Patenting the AI pipeline: intellectual property for AI before standardisation
Patenting the AI pipeline: intellectual property for AI before standardisation
[PhilNote: this is an excellent overview of current patent considerations related to AI.]
It seems likely that AI will evolve from a profusion of specific, single-purpose tools into a handful of general-purpose platforms and systems that serve as the bedrock for later development. Given such evolution, it is worth discussing the many different aspects of AI that may provide patentable value all along the AI pipeline. As a starting point, it is useful to examine the industry’s moves towards standardisation and SEPs.
Standardisation
While it remains an open issue, the calls for AI standardisation are both national and international in scope:
- China – the China Electronics Standardisation Institute issued the Artificial Intelligence Standardisation White Paper in 2018, with input from more than two dozen corporations and research entities.
- United States – the National Institute of Standards and Technology has been tasked with developing a plan for US engagement in the development of technical standards and related tools in support of reliable, robust and trustworthy systems that use AI technologies (Executive Order 13859, 2019).
- Germany – the Institute for Standards launched the German Standardisation Roadmap on Artificial Intelligence in November 2020.
- European Union – in 2021, CEN-CENELEC (the European standards associations) established a joint technical committee to develop and support AI standardisation in the European Union.
....
In general, AI-based inventions can be split into three basic categories, each of which has a place in a well-thought-out patenting strategy:
- applications of AI to specific use cases and systems;
- improvements in fundamental AI technologies; and
- AI-supportive technologies, including technologies for managing and storing the data that powers AI systems.
...
AI and patentable subject matter: considerations in some key jurisdictions
At a high level, many jurisdictions require that the subject matter of a patent demonstrate a ‘technical effect’ or a ‘practical application’:
- The European Patent Convention (EPC) prohibits patents that claim a computer program ‘as such’, unless the claimed invention “causes a further technical effect beyond those effects which occur inevitably when any program is run” (the EPC, Article 52).
- In the United States, claims that are directed to a ‘judicial exception’ without ‘significantly more’, are considered patent-ineligible. However, recent guidance from the USPTO suggests that, if a judicial exception is integrated into a practical application, the claim is patent-eligible.
- In China, under guidance released in 2017, a ‘computer program-related invention’ with ‘technical characteristics’ may be eligible for patent protection.
See the full story here: https://www.iam-media.com/patenting-the-ai-pipeline-intellectual-property-ai-standardisation
Figure 1. US patents granted each year with AI terms in the description.
This AI Predicts How Old Children Are. Can It Keep Them Safe?
Now London-based digital identity company Yotibelieves its AI-powered age estimation can predict how old someone is if they’re aged anywhere from 6 to 60. For the first time, it claims, it can accurately determine whether children are under or over 13, the minimum age many social media firms require their users to be. ...
Yoti says its age estimation technology, which it has developed over the past three years, has a margin of error of 2.79 years across its total 45-year age range. For under 25s the margin of error drops below 1.5 years.
...The company itself is unsure what facial features its AI uses to determine people’s age. “We have to be honest,” Tombs says, “we don't really know whether it's to do with wrinkles or saggy eyes or quite what. It has just done so many that it is now very good at it.” ...
See the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/ai-predicts-how-old-children-are/
Edward Saatchi Founder of Fable Studio on Creating Virtual Beings – Voicebot Podcast Ep 231
Edward Saatchi is the founder of Fable Studio which is bringing AR and VR characters to life for the metaverse. Fable is creating both characters and a world where you can interact with them, but more interestingly, where these virtual beings can learn and evolve.
Listen to the 1 hour podcast here: https://voicebot.ai/2021/10/20/edward-saatchi-founder-of-fable-studio-on-creating-virtual-beings-voicebot-podcast-ep-231/
AI, Race, And Architecting More Inclusive Social Spaces
AI-driven architecture for social spaces presents us with new opportunities as well as challenges. In his work, Babar Kasam Cazir explores the implications of how artificial intelligence could change socioeconomic dynamics - specifically in event spaces - through its ability to analyze patterns at scale.
Cazir is a prominent Moorish American architect who has spent many years working in and around the entertainment and hospitality industry as the founder of AV hospitality, a casting associate at Sony Pictures, a brand ambassador at Armand de Brignac, and an event organizer.
...Rather than hope that our events create mutually beneficial connections and business relationships, AI technology is deployed by many event managers to strategically match attendees based on similar interests, experiences, age, or professional goals. Since Networking is one of the main reasons people attend events, AI indeed makes events more useful, as Cazir pointed out.
