Client Apparatus, Server Apparatus, Meeting Arrangement System, and Meeting Arrangement Method

• US 20090192861A1
• Filed: 01/28/2009
• Published: 07/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: SUZUKI, Hirotaka, Shimomura, Hideki
• Application Number:
  US12/361,454
• Publication Number:
  US 20090192861A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/7.19
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1095 Meeting or appointment

Abstract

Disclosed is a client apparatus including a communication unit, a first generator to generate friendship information indicating a friendship between a first user of the client apparatus and each of second users of the plurality of other client apparatuses, a storage unit to store schedule information and meeting history information, a second generator to generate desired meeting date/time information of the first user, a third generator to generate desired meeting place information of the first user, a fourth generator to generate meeting member candidate information, and a controller to control the communication unit to transmit, to the server apparatus, the desired meeting date/time information, the desired meeting place information, and the meeting member candidate information.

Claims

1. A client apparatus, comprising:

a communication means for communicating with a server apparatus and a plurality of other client apparatuses;

a first generation means for generating, based on communication history information with the plurality of other client apparatuses by the communication means, friendship information indicating a friendship between a first user of the client apparatus and each of second users of the plurality of other client apparatuses;

a storage means for storing schedule information including scheduled date/time information and scheduled place information of a scheduled event for the first user and meeting history information including date/time history information, place history information, and member history information of a meeting arranged in a past;

a second generation means for generating desired meeting date/time information of the first user based on the scheduled date/time information and the date/time history information stored;

a third generation means for generating desired meeting place information of the first user based on the scheduled place information stored, the place history information stored, and desired meeting date/time information generated;

a fourth generation means for generating meeting member candidate information indicating candidates of client apparatuses to be meeting members based on the friendship information generated; and

a control means for controlling the communication means to transmit, to the server apparatus, the desired meeting date/time information, the desired meeting place information, and the meeting member candidate information generated, as desired meeting information, and controlling the communication means to receive arranged meeting information arranged by the server apparatus based on the desired meeting information transmitted.

2. The client apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the storage means stores a communication count and a communication t me with the plurality of other client apparatuses as the communication history information,

wherein the first generation means includes

means for calculating a friendship frequency between the client apparatus and each of the other client apparatuses by assigning a first weighting factor to a first communication count in an off-duty period of the first user and assigning a second weighting factor smaller than the first weighting factor to a second communication count in an on-duty period of the first user, out of the communication count in a first predetermined period with the plurality of other client apparatuses, and adding the first communication count and the second communication count that are assigned the first weighting factor and the second weighting factor, respectively, and

means for calculating a rate of a friendship frequency with the other client apparatuses targeted for the calculation of the friendship frequency with respect to a sum of the friendship frequency with each of the other client apparatuses, the rate of the friendship frequency being calculated as a friendship degree between the first user and the second user, and

wherein the control means controls the communication means to transmit, to the server apparatus, the friendship degree calculated for each of the plurality of other client apparatuses as a part of the friendship information.

3. The client apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the storage means stores a plurality of rule information items regarding a date and a time when the first user is capable of participating in the meeting, and

wherein the second generation means includes

means for comparing the date/time history information stored with the plurality of rule information items,

means for determining, based on a result of the comparing, a rule information item having highest similarity to the meeting history information as estimation rule information and estimating the date and time when the first user is capable of participating in the meeting based on the estimation rule information,

means for comparing the date and time estimated with the scheduled date/time information stored, and

means for generating, based on a result of the comparing, a date and a time unmatched with the scheduled date/time information as the desired meeting date/time information.

4. The client apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the second generation means sets, in a membership function in which an abscissa axis represents dates and times and an longitudinal axis represents membership values, the plurality of rule information items as a first fuzzy set and the date/time history information as a second fuzzy set, calculates an equivalence of the first fuzzy set and the second fuzzy set, determines a rule information item having a largest area of a third fuzzy set as a result of calculation of the equivalence, to be the estimation rule information.

