METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING ASSISTANCE SERVICES FOR LARGE CROWDS

• US 20140203909A1
• Filed: 12/22/2011
• Published: 07/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Badawi, Ashraf H., Ibrahim, Ahmed S., Elgebaly, Hani H., Soliman, Mohamed Yousef
• Granted Patent: US 9,342,965 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/8.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 5/223 using wireless transmission
• 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 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

In one example embodiment, a mobile computing device provides assistance services for visitors at events which involve large crowds and long distances. The mobile computing device may be used to read a unique identifier for a visitor from an identification token for the visitor. The mobile computing device may then send visitor location data for the current location of the visitor to a remote command center. The mobile computing device may then receive leader location data from the remote command center. The leader location data may identify a last known location for a leader of a group of visitors that includes the visitor. After receiving the leader location data, the mobile computing device may compute directions from the current location of the visitor to the last known location of the leader, and the mobile computing device may display those directions on a map. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1-26. -26. (canceled)

27. An automated system for providing assistance services for crowded events, the system comprising:

an identification card for a visitor, wherein the identification card contains an identification token, wherein the identification token contains a unique identifier for the visitor, and wherein the unique identifier for the visitor can be read from the identification token using a communications technology from the group consisting of radio-frequency identification (RFID), Bluetooth, and near field communication (NFC);

a computing device with a control center interface to support network communications and a token reader to read the unique identifier for the visitor from the identification token in the identification card for the visitor, using a communications technology from the group consisting of RFID, Bluetooth, and NFC; and

a command center workstation with a network interface to support communications with the computing device and a visitor database to store information for the visitor, wherein the information for the visitor comprises leader identification data to identify a leader associated with the visitor and leader location data to identify a last known location of the leader;

wherein the computing device is configured to use the control center interface to send the unique identifier for the visitor from the computing device to the command center workstation, in response to reading the unique identifier for the visitor from the identification token in the identification card for the visitor; and

wherein the command center workstation is configured to send the leader location data to the computing device, in response to receiving the unique identifier for the visitor from the computing device.

28. An automated system according to claim 27, wherein the computing device is configured to use the control center interface to send visitor location data identifying a current location of the visitor to the command center workstation.

29. An automated system according to claim 28, wherein the command center workstation is configured to use the current location of the visitor to compute directions from the current location of the visitor to the last known location of the leader.

30. An automated system according to claim 27, wherein the computing device is configured to use the leader location data to compute directions from a current location of the visitor to the last known location of the leader.

31. An automated system according to claim 27, wherein the computing device comprises a visitor interface configured to display a map on a display of the computing device, wherein the map shows a current location of the visitor, the last known location of the leader, and directions from the current location of the visitor to the last known location of the leader.

32. A computing device for providing assistance services for crowded events, the computing device comprising:

a processor;

a display responsive to the processor;

a token reader responsive to the processor, the token reader configured to use a communications technology from the group consisting of radio-frequency identification (RFID), Bluetooth, and near field communication (NFC) to read a unique identifier for a visitor from an identification token in an identification card for the visitor; and

a storage medium containing instructions which, when executed by the processor, implement components comprising;

a control center interface to support network communications with a command center workstation; and

a visitor interface;

wherein the computing device is configured to use the control center interface to send the unique identifier for the visitor to the command center workstation, in response to reading the unique identifier for the visitor from the identification card for the visitor;

wherein the computing device is configured to use the control center interface to receive leader location data from the command center workstation, wherein the leader location data identifies a last known location of a leader associated with the visitor; and

wherein the visitor interface is configured to present, on the display, a map which shows a current location of the visitor, the last known location of the leader, and directions from the current location of the visitor to the last known location of the leader.

33. A computing device according to claim 32, further comprising:

a global positioning system (GPS) responsive to the processor, wherein the GPS is configured to automatically determine the current location of the visitor; and

wherein the control center interface is configured to automatically send the current location of the visitor to the command center workstation.

