Crowd formation based on physical boundaries and other rules
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
- receiving, by a server, information identifying one or more known physical boundaries, wherein the one or more known physical boundaries comprise physical boundaries of a Point of Interest (POI);
obtaining, by the server, current locations of a plurality of users via a plurality of mobile devices, each of the plurality of users being a user of a corresponding one of the plurality of mobile devices;
determining, by the server, a subset of users from the plurality of users are located within the one or more known physical boundaries, based on a comparison of the current locations of the subset of users and the one or more known physical boundaries;
forming, by the server, a crowd including the subset of users from the plurality of users, wherein forming the crowd comprises performing a spatial crowd formation process for a bounding region limited to the physical boundaries of the POI, wherein forming the crowd further comprises forming the crowd based on the current locations of the subset of users and the one or more known physical boundaries such that the crowd does not include spatially proximate users that are currently located on opposite sides of the one or more known physical boundaries; and
generating, by the server, crowd data representing the subset of users included in the crowd.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure relates to forming crowds of users taking into account known physical boundaries. In general, current locations of a number of users are obtained. A crowd of users is then formed based on the current locations of the users while taking into account one or more known physical boundaries such that the crowd does not include spatially proximate users on opposite sides of the one or more known physical boundaries. By utilizing known physical boundaries in a spatial crowd formation process, users that are spatially proximate to one another but are separated by a physical boundary are not included in the same crowd. In this manner, the spatial crowd formation process provides accurate and meaningful crowd formation in environments such as, but not limited to, buildings with multiple rooms, shopping malls, or the like.
-
Citations
28 Claims
-
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
-
receiving, by a server, information identifying one or more known physical boundaries, wherein the one or more known physical boundaries comprise physical boundaries of a Point of Interest (POI); obtaining, by the server, current locations of a plurality of users via a plurality of mobile devices, each of the plurality of users being a user of a corresponding one of the plurality of mobile devices; determining, by the server, a subset of users from the plurality of users are located within the one or more known physical boundaries, based on a comparison of the current locations of the subset of users and the one or more known physical boundaries; forming, by the server, a crowd including the subset of users from the plurality of users, wherein forming the crowd comprises performing a spatial crowd formation process for a bounding region limited to the physical boundaries of the POI, wherein forming the crowd further comprises forming the crowd based on the current locations of the subset of users and the one or more known physical boundaries such that the crowd does not include spatially proximate users that are currently located on opposite sides of the one or more known physical boundaries; and generating, by the server, crowd data representing the subset of users included in the crowd. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A computer-implemented method comprising:
-
obtaining, by a server, current locations of a plurality of users via a plurality of mobile devices, each of the plurality of users being a user of a corresponding one of the plurality of mobile devices; and forming, by the server, a crowd including a number of users from the plurality of users based on the current locations of the number of users and one or more known physical boundaries, wherein forming the crowd comprises; detecting, by the server, a triggering event for a spatial crowd formation process, the triggering event being associated with one of the plurality of users; determining, by the server, that a current location of the one of the plurality of users is within the physical boundaries of a Point of Interest (POI); creating, by the server, a bounding region for the spatial crowd formation process that encompasses the current location of the one of the plurality of users and is limited by the physical boundaries of the POI; and performing, by the server, the spatial crowd formation process for the bounding region based on the current locations of a subset of the plurality of users within the bounding region to thereby form the crowd including the number of users. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A server comprising:
-
a communication interface adapted to communicatively couple the server to a plurality of mobile devices via a network; and a controller associated with the communication interface and adapted to; receive information identifying one or more known physical boundaries, wherein the one or more known physical boundaries comprise physical boundaries of a Point of Interest (POI); obtain current locations of a plurality of users via the plurality of mobile devices, each of the plurality of users being a user of a corresponding one of the plurality of mobile devices; determine a subset of users from the plurality of users are located within the one or more known physical boundaries, based on a comparison of the current locations of the subset of users and the one or more known physical boundaries; form a crowd including the subset of users from the plurality of users, wherein the crowd is formed based on the current locations of the subset of users and the one or more known physical boundaries such that the crowd does not include spatially proximate users that are currently located on opposite sides of the one or more known physical boundaries and wherein, in order to form the crowd, the controller is further adapted to perform a spatial crowd formation process for a bounding region limited to the physical boundaries of the POI; and generate crowd data representing the subset of users included in the crowd. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A server comprising:
-
a communication interface adapted to communicatively couple the server to a plurality of mobile devices via a network; and a controller associated with the communication interface and adapted to; obtain current locations of a plurality of users of the plurality of mobile devices, each of the plurality of users being a user of a corresponding one of the plurality of mobile devices; and form a crowd including a number of users from the plurality of users based on the current locations of the number of users and one or more known physical boundaries, wherein, in order to form the crowd, the controller is further adapted to; detect a triggering event for a spatial crowd formation process, the triggering event being associated with one of the plurality of users; determine that a current location of the one of the plurality of users is within the physical boundaries of a Point of Interest (POI); create a bounding region for the spatial crowd formation process that encompasses the current location of the one of the plurality of users and is limited by the physical boundaries of the POI; and perform the spatial crowd formation process for the bounding region based on the current locations of a subset of the plurality of users within the bounding region to thereby form the crowd including the number of users. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
Specification