Patent Application
20080291022
The present invention relates generally to information processing systems and more particularly to a methodology and implementation for enabling user selection of an automatic locating system for a mobile social services system.
In the current art, no solution exists to quickly identify the location of known people within a local geographic area. Current systems require a “checking-in” process by which users are required to send messages to a server announcing where they are at any given time. Without the log-on process, that system does not track the user's current location or automatically track the user's location when it changes. For example, in shopping centers or theme parks there is no current automatic system which records current locations of selected individuals and automatically notifies a user when such selected individuals are within a user-selected distance from the user.
Thus, there is a need for an improved methodology and system for enabling improved processing of user and contact location information to facilitate notification to a user when the user is physically nearby pre-selected contacts.
In accordance with the present invention, a social services server system automatically tracks a user's location using a tracking system, for example with a RFID or GPS or similar system, and also acquires locations for users and user-selected contacts and/or groups of contacts. In an exemplary embodiment, a social services server tracks a user's location with a RFID or GPS or similar system and also acquires locations for user-selected contacts which are made available to the system. When a system user is near a user-selected contact or individual belonging to a selected group of contacts that the user wants to meet, a message or other alert, such as an SMS message, is automatically sent to the user's cellular telephone or other communications device, telling the user that the selected contact is nearby. Users are also enabled to designate other time and circumstance conditions under which the user is willing to or desires to be notified of the proximity of the user to other designated contacts or individuals within designated contact groups.
A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment is considered in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
It is noted that circuits, devices and flow charts which are shown in block form in the drawings are generally known to those skilled in the art, and are not specified to any greater extent than that considered necessary as illustrated, for the understanding and appreciation of the underlying concepts of the present invention and in order not to obfuscate or distract from the teachings of the present invention.
The various methods discussed herein may be implemented within any communication device capable of receiving and transmitting signals utilized in computer-based applications over any inter-connection network, including but not limited to the Internet and the World Wide Web. In the present disclosure such devices include, but are not limited to, cellular and other wireless devices and personal communications devices, and laptop and personal computers connected in local area or wide area networks.
The location detection and identification system described herein may be implemented by using any of the following technologies among others: GPS systems; Cellular Telephone Triangulation; any of several radio frequency identification systems; and/or user location detection using an IP network of mobile devices.
In an exemplary implementation, a user's location is automatically determined through any of the above techniques. For example, an RFID tag may be present in a cellular phone, conference ID Badge, theme park wrist band, or other personal item belonging to an individual. The disclosed method enables a transmission for the purpose of identifying a user's location and also a participant's present proximity to the user. Accordingly, RFID transceivers would be positioned throughout the participating environment (convention center, shopping mall, nightclubs, and so forth). The combination of transceiver and tag would allow a participant or user's presence and location to be detected and an alert to be triggered accordingly. Upon collection of a participant's location and verification with the registration system which may be maintained at a social services server for example, a message (including current position and the relative direction from the user to the located participant or contact would then be transmitted to the localized SMS messaging system for further transmission to the user or the person seeking the other participant. Upon receipt, the SMS or similar message (e.g. email) may be used to coordinate a desired meeting.
A significant function of the exemplary embodiment is the automatic or automated registration process of both the user and the other participants. Whether through pervasive RFID transceivers, or the other techniques described above, a participant's identification and location may be ascertained, thus enabling automated registration within a participant location's registry database, as well as verification of a participant's access permission (ensure that only willing contacts are identified and located by a user's contact or guest list.
Operable modes and scalable thresholds are also disclosed herein. With regard to operable modes of operation for social software services, it is noted that in today's art, the function is relatively binary. If a user decides that he wishes to be discoverable by friends, he allows himself to be contacted by them. However, this glosses over a level of nuance inherent in most people's behavior. In the disclosed embodiment, mobile social software services are segmented by groups, and furthermore those groups are either explicitly triggered (through manual entry on a web page or on a mobile device), or implicitly triggered (through reading of calendars, time of day, day of week, actual location, etcetera). For example, a user may have three groups defined in the user's “contact list”. Such groups may include, for example, coworkers; clubbing friends; and—parents and siblings. Consider furthermore that the user may then decide that he is reachable through SMS or analogous messages for meetings by “coworkers” only during the weekday; that he wishes to be reachable by “clubbing friends” at any time or day of the week; and by “parents and siblings” only during preset hours on weekends.
Through selective filtering and/or the geographic or chronological parameters set forth, the user is able to set up the system to provide this functionality. Further, with the present invention, a user may vary the conditions or thresholds under which the user may be contacted. The user is enabled to vary the thresholds for notification according to groups being considered, chronological information, or location information. For example, a user may stipulate that, if in a crowded conference hall, the user only wants to be notified if a targeted party or contact is within the same room. If that same user is on vacation in a distant city however, the user may stipulate by user input to the social services system that the user wants to know if either “clubbing friends” or “parents and siblings” are within forty miles. By the same token, the user may set the user's system so as to be “unreachable” to coworkers while on vacation. Through selective operators and selections made by a user, each of these enhancements can be made using the proposed system. In one example, a user having an RFID tag on their person, is automatically detected by an RFID transceiver located in a store within a shopping mall. The user's location is transmitted to a social services server data base and there is an automatic correlation between the user and any seekers who have expressed an interest in locating this user. Next, there is an automatic geographic correlation between both the user and the seeker and an automatic SMS text message is sent to the seeker about the user, and/or vice-versa.
