Content geofencing

• US 10,142,774 B2
• Filed: 07/03/2017
• Issued: 11/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/20/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Alsina, Thomas, Wilson, David T., Sun, Kenley, Joshi, Sagar
• Primary Examiner(s): Mizrahi, Diane
• Application Number:
  US15/640,697
• Publication Number:
  US 20170303083A1
• Time in Patent Office: 512 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for invitational content geofencing. A system first sends, to a server location data associated with the system, the location data being calculated at the system. The system then receives a listing of places of interest within a geofence including a geographical perimeter for identifying places of interest in the listing, the geofence being based on the location data associated with the system. Next, the system selects a place of interest from the listing based on a location of the system. The system then presents a content item associated with the place of interest.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

collecting contextual data from one or more sensors at a mobile device associated with a user, the contextual data comprising location parameters associated with the mobile device, user activity data, and device state parameters associated with the mobile device;

determining a current context for the user based on the contextual data collected from the one or more sensors at the mobile device associated with the user, the current context comprising a current location calculated from the location parameters, the user'"'"'s current activity calculated from the user activity data, and a mobile device state calculated from the device state parameters, wherein the user'"'"'s current activity comprises at least one of a type of user activity or a mode of transportation;

detecting a current context state transition comprising a change in a predetermined combination of context conditions, the predetermined combination of context conditions comprising at least two of the current location, the mobile device state, or the user'"'"'s current activity; and

in response to detecting the current context state transition, generating a signal indicating the current context state transition, the signal triggering a software application on the mobile device to output one more media items selected based on the current context state transition.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the current location comprises a place or geographic location associated with the location parameters, and wherein detecting the current context state transition comprises detecting that the user has left or entered the place or geographic location.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the location parameters comprise a latitude and a longitude, and wherein the current location comprises a place type associated with the place.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal identifies each of the predetermined combination of context conditions that has changed.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein detecting the current context state transition comprises determining a new context for the user, comparing the new context with each of the predetermined combination of context conditions and identifying a difference between the predetermined combination of context conditions and the new context, wherein the signal is triggered by the detecting of the current context state transition.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the signal to the software application, wherein the signal is triggered by the detecting of the current context state transition.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the user'"'"'s current activity comprises physical activity, and wherein the current context further comprises at least one of a current time or weather.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the current location comprises a place associated with the current location, the physical activity comprises physical activity by the user, and the weather is associated with the current location.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the current context state transition comprises:

based on the contextual data collected, monitoring changes in the current context to identify user context updates; and

determining whether the user context updates satisfy a threshold change in the predetermined combination of context conditions.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more media items comprise at least one of a playlist, an alert, a tag, or application content.

11. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

at least one computer-readable storage medium having stored therein instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to;

collect contextual data from one or more sensors at the system, the contextual data comprising location parameters associated with the system, user activity data, and device state parameters associated with the system;

determine a current context for a user associated with the system based on the contextual data collected, the current context comprising a current location calculated from the location parameters, the current activity calculated from the user activity data, and a system state calculated from the device state parameters, wherein the current activity comprises at least one of a type of user activity or a mode of transportation;

detect a current context state transition comprising a change in a predetermined combination of context conditions, the predetermined combination of context conditions comprising at least two of the current location, the system state, or the user'"'"'s current activity; and

in response to detecting the current context state transition, generate a signal indicating the current context state transition, the signal triggering a response from a software application, the response being based on the current context state transition.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the current location comprises a place or geographic location associated with the location parameters, and wherein detecting the current context state transition comprises detecting that the user has left or entered the place or geographic location.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the signal comprises information identifying each predetermined context condition from the context conditions that has changed.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein detecting the current context state transition comprises determining a new context for the user, comparing the new context with each of the predetermined combination of context conditions with the user'"'"'s context and identifying a difference between the predetermined combination of context condition and the new context.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein generating the signal comprises sending the signal to the software application, wherein the response from the software application comprises at least one of a presentation of content by the software application or an application launch.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein detecting the current context state transition comprises:

based on the contextual data collected, monitoring changes in the current context to identify user context updates; and

determining whether the user context updates satisfy a threshold change in the predetermined combination of context conditions.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising:

instructions stored thereon which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

collect contextual data from one or more sensors at a mobile device associated with a user, the contextual data comprising location parameters associated with the mobile device, user activity data, and device state parameters associated with the mobile device;

determine a user'"'"'s current context based on the contextual data collected, the user'"'"'s current context comprising a current location calculated from the location parameters, the user'"'"'s current activity, and a mobile device state calculated from the device state parameters, wherein the user'"'"'s current activity comprises at least one of a type of user activity or a mode of transportation;

detect a current context state transition comprising a change in a predetermined combination of context conditions, the predetermined combination of context conditions comprising at least two of the user'"'"'s current location, the mobile device state, or the user'"'"'s current activity; and

in response to detecting the current context state transition, generate a signal indicating the current context state transition, the signal triggering a software application to output one or more media items selected based on the current context state transition.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the user'"'"'s current location comprises a place or geographic location associated with the location parameters, wherein detecting the current context state transition comprises detecting that the user has left or entered the place or geographic location.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein detecting the current context state transition comprises:

based on the contextual data collected, monitoring changes in the user'"'"'s current context to identify user context updates; and

determining whether the user context updates satisfy a threshold change in the predetermined combination of context conditions.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the user'"'"'s current activity comprises physical activity, and wherein the one or more media items comprise at least one of a playlist, an alert, a tag, or application content.