5. The client apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the second generation means includes

means for learning the date/time history information stored and estimating, based on a result of the learning, a date and a time when the first user is capable of participating in the meeting,

means for comparing the date and time estimated with the scheduled date/time information stored, and

means for generating, based on a result of the comparing, a date and a time unmatched with the scheduled date/time information as the desired meeting date/time information.

6. The client apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the third generation means includes

means for determining, based on the scheduled place information, a scheduled place of a scheduled event just before a date and a time included in the desired meeting information generated, to be a movement original position of the meeting, and

means for generating, as the desired meeting place information, tolerable movement distance range information indicating a distance range from the movement original position determined that is capable of being tolerated by the first user based on arranged place information and movement original position information of past meetings included in the place history information.

7. The client apparatus according to claim 6,

wherein the third generation means generates, as the tolerable movement distance range information, a tolerance function in which a first tolerance is assigned to positional coordinates existing in the tolerable movement distance range from the movement original position determined and a second tolerance smaller than the first tolerance is assigned to positional coordinates existing in a predetermined distance range out of the tolerable movement distance range.

8. The client apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the fourth generation means generates the meeting member candidate information by performing a weighted random selection such that other client apparatuses having a lower friendship frequency calculated are more highly weighted, to select the other client apparatuses.

9. The client apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein the fourth generation means generates, based on the meeting history information, the meeting member candidate information by performing a weighted random selection such that other client apparatuses that have been set as the meeting member smaller number of times in a second predetermined period is more highly weighted, to select the other client apparatuses.

10. The client apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the storage means stores message information of an e-mail transmitted to/received from the other client apparatuses through the communication means,

wherein the fourth generation means includes

means for judging whether a predetermined event has occurred for the other client apparatuses as a transmission/reception target of the message information by analyzing the message information, and

means for generating, when it is judged that the predetermined event has occurred, the meeting member candidate information by performing a weighted random selection such that the other client apparatuses to which the predetermined event has occurred is highly weighted, to select the other client apparatuses.

11. The client apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising

an operation input means through which the first user inputs an operation,

wherein the first generation means includes means for classifying the plurality of other client apparatuses into a plurality of attributes according to the friendship degree calculated, and

wherein the fourth generation means generates the meeting member candidate information by selecting other client apparatuses having a specific attribute based on an operation input through the operation input means.

12. The client apparatus according to claim 11,

wherein the fourth generation means generates instruction information for instructing the server apparatus to adds, to the meeting member candidates, first another client apparatus having a specific attribute for second another client apparatus having a specific attribute based on the operation input through the operation input means, the second another client apparatus being selected by the fourth generation means, and

wherein the control means controls the communication means to transmit, to the server apparatus, the instruction information generated as the meeting member candidate information.

13. The client apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the control means controls the communication means to transmit, to the server apparatus, information that indicates an intention of the first user of one of participation or nonparticipation in a meeting arranged based on the arranged meeting information received.

14. A server apparatus, comprising:

a communication means for receiving, from a plurality of client apparatuses, desired meeting information including desired meeting date/time information, desired meeting place information, and meeting member candidate information of a meeting, the desired meeting information being generated in the plurality of client apparatuses;

a first generation means for generating, based on the desired meeting information received, a plurality of optimal client apparatus groups constituted of, as elements exclusive of each other, a plurality of client apparatuses having matched desired meeting information;

a second generation means for determining an arranged date and time and an arranged meeting place for each of the plurality of optimal client apparatus groups generated, determining, as arranged meeting members, the plurality of client apparatuses belonging to the plurality of optimal client apparatus groups, and generating arranged meeting information indicating the arranged meeting date and time, the arranged meeting place, and the arranged meeting members; and

a control means for controlling the communication means to transmit the arranged meeting information generated, to the plurality of client apparatuses as the arranged meeting members.