In one embodiment, SMS text messages will only be sent when all four of the following conditions are true: a user/seeker has a detected contact in the user/seeker's “contacts” listing; the contact has a profile which states that the contact does not mind being located or contacted; the contact has the user/seeker in the contact's directory; and the contact is in the same geographic location as the user/seeker. When this scenario occurs, the system sends an SMS message to the user/seeker about the location of the contact. The system may also opt to send an SMS message to the contact also such that both parties are made aware of the request to meet. Thus, in the above example, both the user/seeker and the contact have stored profiles which limit location detection to a specific users. Further, the ability for a contact or to turn on and off the system such that they cannot be located, and to provide the gradients previously mentioned. Also, the disclosed system provides the ability to correlate located contacts and located users or seekers. The disclosed system also includes the ability to correlate both seeker and contact locations such that the system can identify when both are within the same geographic area. Also included is the notification method by which a seeker, and optionally a contact, is automatically alerted of the other's proximity. This alert may be in the form of an electronic signal such as an audio, visual or device vibration alert, either alone or in addition to an automatically generated text alert such as an SMS message. The following example shows the method that enables the solution. Again, the drawings illustrate a particularly technical design point (RFID), but the principles described can be extrapolated to any of the location determination methods described above (e.g., GPS, network IP address, etcetera).
The process begins with the RFID transceivers initiating a polling mode in which they can identify a user and their location. The participant's identity is then verified and registered with the tracking system. After registration, a check is performed to determine if other user, within the profile constraints (class of user, time, location) trying to locate this participant, or if there is another user in the general area which the identified person is trying to locate. If a desired user's profile matches the filtering constraints, this information is then transmitted to the tracking system's messaging system. This allows for the transmission of an SMS message which allows a meeting coordination.
In
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The location system preference screen includes the names of the user's contacts 403, a selection space 405 or other means to enable a user to indicate which of the contacts the user wishes to seek, the mobile or wireless number 407 of the contacts 403, and a group designation 408, for example “Social Club”, “Golf club” or “Work”, for each of the contacts 403. In another section of the screen 401, a user is enabled to select certain actions that the user wishes to take with regard to the selected individuals when the locating system determines that one of the selected individuals 405 is in the proximity of the user or seeker. In the exemplary selection screen 401, a user may initially select certain individuals with whom the user wishes to meet if it is determined that the selected individuals are in proximity to the user or seeker. Such actions include, for example, to notify the user if the selected individual 405 is within a selected distance from the user 409, or to notify and send a message to the selected individual 411, and/or to give or display the location information of the selected individual 413, and/or to notify the user or seeker if anyone from a selected group is within a selected distance from the user 414. In another section, the user may select certain other conditions with regard to when it is detected by the system that another participant is seeking the user. For example, the user is enabled to indicate that the user wishes to be notified when someone else is seeking the user 415, and/or to automatically send the user's location to anyone seeking the user 417 and/or not to send the user's location to anyone 419. Although not shown in the drawing, designated times of contact may also be input by the user such that the selected notifications will only be provided to the user during the times when it would be convenient as selected by the user. The selections input by the user may be entered and the system turned ON 421 as the user is leaving for a meal in a restaurant. Thereafter, if anyone of the selected individuals 405 is detected as being within the designated distance of the user 411, a message may be sent to the detected individual being sought 411 and the location of the detected individual may be displayed to the user 413 while the user has the system turned ON 421. Optionally, the user may turn the system OFF 423 and not actively participate in the locating system until the user again activates the locating system through the user's communication device 101, 103.
An exemplary operation of the system is shown in flow chart form beginning with
As shown in
The method and apparatus of the present invention has been described in connection with a preferred embodiment as disclosed herein. The disclosed methodology may be implemented in a wide range of sequences, menus and screen designs to accomplish the desired results as herein illustrated. Although an embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described in detail herein, along with certain variants thereof, many other varied embodiments that incorporate the teachings of the invention may be easily constructed by those skilled in the art, and even included or integrated into a processor or CPU or other larger system integrated circuit or chip. The disclosed methodology may also be implemented solely or partially in program code stored in any media, including portable or fixed, volatile or non-volatile memory media device, including CDs, RAM and “Flash” memory, or other semiconductor, optical or magnetic memory storage media from which it may be loaded and/or transmitted into other media and executed to achieve the beneficial results as described herein. Accordingly, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, as can be reasonably included within the spirit and scope of the invention.
