-dimensional, but are often two dimensional. Analog joysticks produce an analog voltage that can be converted to a digital value. While digital (on/off, binary, or I/O) joysticks rely on simple electrical switches for movement in a given direction, analog sticks use potentiometers to vary a voltage along a particular axis of movement.
Various input devices may be connected to composition server 101 interchangeably as desired for a particular arrangement or use case, for example a user may wish to use a controller 104 in each hand and a headset 103, but omit the use of fitness devices 105 altogether. During operation, composition server 101 may identify connected devices and load any stored configuration corresponding to a particular device or device type, for example using preconfigured parameters for use as a default configuration for a new controller, or using historical configuration for a headset based on previous configuration or use. For example, a user may be prompted (or may volunteer) to provide configuration data for a particular device, such as by selecting from a list of options (for example, “choose which type of device this is”, or “where are you wearing/holding this device”, or other multiple-choice type selection), or composition server 101 may employ machine learning to automatically determine or update device configuration as needed. For example, during use, input values may be received that are determined to be “out of bounds”, for example an erroneous sensor reading that might indicate that a user has dramatically shifted position in a way that should be impossible (for example, an erroneous reading that appears to indicate the user has moved across the room and back again within a fraction of a second, or has fallen through the floor, or other data anomalies). These data values may be discarded and configuration updated to reduce the frequency of such errors in the future, increasing the reliability of input data through use.
Composition server 101 may receive a wide variety of input data from various connected devices, and by comparing against configuration data may discard undesirable or erroneous readings as well as analyze received input data to determine more complex or fine-grained measurements. For example, combining input from motion-sensing controllers 104 with a motion-sensing headset 103 may reveal information about how a user is moving their arms relative to their head or face, such as covering their face to shield against a bright light or an attack (within a game, for example), which might otherwise be impossible to determine with any reliability using only the controllers themselves (as it may be observed that a user is raising their hands easily enough, but there is no reference for the position or movement of their head). These derived input values may then be combined into a single composite input data stream for use by various software applications, such as augmented reality or mixed or virtual reality productivity applications (for example, applications that assist a user in performing manual tasks by presenting virtual information overlays onto their field of vision, or by playing audio directions to instruct them while observing their behavior through input devices, or other such applications), or virtual reality applications or games, such as simulation games that translate a user's movement or position into in-game interaction, for example by moving a user's in-game character or avatar based on their physical movements as received from input devices. In some arrangements, composition server 101 may operate such software applications in a standalone manner, functioning as a computer or gaming console as needed. In other arrangements, composition server 101 may provide the composite data for use by an external computer 110, such as a connected gaming console, virtual reality device, personal computer, or a server operating via a network in the cloud (such as for online gaming arrangements, for example). In this manner, the composite data functions of the embodiment may be utilized with existing hardware if desired, or may be provided in a standalone package such as for demonstrations or public use, or for convenient setup using a single device to provide the full interaction experience (in a manner similar to a household gaming console, wherein all the functions of computer components may be prepackaged and setup to minimize difficulty for a new user).
For example, a user 201 on a treadmill 202 may be playing a virtual reality skiing game wherein they are given audio and video output via a headset 206 to immerse them in a virtual ski resort. When user 201 is not skiing, they may be able to use manual controls 205a, 205b for such operations as selecting from an on-screen menu, or typing text input such as to input their name or to chat with other players using text. When they begin skiing within the game, user 201 may be instructed in proper ski posture or technique, and may then use their body to control various aspects of their virtual skiing, such as leaning to the side 210 to alter their course and avoid trees or other skiers, or jumping 211 to clear rocks or gaps. Movement of their head may be detected by a headset 206 and used to control their view independently of their body as it is tracked by tethers 208a, 208n, allowing user 201 to look around freely without interfering with their other controls. In this manner, the user's entire body may serve as an input control device for the game, allowing and encouraging them to use natural body movements to control their gameplay in an immersive manner while still retaining the option to use more familiar manual control means as needed.