15. The server apparatus according to claim 14,

wherein the first generation means includes

means for extracting, from client apparatuses included in the meeting member candidate information, client apparatuses having the desired meeting information and the desired meeting place information matched and a client apparatus having the meeting member candidate information generated, as a matching client apparatus group for each client apparatus, and

means for generating, in a case where client apparatuses as elements of the matching client apparatus group, extracted are regarded as a character string, an optimal client apparatus group set constituted of the optimal client apparatus groups having a minimum Levenshtein distance from a matching client apparatus group set constituted of al the matching client apparatus groups and having elements exclusive of each other.

16. The server apparatus according to claim 15,

wherein the control means controls the communication means to receives, from the plurality of client apparatuses, friendship information and instruction information, the friendship information indicating a friendship and a friendship degree between users of the plurality of client apparatuses, the instruction information indicating an instruction to add first another client apparatus with which second another client apparatus has a predetermined friendship degree as the meeting member candidate, the second another client apparatus having a predetermined friendship degree with each of client apparatuses generating the meeting member candidate information, and

wherein the first generation means adds the first another client apparatus to the meeting member candidate of each of client apparatuses based on the friendship information and the instruction information received.

17. The server apparatus according to claim 15,

wherein the first generation means encodes a predetermined client apparatus group set randomly selected from the plurality of client apparatuses to be a predetermined chromosome population, generates a chromosome population whose goodness of fit is maximum with the matching client apparatus groups by repeatedly performing a crossing-over processing, a mutation processing, and a growth and killing processing on chromosomes belonging to the chromosome population, and decodes the chromosome population, to thereby generate the optimal client apparatus group set.

18. The server apparatus according to claim 15,

wherein the desired meeting date/time information includes information on a desired meeting date, a desired meeting starting time, and a desired meeting ending time, and

wherein the second generation means calculates an average time of desired meeting starting times of client apparatuses belonging to the optimal client apparatus groups as an arranged meeting starting time, and calculates an average time of desired meeting ending times of the client apparatuses as an arranged meeting ending time.

19. The server apparatus according to claim 15,

wherein the desired meeting place information includes tolerable movement distance range information indicating a distance range capable of being tolerated by users from movement original positions of the users of the plurality of client apparatuses, and

wherein the second generation means determines, to be the arranged meeting place, a place within a predetermined distance range around a weighted center of a sum of sets of the tolerable movement distance ranges of the plurality of clients belonging to the optimal client apparatus groups.

20. The server apparatus according to claim 19,

wherein the control means controls the communication means to receive map information including information on a facility located within the predetermined distance range around the weighted center of the sum of the sets of the tolerable movement distance ranges, and

wherein the second generation means determines the facility to be the arranged meeting place based on the map information received.

21. A meeting arrangement system comprising a server apparatus and a plurality of client apparatuses,

wherein each of the plurality of client apparatuses includes

a first communication means for communicating with a server apparatus and other client apparatuses,

a first generation means for generating, based on communication history information with the plurality of other client apparatuses by the communication means, friendship information indicating a friendship between a first user of the client apparatus and each of second users of the plurality of other client apparatuses,

a storage means for storing schedule information including scheduled date/time information and scheduled place information of a scheduled event for the first user and meeting history information including date/time history information, place history information, and member history information of a meeting arranged in a past,

a second generation means for generating desired meeting date/time information of the first user based on the scheduled date, time information and the date/time history information stored,

a third generation means for generating desired meeting place information of the first user based on the scheduled place information stored, the place history information stored, and desired meeting date/time information generated,

a fourth generation means for generating meeting member candidate information indicating candidates of client apparatuses to be meeting members based on the friendship information generated, and

a first control means for controlling the first communication means to transmit, to the server apparatus, the desired meeting date/time information, the desired meeting place information, and the meeting member candidate information generated as desired meeting information, and controlling the first communication means to receive arranged meeting information arranged by the server apparatus based on the desired meeting information transmitted, and

wherein the server apparatus includes

a second communication means for receiving desired meeting information transmitted from the plurality of client apparatuses,

a fifth generation means for generating, based on the desired meeting information received, a plurality of optimal client apparatus groups constituted of, as elements exclusive of each other, a plurality of client apparatuses having matched desired meeting information,

a sixth generation means for determining an arranged date and time and an arranged meeting place for each of the plurality of optimal client apparatus groups, determining, as arranged meeting members, the plurality of client apparatuses belonging to the plurality of optimal client apparatus groups, and generating arranged meeting information indicating the arranged meeting date and time, the arranged meeting place, and the arranged meeting members, and

a second control means for controlling the communication means to transmit the arranged meeting information generated, to the plurality of client apparatuses as the arranged meeting members.

