Methods and systems for gathering market research data inside and outside commercial establishments
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A portable monitor for use in a market research study for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in the market research study, comprising:
- a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals from one or more satellite sources and to supply position data corresponding to the one or more position signals;
storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study; and
a processor operative to process the position data to ascertain a current location of the portable monitor, to assess whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest based upon the ascertained current location of the portable monitor and the venue of interest data stored in the storage, and to generate, when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to said at least one of the venues of interest, a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest and time data representative of a time at which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest,the processor further being operative, after the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to said at least one of the venues of interest, to ascertain that the portable monitor enters the respective venue of interest when the wireless receiver does not receive one or more position signals sufficient to enable the processor to ascertain the current location of the portable monitor, and to ascertain an amount of time the portable monitor remains outside but within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest by utilizing an amount of time the wireless receiver continues to receive one or more position signals sufficient to enable the processor to ascertain the current location of the portable monitor.
13 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for tracking movements of participants in a market research study, for example, outside retail establishments, are provided. The methods and systems employ portable monitors carried on the persons of the participants to gather location data.
255 Citations
75 Claims
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1. A portable monitor for use in a market research study for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in the market research study, comprising:
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a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals from one or more satellite sources and to supply position data corresponding to the one or more position signals; storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study; and a processor operative to process the position data to ascertain a current location of the portable monitor, to assess whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest based upon the ascertained current location of the portable monitor and the venue of interest data stored in the storage, and to generate, when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to said at least one of the venues of interest, a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest and time data representative of a time at which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest, the processor further being operative, after the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to said at least one of the venues of interest, to ascertain that the portable monitor enters the respective venue of interest when the wireless receiver does not receive one or more position signals sufficient to enable the processor to ascertain the current location of the portable monitor, and to ascertain an amount of time the portable monitor remains outside but within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest by utilizing an amount of time the wireless receiver continues to receive one or more position signals sufficient to enable the processor to ascertain the current location of the portable monitor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study, the portable monitor adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants, and containing a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals from one or more satellite sources, and containing a storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study; ascertaining a current location of the portable monitor based upon the received one or more position signals; assessing whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest represented by the venue of interest data; generating a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest to which the portable monitor is disposed within the predetermined proximity and time data representative of a time when the portable monitor is assessed to be disposed within the predetermined proximity of the respective venue of interest; ascertaining, after assessing that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to said at least one of the venues of interest, that the portable monitor enters the respective venue of interest when the wireless receiver does not receive one or more position signals sufficient to enable the processor to ascertain the current location of the portable monitor; and ascertaining, after assessing that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to said at least one of the venues of interest, an amount of time the portable monitor remains outside but within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest by utilizing an amount of time the wireless receiver continues to receive one or more position signals sufficient to ascertain the current location of the portable monitor. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A portable monitor for use in a market research study for monitoring retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in the market research study, comprising:
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a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals and to supply position data corresponding to the one or more position signals; and a processor operative to process the position data to ascertain a current location of the portable monitor, to assess whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of a plurality of retail establishments pertinent to the market research study, and to generate a record of a visit to the retail establishment if the wireless receiver is unable to receive position signals sufficient to enable the processor to ascertain the current location of the portable monitor after the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the retail establishment, the generated record including data representative of the retail establishment and time data representing a time the portable monitor entered the retail establishment. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. A portable monitor for use in a market research study for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in the market research study, comprising:
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a wireless receiver operatively controlled to receive one or more position signals and to supply position data corresponding to the one or more position signals; storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study; a processor operative to process the position data to ascertain a current location of the portable monitor, to assess whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest based upon the ascertained current location of the portable monitor and the venue of interest data, to operate the wireless receiver in a first mode of operation to receive said one or more position signals at a first rate when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is not within the predetermined proximity to any of the venues of interest, and to operate the wireless receiver in a second mode of operation to receive said one or more position signals at a second rate substantially higher than the first rate when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest, and to generate, when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest, a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest to which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity and time data representative of a time when the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest.
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28. A portable monitor for use in a market research study for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in the market research study, comprising:
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a wireless receiver operatively controlled to receive one or more position signals and to supply position data corresponding to the one or more position signals; storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study; a processor operative to control the wireless receiver to receive said one or more position signals at a first rate in a first mode of operation, to control the wireless receiver to receive said one or more position signals at a second rate in a second mode of operation, the second rate being substantially higher than the first rate, to process the position data to ascertain a current location of the portable monitor, and wherein the processor is further operative to control the wireless receiver to receive said one or more position signals at a third rate while the wireless receiver is unable to supply position data that enables the processor to ascertain the current location of the portable monitor; the processor being operative to assess whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest based upon the ascertained current location of the portable monitor and the venue of interest data, and to generate, when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest, a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest to which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity and time data representative of a time when the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest.
