System and method for adaptive context aware interaction of user with entity of interest

• US 8,219,670 B2
• Filed: 11/10/2008
• Issued: 07/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: University of Maryland
• Original Assignee: University of Maryland
• Inventors: Agrawala, Ashok K., Varshney, Amitabh, Almazan, Christian B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Walsh, John B.
• Application Number:
  US12/267,921
• Publication Number:
  US 20090125584A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,338 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/563 Data redirection of data network streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/04 with alarm systems, e.g. fire, police or burglar alarm systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A multifunctional interaction system which is capable of spatio-temporal context localization of users and of communication of audio/video streams to an entity of interest defined by the user, includes a communication domain supporting a predefined localization service, a server associated with the communication domain, client devices, and a dynamically changing context database which is customized in accord with the dynamics of interaction sessions of client devices with the server. The client communicates with the system to either request services therefrom or to send a message to the entity of interest. The system is provided with a panic alert mechanism which, upon actuation, transmits an audio/video data stream along with the client location tag, time stamp, and client ID, to a police precinct for prompt action.

Claims

1. A system for spatio-temporal-context aware interaction of users with an entity of interest, the system comprising:

at least one communication domain covering an area of interest,

at least one server operatively coupled with said at least one communication domain,

a plurality of client devices, each client device interacting with said at least one server in at least one interaction session to transmit a data stream thereto, wherein each client device is associated with a respective user,

at least one entity of interest defined by said respective user for selecting from a collection of available services,

a context entity including contextual information and operatively connected to said at least one server and customized substantially in real time in accordance with dynamics of said at least one interaction session of said each client device with said at least one server,

wherein said at least one server operates for spatio-temporal-context localization of said each client device, collects and in real time dynamically adjusts said contextual information, customizes said at least one interaction session based on said contextual information, and in real-time dynamically reconfigures boundaries of said area of interest as required by dynamics of said at least one interaction session based on said contextual information, and communicates said data stream from said each client device to an authorized entity of interest in a controlled manner;

the availability of said entity of interest for selection being adaptively varied responsive to said contextual information.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said each client device further includes a panic alert mechanism,

wherein said client device transmits a data stream selected from the group consisting of:

video stream, audio stream, SMS, static photographs, and combinations thereof,

wherein said authorized entity of interest includes an entity adapted to respond to emergency situations, and

wherein, upon actuation of said panic alert mechanism by said respective user, said data stream along with said contextual information from said context entity is transmitted to said entity adapted to respond to emergency situations for further actions thereof.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said contextual information transmitted to said entity of interest includes said each client device identification, location tag, and time stamp.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said context entity includes contextual information concerning said respective user, said each client device, communication channels characteristics, location of said each client device, temporal characteristics of said at least one interaction session, goals of said interaction session, privacy policy, security policy, networking information, data concerning events and services of interest, and said at least one communication domain specific information.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said at least one entity of interest includes an entity from a group consisting of:

target audience for distribution of the information, target location extent for distribution of the information, target temporal extent for distribution of the information, at least one client device, at least one user, an entity of interest outside said system, at least one server associated with another communication domain covering another area of interest, at least one service provider, at least one information bank, and at least one website.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of service providers operatively coupled to said at least one server to provide at least one service requested by said each client device.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said entity of interest is granted an access to said data stream based on privileges and rights of said entity of interest.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least another communication domain and at least one another server associated therewith, said at least one server communicating with said at least one another server through a communication channel to provide seamless transition for location determination and to access services supported by each of said at least one and at least another communication domains.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein each of said at least one and another communication domains include first and second location management units, respectively, and wherein said at least one server and said at least another sever select one of said first and second location management units to use when said each client device moves between said communication domains to provide seamless location determination.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising an authentication unit operatively coupled to said at least one server and functioning to certify the location of said each client device and time of said interaction session.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said at least one communication domain is a substantially contiguous communication domain including communication technologies selected from a group consisting of:

WiMAX, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, cellular, Ethernet, Internet, PinPoint, Horus.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein said each client device is selected from a group consisting of:

cellular phones, PDAs, tablets, Laptops, desktops, devices equipped with interface selected from a group consisting of;

display, microphone, webcamera, speakers, earphones, pointing devices.

13. The system of claim 1, further comprising a location management unit operatively coupled to said at least one server and operating to determine the in-real-time location of said each client device.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising a device customization unit operatively coupled to said at least one server and operating to dynamically optimize communication between said each client device and said entity of interest based on the contextual information contained in said context entity.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein during said interaction session said each client device includes a volatile memory block containing a redundant copy of said context entity available in said at least one server.

16. A system for spatio-temporal-context aware interaction of users with an entity of interest, the system comprising:

at least one communication domain covering an area of interest,

at least one server operatively coupled with said at least one communication domain, said at least one server having an information bank allowed therein,

at least one client device associated with a user, said at least one client device including an alert mechanism for being actuated by said user in a predetermined situation to initiate an interaction session,

a context entity operatively coupled to said at least one server, said context entity maintaining in real-time dynamically changing contextual information concerning said at least one client device identification, location thereof, and temporal characteristics of said interaction session, wherein said at least one server dynamically reconfigures boundaries of said area of interest as required by dynamics of said interaction session, and

at least one entity of interest communicating with said at least one server in a controlled manner,

wherein, upon activation of said alert mechanism, said at least one client device transmitting an audio/video data stream to said at least one server for being recorded in said information bank thereof, and

wherein said at least one server forwards said audio/video data streams along with said contextual information to said at least one entity of interest defined by said user for selecting from a collection of available services, the availability of said entity of interest for selection being adaptively varied responsive to said contextual information.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said at least one entity of interest includes an emergency response unit, said emergency response unit responding with predetermined actions to the receipt of said audio/video data stream and said contextual information.

18. A method for spatio-temporal-context aware interaction of users with an entity of interest, the method comprising the steps of:

forming at least one communication domain covering an area of interest,

coupling at least one server to said at least one communication domain,

independently connecting a plurality of client devices to said at least one server, each client device being associated with a respective user,

connecting a context entity to said at least one server, said context entity maintaining for each user contextual information available for said respective user, client device, said interaction session, communication channels characteristics, location of said each client device, temporal characteristics of said at least one interaction session, goals of said interaction session, privacy policy, security policy, networking information, data concerning events and services of interest, and said at least one communication domain specific information,

initiating an interaction session between at least one client device and an entity of interest defined by said user for receiving services therefrom, and

customizing said context entity during said interaction session substantially in real time in accordance with the dynamics of said interaction session, dynamically in real-time reconfiguring boundaries of said area of interest as required by dynamics of said interaction session, the availability of said entity of interest for selection being adaptively varied responsive to said contextual information;

said client device receiving said services from said entity of interest based on the content of said context entity.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the steps of:

initiating said interaction session by activating a panic alert mechanism provided on said client device,

forwarding an audio/video data stream from said client device to said at least one server, and

forwarding said audio/video data stream along with said contextual information of said context entity from said at least one server to said entity of interest, wherein said entity of interest includes a public safety unit.