LOCATION AND ACTIVITY AWARE MEDIA CONTENT DELIVERY SYSTEM

• US 20170150321A1
• Filed: 06/03/2016
• Published: 05/25/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hexagon Innovations LLC
• Original Assignee: Cuseum, Inc.
• Inventors: CIECKO, BRENDAN
• Granted Patent: US 9,775,003 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals

Abstract

A media content delivery system includes a network server in communications with a plurality of mobile communication devices. The network server maintains a map of geo-fence instances and corresponding geographic locations of each, and it maintains a store of media content that relates to each geographic location. Each of the communication devices has functionality that operates to determine its current geographic location and to send the current geographic location to the network server. The network server runs a logical process that determines if a current location of the mobile device corresponds to a geo-fence location, and if so, operates to determine whether the user is waiting in a queue defined by the geo-fence. If both of these conditions are satisfied, the server selects and delivers media content to the mobile device that relates in some manner to a venue associated with the identified geo-fence instance.

Claims

1. In a media content delivery system, a method of delivering media content to a mobile communication device, comprising:

receiving by a media content server over a network from a mobile communication device information used by the server to identify a geographic position and recent movement history of the mobile communication device;

comparing the identified geographic position to the geographic positions of each of a plurality of geo-fence instances to identify a single one of the plurality of the geo-fence instances;

determining that the recent movement history of the mobile communication device is consistent with a movement pattern that is characteristic of a mobile communication device user waiting in a queue; and

selecting and transmitting media content over the network to the mobile communication device that relates to the geo-fence instance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information received by the media content server that is used to identify the geographic position of the mobile communication device is geographic position information that the mobile communication device receives from an outdoor or an indoor geographic positioning system or is environmental image information captured by the mobile communication device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information used by the server to identify a recent movement history of the mobile communication device comprises a plurality of serial instances of an instantaneous rate of motion detected by a movement detection device over a selected period of time or is a series of environmental images captured by the mobile communication device over the selected period of time.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the environmental image information captured by the mobile communication device over the selected period of time is information comprising a still image or a video image.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the geo-fence instance and the queue are both associated with a same venue.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the geo-fence area is comprised of a plurality of sets of geographic location coordinates or a set comprising a plurality of environmental images.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein each one of the plurality of the geographic coordinate sets is comprised of latitude and longitude information and each one of the environmental images is comprised of a plurality of pixels, each pixel having grey scale or color information.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected media content is designed to motivate a mobile device user to become engaged in a particular activity or to take a particular action that relates to the venue.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the movement pattern characteristic of a mobile device user waiting in the queue is an alternating pattern of motion and no motion.

10. A network server for delivering media content based upon a geographic location and a recent movement history of a mobile communication device, comprising:

a plurality of stored geo-fence area instances, each geo-fence area instance is associated with geographic location information or environmental image information;

a store having a recent mobile communication device movement history and having information relating to a current geographic location of the mobile communication device;

one or more instances of content stored in association with each of the geo-fence area instances; and

a processor running logical computer instructions that operate on the information relating to the stored current geographic location and the recent movement history of the mobile communication device to determine that the mobile communication device is currently located within a particular one of the plurality of the geo-fence area instances, and that the recent history of the mobile communication device movement is consistent with a movement pattern that is characteristic of a mobile device user waiting in a queue, and selecting and transmitting media content to the mobile communication device that relates to the particular one of the plurality of the geo-fence area instances.

11. The network server of claim 10, wherein each of the geo-fence area instances is comprised of either a plurality of sets of geographic location coordinates, or is comprised of a set of images relating the each geo-fence instance or both.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein each one of the plurality geographic coordinate sets is comprised of latitude and longitude information, and each image set is comprised of a plurality of environmental images each having image information that is recognized by the network server to be associated with any one of the geo-fence instances.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the recent movement history is comprised of a plurality of instantaneous rate of motion instances detected over a pre-selected period of time or is comprised of a series of environmental images captured over a pre-selected period of time.

14. The network server of claim 10, wherein the characteristic movement pattern of a mobile device user waiting in the queue is an alternating pattern of motion and no motion.

15. A media content delivery system, comprising:

a mobile communication device connected over a wireless network to a media content server, wherein the mobile communication device operates to send information to the media content server which is used by the server to determine that a current geographic position and recent movement history of the mobile communication device is coincident with a geo-fence area instance location, and using a recent history of the movement information to determine that the recent mobile communication device movement is consistent with a pattern of movement that is characteristic of a mobile device user waiting in a queue, and the media content server selecting and transmitting media content to the mobile communication device that relates to the geo-fence instance.

16. The media content delivery system of claim 15, wherein the recent movement history is comprised of a plurality of instantaneous rate of motion instances or a series of environmental images detected over a pre-selected period of time.

17. The media content delivery system of claim 15, wherein the characteristic movement pattern of a mobile device user waiting in the queue is an interleaved pattern of motion and no motion.

18. The media content delivery system of claim 15, wherein both the queue and the geo-fence area instance are related to a particular venue.

19. The media content delivery system of claim 15, wherein the selected media content is designed to motivate a mobile device user to become engaged in a particular activity or to take a particular action that relates to the venue.