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29. A portable monitor for use in a market research study for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in the market research study, comprising:
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a wireless receiver operatively controlled to receive one or more position signals and to supply position data corresponding to the one or more position signals; storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study; a processor operative to ascertain a current speed of travel of the portable monitor, to control the wireless receiver to receive said one or more position signals at a first rate in a first mode of operation when the ascertained current speed of travel is greater than a predetermined speed, and to control the wireless receiver to receive said one or more position signals at a second rate substantially higher than the first rate in a second mode of operation when the ascertained current speed of travel is not greater than the predetermined speed, to process the position data to ascertain a current location of the portable monitor, to assess whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest based upon the ascertained current location of the portable monitor and the venue of interest data, and to generate, when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest, a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest to which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity and time data representative of a time when the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest.
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30. A portable monitor for use in a market research study for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in the market research study, comprising:
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a wireless receiver operatively controlled to receive one or more position signals and to supply position data corresponding to the one or more position signals; storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study and distance data representative of designated distances from each of the venues of interest; and a processor operative to control the wireless receiver to receive said one or more position signals at a first rate in a first mode of operation when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is further from each of the venues of interest by the respective designated distance as represented by the stored distance data, and is operative to control the wireless receiver to receive said one or more position signals at a second rate substantially higher than the first rate in a second mode of operation when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is not further from at least one of the venues of interest by the respective designated distance, to process the position data to ascertain a current location of the portable monitor, to assess whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest based upon the ascertained current location of the portable monitor and the venue of interest data, and to generate, when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest, a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest to which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity and time data representative of a time when the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest.
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31. A portable monitor for use in a market research study for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in the market research study, comprising:
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a wireless receiver operatively controlled to receive one or more position signals and to supply position data corresponding to the one or more position signals; storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study; a receiver operative to receive new venue of interest data representing locations of additional venues of interest; the storage being operative to replace previously stored venue of interest data with the new venue of interest data received by the receiver; and a processor operative to control the wireless receiver to receive said one or more position signals at a first rate in a first mode of operation, and to control the wireless receiver to receive said one or more position signals at a second rate in a second mode of operation, the second rate being substantially higher than the first rate, to process the position data to ascertain a current location of the portable monitor, to assess whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest based upon the ascertained current location of the portable monitor and the venue of interest data, and to generate, when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest, a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest to which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity and time data representative of a time when the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest.
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32. A method for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study, the portable monitor adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants, and containing a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals at a selected one of a first rate and a second rate, the second rate being substantially higher than the first rate, the portable monitor containing a storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study; receiving by the wireless receiver one or more position signals; ascertaining a current location of the portable monitor based upon the received one or more position signals; assessing whether the ascertained current location is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest represented by the venue of interest data; selecting the first rate of the wireless receiver when the portable monitor is not within the predetermined proximity to any of the venues of interest, and selecting the second rate of the wireless receiver when the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest; generating a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest that the portable monitor is assessed to be within the predetermined proximity and time data representative of a time at which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest.
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33. A method for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study, the portable monitor adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants, and containing a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals at a selected one of a first rate and a second rate, the second rate being substantially higher than the first rate, the portable monitor containing a storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study; operating the wireless receiver to receive one or more position signals; ascertaining a current location of the portable monitor based upon the received one or more position signals; selecting a rate of operation of the wireless receiver, the rate being selected from at least one of a first rate, a second rate, and a third rate substantially different from the first and second rates, the second rate being substantially higher than the first rate, comprising selecting the third rate when the wireless receiver is unable to receive position signals necessary to ascertain the current location of the portable monitor; assessing whether the ascertained current location is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest represented by the venue of interest data; generating a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest that the portable monitor is assessed to be within the predetermined proximity and time data representative of a time at which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest.
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34. A method for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study, the portable monitor adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants, and containing a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals at a selected one of a first rate and a second rate, the second rate being substantially higher than the first rate, the portable monitor containing a storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study; ascertaining a current speed of travel of the portable monitor; selecting the first rate of operation of the wireless receiver when the ascertained current speed of travel is greater than a predetermined speed, and selecting the second rate when the ascertained current speed of travel is not greater than the predetermined speed; receiving by the wireless receiver one or more position signals at the selected rate of operation; ascertaining a current location of the portable monitor based upon the received one or more position signals; assessing whether the ascertained current location is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest represented by the venue of interest data; generating a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest that the portable monitor is assessed to be within the predetermined proximity and time data representative of a time at which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest.
