Safety monitoring photo service provision method and system

• US 8,811,202 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2009
• Issued: 08/19/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thinkware Systems Corporation
• Original Assignee: Thinkware Systems Corporation
• Inventors: Cho, Yongrae, Song, Eunjung, Yoo, Junghwa
• Primary Examiner(s): Pezzlo, John
• Application Number:
  US13/002,150
• Publication Number:
  US 20110134805A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,876 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/329, 370/278, 370/386
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/22 responsive to presence or absence of persons
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00307 with a mobile telephone apparatus constructional features of portable telephone sets H04M1/0202; mobile radio systems H04W84/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00315 with a radio transmission apparatus with a cordless telephone H04N1/00305; systems or arrangements for the transmission of a picture signal specially adapted for transmission via radio H04N1/00103; H04N1/00307 takes precedence; radio transmission systems H04B7/00; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00323 with a measuring, monitoring or signaling apparatus, e.g. for transmitting measured information to a central location
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0084 Digital still camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3253 Position information, e.g. geographical position at time of capture, GPS data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3266 of text or character information, e.g. text accompanying an image H04N2201/3226 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3278 Transmission

Abstract

A safety photo service providing method and system are disclosed. The safety photo service providing method comprises setting a time for identifying a location of a ward, changing location identification networks for the ward depending on whether the ward is located in a predetermined area, performing location identification and image capturing by a ward'"'"'s terminal at the set time, and transmitting location identification information including at least one a location of the ward and a captured image to the guardian'"'"'s terminal.

Claims

1. A safety photo service providing method, said method comprising:

setting a time for identifying a location of a ward, attempting to perform near-field location measurement at a platform of a near-field communication network associated with a predetermined area, determining that near-field location measurement is impossible, changing said location identification network to a cellular network, measuring a location through a location service provided on said cellular network, performing location identification and image capturing by a ward'"'"'s terminal at the set time, and transmitting location identification information, the information including at least one of a location of the ward and a captured image, to the guardian'"'"'s terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein setting the time is performed so that a location is identified at a constant period or at one or more specified times.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined area is set as one or more places corresponding to a ward'"'"'s activity area or a near field communication network installation area.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein changing the location identification network to a cellular network comprises changing said network to a CDMA network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the location identification and image capturing includes automatically identifying a ward'"'"'s location at the set time and capturing an image of surroundings of the ward using a camera attached to the terminal.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the location identification information includes

transmitting location identification information to the guardian'"'"'s terminal, the information including at least one of a captured image and whether the ward is located in a safety zone in a case in which the ward is located in the safety zone, and

transmitting location identification information to the guardian'"'"'s terminal, the information including at least one of an expected location of the ward, a current location of the ward, and a captured image in a case in which the ward is located outside of the safety zone.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising, if the expected location of the ward is different from the current location of the ward in a case in which the ward is located outside of the safety zone, transmitting an alarm message to the guardian'"'"'s terminal.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the location identification information further includes at least one of:

a distance from the ward, a path reaching the ward, and a travelling radius of the ward.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting includes transmitting the location identification information to the guardian'"'"'s terminal through SMS, wherein the SMS includes a callback connection menu.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein changing the location identification network to a cellular network comprises changing said network to a WCDMA network.

10. A recording medium readable by a computer, wherein the medium stores a program for setting a time for identifying a location of a ward attempting to perform near field location measurement at a platform of a near-field communication network associated with a predetermined area, determining that near-field location measurement is impossible, changing said location identification network to a cell phone network, measuring a location through a location service provided on said cell phone network, performing location identification and image capturing by a ward'"'"'s terminal at the set time, and transmitting location identification information, the information including at least one of a location of the ward and a captured image, to the guardian'"'"'s terminal.

11. A safety photo service providing system, said system comprising:

an identification time setup unit for setting a time for identifying a location of a ward;

an identification network changing control unit for changing a location identification networks for the ward from a near-field communication network associated with a predetermined area to a cellular network when near-field location measurement is impossible using said near-field communication network;

a location identification unit for performing location identification and image capturing by a ward'"'"'s terminal at the set time; and

an identification information transmitting unit transmitting location identification information, the information including at least one of a location of the ward and a captured image, to the guardian'"'"'s terminal.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the identification time setup unit sets the time so that a location is identified at a constant period or at one or more specified times.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the predetermined area is set as one or more places corresponding to a ward'"'"'s activity area and a near field communication network installation area.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the cellular network is a CDMA network.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the identification network changing control unit attempts to perform near field location measurement at a platform of a near field communication network, and measures a location through an LBSP of a CDMA network or a WCDMA network in a case in which the near field location measurement is impossible.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the location identification unit automatically identifies a ward'"'"'s location at the set time and performs image capturing of surroundings of the ward using a camera attached to the terminal.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the identification information transmitting unit transmits location information identification to the guardian'"'"'s terminal, the information including at least one of a captured image and whether the ward is located in a safety zone in a case in which the ward is located in the safety zone, and

transmits location identification information to the guardian'"'"'s terminal including at least one of an expected location of the ward, a current location of the ward, and a captured image in a case in which the ward is located outside of the safety zone.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the identification information transmitting unit further transmits an alarm message to the guardians terminal if the expected location of the ward is different from the current location of the ward in a case in which the ward is located outside of the safety zone.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the location identification information further includes at least one of:

a distance from the ward, a path reaching the ward, and a travelling radius of the ward.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the identification information transmitting unit transmits the location identification information to the guardian'"'"'s terminal through SMS, wherein the SMS includes a callback connection menu.

22. The system of claim 11, wherein the cellular network is a WCDMA network.