This week in patents: Google pop-up books and flexible phones

This week, the US patent office issued 6,752 patents. Each patent adds a little something new to the human knowledge base. As we cannot list all six thousand, the PatentYogi team has selected the six most interesting patents.

Google pop-up books 

Patent Number – US 20160063875

Google filed multiple patent applications for media enhanced pop-up books this week.

A storytelling electronic device is attached to physical pop-up books, detects a pop-up page and presents media content associated with the detected pop-up page. From an owl hoot or an ocean wave.

Ironman’s Jarvis

Patent Number – US 20160063874

Microsoft is working on an emotionally intelligent digital personal assistant. The system determines the emotional state of a user based on certain parameters then based on the perceived state, the system provides the user with feedback concerning an item of content generated by the user or an activity to be conducted by the user.

For example, if a user is spending a relatively long time in a social media app, this may indicate that the user is bored. On the other hand, if the user is spending a relatively long time in an email application, this may indicate that the user is extremely focused.  Similarly, various parameters are monitored to determine emotional state of the user.

It can similarly respond to written messages including seemingly angry texts to your boss… possibly saving your sanity and your job.

Bend it like Beckham

Patent Number – US 9,274,562

Samsung has a huge lead against Apple when it comes to flexible phones.  But Apple seems to be catching up. This week they were granted a patent for a flexible phone.

The patented flexible phone from Apple includes flexible display, housing and internal components.

Ford’s mobile movie theaters

Patent Number – US 9,272,708

When self-driving cars make it to the market, the passengers in the cars will need more entertainment while driving in their cars, as they will no longer be engaged in driving.

Ford has patented an autonomous vehicle entertainment system that caters to this demand.  The entertainment system provides content such as movies, television shows, games, music and videos. Accordingly, the car has a retractable projection screen, which rolls out in front of the windshield. 

Let Disney scare the crap out of you

Patent Number – US 9,272,224

Disney plans to scare you more on roller coasters by using cantilevered seats.

The patented rides are adapted to provide passengers unobstructed lines of sight in turns and increased turn velocities. The ride includes a track and a ride vehicle with a cantilever support arm, extending from the vehicle base connected to the track. The passenger seat is mounted to the cantilever.

When the ride is operated to cause the ride vehicle to move along the track, the cantilevered arm will negotiate curves in the track with the same angular speed as the vehicle base. As a result, the passenger seat will experience amplified lateral motion and speed as compared to a conventional ride vehicle with the passenger compartment on the wheeled base.

Shape shifting aircraft

Patent Number – US 9,272,783

Star Technology and Research patents a shape changing solar aircraft.

The wing of this aircraft includes an adjustable surface area including solar cells configured to collect incident solar energy and convert the collected incident solar energy to electrical energy for powering the aircraft during daylight flight.  The wing is extended away from the central spar to expose the solar cells to incident solar energy. The shape of the wing is morphed to optimize the incident solar energy.

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