SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING ACTIVITIES

• US 20090184823A1
• Filed: 01/21/2009
• Published: 07/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Consortium P Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Radianse Incorporated (Airpointe Corp.)
• Inventors: TESSIER, PAUL
• Granted Patent: US 8,217,759 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/568.100
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/09 for tracking people
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0081 Transmission between base stations
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/02521 using a radio-map
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/16 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments provide systems and methods for detecting activities and determining information about the activities. Exemplary embodiments use one or more items of context information on one or more objects to detect an activity. Examples of context information include, but are not limited to, identities of objects, roles or activities associated with objects, locations/locales of objects, historical locations/locales of objects, associations between objects, duration of associations between objects, etc. Upon detecting an activity, exemplary embodiments also determine information about the detected activity.

Claims

1. A system for determining an activity involving an object, the system comprising:

an object identifier linked with the object for providing data identifying the object,

a location determining module configured to determine a location or locale of the object from the data identifying the object, and

an activity determining module configured to determine the activity involving the object based on the location or locale of the object.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the activity determining module detects the activity based on the location or locale of the object and on one or more other items of information about the object.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more other items of information comprises an identity of the object, a role of the object, an association between the object and a second object or locale, or a series of historical locations or locales.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the object identifier comprises a transmitter or a transceiver.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the object identifier comprises one or more of:

a transmitter configured to transmit a signal including the data identifying the object,

a receiver configured to receive a signal requesting the data identifying the object, and

a processor for controlling the transmitter and the receiver of the object identifier.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the location determining module comprises:

a receiver for receiving a signal from the object identifier providing the data identifying the object, and

a transmitter for transmitting a request for data identifying the object.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a network, wherein the location determining module and the activity determining module are coupled to the network,

a network connected element including at least one signaling component capable of transmitting or receiving signals, wherein the network connected element is configured to receive the data identifying the object provided by the object identifier and transmit a signal containing the data to the location determining module.

8. The system of claim 3, further comprising:

a second object identifier linked with the second object or locale for providing data identifying the second object or locale, the location determining module using the data identifying the second object or locale to determine a second location or locale of the second object or locale, and

an association determining module configured to determine the association between the object and the second object or locale based on the location or locale of the object and the second location or locale of the second object or locale.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the association determining module is configured to:

use the location or locale of the object and the second location or locale of the second object or locale to determine if the object is in proximity to the second object or locale for a time period greater than or equal to a threshold time, and

if the time period that the object is in proximity to the second object or locale is greater than or equal to the threshold time, determine the association between the object and the second object or locale.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising an association determining module for determining an association between the object and a second object or a second location or locale.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the activity determining module comprises an activity detection sub-module configured to detect an activity of the object.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the activity detection sub-module comprises means for detecting the activity involving the object.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the activity detection sub-module is configured to:

determine a time duration for which the object is located at the location or locale, and

detect the activity of the object only if the object is located at the location or locale for a predetermined time duration.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the activity detection sub-module is configured to:

receive a series of historical locations or locales of the object, the series of historical locations corresponding to a historical activity involving the object,

compare the series of locations or locales of the object with the series of historical locations or locales of the object, and

detect that the object is involved in the historical activity if the series of current locations or locales matches the series of historical locations or locales.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the activity detection sub-module further comprises a pattern recognition module for detecting the activity by comparing a series of locations or locales of the object with a series of historical locations or locales of the object.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the activity determining module further comprises:

an activity detection sub-module configured to detect an activity of the object, and

an activity information determining sub-module configured to determine information associated with the activity of the object.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the activity detection sub-module further comprises a mean/mode determiner module for determining a primary location or locale of the activity by determining a mean/mode of the location or locale of the object.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the information associated with the activity of the object comprises a type of activity, an identity of the object, a role associated with the object, a time of the activity, a duration of the activity, a primary location of the activity, or a primary locale of the activity.

19. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

a storage device for storing data associated with the activity and the one or more items of information about the activity.

20. A system for determining an activity involving an object, the system comprising:

an object identifier linked with the object for providing data identifying the object,

a location determining module configured to determine a series of current locations or locales of the object from the data identifying the object, and

an activity determining module configured to determine the activity involving the object based on the series of current locations or locales of the object, the activity determining module being configured to;

compare the series of current locations or locales of the object with a series of historical locations or locales corresponding to a historical activity, and

detect that the object is involved in the historical activity if the series of current locations or locales matches the series of historical locations or locales.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the activity determining module further comprises:

an activity detection sub-module configured to detect the activity of the object, and

an activity information determining sub-module configured to determine information associated with the activity of the object.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the activity detection sub-module is configured to:

determine a path represented by the series of historical locations, and

determine if consecutive locations in the series of current locations fall substantially along the path.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the activity detection sub-module is configured to:

detect the activity of the object based further on one or more other items of information about the object.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the one or more other items of information comprise a role or an identity of the object, or an association between the object and a second object or locale.

