Patent Application

App. No. 12/412,328

Abstract

Claims (46)

1 . A method for determining a user request, comprising:

receiving an image at a call center;

generating a mathematical representation associated with the image;

retrieving a previously stored mathematical representation associated with a pre-selected image, wherein the pre-selected image corresponds with an action; and

using the image mathematical representation and the pre-selected image mathematical representation to identify a user request that is associated with the image.

2 . The method as defined in claim 1 wherein prior to receiving the image at the call center, the method further comprises:

selecting the pre-selected image;

associating the pre-selected image with the action; and

storing, at the call center, the pre-selected image and the action in a user profile.

3 . The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising:

including user identification information with the image received by the call center, the user identification information being associated with a vehicle; and

identifying the vehicle corresponding to the image based on the user identification information.

4 . The method as defined in claim 1 wherein after receiving the image, the method further comprises:

requesting, from a sender of the image, user identification information; and

identifying a vehicle corresponding to the image based on the user identification information.

5 . The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the generating of the mathematical representation associated with the pre-selected image is accomplished by:

retrieving an original encoded matrix of the pre-selected image;

generating a vector based on the original encoded matrix of the pre-selected image;

calculating a length of the vector; and

storing the vector and the length of the vector in a user profile at the call center.

6 . The method as defined in claim 5 wherein retrieving the original encoded matrix of the pre-selected image is accomplished using encoding and decoding processes.

7 . The method as defined in claim 5 wherein the generating of the mathematical representation associated with the image is accomplished by:

retrieving an original encoded matrix of the image;

generating a vector based on the original encoded matrix of the image; and

calculating a length of the vector.

8 . The method as defined in claim 7 , further comprising:

calculating a similarity coefficient based on the calculated length of the vector of the image and the pre-selected image;

comparing the similarity coefficient with a predetermined threshold; and

if the similarity coefficient is less than the predetermined threshold, identifying the user request.

9 . The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the user request is selected from an information request, a vehicle service request, and a vehicle diagnostics request.

10 . The method as defined in claim 1 wherein if the pre-selected image is a portion of a vehicle, then the image includes the same portion of the vehicle or the same portion of an other vehicle.

11 . The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the pre-selected image is a portion of a vehicle or an other object.

12 . The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising fulfilling the user request by triggering the action.

13 . A system for determining a user request, comprising:

a call center configured to receive an image; and

a processor operatively associated with the call center, the processor configured to:

generate a mathematical representation associated with the image;

retrieve a previously stored mathematical representation associated with a pre-selected image, wherein the pre-selected image corresponds with an action; and

use the image mathematical representation and the pre-selected image mathematical representation to identify a user request that is associated with the image.

14 . The system as defined in claim 13 , further comprising a telematics unit operatively disposed in a vehicle associated with the received image, the telematics unit configured to fulfill the user request.

15 . The system as defined in claim 13 wherein the image is an mms image including at least one or more features of the pre-selected image.

16 . The system as defined in claim 13 , further comprising a user profile stored at the call center, the user profile including the pre-selected image.

17 . The system as defined in claim 13 wherein the image further includes user identification information, the user identification information authenticating a sender of the image.

18 . The system as defined in claim 13 wherein the pre-selected image is selected from a portion of a vehicle and an other object.

19 . The system as defined in claim 13 wherein the image is selected from a portion of a user vehicle, a portion of an other vehicle, and an other object.

20 . The system as defined in claim 13 , further comprising means for fulfilling the user request by triggering the action.

Assignments (9)