Google Patents ‘Sticky’ Cars to Save Pedestrians hit by Driverless Vehicles

Google’s Driverless Cars – Safer than Humans

Google has stated that its driverless cars would be several times safer than humans vividly reducing the millions of road accidents which are seen every year. However, it does not mean that they will not hit someone and many times accidents could be inevitable. Google has patented a design for sticky layer on the front of a car which would tend to defend pedestrians when they get hit by a vehicle. Google’s self-driving vehicles would soon be catching pedestrians like flies which as per the patent granted recently tends to act like flypaper and instead of bodies bouncing off a car and resulting in further injury when hit; they would stay stuck to the vehicle till it slows down and stops.

These vehicles are fitted with sensors, clever lane mapping and networking in order that the vehicles can stay away from obstacles much better than human and also park accurately. The patent reads that `in case of an accident between the vehicle and the pedestrian, injury to the pedestrian takes place not only due to the impact of the vehicle as well as the pedestrian but also by the secondary impact between the pedestrian and the road surface or any other object. The adhesive bonds the pedestrian to the vehicle in order that the pedestrian remains with the vehicle till it stops and is not thrown from the vehicle’.

Work as Human Flypaper

The technology which has been awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office – USPTO tends to work as human flypaper wherein the front bumper, hood and the side panels of the car would be enclosed with the sticky coating. Whenever a pedestrian is hit, the protective layer would break apart and trap the pedestrian and save the person from be sent skywards which could cause injuries.

It is said that the adhesive layer would cover the complete front area of the car, though would itself be underneath a special coating only activated in case of a collision, preventing bugs, leaves and other deposits from getting stuck to the car.Google’s fleet of 57 self-driving cars had covered over 1.5 million autonomous miles and had been involved in many collisions, most of which have been other drivers rear-ending the vehicles.

Bryant Walker Smith, self-driving car expert and Affiliate Scholar with Stanford Law School’s Centre for Internet and Society informed The Mercury News that there is another issue utilising sticky cars – What if the person tends to obscures the view of the driver thereby resulting in them crashing into another surface or vehicle?

Company Has Targeted 2020 for Public

However, Smith admired Google for its solution. He said that the idea that cars need to be safe for people other than the ones in them is the next generation of automotive safety and I applaud anyone for thinking as they should about people outside the vehicle. As a target date for being made available, the company has targeted 2020 for the public though they still tend to have many technical as well as legal challenges to overcome. Apple, Tesla, Uber together with other has been involved in driverless car research with many trials underway in the UK. Members of the public now can sign up to the first trials to be in London.

Google Patents Computer That can be Injected Directly into the Eyeball

Google’s Patent – Device injected in Eye to Improve Sight

Google has been working on a computer which can be injected into the eyeballs of individuals. A new patent filing indicates plan for a device which can be stuck into the eyes of people to improve the sight but also tends to provide extra powers. Though the technology in the patent may not actually be released, it is another example of Google’s obvious interest in getting computers onto and in the eyes of individuals.

The injectable machine is said to be just behind the visible area of the eye, focusing light so that it can rectify poor vision. As described in the patent dated April 28, 2016, the device is said to be injected in fluid which then tends to get solidified to couple the device with the eye’s lens capsule, which is the transparent membrane surround the lens. Injection tends to take place, `following the removal of the natural lens from the lens capsule’.The injected device in the eye contains various tiny components such as storage, sensors, radio, battery as well as an electronic lens. The eyeball device tends to get power wirelessly from an energy harvesting antenna.

Placing Technology onto Eyeball Instead of External Visual Aid

The antenna would enable it to get connected to other device outside the eye which would help in processing the information. The patent defines what appears like an external device to interface with eyeball computer and the two tend to communicate through a radio. The interface device has the process to do the needful computing. As per the patent, the electronic lens would be assisting in the process of focusing light onto the retina of the eye.

This is not the first time that Google has worked on technology where one could stick it right in the eyeball. Earlier, Google had made attempts in creating an eye-linked computer with Google Glass spectacles, though that idea faced problems and is now being re-launched as a product precisely for the workplace. Since then, patents seemed to show that Google is making attempts in placing technology onto the eyeball instead of just an external visual aid. It had filed another patent for smart contact lenses in 2014, which could display information as well as monitor their wearer’s glucose levels.

It had begun talking about the Google Contact Lens which measured glucose levels in tears to help individuals with diabetes. The glucose measuring contact lenses have now been a part of Verily which is the division under the new Alphabet organisation dedicated in life sciences and most probably this type of eyeball device is being worked on by Verily. Andrew Jason Conrad has been listed as the inventor and is the head of Verily. He was connected with Google Contact Lens project.

An article last month in Stat News had described adeparture in talent from Verily due to difficulties working with Conrad. Earlier to Google, he had been the co-founder as well as the Chief Scientific Officer of Laboratory Corporation of America. He also had a PhD in cell biology from the University of California in Los Angeles. The work on the technology in that patent seems to be in progress and the company has been collaborating with a healthcare company in developing similar technology. However, several technology patents do not really make it to the market and hence the injectable computer could not actually be in the eyes of the people in the future.