...AI’s deep learning capability also has immense potential to increase the inclusiveness of events and social gatherings. As increased calls emerge for AI professionals to eliminate the biases often found in AI, it becomes necessary that with respect to event management apps and programs, AI designers should train AI to focus more on vital data like professional interests and achievements, aspirations, and experience rather than race or sex. The approach towards training AI for these purposes should be intentional in trying to create a balanced representation.
See the full story here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/anniebrown/2021/10/21/ai-race-and-architecting-more-inclusive-social-spaces/?sh=6c2b2ee51c89
Reporter’s notebook: Experiencing Auschwitz in virtual reality
To keep her story alive, Ms. Fritzshall and the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center created a virtual reality experience that will bring viewers back with her as she walks the grounds of the concentration camp and recounts her life as a teenager.
...Ms. Fritzshall describes her aunt, who used to hold her at night and tell her that everything would be better the next day: “Let’s just live until the morning.” She shares her memories of the talk of cooking and family recipes as the women huddled hungry in their bunks. We hear about hundreds of women at the labor camp who lined up to give Ms. Fritzshall crumbs from their bread — hoping to help the young girl survive.
...The museum, which brought the experiences to Pittsburgh this week during the summit, is set to debut the VR exhibit in January.
...In the cargo car, for example, viewers could feel the claustrophobia as people filled every inch of space. In the labor factory, the presence of the other women coming closer to share a crumb of their bread was vivid.
Mr. Oleksiuk acknowledged that the experience is emotional, describing it as education rather than entertainment.
See the full story here: https://www.post-gazette.com/business/tech-news/2021/10/21/Illinois-Holocaust-Museum-and-Education-Center-Fritzie-Fritzshall-virtual-reality-Eradicate-Hate-Global-Summit/stories/202110200161
USC Students Compete in Second ETC Metaverse Challenge
By Phil Lelyveld
October 19, 2021
University of Southern California students were invited to participate in the second of two scheduled Metaverse Experience Challenges, hosted by ETC@USC. Making use of current and emerging tools, students were tasked with developing original ideas for compelling metaverse experiences. Ten teams started work at 1:00 pm on Friday, October 8 and presented their ideas to judges from Epic Games, Universal Pictures, Disney Studios, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud at 3:00 pm on Saturday, October 9. Each member of the winning teams — MetaversEdu and MetaMall — received a Nintendo Switch “Fortnite” Edition, courtesy of Epic Games.
The ETC@USC Metaverse Experience Challenge was organized by ETC’s Phil Lelyveld and Danny Bilson, chair of the Interactive Media and Games Division, USC School of Cinematic Arts. The goal was to see what interesting, engaging and repeatable physical and storytelling ideas this next generation of creators could imagine building in the near term using existing and rapidly emerging technologies and techniques.
Students were instructed to think broadly and consider mixed reality, “Fortnite,” NFTs, linear storytelling, game engine capabilities, social media and anything else that came to mind. The instructions stressed that there were no boundaries and that tangential thinking was encouraged.
Teams were given a template to follow. They were told to prepare a deck and a 3-minute presentation that addresses the concept and its key features, why it will engage the user, what differentiates it, what current technology and resources it leverages, and why people will love it.
Judges were looking for ideas or elements that were original, repeatable or repurposable, and would engage today’s users.
The judges were Miles Perkins, industry manager, film & television at Epic Games; Evan Goldberg, manager of technology innovation research at The Walt Disney Studios; Buzz Hays, global lead entertainment industry at Google Cloud; Hanno Basse, CTO of Microsoft Azure’s Media and Entertainment business; and Greg Reed, VP of technology partnerships at Universal Pictures.
The following are brief summaries of the ten ideas:
Choose OUR Own Adventure — Platform for alternative reality gaming (ARG) that welcomes players with no Alt Reality experience. Players learn new technologies and go outside their comfort zones while still feeling safe. There is both cooperation and competition among players, providing a good framework for emergent storytelling. Most importantly, players are given tools and materials to create their own technology for shaping and advancing the experience.
Freeflow — Interactive VR world in which users have control over five senses and four dimensions. Users can visit and modify simulations of any place in the real world. Freeflow uses EMG electrodes to track where the user is walking, haptic tactile rendering to simulate touch and texture, and smell synthesis for a fuller environmental experience. It is intended to augment the experiences in people’s lives.
