Methods and apparatus for transmitting position information among user terminals

• US 8,655,376 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2012
• Issued: 02/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kaido, Kenji, Nishina, Eiichi, Hasekura, Tomohiro, Konno, Shohei
• Primary Examiner(s): Khan, Suhail
• Application Number:
  US13/398,974
• Publication Number:
  US 20120214505A1
• Time in Patent Office: 732 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/216 using geographical information, e.g. location of the game device or player using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/35 Details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/79 involving player-related data, e.g. identities, accounts, preferences or play histories
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/204 the platform being a handheld device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/205 for detecting the geographical location of the game platform
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/408 Peer to peer connection
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5573 player location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

A position coordinate receiving section obtains a position from a user terminal. A nearby user distributing section provides information about a source user terminal to a recipient user terminal. The nearby user distributing section controls whether or not to provide the information about the source user terminal to the recipient user terminal based on a position that is obtained from the recipient user terminal and a position obtained from the source user terminal. The position obtained from the source user terminal that is used in the control is a position outside an area set by a user of the source user terminal. Accordingly, a user is provided a way to prevent other users from knowing that the user is in a place specified by the user.

Claims

1. A communication system, comprising:

a positioning unit that sequentially calculates positions of a source user terminal and sequentially storing the calculated positions in a position storing unit of the source user terminal;

a display control unit that displays a map on a display of the source user terminal, the map including an image indicating a privacy area set by a user of the source user terminal, and images which indicate candidate positions of the source user terminal, at least some of which were previously stored in, and obtained from, the position storing unit, wherein a display mode in which any of the images indicating candidate positions inside the privacy area are displayed is different from a display mode in which any of the images indicating candidate positions outside the privacy area are displayed; and

a transmission unit that transmits only the candidate positions of the source user terminal that are outside the privacy area to a server,

wherein information about the source user terminal is provided to a receiving user terminal in accordance with a control based on a given one of the candidate positions of the source user terminal that was transmitted to the server and a relative position of the receiving user terminal to such given one of the candidate positions of the source user terminal.

2. The communication system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a position obtaining unit that obtains a position from the source user terminal and a position from the recipient user terminal; and

an information providing unit that provides position information about the source user terminal,

wherein the position obtaining unit does not obtain, from the source user terminal, as a position used in the control, a position within a given distance from a position that is set by the user of the source user terminal.

3. A communication method, comprising:

sequentially calculating positions of a source user terminal and sequentially storing the calculated positions in a position storing unit of the source user terminal;

displaying a map on a display of the source user terminal, the map including an image indicating a privacy area set by a user of the source user terminal, and images which indicate candidate positions of the source user terminal, at least some of which were previously stored in, and obtained from, the position storing unit, wherein a display mode in which any of the images indicating candidate positions inside the privacy area are displayed is different from a display mode in which any of the images indicating candidate positions outside the privacy area are displayed; and

transmitting only the candidate positions of the source user terminal that are outside the privacy area to a server,

providing information about the source user terminal to a receiving user terminal in accordance with a control based on a given one of the candidate positions of the source user terminal that was transmitted to the server and a relative position of the receiving user terminal to such given one of the candidate positions of the source user terminal.

4. A program stored on a non-transitory computer-readable information storage medium having instructions for execution by a computer, the program having instructions for:

sequentially calculating positions of a source user terminal and sequentially storing the calculated positions in a position storing unit of the source user terminal;

displaying a map on a display of the source user terminal, the map including an image indicating a privacy area set by a user of the source user terminal, and images which indicate candidate positions of the source user terminal, at least some of which were previously stored in, and obtained from, the position storing unit, wherein a display mode in which any of the images indicating candidate positions inside the privacy area are displayed is different from a display mode in which any of the images indicating candidate positions outside the privacy area are displayed; and

transmitting only the candidate positions of the source user terminal that are outside the privacy area to a server,

providing information about the source user terminal to a receiving user terminal in accordance with a control based on a given one of the candidate positions of the source user terminal that was transmitted to the server and a relative position of the receiving user terminal to such given one of the candidate positions of the source user terminal.

5. A non-transitory computer-readable information storage medium having a program executed by a computer stored thereon, the program having instructions for:

sequentially calculating positions of a source user terminal and sequentially storing the calculated positions in a position storing unit of the source user terminal;

displaying a map on a display of the source user terminal, the map including an image indicating a privacy area set by a user of the source user terminal, and images which indicate candidate positions of the source user terminal, at least some of which were previously stored in, and obtained from, the position storing unit, wherein a display mode in which any of the images indicating candidate positions inside the privacy area are displayed is different from a display mode in which any of the images indicating candidate positions outside the privacy area are displayed; and

transmitting only the candidate positions of the source user terminal that are outside the privacy area to a server,

providing information about the source user terminal to a receiving user terminal in accordance with a control based on a given one of the candidate positions of the source user terminal that was transmitted to the server and a relative position of the receiving user terminal to such given one of the candidate positions of the source user terminal.