Google Wants to Suck the Blood from Your Body

Google’s Patent for Needle-Free Blood Draw System

Google has filed a patent for a `needle-free blood draw’ system which could act as a wearable or a hand held device in order to draw a small amount of blood from the body. Unlike the traditional needle to draw blood, the proposed method is gas-based which tends to suck the blood in a very small barrel.

It tends to work by sending a surge of gas in a barrel containing micro particles which pierces the skin and when the blood is released from the skin, it sucks up into the negative pressure barrel. The patent which seems to be still pending indicates that the device could be utilised for testing blood sugar levels and also to take blood automatically or manually.

An example presented by Google portrayed a small cylindrical device being utilised on a person’s fingertips or as a wrist worn device, recommends a future version of Android Wear which could have enhanced biometric potentials. Google states that when the skin tends to be broken `a resulting micro-emergence of blood could be drawn into the negative pressure barrel’.

Aid Diabetics in Monitoring Blood Sugar Levels

Specific medical application for the needle free process that could be used has not been included by the company, though it could be the latest of the company’s work to aid diabetics in monitoring their blood sugar levels. The patents states that `such an application might be used to draw a small amount of blood, for example, for a glucose test’.

Patents, generally do not lead to direct development of commercial products and hence it is not known if the same would reach the market in the future. The team working at the Google’s Life Sciences, as part of the recently created parent company, Alphabet had already developed various items designed in helping diabetics.

 The lab had unveiled smart contact lenses which included circuitry to monitor glucose levels in 2014. Moreover, according to the report of Verge, it has also developed bandage sized glucose monitors that could detect sugar levels which could be disposable. Other diabetes work outside Google has seen bionic pancreas developed which could stop those with the disease and have the insulin levels monitored at all together with holographic sensors which can measure the relevant data.

Health Data – Next Big Arena

The World Health Organisation had estimated that 9% of adults above 18 years tend to live with diabetes with a total of 1.5 million deaths due to chronic disease in 2015. Google is not the only tech giant making attempts in the healthcare market.

 There are other companies who are also interested in identifying more elegant solutions to living with the condition. A company by the name of Tasso, supported by Darpa, had already developed an almost painless blood withdrawal method which does not utilise needles. Similar to the design of Google, the device of Tasso draws blood on using a vacuum.

Health data seems to be the next big arena among the tech companies with the new generation of wearable gadget enabling users in measuring heart rates, exercise activities and sleep patterns. Google seems to hold patents on various different ideas and not all would make it to the production. But the needle free blood draw device could be a big success taking into account that lots of people are very uneasy with the sight of injection being inserted into their skin.

Google Patent Application is about Head Display with Holograms

Google’s Patent Application for Holograms

Google has filed a patent application regarding holograms and the heading in the application states `Lightguide with several in-coupling holograms for display inhead wearable’. The two inventors named are Evan Richards and John Perreault and the application had been first filed in March 2014. Observer state that this could be linked to hardware platform for Magic Leap’s augmented reality content.

 Josh Constine in TechCrunch commented that `the patent contextualizes Google Inc.chief $542 million funding round for improved reality start-up Magic Leap. In TechCrunch, Constine seems to be asking Google - `when asked about the patent and its significance, he received from Google, a boilerplate no-comment response:

We hold patents on a variety of ideas, some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, and some do not. Prospective product announcement should not necessarily be inferred from our patents’. Jon Mundy had stated in TrustedReviews that the technology discussed in the patent application would overlay computer-generated imagery over the real world, not entirely unlike to Microsoft’s HoloLens.

The patent application reads – Single eye displays are referred as monocular HMDs while double eye displays are considered as binocular HMDs. Some HMDs display only CGI -computer generated image and other types of HMDs are capable of covering CGI overreal world view.

Patent Describes Technology – Several CGI Holograms

The later type of HMD includes come kind of see-through eyepiece and could serve as hardware platform in comprehending augmented reality. With this the viewer’s image of the world is amplified with an overlapping CGI as well as referred to as heads-up display –HUD.

The patent tends to describe technology which would enable several CGI holograms to appear in real world while the user seems to be wearing a see-through smart eyepiece. It would focus on the problem of mapping real world light sources on AR digital substances.

It means holograms, an extremely complicated issue and one which oculus Rift CEO Brendan Iribe stated as a purpose in pursuing VR over AR. The only reference of the field of view is in the list of encounters for headgear though it is expected that Google would be looking into developments on Microsoft’s hard work.

With regards to the uses of AR, Google’s patent states that the `public safety applications comprise of tactical displays of maps and thermal imaging. Other application field consist of transportation, video games,and telecommunications.

Magic Leap – Content Provider for Google Glass

There are sure to be new found applied and leisure applications as the technology evolves, but several of these applications tend to be limited due to the cost, weight, size, field of view and the efficiency of conventional optical system utilised in implementing prevailing HMDsMagic Leap had been very discreet with regards to what hardware its amplified reality software would essentially run on.

Mikhail Avady, StartUp Legal’s founder who had monitored Magic Leap’s latest AR content trademark application, had informed TechCrunch that `they believe Google wants Magic Leap to be the content provider for Google Glass and if they look at the trademark application it shows story and content based trademarks.