Additionally, it may be appreciated that the specific arrangement or configuration of hardware devices in use may vary, for example omitting tethers (as described above, in
Additionally, in some arrangements haptic feedback may be provided to further enhance immersion and natural interaction, according to the capabilities of an environment or devices used. For example, if multiple tethers are used, tension or movement may be applied to these tethers as software output, to provide physical feedback for a user during operation. As an example, a user may setup multiple tethers in an open space as described above, for use in a boxing simulation game. During gameplay, sudden “jerking” tension may be applied to one or more tethers, to simulate a “knock-back” effect from an opponent's blow, or constant tension may be applied to restrain a user's movements during grappling. In another example, a user may be playing a virtual reality flight simulator as described previously (referring to
To convert the virtual joystick outputs to a standard joystick control signal, one simply needs to know the analog voltages and/or digital values accepted by the device to be controlled and map the virtual joystick outputs to those analog voltages and/or digital values. This mapping can be pre-programmed into the system or can be done automatically via software (e.g., the system can convert or map the virtual joystick outputs proportionally to the expected device inputs). The connection with the device to be controlled can be either wired or wireless. With wired connections, many devices use standard universal serial bus (USB) inputs, in which case digital values from the virtual joystick outputs can be transferred to the device to be controlled using standard USB hardware and protocols. In the case of wireless control, a connection is typically made via a Bluetooth™ or Wi-Fi™ adapter, and digital values are transferred wirelessly.
In some embodiments, the motion sensor worn on the head 802 may comprise a viewing screen in the manner of a virtual reality headset. However, it is important to note that virtual reality headsets do not operate in the manner of the invention herein described. A virtual reality headset will contain motion sensors, but can only represent one of a plurality of joystick inputs. Further, the motion sensor worn on the head 802 is not required to have a viewing screen, thus making it lighter and more compatible with the vigorous movements of exercise. In some embodiments, the motion sensors will not be worn on the head or body, and may be an externally-mounted devices such as a cameras that tracks head and body movements.
The various illustrated scenarios 1310, 1320, 1330 demonstrate exemplary uses of the above-described embodiment in capturing and using full-body motion in virtual reality (VR) gaming, although non-gaming VR uses and non-VR uses are possible. The scenario in 1310 shows the real-life movements of a person using the system, which are translated through the use of the motion sensors 1311, 1312, 1313a-d into an action in the virtual reality environment. In this scenario, the person mimics pushing a door in real life, which is translated in to a door-pushing movement in the virtual reality environment 1314. The scenario in 1320 shows a person mimicking drawing a bow and arrow, which is translated to a bow and arrow shooting movement in the virtual reality environment 1321. The scenario in 1330 shows a person performing a jumping side kick martial arts movement, which is translated to a jumping side kick martial arts movement in the virtual reality environment 1331.
Generally, the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented on hardware or a combination of software and hardware. For example, they may be implemented in an operating system kernel, in a separate user process, in a library package bound into network applications, on a specially constructed machine, on an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or on a network interface card.
Software/hardware hybrid implementations of at least some of the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented on a programmable network-resident machine (which should be understood to include intermittently connected network-aware machines) selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in memory. Such network devices may have multiple network interfaces that may be configured or designed to utilize different types of network communication protocols. A general architecture for some of these machines may be described herein in order to illustrate one or more exemplary means by which a given unit of functionality may be implemented. According to specific embodiments, at least some of the features or functionalities of the various embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented on one or more general-purpose computers associated with one or more networks, such as for example an end-user computer system, a client computer, a network server or other server system, a mobile computing device (e.g., tablet computing device, mobile phone, smartphone, laptop, or other appropriate computing device), a consumer electronic device, a music player, or any other suitable electronic device, router, switch, or other suitable device, or any combination thereof. In at least some embodiments, at least some of the features or functionalities of the various embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in one or more virtualized computing environments (e.g., network computing clouds, virtual machines hosted on one or more physical computing machines, or other appropriate virtual environments).