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35. A method for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study, the portable monitor adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants, and containing a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals at a selectable rate of operation, and containing a storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study; selecting the rate of operation of the wireless receiver, the rate being selected from at least one of a first rate and a second rate, the second rate being substantially higher than the first rate; receiving by the wireless receiver one or more position signals at the selected rate of operation; ascertaining a current location of the portable monitor based upon the received one or more position signals; assessing whether the ascertained current location is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest represented by the venue of interest data; generating a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest that the portable monitor is assessed to be within the predetermined proximity and time data representative of a time at which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest; receiving by the portable monitor new venue of interest data representing locations of additional venues of interest; and replacing by the portable monitor previously stored venue of interest data with the new venue of interest data.
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36. A portable monitor for use in a market research study for monitoring retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in the market research study, comprising:
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a first wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals of a first type and to supply first position data corresponding to the one or more position signals of the first type; a second wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals of a second type and to supply second position data corresponding to the one or more position signals of the second type, the first type and the second type being different; a processor operative to process the first position data to ascertain a current location of the portable monitor, to assess whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of a plurality of retail establishments pertinent to the market research study, to generate a record of a visit to the retail establishment if the first wireless receiver is unable to supply first position data sufficient to enable the processor to ascertain the current location of the portable monitor after the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the retail establishment, and to track movement of the portable monitor in accordance with the second position data if the first wireless receiver is unable to supply first position data sufficient to enable the processor to ascertain the current location of the portable monitor. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A method for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study, the portable monitor adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants, the portable monitor containing a first wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals of a first type, and a second wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals of a second type, the first type and the second type being different; receiving by the first wireless receiver one or more position signals of the first type; ascertaining a current location of the portable monitor based upon the received one or more position signals of the first type; assessing whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of a plurality of retail establishments pertinent to the market research study; generating a record of a visit to the retail establishment if, after assessing that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to a retail establishment, the first wireless receiver in the portable monitor is unable to receive one or more position signals of the first type sufficient for the assessing step to ascertain the current location of the portable monitor; receiving by the second wireless receiver one or more position signals of the second type when the first wireless receiver in the portable monitor is unable to receive one or more position signals of the first type sufficient for the assessing step to ascertain the current location of the portable monitor; and tracking movement of the portable monitor in accordance with the one or more position signals of the second type received by the second wireless receiver. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A portable monitor for use in a market research study for monitoring travel patterns of participants in the market research study, comprising:
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a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals and to supply position data corresponding to the one or more position signals; storage operative to store venue of interest data pertaining to venues of interest pertinent to the market research study, each venue of interest representing a visually viewable advertisement, the venue of interest data including for at least selected ones of each venue of interest physical attribute data identifying a physical attribute of the visually viewable advertisement represented by the respective venue of interest; a processor operative; to process the position data to ascertain a current location of the portable monitor, to ascertain a portable monitor movement characteristic pertaining to movement of the portable monitor, to assess whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to one of the venues of interest; to determine whether the ascertained portable monitor movement characteristic corresponds to the physical attribute data of said one of the venues of interest, and to generate, when the ascertained portable monitor movement characteristic corresponds to the physical attribute data of said one of the venues of interest, a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest and time data representative of a time at which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A method for monitoring travel patterns of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study, the portable monitor adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants, and containing a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals, and containing a storage operative to store venue of interest data pertaining to venues of interest pertinent to the market research study, each venue of interest representing a visually viewable advertisement, the venue of interest data including for at least selected ones of each venue of interest physical attribute data identifying a physical attribute of the visually viewable advertisement represented by the respective venue of interest; ascertaining a current location of the portable monitor based upon the received one or more position signals; assessing whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest represented by the venue of interest data; ascertaining a portable monitor movement characteristic pertaining to movement of the portable monitor; determining whether the ascertained portable monitor movement characteristic corresponds to the physical attribute data of said one of the venues of interest, and generating, when the ascertained portable monitor movement characteristic corresponds to the physical attribute data of said one of the venues of interest, a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest and time data representative of a time at which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A portable monitor for use in a market research study for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in the market research study, comprising:
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a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals and to supply position data corresponding to the one or more position signals; storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest within a first geographic location pertinent to the market research study; and a processor operative to process the position data to ascertain a current location of the portable monitor, to assess whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest based upon the ascertained current location of the portable monitor and the venue of interest data stored in the storage, and to generate, when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to said at least one of the venues of interest, a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest and time data representative of a time at which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest; the wireless receiver adapted during use of the portable monitor by a participant in the market research study to receive, when the portable monitor is disposed in or near a second geographic location different from the first geographic location, new venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest in said second geographic location, the new venue of interest data being substantially different from the venue of interest data stored in the storage;
the storage being operative to replace previously stored venue of interest data with the new venue of interest data received by the receiver.