 Magic Leap wants to turn the world into a movie theatre and Google want it to be through Glass’.Presently it seems to be all assumption though it could be based on research, patents and investments and hence could be the safest form on which to place your dreams and hopes for the impending of improved reality

Terrain-based virtual camera tilting, and applications thereof

Terrain-Based Virtual Camera Tilting & Applications

Google has recently been awarded U.S. Patent for Terrain based virtual camera tilting and application. Systems prevailing in navigating via a three dimensional environment tends to display three dimensional data which comprises of a virtual camera defining what kind of three dimension data to display.

The virtual camera has a viewpoint based on its orientation as well as position and by changing the viewpoint of the virtual camera one can navigate through the three dimensional setting. Environmental information system could be one form of system which utilises a virtual camera in navigating through a three dimensional setting. It is a system for the purpose of storing, recovering and manipulating and display spherical three dimensional model of the Earth.

The three dimensional model could comprises of a satellite descriptions surface which could be mapped to terrain like canyons, valleys and mountains. In the terrestrial information system, the virtual camera tends to view the spherical three dimensional of the Earth’s model from various perspectives and the internal viewpoint of the model of the Earth tends to portray the satellite images though the terrain could be difficult to view. While on the other hand, ground level viewpoint of the model may portray the terrain in detail.

Method of Swooping Between Perspectives

To changeover from aerial viewpoint to a ground level perspective, U.S. Patent Application by Varadhan et all explains a method of example of swooping between perspectives, describing reduction of distance between the virtual camera as well as the target in determining a tilt value based on the condensed distance.

The virtual camera is then positioned as per the tilt value as well as the condensed distance. A method is available for swoop navigation and in cases where the terrain seems to be flat; a viewpoint which is parallel for ground could not be much interesting to a user than in instances where the terrain differs in altitude. On applying single swoop trajectory to a complete three dimensional environment which could comprise the flat as well as the rugged terrain, could lead to incidents where the swoop trajectory would not provide an optimal user experience.

Embodiment to Change Swoop Trajectory

To manage with the variation in terrain, embodiments tend to change the swoop trajectory based on the terrain inside the view of the virtual camera. A virtual camera could be positioned at an angle comparative to the upward normal vector from the target, to swoop into a target, the angle of which may be stated as a tilt angle.
As per the embodiments, the tilt angle could rise more quickly in areas of high terrain variance for instance, mountains or cities with high buildings, than in areas with less variance in terrain such as flat plains. In order to determine the level of terrain variance in an area, embodiments could weight terrain data with higher detail more deeply than terrain data with less detail.

Moreover, the tilt angle could also be varied depending on the amount of terrain variance even if the camera is otherwise static and/or the tilt angle may be varied at the time of another manoeuver rather than a swoop.

Limited Access State for Inadvertent Inputs

Google Inc. – Patent Application – Limited Access State for Inadvertent Inputs

It has been reported by a New Reporter-Staff News Editor at Politics & Government Week, from Washington D.C. VerticalNews journalist report that a patent application filed on October 28 2013, by inventor Mittal, Sanjev Kumar from Bangalore had been made available online on February 12, 2015 and the patent assignee is said to be Google Inc.

The news editor gained the quote from the background information provided by the inventors – Computing devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers etc. can generally perform various functions like executing applications stored thereon and outputting information like documents, emails, pictures etc.; for display. Some of the computing devices could include limited access state which could prevent an unauthorized user from accessing and viewing applications as well as information that could be stored at the computing device resulting in effectively locking the computing device.

These computing devices helps the user to provide a specific input for instance the passcode, pattern or biometric information in order to unlock the computing device to gain access to the information or application which could be stored in the device. The locking techniques does provide some kind of security ensuring that only users knowing the specific input needed to unlock the computing device could access the application and information that is stored in the computing device.

Computing Devices Constructed to Execute Action 

Some of the computing devices are constructed to execute an action in response to receiving greater than a threshold number of ineffective unlock efforts, for instance, the computing device could prevent extra unlocking efforts for a predetermined amount of time.

In such instances, the device could delete some or even all information that may be stored in the computing device in response to the attempts made of unsuccessful unlock which could be greater than a threshold number and in some other instances, information could be unintentionally deleted from the device.

As an enhancement to the background information to the patent application, VerticalNews correspondents also gained the summary information of the inventor for the patent application and in one instance; the disclosure was directed to a system which included receiving by a computing device functioning in a first limited access state which was an indication of a first input.

Procedure Focussed on Managing Access State

Procedures of this disclosure are focussed on managing access states of computing device and in some applications, it could operate in a first limited access state for instance a first locked state.

At the time of operating in the first limited access state, the computing device could be arranged to compare received user input to certain input which may be needed for transition of the computing device in operating in an access state – an unlocked state.

Receptive to receiving input from user which does not tend to correspond to the certain user input needed to unlock the computing device, it may switch from operating in the first limited access state to a second limited access state.

For instance, in response to defining that the received user input could most likely not be an attempt to unlock the computing device from first limited access state, the device could be constituted to switch to operating in the second limited access state.