The Future of Franchise Management — Game in which every object is an NFT that unlocks new quests, in-game content, and AR content. The NFTs can be unlocked either by completing tasks or through a purchase. The NFTs are something that you can show off to others.
Haptics Based Tonal Delivery (honorable mention) — Players are “manifesting their role-playing personas in speech.” Players would be able to influence expressiveness and forcefulness, speed of speech, pitch and tone inflection, and strategy vocal delivery. The proposal differentiators are the use of formal elements such as dialogue wheels, controller triggers, and delivery gauges mapped to the player’s emotional state. Players will embrace the opportunity to roleplay ‘how’ they say things, not merely ‘what’ they say.
MetaMall (winner) — Integrates existing online shopping, streaming platforms, and food delivery services into a global virtual mall experience. People can shop, be entertained, and eat with anyone anywhere in the world. The technology needed for this already exists. It just needs to be integrated as an independent or corporate-sponsored experience.
MetaversEDU (winner) — Helping students and the world learn better by making labs, home school programs, online learning, and museum experiences more engaging through physical hands-on and interactive VR. There will be pre-made units as well as a sandbox for creating personalized resources and for student collaboration.
MovieScape — Immersive cinematic experience where you, the user, have agency. You can actively follow the plot, observe extra details, or explore the world as a bystander in the plot.
PatPet — Digital pet driven by and personalized by artificial intelligence. It has both a virtual pet and a robotic pet form factor that are synched together for one uniform and evolving relationship. The pet’s form can be customized to please the owner.
Project Blossom — Fully customizable VR game in which you watch a world blossom in your own hands. Players can design their own world by designing the world’s physics, ecosystem, geography and culture, and participate in other players’ worlds.
Vanguard — Game where the world changes through the players’ actions using AR, computer vision, projection mapping, and inflatable robotic peripherals. Guests choose their avatars and quest lines. The endgame is either defending or breaching a fortress.
The presentation videos for these projects, including the Q&A, will be posted on ETCenter.org later this week, along with the presentation videos from the October 1-2 Metaverse Experience Challenge (which we reported on last week).
See the original post here: https://www.etcentric.org/usc-students-compete-in-second-etc-metaverse-challenge/
Epic says it’s ‘open’ to blockchain games after Steam bans them
Epic tells The Verge that it’s “open to games that support cryptocurrency or blockchain-based assets” on its game store, unlike its competitor Valve which has banned games that feature blockchain technology or NFTs from Steam. When we asked about allowing games that featured NFTs, Epic told us there’d be some limitations, but that it’s willing to work with “early developers” in the “new field.”
Epic says that the games would have to comply with financial laws, make it clear how the blockchain is used, and have appropriate age ratings. It also says that developers won’t be able to use Epic’s payment service to accept crypto; they would have to use their own payment systems instead.
Currently, Epic’s self-publishing program is in closed beta, and Epic’s FAQ says it chooses who can join on a “case-by-case basis.”
See the full story here: https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/15/22729050/epic-game-store-open-to-blockchain-cryptocurrency-nft-games
SenseGlove begins worldwide shipping of its ‘Nova’ Haptic force-feedback gloves for professional VR/AR training and research
SenseGlove, a developer of force and haptic feedback gloves, has today announced that it has begun worldwide shipping of SenseGlove Nova, a new version of haptic force-feedback gloves designed specifically for professional VR training and research purposes.
Initially debuted as a prototype at CES 2021, SenseGlove Nova features an updated flexible form-factor in combination with haptic technologies and smooth hand tracking that enables users to feel shapes, textures, stiffness, impacts and resistance in virtual reality.
SenseGlove Nova features and specifications, include:
- Improved materials for durability and comfort. Nova consists of two main parts: the soft gloves created with a smart textile material that contains antibacterial fabric, and an electronic part attached to the soft gloves that is produced via injection molding;
- Available in three different sizes, the soft gloves can be detached from the electronics and washed as needed;
- A Getting Started Guide;
- Glove charger;
- Tracker mounts and tools to attach them (for hand detection). For Oculus Quest and HTC Vive headsets, users need to install their controllers/trackers on top of the gloves by using the mounts that come with the Nova gloves
SenseGlove Nova will retail for USD $5,000 for a set of two gloves. Bulk orders of 10 or more Nova gloves are available at a discounted rate of USD $3,500 per set of gloves. The gloves are now available for purchase on the company’s website.
