METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMIC PROXIMITY-BASED MEDIA SHARING

• US 20170134455A1
• Filed: 11/05/2015
• Published: 05/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kistler, Michael D., Rajamony, Ramakrishnan, Ballands, Andrew J., Craig, Kyle J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,923,941 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/434 using image data, e.g. images, photos, pictures taken by a user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/50 of still image data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• 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

Disclosed embodiments provide an approach for sharing media items between mobile devices that are in proximity to one another. A device ID is generated and shared with nearby devices. Media items are uploaded to a data server and then sent from the data server to other devices that request them based on a shared device ID. Users do not need to know each other or be connected to each other in any social media sense, and yet can still share media items. Thus, disclosed embodiments provide a new level of crowd-sourced coverage of an event based on sharing of media items.

Claims

1. A method of sharing media from a mobile device comprising:

broadcasting an internal device identifier;

recording a media item to the mobile device;

associating the internal device identifier with the recorded media item;

sending the media item and associated internal device identifier to a data server;

receiving one or more external device identifiers from nearby devices;

requesting media items from the data server based on the one or more external device identifiers; and

receiving the requested media items.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing the internal device identifier at a predetermined time interval.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing the internal device identifier based on a user action.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the user action comprises shaking the mobile device at a rate between 2 Hertz and 5 Hertz.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein changing the internal device identifier comprises changing the internal device identifier randomly.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing the internal device identifier upon recording the media item to the mobile device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein broadcasting an internal device identifier comprises transmitting the internal device identifier via a local transceiver.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the media item and associated internal device identifier to a data server further includes sending an associated geographical location value.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising broadcasting a disconnect message.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the local transceiver includes one of a Bluetooth transmitter, Zigbee transmitter, and a WiFi transmitter.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the recorded media item is one of a photograph, video file, and audio file.

12. A method of sharing media based on event proximity, comprising:

receiving a plurality of media items, wherein each media item comprises a corresponding device identifier;

receiving a media request, wherein the media request includes a requested device identifier; and

providing a media response, wherein the media response includes one or more media items having corresponding device identifiers that match the requested device identifier.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein:

receiving a plurality of media items further includes receiving an associated geographical location value for each media item of the plurality of media items;

determining at least one extended device identifier for at least one of the corresponding device identifiers; and

wherein providing the media response further includes one or more media items having corresponding device identifiers that match the at least one extended device identifier.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein providing the media response further includes providing a contact identifier corresponding to the device identifier associated with each of the one or more media items provided in the media response.

15. A mobile device comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor;

a network interface coupled to the processor;

a local transceiver coupled to the processor;

a media recording apparatus coupled to the processor;

a geolocation receiver coupled to the processor;

wherein the memory contains instructions, which when executed by the processor, perform the steps of;

broadcasting an internal device identifier using the local transceiver;

recording a media item from the media recording apparatus to the memory;

associating the internal device identifier with the recorded media item;

sending the media item and associated internal device identifier to a data server;

receiving one or more external device identifiers from nearby devices;

requesting media items from the data server based on the one or more external device identifiers; and

receiving the requested media items and storing the requested media items in the memory.

16. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the memory further comprises instructions for changing the internal device identifier at a predetermined time interval.

17. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the memory further comprises instructions for changing the internal device identifier based on a user action.

18. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the memory further comprises instructions for changing the internal device identifier based on user action of shaking the mobile device at a rate between 2 Hertz and 5 Hertz.

19. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the memory further comprises instructions for changing the internal device identifier randomly.

20. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the memory further comprises instructions for changing the internal device identifier upon recording the media item to the mobile device.