Method for spatially-accurate location of a device using audio-visual information

• US 8,447,329 B2
• Filed: 02/08/2011
• Issued: 05/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Longsand Limited (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Kadirkamanathan, Mahapathy, Blanchflower, Sean Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Kent
• Assistant Examiner(s): BRITTINGHAM, NATHANIEL P
• Application Number:
  US13/023,508
• Publication Number:
  US 20120202514A1
• Time in Patent Office: 833 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561-4562, 455/457
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 11/14 using ultrasonic, sonic, or infrasonic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/18 using ultrasonic, sonic, or infrasonic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/30 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/58 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/583 using metadata automatically derived from the content
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5866 using information manually generated, e.g. tags, keywords, comments, manually generated location and time information
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/587 using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/78 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/787 using geographical or spatial information, e.g. location
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/95 structured as a network, e.g. client-server architectures
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/20 in augmented reality scenes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination

Abstract

A system to determine positions of mobile computing devices and provide direction information includes a first mobile computing device configured to broadcast a first chirp signal, a second mobile computing device configured to broadcast a second chirp signal indicating receipt of the first chirp signal and a first time information about when the first chirp signal is received, and a third mobile computing device configured broadcast a third chirp signal indicating (a) receipt of the first and second chirp signals and (b) a second time information about when the first and second chirp signals are received. The first mobile computing device is configured to use the first and second time information to determine a position of the second mobile computing device. The first mobile computing device is also configured to transmit text messages to the second mobile computing device to direct a user of the second mobile computing device to a position of a user of the first mobile computing device.

Claims

1. A computer-generated method for determining position information, the method comprising:

receiving a first time-stamped notification from a first mobile computing device, the first time-stamped notification indicating that a first chirp signal in an audio frequency range has been broadcast by the first mobile computing device;

receiving a second time-stamped notification from a second mobile computing device, the second time-stamped notification indicating that the first chirp signal has been received by the second mobile computing device;

determining distance between the first and second mobile computing devices based on time difference between the first and second time-stamped notifications, where the first chirp signal in the audio frequency range is transmitted with a distinctive pattern to allow detection of the first chirp signal from other signals present in the audio frequency range;

transmitting first direction information to the first mobile computing device to direct a first user of the first mobile computing device toward a position of a second user of the second mobile computing device;

receiving frames of a video stream from the first mobile computing device, the frames including an image of the second user; and

performing facial recognition to recognize the second user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting second direction information to the second mobile computing device to direct the second user toward a position of the first user.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first and second direction information are to overlay the video stream being played on a display screen associated with the respective first and second mobile computing devices.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the first and second direction information is transmitted as text messages using short message services (SMS).

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving identity information of the second mobile computing device from the first mobile computing device, and transmitting information about the second user to the first mobile computing device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting information about the second user to the first mobile computing device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first chirp signal is broadcast using the distinctive pattern of high and low frequencies.

8. A method for directing a user of a second mobile computing device toward a position of a user of a first mobile computing device, the method comprising:

broadcasting a chirp signal pattern in an audio frequency range using a series of low and high frequencies to create a distinctive pattern to allow detection of the chirp signal from other signals present in the audio frequency range;

receiving a broadcast from a second mobile computing device indicating that the chirp signal pattern has been received by the second mobile computing device, the broadcast from the second mobile computing device including a time when the chirp signal pattern is received;

based on a time difference between when the chirp signal pattern is broadcast and when the chirp signal pattern is received by the second mobile computing device, determining a distance between the first and second mobile computing devices;

transmitting a text message to the second mobile computing device to direct the user of the second mobile computing device toward the user of the first mobile computing device; and

wherein the text message transmitted to the second mobile computing device is to overlay a video stream being played on a display screen of the second mobile computing device.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving a the broadcast from a third mobile computing device indicating that the third mobile computing device has received (a) the chirp signal pattern from the first mobile computing device and (b) the broadcast from the second mobile computing device, the broadcast received from the third mobile computing device including a time when the chirp signal pattern and the broadcast from the second mobile computing device is received by the third mobile computing device.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising determining a position of the second mobile computing device using triangulation based on (a) a time difference between when the chirp signal pattern is broadcast and when the chirp signal pattern is received by the second mobile computing device, (b) a time difference between when the chirp signal pattern is broadcast and received by the third mobile computing device, and (c) a time difference between when the broadcast from the second mobile computing device is sent and received by the third mobile computing device, the third mobile computing device located at a predetermined position.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the text message is transmitted to the second mobile computing device using identity information of the second mobile computing device, the identity information included in the broadcast by the second mobile computing device.

12. A system for determining positions of mobile computing devices and for providing direction information, the system comprising:

a first mobile computing device having an audio module and corresponding speakers configured to broadcast a first chirp signal in an audio frequency range with a distinctive pattern to allow detection of the first chirp signal from other signals present in the audio frequency range;

a second mobile computing device configured to broadcast a second chirp signal indicating receipt of the first chirp signal and a first time information about when the first chirp signal is received;

a third mobile computing device configured to broadcast a third chirp signal indicating (a) receipt of the first and second chirp signals and (b) a second time information about when the first and second chirp signals are received, wherein the first mobile computing device is configured to use the first and second time information to determine a position of the second mobile computing device; and

wherein each of the first, second and third chirp signals comprises distinctive patterns of low and high frequencies.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the first mobile computing device is further configured to transmit a text message to the second mobile computing device to direct a user of the second mobile computing device toward a position of a user of the first mobile computing device.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the text message is transmitted to the second mobile computing device using identity information included in the second chirp signal.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the third mobile computing device is located at a pre-determined position.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the first mobile computing device is configured to capture a video stream and transmit frames of the video stream to a server computer connected to a network use wireless communication.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the frames include an image of the second user and are transmitted to the server computer for facial recognition.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the first mobile computing device is configured to receive information about the second user from the server computer based on the server computer recognizing the second user.