Determining points of interest of a mobile user

• US 8,958,822 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2011
• Issued: 02/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Alohar Mobile Inc. (Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.)
• Inventors: Liang, Sam Song, Yang, Jun, Wang, Chenyu, Liu, Zhigang
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Dung
• Application Number:
  US13/269,577
• Publication Number:
  US 20120100867A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,228 Days
• Field of Search: 4554141-4143, 4554561-4566, 701/426, 701/438, 701/424, 701/519, 701/521, 340/988, 340/995.1, 340/955.19, 340/995.2, 34099521-99524
• US Class Current: 455/456.3
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0255 based on user history
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• 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

Methods, systems and apparatus for tracking points of interest of a user of a mobile device are disclosed. One method includes determining points of interest of a user of a mobile device. The method includes obtaining user-related information, wherein the user-related information includes spatial information about the user, and determining at least one point of interest of the user based on the user-related information. Another embodiment includes an apparatus for determining points of interest of a user. For one embodiment, the apparatus is a mobile device. The mobile device is operative to obtain user-related information, wherein the user-related information comprising spatial information about the user, and the mobile device is operative to determine at least one point of interest of the user based on the user-related information.

Claims

1. A method of determining a present point of interest of a user of a mobile device, comprising:

obtaining, by the mobile device, spatial information about the user tracked over time over a plurality of locations;

obtaining, by the mobile device, temporal information tracked over time including a history of durations of time and frequency of past point of interest visits of the user, and timing associated with the spatial information;

obtaining, by the mobile device, behavior patterns of the user tracked over time, including sequences of previous point of interest visits, speed and position of the user;

obtaining, by the mobile device, behavior of the user'"'"'s use of the mobile device;

identifying activity motion of the user, including sensing acceleration or gyro motion of the mobile device and associating the sensed acceleration or gyro motion of the mobile device with spatial information of the mobile device;

obtaining, by the mobile device, identifications of wireless access points; and

automatically determining the present point of interest of the user after the user has arrived at the present point of interest, comprising;

disambiguating between potential points of interest to determine the present point of interest comprising generating a list of possible points of interest and ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest based on the spatial information, the temporal information, the behavior patterns of the user, the user'"'"'s use of the mobile device, the identified activity motion of the user, and the identifications of wireless access points.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the present point of interest is processed real-time.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination of the present point of interest is post-processed.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the temporal information comprises timing of the user-related information comprising at least one of a time of day, a day of week, a holiday or the time duration the user-related information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the temporal information comprises calendar information of the user.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising tracking motion information about the user, wherein ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest is additionally based on the tracked motion.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein motion information comprises acceleration information of the mobile device.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein motion information comprises rotation information of a gyroscope of the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein motion information comprises acceleration information and rotation information which are used to determine motion patterns of the user associated with particular locations and categories of points of interest to aid in identifying the present point of interest.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining historical information about the user including past points of interest visited by the user, wherein ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest is additionally based on the historical information.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining image information about the user, wherein ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest is additionally based on image information.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the image information comprises satellite image information based on the spatial information.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the image information comprises street views associated with the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the image information comprises image analysis of photos of the mobile device, or image analysis of photos taken at the same location at the same time by other devices.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining sound recorded by the mobile device associated with the spatial information, wherein ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest is additionally based on the sound recorded.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining levels of sound and the frequency of sound recorded by the mobile device, wherein the ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest is additionally based on the levels of sound and the frequency of sound recorded by the mobile device.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining wireless access points and/or types of wireless communication, wherein ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest is additionally based on the wireless access points and/or types of wireless communication.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the wireless communication comprises at least one of Wifi, Bluetooth or near-field communications wireless signals.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining information accessed from or posted to websites visited by the user, wherein ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest is additionally based on the information accessed from or posted to websites visited by the user.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the website visited comprise social websites.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining tracking a velocity of the user over time, wherein ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest is additionally based on the tracked velocity of the user over time.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the user is presently using the mobile device to make a telephone call, wherein ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point interest is additionally based on whether the user is presently using the mobile device to make a telephone call.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining whether the mobile device is charging, wherein the ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest is additionally based on whether the mobile device is charging.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an ambient temperature of the mobile device, wherein ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest is additionally based on the ambient temperature of the mobile device.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining an ambient light level of the mobile device, information wherein ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest is additionally based on the ambient light level of the mobile device.

26. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining user-input key or touch screen information, wherein ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest is additionally based on the user-input key board or touch screen information.

27. The method of claim 1, further comprising sensing or determining barometric information, wherein ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest is additionally based on the barometric information.

28. A mobile device, comprising:

a plurality of sensors;

a processor operative to receive at least one input from the plurality of sensors wherein the processor is further operative to;

obtain spatial information about a user tracked over time over a plurality of locations;

obtain temporal information tracked over time including a history of durations of time and frequency of past point of interest visits of the user, and timing associated with the spatial information;

obtain behavior patterns of the user tracked over time, including sequences of previous point of interest visits, speed and position of the user;

obtaining behavior of the user'"'"'s use of the mobile device;

identify activity motion of the user, including sensing acceleration or gyro motion of the mobile device and associating the sensed acceleration or gyro motion of the mobile device with spatial information of the mobile device;

obtain identification of wireless access points; and

automatically determine a present point of interest of the user based on the user-related information, comprising;

disambiguating between potential points of interest to determine the present point of interest comprising generating a list of possible points of interest and ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest based on the spatial information, the temporal information, the behavior patterns of the user, the user'"'"'s use of the mobile device, the identified activity motion of the user, and the identifications of wireless access points.

29. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions that when executed by a mobile device connectable to the machine, cause the mobile device to perform a method of determining a point of interest of a user, comprising;

obtaining, the mobile device, spatial information about the user tracked over time over a plurality of locations;

obtaining, by the mobile device, temporal information tracked over time including a history of durations of time and frequency of past point of interest visits of the user, and timing associated with the spatial information;

obtaining, by the mobile device, behavior patterns of the user tracked over time, including sequences of previous point of interest visits, speed and position of the user;

obtaining, by the mobile device, behavior of the user'"'"'s use of the mobile device;

identifying activity motion of the user, including sensing acceleration or gyro motion of the mobile device and associating the sensed acceleration or gyro motion of the mobile device with spatial information of the mobile device;

obtaining, by the mobile device, identifications of wireless access points; and

automatically determining the present point of interest of the user after the user has arrived at the present point of interest, comprising;

disambiguating between potential points of interest to determine the present point of interest comprising generating a list of possible points of interest and ranking the possible points of interest by probability of being the present point of interest based on the spatial information, the temporal information, the behavior patterns of the user, the user'"'"'s use of the mobile device, the identified activity motion of the user, and the identifications of wireless access points.

30. The program storage device of claim 29, further comprising the program of instructions being downloadable from the machine to the mobile device.