22. A meeting arrangement method using a server apparatus and a plurality of client apparatuses, comprising:

generating, based on communication history information with the plurality of other client apparatuses, friendship information indicating a friendship between a first user of the client apparatus and each of second users of the plurality of other client apparatuses;

storing schedule information including scheduled date/time information and scheduled place information of a scheduled event for the first user and meeting history information including date/time history information, place history information, and member history information of a meeting arranged in a past;

generating desired meeting date/time information of the first user based on the scheduled date/time information and the date/time history information stored;

generating desired meeting place information of the first user based on the scheduled place information stored, the place history information stored, and desired meeting date/time information generated;

generating meeting member candidate information indicating candidates of client apparatuses to be meeting members based on the friendship information generated;

transmitting, to the server apparatus, the desired meeting date/time information, the desired meeting place information, and the meeting member candidate information generated as desired meeting information;

receiving the desired meeting information transmitted from the plurality of client apparatuses;

generating, based on the desired meeting information received, a plurality of optimal client apparatus groups constituted of, as elements exclusive of each other, a plurality of client apparatuses having matched desired meeting information;

determining an arranged date and time and an arranged meeting place for each of the plurality of optimal client apparatus groups, determining, as arranged meeting members, the plurality of client apparatuses belonging to the plurality of optimal client apparatus groups, and generating arranged meeting information indicating the arranged meeting date and time, the arranged meeting place, and the arranged meeting members; and

transmitting the arranged meeting information generated, to the plurality of client apparatuses as the arranged meeting members,

the former six steps stated above being executed by the plurality of client apparatuses, the latter four steps stated above being executed by the server apparatus.

23. A client apparatus, comprising:

a communication unit capable of communicating with a server apparatus and a plurality of other client apparatuses;

a first generator to generate, based on communication history information with the plurality of other client apparatuses by the communication unit, friendship information indicating a friendship between a first user of the client apparatus and each of second users of the plurality of other client apparatuses;

a storage unit to store schedule information including scheduled date/time information and scheduled place information of a scheduled event for the first user and meeting history information including date/time history information, place history information, and member history information of a meeting arranged in a past;

a second generator to generate desired meeting date/time information of the first user based on the scheduled date/time information and the date/time history information stored;

a third generator to generate desired meeting place information of the first user based on the scheduled place information stored, the place history information stored, and desired meeting date/time information generated;

a fourth generator to generate meeting member candidate information indicating candidates of client apparatuses to be meeting members based on the friendship information generated; and

a controller to control the communication unit to transmit, to the server apparatus, the desired meeting date/time information, the desired meeting place information, and the meeting member candidate information generated as desired meeting information, and control the communication unit to receive arranged meeting information arranged by the server apparatus based on the desired meeting information transmitted.

24. A server apparatus, comprising:

a communication unit to receive, from a plurality of client apparatuses, desired meeting information including desired meeting date/time information, desired meeting place information, and meeting member candidate information of a meeting, the desired meeting information being generated in the plurality of client apparatuses;

a first generator to generate, based on the desired meeting information received, a plurality of optimal client apparatus groups constituted of, as elements exclusive of each other, a plurality of client apparatuses having matched desired meeting information;

a second generator to determine an arranged date and time and an arranged meeting place for each of the plurality of optimal client apparatus groups, determine, as arranged meeting members, the plurality of client apparatuses belonging to the plurality of optimal client apparatus groups, and generate arranged meeting information indicating the arranged meeting date and time, the arranged meeting place, and the arranged meeting members; and

a controller to control the communication unit to transmit the arranged meeting information generated, to the plurality of client apparatuses as the arranged meeting members.