Referring now to
In one embodiment, computing device 10 includes one or more central processing units (CPU) 12, one or more interfaces 15, and one or more busses 14 (such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus). When acting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, CPU 12 may be responsible for implementing specific functions associated with the functions of a specifically configured computing device or machine. For example, in at least one embodiment, a computing device 10 may be configured or designed to function as a server system utilizing CPU 12, local memory 11 and/or remote memory 16, and interface(s) 15. In at least one embodiment, CPU 12 may be caused to perform one or more of the different types of functions and/or operations under the control of software modules or components, which for example, may include an operating system and any appropriate applications software, drivers, and the like.
CPU 12 may include one or more processors 13 such as, for example, a processor from one of the Intel, ARM, Qualcomm, and AMD families of microprocessors. In some embodiments, processors 13 may include specially designed hardware such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and so forth, for controlling operations of computing device 10. In a specific embodiment, a local memory 11 (such as non-volatile random access memory (RAM) and/or read-only memory (ROM), including for example one or more levels of cached memory) may also form part of CPU 12. However, there are many different ways in which memory may be coupled to system 10. Memory 11 may be used for a variety of purposes such as, for example, caching and/or storing data, programming instructions, and the like. It should be further appreciated that CPU 12 may be one of a variety of system-on-a-chip (SOC) type hardware that may include additional hardware such as memory or graphics processing chips, such as a Qualcomm SNAPDRAGON™ or Samsung EXYNOS™ CPU as are becoming increasingly common in the art, such as for use in mobile devices or integrated devices.
As used herein, the term “processor” is not limited merely to those integrated circuits referred to in the art as a processor, a mobile processor, or a microprocessor, but broadly refers to a microcontroller, a microcomputer, a programmable logic controller, an application-specific integrated circuit, and any other programmable circuit.
In one embodiment, interfaces 15 are provided as network interface cards (NICs). Generally, NICs control the sending and receiving of data packets over a computer network; other types of interfaces 15 may for example support other peripherals used with computing device 10. Among the interfaces that may be provided are Ethernet interfaces, frame relay interfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces, graphics interfaces, and the like. In addition, various types of interfaces may be provided such as, for example, universal serial bus (USB), Serial, Ethernet, FIREWIRE™, THUNDERBOLT™, PCI, parallel, radio frequency (RF), BLUETOOTH™, near-field communications (e.g., using near-field magnetics), 802.11 (WiFi), frame relay, TCP/IP, ISDN, fast Ethernet interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, Serial ATA (SATA) or external SATA (ESATA) interfaces, high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), digital visual interface (DVI), analog or digital audio interfaces, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) interfaces, high-speed serial interface (HSSI) interfaces, Point of Sale (POS) interfaces, fiber data distributed interfaces (FDDIs), and the like. Generally, such interfaces 15 may include physical ports appropriate for communication with appropriate media. In some cases, they may also include an independent processor (such as a dedicated audio or video processor, as is common in the art for high-fidelity A/V hardware interfaces) and, in some instances, volatile and/or non-volatile memory (e.g., RAM).
Although the system shown in
Regardless of network device configuration, the system of the present invention may employ one or more memories or memory modules (such as, for example, remote memory block 16 and local memory 11) configured to store data, program instructions for the general-purpose network operations, or other information relating to the functionality of the embodiments described herein (or any combinations of the above). Program instructions may control execution of or comprise an operating system and/or one or more applications, for example. Memory 16 or memories 11, 16 may also be configured to store data structures, configuration data, encryption data, historical system operations information, or any other specific or generic non-program information described herein.
Because such information and program instructions may be employed to implement one or more systems or methods described herein, at least some network device embodiments may include nontransitory machine-readable storage media, which, for example, may be configured or designed to store program instructions, state information, and the like for performing various operations described herein. Examples of such nontransitory machine-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media such as optical disks, and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM), flash memory (as is common in mobile devices and integrated systems), solid state drives (SSD) and “hybrid SSD” storage drives that may combine physical components of solid state and hard disk drives in a single hardware device (as are becoming increasingly common in the art with regard to personal computers), memristor memory, random access memory (RAM), and the like. It should be appreciated that such storage means may be integral and non-removable (such as RAM hardware modules that may be soldered onto a motherboard or otherwise integrated into an electronic device), or they may be removable such as swappable flash memory modules (such as “thumb drives” or other removable media designed for rapidly exchanging physical storage devices), “hot-swappable” hard disk drives or solid state drives, removable optical storage discs, or other such removable media, and that such integral and removable storage media may be utilized interchangeably. Examples of program instructions include both object code, such as may be produced by a compiler, machine code, such as may be produced by an assembler or a linker, byte code, such as may be generated by for example a JAVA™ compiler and may be executed using a Java virtual machine or equivalent, or files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter (for example, scripts written in Python, Perl, Ruby, Groovy, or any other scripting language).
