Methods, systems, and media for acquiring ratings for points of interest

• US 20050130676A1
• Filed: 12/11/2003
• Published: 06/16/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Liu, Ying, Broussard, Scott, Spring, Eduardo
• Application Number:
  US10/733,879
• Publication Number:
  US 20050130676A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.600
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

Methods, systems, and media for acquiring ratings for points of interest associated with a particular location are disclosed. Embodiments include hardware and/or software for receiving from a user at a current location a request for rating information related to a particular location, receiving differential information, determining the current location, determining the particular location based on the current location and the differential information, transmitting the particular location to a wireless network to request the rating information, receiving rating information related to the particular location, and displaying at least part of the rating information to a user. Embodiments may also include receiving rating information relating to a particular location, wherein the rating information includes ratings for a plurality of points of interest. In one embodiment, the ratings for a plurality of points of interest are user ratings. In a further embodiment, differential information comprises a distance between the current and particular locations.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for requesting rating information related to a particular location, the method comprising:

determining a current location of a user via a position-determining device;

interacting with the user to determine the particular location based upon the current location, in response to an inquiry from the user about the rating information associated with the particular location, wherein the interacting comprises receiving differential information indicative of a distance between the current location and the particular location from the user;

transmitting the particular location to a wireless network to request the rating information; and

displaying, upon receipt of the rating information from the wireless network, at least part of the rating information to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a compass direction between the current location and the particular location.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the differential information indicating a distance comprises an indication of a travel time from the current location.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the differential information further comprises an indication of the compass direction between the current location and the particular location.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the particular location to the wireless network comprises:

determining the particular location based on the current location and the differential information; and

transmitting the particular location to the wireless network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the particular location to the wireless network comprises transmitting the current location and the differential information to the wireless network.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the rating information comprises information relating to a point of interest located near the particular location.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the rating information comprises information relating to a plurality of points of interest related to the particular location.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the rating information comprises user ratings for one or more points of interest related to the particular location.

10. An apparatus for requesting rating information related to a particular location, the apparatus comprising:

a position determining device for determining a current location;

a compass, wherein the compass indicates directional information between the current location and the particular location;

a user interface for receiving input from a user located at the current location, wherein the user input comprises differential information indicating a distance between the current location and the particular location;

a transmitter for transmitting the particular location to a wireless network to request rating information related to the particular location;

a receiver for receiving from a wireless network rating information related to the particular location; and

a display device to display the rating information to the user.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a processor for determining the particular location based on the current location, directional information and the differential information.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein transmitter couples with the processor to transmit the particular location as part of the request for rating information.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the particular location as part of the request for rating information.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the current location, directional information and differential information as part of the request for rating information.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the position determining device is a global positioning system receiver.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the compass is a digital compass.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the rating information comprises user ratings of one or more points of interest proximate to the second location.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the directional information comprises a compass direction between the current location and the particular location.

19. A machine-accessible medium containing instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause said machine to perform operations, comprising:

determining a current location of a user via a position-determining device;

interacting with the user to determine the particular location based upon the current location, in response to an inquiry from the user about the rating information associated with the particular location, wherein the interacting comprises receiving differential information indicative of a distance between the current location and the particular location from the user;

transmitting the particular location to a wireless network to request the rating information; and

displaying, upon receipt of the rating information from the wireless network, at least part of the rating information to the user.

20. The machine-accessible medium of claim 19, further comprising determining directional information between the current location and the particular location.

21. The machine-accessible medium of claim 19, wherein the rating information comprises user ratings for one or more points of interest proximate to the particular location.

22. A method for providing rating information using a wireless network, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a user located at a current location for rating information related to a particular location, wherein the request comprises an indication of the current location;

receiving differential information from the user, the differential information describing the particular location relative to the current location;

determining the particular location based upon the differential information and the indication of the current location;

retrieving the rating information related to the particular location; and

transmitting to the user the rating information related to the particular location.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the rating information comprises ratings relating to a plurality of points of interest associated with the particular location.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the rating information comprises user ratings relating to a plurality of points of interest associated with the particular location.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein receiving the request comprises receiving the request from the user via a wireless network, and wherein transmitting to the user comprises transmitting the rating information to the user via a wireless network.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the differential information comprises an indication of the distance between the current location and the particular location.