25. A system for determining an activity involving an object, the system comprising:

a plurality of object identifiers for a plurality of objects, each object identifier linked with an object in the plurality of objects for providing data identifying the object,

a location determining module configured to determine a current location of each of the plurality of objects based on the data identifying the objects,

an association determining module configured to determine an association between the plurality of objects based on the current location of each of the plurality of objects, and

an activity determining module configured to determine the activity involving the object based on the association between the plurality of objects and one or more other items of information about the plurality of objects.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the activity determining module further comprises:

an activity detection sub-module configured to detect the activity of the object, and

an activity information determining sub-module configured to determine information associated with the activity of the object.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein the one or more other items of information comprise a role or an identity of the object, or a series of locations/locales of the object.

28. A method for determining an activity involving an object, the method comprising:

providing an object identifier linked with the object for providing data identifying the object,

determining a location or locale of the object from the data identifying the object, and

determining the activity involving the object based on the location or locale of the object.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the activity is detected based on the location or locale of the object and on one or more other items of information about the object.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the one or more other items of information comprises an identity of the object, a role of the object, an association between the object and a second object or locale, or a series of historical locations or locales.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the object identifier comprises a transmitter or a transceiver.

32. The method of claim 28, wherein providing the object identifier further comprises:

transmitting a signal including the data identifying the object,

receiving a signal requesting the data identifying the object, and

controlling the transmitter and the receiver.

33. The method of claim 28, wherein determining the location or locale of the object further comprises:

receiving a signal from the object identifier providing the data identifying the object, and

transmitting a request for data identifying the object.

34. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

providing a second object identifier linked with the second object or locale for providing data identifying the second object or locale,

using the data identifying the second object or locale to determine a second location or locale of the second object or locale, and

determining the association between the object and the second object or locale based on the location or locale of the object and the second location or locale of the second object or locale.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein determining the association further comprises:

using the location or locale of the object and the second location or locale of the second object or locale to determine if the object is in proximity to the second object or locale for a time period greater than or equal to a threshold time, and

if the time period that the object is in proximity to the second object or locale is greater than or equal to the threshold time, determining the association between the object and the second object or locale.

36. The method of claim 28, further comprising:

determining an association between the object and a second object or locale.

37. The method of claim 28, wherein determining the activity further comprises:

detecting the activity.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein detecting the activity further comprises:

determining a time duration for which the object is located at the location or locale, and

detecting the activity only if the object is located at the location or locale for a predetermined time duration.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein detecting the activity further comprises:

receiving a series of historical locations or locales of the object, the series of historical locations corresponding to a historical activity involving the object,

comparing the series of locations or locales of the object with the series of historical locations or locales of the object, and

detecting that the object is involved in the historical activity if the series of current locations or locales matches the series of historical locations or locales.

40. The method of claim 37, wherein detecting the activity further comprises:

using pattern recognition to compare a series of locations or locales of the object with a series of historical locations or locales of the object.

41. The method of claim 28, wherein determining the activity further comprises:

detecting the activity of the object, and

determining information associated with the activity of the object.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein determining the information associated with the activity further comprises:

determining a primary location or locale of the activity by determining a mean/mode of the location or locale of the object.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein the information associated with the activity of the object comprises a type of activity, an identity of the object, a role associated with the object, a time of the activity, a duration of the activity, a primary location of the activity, or a primary locale of the activity.

44. The method of claim 41, further comprising:

storing data associated with the activity and the one or more items of information about the activity.

45. A method for determining an activity involving an object, the method comprising:

providing an object identifier linked with the object for providing data identifying the object,

determining a series of current locations or locales of the object from the data identifying the object, and

determining the activity involving the object based on the series of current locations or locales of the object by;

comparing the series of current locations or locales of the object with a series of historical locations or locales corresponding to a historical activity, and

detecting that the object is involved in the historical activity if the series of current locations or locales matches the series of historical locations or locales.

46. The method of claim 45, further comprising:

determining a path represented by the series of historical locations, and

determining if consecutive locations in the series of current locations fall substantially along the path.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein the activity is determined based further on one or more other items of information about the object.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the one or more other items of information comprise a role or an identity of the object, or an association between the object and a second object or locale.

49. A method for determining an activity involving an object, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of object identifiers for a plurality of objects, each object identifier linked with an object in the plurality of objects for providing data identifying the object,

determining a current location of each of the plurality of objects based on the data identifying the objects,

determining an association between the plurality of objects based on the current location of each of the plurality of objects, and

determining the activity involving the object based on the association between the plurality of objects and one or more other items of information about the plurality of objects.

50. The method of claim 49, wherein the one or more other items of information comprise a role or an identity of an object, or a series of locations/locales of an object.