Method and System for Integrated Messaging and Location Services

• US 20130059606A1
• Filed: 09/02/2011
• Published: 03/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: John J. Pujol
• Original Assignee: John J. Pujol
• Inventors: Pujol, John J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,559,980 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

A method and system to integrate communication with location services. The method and system provide a mapping tool and discoverability tool whereby a user can define discoverability to other users of the system on a per group or per individual basis. The system enables users to coordinate activities with friends and groups and to easily communicate with friends, family and associates who happen to be nearby, where in the past these opportunities to meet and congregate would have been missed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

sending location information of a user to a server;

receiving notification information including a location of an individual and communication information from the individual, wherein receiving the notification information is for individuals in proximity to the user;

mapping the location of the individual using a representation of the individual in the form of an avatar sent by the individual, the representation integrated with the communication information from the individual;

receiving a user selection of a representation of the individual through a map interface of a computing device;

providing a communication interface by the computing device to the user in response to the user selection;

transmitting a communication by the computing device to the individual;

tracking mutually accepted discoverability as a coupling between the individual and the user in a set of couplings;

providing a group management interface by the computing device to the user, the group management interface enabling user to toggle discovery on a group by group basis and to create new groups from the set of couplings, where each group is defined specific to the user of the computing device and a toggle for discover of the individual in a group is independent of discovery of the group;

providing an interface by the computing device to enable the user to reset the avatar;

sending discoverability settings for the user to a server;

receiving additional communication information from the individual;

updating the representation of the individual through the map interface to include the additional communication information;

executing a first location service of the computing device to determine a location of the computing device, the first location service having a highest level of accuracy of available location services for the computing device;

changing automatically to a second location service of the computing device to determine the location of the computing device, the second location service having lower power requirements than the first location service to conserve battery life;

changing back to the first location service of the computing device from the second location service in response to a location services event, where the locations services event can be any one of a movement of the computing device a defined distance, a change in a rate of movement of the computing device, a user input, or expiration of a defined time range; and

returning automatically to the second location service of the computing device from the first location service after a pre defined duration to conserve battery life.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending group membership data to the server to obtain proximate group member information.

2. (canceled)

3. (canceled)

5-11. -11. (canceled)

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing data and instructions to cause a programmable processor to perform operations comprising:

sending location information of a user to a server;

receiving notification information including a location of an individual and communication information from the individual, wherein receiving the notification information is for individuals in proximity to the user;

mapping the location of the individual using a representation of the individual in the form of an avatar sent by the individual, the representation integrated with the communication information from the individual;

receiving a user selection of a representation of the individual through a map interface of a computing device;

providing a communication interface by the computing device to the user in response to the user selection;

transmitting a communication by the computing device to the individual;

tracking mutually accepted discoverability as a coupling between the individual and the user in a set of couplings;

providing a group management interface by the computing device to the user, the group management interface enabling a user to toggle discovery on a group by group basis and to create new groups from the set of couplings, where each group is defined specific to the user of the computing device and a toggle for discover of the individual in a group is independent of discovery of the group;

providing an interface by the computing device to enable the user to reset the avatar;

sending discoverability settings for the user to a server;

receiving additional communication information from the individual;

updating the representation of the individual through the map interface to include the additional communication information;

executing a first location service of the computing device to determine a location of the computing device, the first location service having a highest level of accuracy of available location services for the computing device;

changing automatically to a second location service of the computing device to determine the location of the computing device, the second location service having lower power requirements than the first location service to conserve battery life;

changing back to the first location service of the computing device from the second location service in response to location services event, where the locations services event can be any one of a movement of the computing device a defined distance, a change in a rate of movement of the computing device, a user input, or expiration of a defined time range; and

returning automatically to the second location service of the computing device from the first location service after a pre-defined duration to conserve battery life.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising:

sending group membership data to the server to obtain proximate group members.

13. (canceled)

14. (canceled)

16-20. -20. (canceled)