Granted Patent B2

US 12,236,486 · App. 15/971,550 · Granted Feb 25, 2025

Inventors: Biju Nair (Long Grove, IL); Rajiv K. Dwivedi (Bartlett, IL); Sanida D. Bratt (Chicago, IL); Joseph Settimi (Evanston, IL)

Assignee: Assurant, Inc.

G06Q40/08

Abstract

Claims (56)

1. A method of automatic consumer electronics device protection, the method comprising:

configuring, via at least one processor, a first software application operating on a consumer electronics device to gather first data from the consumer electronics device, the first data comprising sensor data generated via at least two sensors of the consumer electronics device, the at least two sensors comprising a tri-axial accelerometer and a gyroscope;

electronically interacting, via the at least one processor, with the first software application operating on the consumer electronics device to gather the first data from the consumer electronics device;

receiving, via the at least one processor, the first data from the first software application;

processing, via the at least one processor, at least a first portion of the sensor data indicative of an acceleration of the consumer electronics device to determine that the acceleration of the consumer electronics device indicates a drop;

processing, via the at least one processor, at least the first portion of the sensor data to determine a geometric mean of rotation based at least in part on the first portion of the sensor data;

determining, via the at least one processor, that the geometric mean of rotation satisfies an impact threshold value;

in response to determining that the geometric mean of rotation satisfies the impact threshold value:

(i.) saving first information associated with the drop; and

(ii.) initiating a display of a first notification on a display device of the consumer electronics device, wherein the first notification includes a warning indicating information associated with the drop of the consumer electronics device;

determining, via the at least one processor, that a timeframe from a last backup of the consumer electronics device exceeds a time threshold value; and

causing automatic initiation, via the at least one processor, of a new backup of the consumer electronics device in response to a determination that the timeframe from the last backup of the consumer electronics device exceeded the time threshold value.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

electronically interacting, via the at least one processor, with the first software application to gather second data from the tri-axial accelerometer of the consumer electronics device; and

parsing, via the at least one processor, the second data to determine whether the second data exceeds a first threshold and subsequently falls below a second threshold within a first time period and, responsive thereto, (1) saving second information indicating that the consumer electronics device has experienced a drop event and (2) initiating a display of a second notification on the display device,

wherein the second information indicates that the drop event corresponds to the consumer electronics device having been dropped.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

determining, via the at least one processor, that the second data indicates a drop event when the second data falls below a third threshold that is lower than the second threshold or when the second data increases before exceeding the first threshold,

wherein the second information indicates that the drop event corresponds to the consumer electronics device having been thrown.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving, via the at least one processor, third data from a second sensor of the consumer electronics device;

determining, via the at least one processor, whether the third data exceeds a third threshold; and

in response to the third data exceeding the third threshold, saving third information indicating that the consumer electronics device impacted a hard surface after being dropped.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the second sensor is the gyroscope.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

electronically interacting, via the at least one processor, with the first software application to gather second data from a touchscreen of the consumer electronics device, wherein the warning is based at least in part on the second data.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

monitoring, via the first software application, at least one other software application executed via the consumer electronics device to detect at least second data comprising Internet browsing activity, email activity, or user interaction associated with the consumer electronics device via the at least one other software application executed via the consumer electronics device, wherein the warning is based at least in part on the second data.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

electronically interacting, via the at least one processor, with the first software application to gather second data from the consumer electronics device, wherein the second data indicates a lack of interaction by the user with a second software application associated with the consumer electronics device; and

parsing, via the at least one processor, the second data to determine whether the second data indicates or is associated with a risk and, responsive thereto, (1) saving second information indicating that the consumer electronics device has been exposed to the risk and (2) initiating a display of a second notification on the display device.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

executing, via the consumer electronics device, at least a second application simultaneously with the first software application operating on the consumer electronics device,

wherein the first software application continually gathers the first data in the background during operation of the second application.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing at least the first portion of the sensor data indicative of the acceleration of the consumer electronics device to determine that the acceleration of the consumer electronics device indicates the drop comprises:

processing the first portion of the sensor data to detect that that the first portion of the sensor data, within a first time period:

initially falls below a lower threshold value, subsequently exceeds an upper threshold value without exceeding an intermediate threshold value below the upper threshold value, and subsequently falls below the lower threshold value.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

processing a second portion of the sensor data to detect that the second portion of the sensor data initially falls below a threshold value, and subsequently exceeds the intermediate threshold value that is below the upper threshold value; and

in response to detecting that the second portion of the sensor data initially falls below the threshold value and subsequent exceeds the intermediate threshold value, ignoring the second portion of the sensor data as harmless.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

automatically setting the first time period based at least in part on a device type associated with the consumer electronics device.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

automatically detecting, via the first software application operating on the consumer electronics device, a device type associated with the consumer electronics device; and

automatically setting the intermediate threshold value based at least in part on the device type associated with the consumer electronics device.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

automatically detecting, via the first software application operating on the consumer electronics device, device information associated with the consumer electronics device, the device information comprising a make and/or a model of the consumer electronics device; and

automatically setting the impact threshold value based at least in part on the device information associated with the consumer electronics device.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

processing, via the at least one processor, at least the first portion of the sensor data to determine an orientation based at least in part on the first portion of the sensor data; and

determining, via the at least one processor, that the orientation satisfies the impact threshold value,

wherein the first information is saved and the first notification is displayed in response to determining that the orientation satisfies the impact threshold value.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing data indicative of the drop as a trauma event associated with a risk profile corresponding to the consumer electronics device,

wherein the warning indicates information configured to proactively prevent a future drop based at least in part on the risk profile.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the geometric mean of rotation is a speed of rotation.

Assignments (4)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (71)