34. An automated method for providing assistance services for crowded events, the method comprising:

using a token reader of a computing device to read a unique identifier for a visitor from an identification token in an identification card for the visitor, wherein the token reader reads the unique identifier from the identification card using a communications technology from the group consisting of radio-frequency identification (RFID), Bluetooth, and near field communication (NFC);

in response to reading the unique identifier for the visitor from the identification card;

automatically sending visitor location data for a current location of the visitor from the computing device to a remote command center; and

automatically receiving leader location data from the remote command center, wherein the leader location data identifies a last known location for a leader of a predetermined group of visitors that includes the visitor;

after receiving the leader location data, computing directions from the current location of the visitor to the last known location of the leader; and

displaying a map on a display of the computing device, wherein the map shows the current location of the visitor, the last known location of the leader, and the directions from the current location of the visitor to the last known location of the leader.

35. An automated method according to claim 34, further comprising:

in response to reading the unique identifier for the visitor, automatically sending the unique identifier for the visitor from the computing device to the remote command center;

after sending the unique identifier for the visitor from the computing device to the remote command center, receiving, from the remote command center, residence location data to identify a location of a residence of the visitor;

after receiving the residence location data, computing directions from the current location of the visitor to the residence of the visitor; and

displaying, on the map on the display of the computing device, the location of the residence of the visitor and the directions from the current location of the visitor to the residence of the visitor.

36. An automated method according to claim 35, further comprising:

receiving crowd data from the remote command center; and

using the crowd data when computing at least one of;

the directions from the current location of the visitor to the last known location of the leader; and

the directions from the current location of the visitor to the residence of the visitor.

37. An automated method according to claim 35, wherein the computing device comprises a first computing device, the method further comprising:

using a second computing device at a second location to read a unique identifier for the leader from an identification token for the leader; and

in response to reading the unique identifier for the leader, automatically sending location data for the leader from second computing device to the remote command center.

38. An automated method according to claim 37, further comprising:

saving the location data for the leader at the remote command center; and

in response receiving the unique identifier for the visitor at the remote command center, automatically sending the location data for the corresponding leader from the remote command center to the first computing device, for use as the last known location of the leader.

39. An automated method according to claim 35, wherein:

the computing device automatically performs the operation of receiving residence location data from the remote command center, in response to reading the unique identifier for the visitor.

40. An automated method according to claim 35, further comprising:

automatically displaying personal information for the visitor in a graphical user interface on the display of the computing device, in response reading the unique identifier for the visitor from the identification token for the visitor; and

automatically providing, in the graphical user interface, a selectable location option for obtaining location assistance and a selectable medical option for obtaining medical assistance.

41. An automated method according to claim 40, further comprising:

receiving user input selecting the location option from the graphical user interface; and

wherein the operation of displaying the directions from the current location of the visitor to the last known location of the leader is performed after receiving the user input selecting the location option.

42. An automated method according to claim 41, further comprising:

in response to receiving the user input selecting the location option from the graphical user interface, automatically providing, in the graphical user interface, a selectable leader option for requesting directions to the last known location of the leader and a selectable residence option for requesting directions to the residence of the visitor; and

wherein the operation of displaying the directions from the current location of the visitor to the last known location of the leader is performed automatically in response to user input selecting the leader option; and

wherein the operation of displaying the directions from the current location of the visitor to the residence of the visitor is performed automatically in response to user input selecting the residence option.

43. At least one non-transitory machine accessible medium comprising:

instructions that, when executed by a computing device, enable the computing device to perform the method recited in claim 34.

44. At least one non-transitory machine accessible medium comprising:

instructions that, when executed by a computing device, enable the computing device to perform the method recited in claim 35.

45. A computing device comprising:

a processor;

a local storage device responsive to the processor; and

instructions in the local storage device which, when executed by the computing device, enable the computing device to perform the method recited in claim 34.

46. A computing device comprising:

a processor;

a local storage device responsive to the processor; and

instructions in the local storage device which, when executed by the computing device, enable the computing device to perform the method recited in claim 35.