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65. A method for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study, the portable monitor adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants, and containing a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals, and containing a storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest within a first geographic location pertinent to the market research study; ascertaining a current location of the portable monitor based upon the received one or more position signals; assessing whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest represented by the venue of interest data; generating a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest to which the portable monitor is disposed within the predetermined proximity and time data representative of a time when the portable monitor is assessed to be disposed within the predetermined proximity of the respective venue of interest; receiving by the portable monitor, when the portable monitor is disposed in or near a second geographic location different from the first geographic location, new venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest in said second geographic location, the new venue of interest data being substantially different from the venue of interest data stored in the storage; and replacing by the portable monitor the venue of interest data in the storage with the new venue of interest data.
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66. A portable monitor for use in a market research study for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in the market research study, comprising:
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a wireless receiver operatively controlled to receive one or more position signals and to supply position data corresponding to the one or more position signals; storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study including first venue of interest data representing locations of a first set of venues of interest and second venue of interest data representing locations of a second set of venues of interest; a processor operative to control the wireless receiver to receive said one or more position signals at a first rate in a first mode of operation, and to control the wireless receiver to receive said one or more position signals at a second rate in a second mode of operation, the second rate being substantially higher than the first rate, to process the position data to ascertain a current location of the portable monitor, to assess in the first mode of operation whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest of the first set of venues of interest;
to assess in the second mode of operation whether the portable monitor is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest of either the first set of venues of interest or the second set of venues of interest, and to generate, when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest, a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest to which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity and time data representative of a time when the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest. - View Dependent Claims (67)
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68. A method for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study, the portable monitor adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants, and containing a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals, and containing a storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study, wherein the venue of interest data includes first venue of interest data representing locations of a first set of venues of interest and second venue of interest data representing locations of a second set of venues of interest; selecting a rate of operation of the wireless receiver, the rate being selected from at least one of a first rate and a second rate, the second rate being substantially higher than the first rate; receiving by the wireless receiver one or more position signals at the selected rate of operation; ascertaining a current location of the portable monitor based upon the received one or more position signals; assessing, in the first rate of operation, whether the ascertained current location is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest of the first set of venues of interest; assessing, in the second rate of operation, whether the ascertained current location is within a predetermined proximity to at least one of the venues of interest of either the first set of venues of interest or the second set of venues of interest; generating a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest that the portable monitor is assessed to be within the predetermined proximity and time data representative of a time at which the portable monitor is within the predetermined proximity to the respective venue of interest. - View Dependent Claims (69)
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70. A portable monitor for use in a market research study for monitoring travel and retail establishment visiting patterns of participants in the market research study, comprising:
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a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals and to supply position data corresponding to the one or more position signals; storage operative to store venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study, at least one of the venues of interest representing a visually viewable advertisement, the venue of interest data including physical attribute data identifying a physical attribute of the visually viewable advertisement represented by the at least one of the venues of interest; and a processor operative to process the position data to ascertain a current location of the portable monitor, to ascertain a portable monitor movement characteristic pertaining to movement of the portable monitor, and to assess whether the portable monitor is within a visually viewable distance to at least one of the venues of interest based upon the ascertained current location of the portable monitor, the venue of interest data stored in the storage and the ascertained portable monitor movement characteristic, and to generate, when the processor assesses that the portable monitor is within the visually viewable distance to said at least one of the venues of interest, a record including data representative of the respective venue of interest and current time data. - View Dependent Claims (71, 72)
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73. A method for monitoring travel patterns of participants in a market research study, comprising:
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providing a portable monitor to each of a plurality of participants in the market research study, the portable monitor adapted to be carried on the person of one of the participants, and containing a wireless receiver operative to receive one or more position signals; providing venue of interest data representing locations of venues of interest pertinent to the market research study, at least one of the venues of interest representing a visually viewable advertisement, the venue of interest data including physical attribute data identifying a physical attribute of the visually viewable advertisement represented by the at least one of the venues of interest; ascertaining a current location of the portable monitor based upon the received one or more position signals; ascertaining a portable monitor movement characteristic pertaining to movement of the portable monitor; and assessing whether the portable monitor is within a visually viewable distance to at least one of the venues of interest based upon the ascertained current location of the portable monitor, the venue of interest data and the ascertained portable monitor movement characteristic. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75)
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Specification