Coordinating and providing navigation for a group of people traveling together in a transport hub

• US 10,346,773 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2017
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Anderson, Evelyn R., Bender, Michael, Childress, Rhonda L., Jan, Ea-Ee
• Primary Examiner(s): Jarrett, Scott L
• Application Number:
  US15/593,774
• Publication Number:
  US 20180330307A1
• Time in Patent Office: 788 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063116 Schedule adjustment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

The present invention is a method and system to assist people traveling together through a transport hub from a current location to a destination location using a smart portable personal computing devices which provide personal data, travel data and transport hub data. The method provides for sub-groups of traveler'"'"'s having common travel preferences, and it maps routes according to those preferences for the group members to travel through the transport hub together. Continuous monitoring of values provides an alert on each sub-group member'"'"'s personal computing device when the personal data, travel data, transport hub data, or predetermined parameters change.

Claims

1. A method to assist people traveling together through a transport hub, said method comprising:

identifying, by a plurality of portable smart computing devices, a group of people traveling together through the transport hub for a trip, wherein travel data for the group includes a departure location, a boarding time, and a departure vehicle, wherein each person of the group has possession of a single portable computing device of the plurality of portable computing devices;

identifying, by the plurality of portable smart computing devices, transport hub data corresponding to the transport hub, wherein the transport hub data includes of maps or layout data of the transport hub;

providing access, by the plurality of portable smart computing devices, to personal data for members of the group, wherein the personal data includes data independently selected, for each person, from the group consisting of the person'"'"'s health, the person'"'"'s lifting ability, the person'"'"'s ability to pull or carry luggage, the person'"'"'s endurance, the person'"'"'s ability to walk through the transport hub, and combinations thereof;

mapping, by each person'"'"'s portable smart computing device, a preferred route from a current location at which the group is located for each person to travel through the transport hub, wherein the preferred route is a direct route without stops or a route including one or more preferred stops;

selecting from the mapped preferred routes, by the plurality of portable computing devices, a group route which is route to be commonly used by each person of the group, wherein the selected group route is the mapped preferred route of one portable computing device of the plurality of portable computing devices, wherein each person'"'"'s portable computing device mapped a preferred route for each previous trip of a plurality of previous trips by the group, and wherein said selecting the one portable computing device is based on the preferred route for the one portable computing device have been a group route for more of the previous trips than was the preferred route for any other portable computing device of the plurality of portable computing devices;

generating, by each person'"'"'s portable smart computing device, sub-groups of members to travel through the transport hub together in response to matching personal data;

monitoring, by each person'"'"'s portable smart computing device, values including the personal data for members of the group, the travel data for the group, and the transport hub data; and

alerting each person, by each person'"'"'s portable smart computing device, in response to the monitored values, to begin moving from the current location towards the departure location along the selected group route to arrive at the departure location at a desired arrival time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each person'"'"'s personal data includes:

how many pieces and how much weight of luggage each person can carry, or pull on wheels; and

whether luggage assistance or travel assistance is requested from other members of the group.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the monitored values include predetermined parameters, and wherein the predetermined parameters comprise:

a distance from the current location to the departure location;

an estimated travel speed of each person of each sub-group to travel from the current location to the departure location; and

an estimated travel time of each person of each sub-group upon leaving the current location to arrive at the departure location at the desired arrival time.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each person'"'"'s personal data includes:

health information regarding how far the person can walk before needing to rest;

a speed the person can walk;

whether the person can walk with luggage;

whether the person requires a wheelchair or motorized transportation;

whether the person requires personal assistance to transport his luggage; and

whether the person requires assistance to travel to the departure location.

5. The method of claim 1,

wherein the transport hub data includes the transport hub layout;

locations of departure vehicles, and locations of transporting devices within the transport hub,

wherein said transporting devices comprise elevators, escalators, moving walkways and trams, and

wherein the transport hub comprises an airport transport hub, a railway transport hub and a bus terminal transport hub, and wherein the departure vehicle comprises an automobile, a train, an airplane, a bus and a motorized vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

notifying each person, by his portable smart computing device, of a change of the monitored values.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of portable smart computing devices include wireless capabilities to access each person'"'"'s personal data, the group travel data, the predetermined parameters and the transport hub data from a computer cloud or from a network.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the plurality of portable smart computing devices communicates with respective Internet of Things IoT wireless devices of group members including smart watches, activity trackers, fitness trackers, walking trackers and personal movement sensing devices.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting, by the plurality of portable smart computing devices, a leader of the group or of one of the sub-groups, in response to stored computer learned behavior from previous trips of the group or sub-group, wherein the leader selects the preferred route for the group or sub-group.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the stored computer learned behavior comprises for each previous trip:

selections of routes through the transport hub by each member of the group or sub-group; and

final selection of the preferred route for the group or sub-group, wherein the leader has selected a greater number of preferred routes finally selected than other members of the group or sub-group.

