METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MANAGING A TASK BASED ON GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS

• US 20150156267A1
• Filed: 02/05/2015
• Published: 06/04/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Original Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Inventors: Zhang, Shaofeng
• Granted Patent: US 9,917,906 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• 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 4/023 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

The present application discloses a location based task management method. A computational device obtains first location information concerning one or more geographical locations where a first client device has been located, and assigns a task to the first client device based on the one or more geographical locations. The task includes a task performance location. The computational device then receives from the first client device a first message that includes second location information corresponding to the task performance location and at least one additional information item. The at least one additional information item is captured by first client device at or near the task performance location after completing the task. The progress of the task is then managed based on the second location information, the at least one additional information item and a time difference between the assignment of the task and the receipt of the first message.

Claims

1. A method of managing a task based on geographical locations, comprising:

at a computational device having one or more processors and memory storing program modules to be executed by the one or more processors;

obtaining first location information concerning one or more geographical locations where a first client device has been located;

assigning a task to the first client device according to the one or more geographical locations of the first client device, the task including a task performance location;

receiving a first message from the first client device, wherein the first message includes second location information corresponding to the task performance location and at least one additional information item, wherein the at least one additional information item is captured by the first client device at or near the task performance location after completing the task; and

managing the progress of the task based on the second location information, the at least one additional information item and a time difference between the assignment of the task and the receipt of the first message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein managing the progress of the task further comprises determining a reward attribute for a user of the first client device based on the second location information, the at least one additional information item and the time difference between the assignment of the task and the receipt of the first message.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

regularly receiving from the first client device an update of its current geographical location, wherein the progress of the task is further managed by monitoring the update of the current geographical location of the first client device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein a subtask of the task is assigned to a second client device, further comprising:

regularly receiving from the second client device an update of its current geographical location; and

managing the progress of the task by monitoring the updates of the current geographical locations of the first client device and the second client device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a subtask of the task is assigned to a second client device, and the first and second client devices exchanges an information item that is selected from an information group consisting of a text message, a voice message, and a picture.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving first current location information concerning a current location of the first client device;

receiving second current location information concerning another current location of a second client device;

determining a distance between the first and second client devices based on the first and second current location information; and

managing the progress of the task based on the distance between the current locations of the first and second client devices and a predetermined relationship between users of the first and second client devices.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein managing the progress of the task by:

in accordance with a determination that the distance between the current locations of the first and second client devices is smaller than a threshold distance, sending a respective presence notification message to the first client device and the second client device to notify the respective device of the presence of the other device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a subtask of the task is assigned to a second client device, further comprising:

determining that the first client device is located within a first predetermined region according to the second location information;

determining that the second client device is located within a second predetermined region according to location information received from the second client device; and

managing the progress of the task by updating reward attributes associated with the users of the first and second client devices.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein managing the progress of the task further comprises at least one of the following operations:

determining that the time difference between the assignment of the task and the receipt of the first message satisfies a task completion time requirement; and

determining a reward attribute to a user of the first client device at least based on the time difference between the assignment of the task and the receipt of the first message.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one additional information item is selected from a message group consisting of a text message, a voice message, a barcode, a quick response (QR) code, and a picture.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one additional information item includes an image that is obtained at or near the task performance location, and managing the progress of the task further comprises:

comparing the image of the at least one additional information item with a specific image that is stored in a memory of the computational machine;

determining a similarity score based on the comparison; and

determining a reward attribute to a user of the first client user according to the similarity score.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one additional information item is associated with the quality of the task that has been completed by the user of the first client at task performance location.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the computational device manages the task based on geographical locations on a social network platform.

14. A computational device, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the processors to perform operations to;

obtain first location information concerning one or more geographical locations where a first client device has been located;

assign a task to the first client device according to the one or more geographical locations of the first client device, the task including a task performance location;

receive a first message from the first client device, wherein the first message includes second location information corresponding to the task performance location and at least one additional information item, wherein the at least one additional information item is captured by the first client device at or near the task performance location after completing the task; and

manage the progress of the task based on the second location information, the at least one additional information item and a time difference between the assignment of the task and the receipt of the first message.

15. The computational device of claim 14, wherein the at least one additional information item is selected from a message group consisting of a text message, a voice message, a barcode, a quick response (QR) code, and a picture.

16. The computational device of claim 14, wherein the computational device manages the progress of the task based on geographical locations on a social network platform.

17. The computational device of claim 14, wherein the instructions stored on the memory, when executed by the one or more processors further cause the processors to perform operations to:

receive first current location information concerning a current location of the first client device;

receive second current location information concerning another current location of a second client device;

determine a distance between the first and second client devices based on the first and second current location information; and

manage the progress of the task based on the distance between the current locations of the first and second client devices and a predetermined relationship between users of the first and second client devices.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing at least one program configured for execution by at least one processor of a electronic device, the at least one program comprising instructions to:

obtain first location information concerning one or more geographical locations where a first client device has been located;

assign a task to the first client device according to the one or more geographical locations of the first client device, the task including a task performance location;

receive a first message from the first client device, wherein the first message includes second location information corresponding to the task performance location and at least one additional information item, wherein the at least one additional information item is captured by the first client device at or near the task performance location after completing the task; and

manage the progress of the task based on the second location information, the at least one additional information item and a time difference between the assignment of the task and the receipt of the first message.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions to manage the progress of the task further comprises the instructions to determine a reward attribute for a user of the first client device based on the second location information, the at least one additional information item and the time difference between the assignment of the task and the receipt of the first message.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, the at least one program further comprising instructions to:

regularly receive from the first client device an update of its current geographical location, wherein the progress of the task is further managed by monitoring the update of the current geographical location of the first client device.