In some embodiments, systems according to the present invention may be implemented on a standalone computing system. Referring now to
In some embodiments, systems of the present invention may be implemented on a distributed computing network, such as one having any number of clients and/or servers. Referring now to
In addition, in some embodiments, servers 32 may call external services 37 when needed to obtain additional information, or to refer to additional data concerning a particular call. Communications with external services 37 may take place, for example, via one or more networks 31. In various embodiments, external services 37 may comprise web-enabled services or functionality related to or installed on the hardware device itself. For example, in an embodiment where client applications 24 are implemented on a smartphone or other electronic device, client applications 24 may obtain information stored in a server system 32 in the cloud or on an external service 37 deployed on one or more of a particular enterprise's or user's premises.
In some embodiments of the invention, clients 33 or servers 32 (or both) may make use of one or more specialized services or appliances that may be deployed locally or remotely across one or more networks 31. For example, one or more databases 34 may be used or referred to by one or more embodiments of the invention. It should be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that databases 34 may be arranged in a wide variety of architectures and using a wide variety of data access and manipulation means. For example, in various embodiments one or more databases 34 may comprise a relational database system using a structured query language (SQL), while others may comprise an alternative data storage technology such as those referred to in the art as “NoSQL” (for example, Hadoop Cassandra, Google BigTable, and so forth). In some embodiments, variant database architectures such as column-oriented databases, in-memory databases, clustered databases, distributed databases, or even flat file data repositories may be used according to the invention. It will be appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art that any combination of known or future database technologies may be used as appropriate, unless a specific database technology or a specific arrangement of components is specified for a particular embodiment herein. Moreover, it should be appreciated that the term “database” as used herein may refer to a physical database machine, a cluster of machines acting as a single database system, or a logical database within an overall database management system. Unless a specific meaning is specified for a given use of the term “database”, it should be construed to mean any of these senses of the word, all of which are understood as a plain meaning of the term “database” by those having ordinary skill in the art.
Similarly, most embodiments of the invention may make use of one or more security systems 36 and configuration systems 35. Security and configuration management are common information technology (IT) and web functions, and some amount of each are generally associated with any IT or web systems. It should be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that any configuration or security subsystems known in the art now or in the future may be used in conjunction with embodiments of the invention without limitation, unless a specific security 36 or configuration system 35 or approach is specifically required by the description of any specific embodiment.
In various embodiments, functionality for implementing systems or methods of the present invention may be distributed among any number of client and/or server components. For example, various software modules may be implemented for performing various functions in connection with the present invention, and such modules may be variously implemented to run on server and/or client components.
The skilled person will be aware of a range of possible modifications of the various embodiments described above. Accordingly, the present invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62330602 | May 2016 | US | |
| 62310568 | Mar 2016 | US | |
| 61696068 | Aug 2012 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Parent | 15193112 | Jun 2016 | US |
| Child | 16749498 | US | |
| Parent | 15187787 | Jun 2016 | US |
| Child | 15193112 | US | |
| Parent | 15175043 | Jun 2016 | US |
| Child | 15187787 | US | |
| Parent | 15193112 | Jun 2016 | US |
| Child | 15175043 | US | |
| Parent | 15187787 | Jun 2016 | US |
| Child | 15193112 | US | |
| Parent | 14846966 | Sep 2015 | US |
| Child | 15187787 | US | |
| Parent | 14012879 | Aug 2013 | US |
| Child | 14846966 | US |