11. A computer program product, comprising one or more computer readable hardware storage devices having computer readable program code stored therein, said program code containing instructions executable by a computing device to implement a method to assist people traveling together through a transport hub, said method comprising:

identifying, by a plurality of portable smart computing devices, a group of people traveling together through the transport hub for a trip, wherein travel data for the group includes a departure location, a boarding time, and a departure vehicle, wherein each person of the group has possession of a single portable computing device of the plurality of portable computing devices;

identifying, by the plurality of portable smart computing devices, transport hub data corresponding to the transport hub, wherein the transport hub data includes of maps or layout data of the transport hub;

providing access, by the plurality of portable smart computing devices, to personal data for members of the group, wherein the personal data includes data independently selected, for each person, from the group consisting of the person'"'"'s health, the person'"'"'s lifting ability, the person'"'"'s ability to pull or carry luggage, the person'"'"'s endurance, the person'"'"'s ability to walk through the transport hub, and combinations thereof;

mapping, by each person'"'"'s portable smart computing device, a preferred route from a current location at which the group is located for each person to travel through the transport hub, wherein the preferred route is a direct route without stops or a route including one or more preferred stops;

selecting from the mapped preferred routes, by the plurality of portable computing devices, a group route which is route to be commonly used by each person of the group, wherein the selected group route is the mapped preferred route of one portable computing device of the plurality of portable computing devices, wherein each person'"'"'s portable computing device mapped a preferred route for each previous trip of a plurality of previous trips by the group, and wherein said selecting the one portable computing device is based on the preferred route for the one portable computing device have been a group route for more of the previous trips than was the preferred route for any other portable computing device of the plurality of portable computing devices;

generating, by each person'"'"'s portable smart computing device, sub-groups of members to travel through the transport hub together in response to matching personal data;

monitoring, by each person'"'"'s portable smart computing device, values including the personal data for members of the group, the travel data for the group, and the transport hub data; and

alerting each person, by each person'"'"'s portable smart computing device, in response to the monitored values, to begin moving from the current location towards the departure location along the selected group route to arrive at the departure location at a desired arrival time.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein each person'"'"'s personal data includes:

how many pieces and how much weight of luggage each person can carry, or pull on wheels;

whether luggage assistance or travel assistance is requested from other members of the group;

health information regarding how far the person can walk before needing to rest;

a speed the person can walk;

how many pieces and how much weight of luggage the person can carry, or pull on wheels;

whether the person requires assistance with his luggage;

whether the person requires a wheelchair or motorized transportation; and

whether the person requires assistance to travel to the departure location.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the monitored values include predetermined parameters, and wherein the predetermined parameters comprise:

a distance from the current location to the departure location;

an estimated travel speed of the person to travel from the current location to the departure location; and

an estimated travel time of the person to travel from the current location to the departure location to arrive at the departure location at the desired arrival time.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, further comprising selecting, by the plurality of portable smart computing devices, a leader of the group or of one of the sub-groups, in response to stored computer learned behavior from previous trips of the group or sub-group, wherein the leader selects the preferred route for the group or sub-group.

15. The computer program product of claim 11,

wherein the transport hub data includes the transport hub layout, locations of departure vehicles, and locations of transporting devices within the transport hub,

wherein said transporting devices comprise elevators, escalators, moving walkways and trams, and

wherein the transport hub comprises an airport transport hub, a railway transport hub and a bus terminal transport hub, and wherein the departure vehicle comprises an automobile, a train, an airplane, a bus and a motorized vehicle.

16. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

monitoring the values, by the portable smart computing device; and

notifying the person, by the portable smart computing device, of a change of the values.

17. A system, comprising a computing device, said computing device comprising one or more processors, one or more memories, and one or more computer readable hardware storage devices, said one or more hardware storage devices containing program code executable by the one or more processors via the one or more memories to implement a method to assist a person traveling through a transport hub, said method comprising:

identifying, by a plurality of portable smart computing devices, a group of people traveling together through the transport hub for a trip, wherein travel data for the group includes a departure location, a boarding time, and a departure vehicle, wherein each person of the group has possession of a single portable computing device of the plurality of portable computing devices;

identifying, by the plurality of portable smart computing devices, transport hub data corresponding to the transport hub, wherein the transport hub data includes of maps or layout data of the transport hub;

providing access, by the plurality of portable smart computing devices, to personal data for members of the group, wherein the personal data includes data independently selected, for each person, from the group consisting of the person'"'"'s health, the person'"'"'s lifting ability, the person'"'"'s ability to pull or carry luggage, the person'"'"'s endurance, the person'"'"'s ability to walk through the transport hub, and combinations thereof;

mapping, by each person'"'"'s portable smart computing device, a preferred route from a current location at which the group is located for each person to travel through the transport hub, wherein the preferred route is a direct route without stops or a route including one or more preferred stops;

selecting from the mapped preferred routes, by the plurality of portable computing devices, a group route which is route to be commonly used by each person of the group, wherein the selected group route is the mapped preferred route of one portable computing device of the plurality of portable computing devices, wherein each person'"'"'s portable computing device mapped a preferred route for each previous trip of a plurality of previous trips by the group, and wherein said selecting the one portable computing device is based on the preferred route for the one portable computing device have been a group route for more of the previous trips than was the preferred route for any other portable computing device of the plurality of portable computing devices;

generating, by each person'"'"'s portable smart computing device, sub-groups of members to travel through the transport hub together in response to matching personal data;

monitoring, by each person'"'"'s portable smart computing device, values including the personal data for members of the group, the travel data for the group, and the transport hub data; and

alerting each person, by each person'"'"'s portable smart computing device, in response to the monitored values, to begin moving from the current location towards the departure location along the selected group route to arrive at the departure location at a desired arrival time.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the monitored values include predetermined parameters, and wherein the predetermined parameters comprise:

a distance from the current location to the departure location;

an estimated travel speed of the person to travel from the current location to the departure location; and

an estimated travel time of the person to travel from the current location to the departure location to arrive at the departure location at the desired arrival time.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

notifying the person, by the portable smart computing device, of a change of the values.

20. The system of claim 17, further comprising selecting, by the plurality of portable smart computing devices, a leader of the group or of one of the sub-groups, in response to stored computer learned behavior from previous trips of the group or sub-group, wherein the leader selects the preferred route for the group or sub-group.