Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and recording medium

• US 9,167,384 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2013
• Issued: 10/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Takaoka, Tomohisa
• Primary Examiner(s): Nealon, William
• Application Number:
  US13/847,097
• Publication Number:
  US 20130310082A1
• Time in Patent Office: 945 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414.1, 455/418
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2757 by data transmission, e.g. downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds

Abstract

There is provided an information processing apparatus including a positional relationship information acquirer that acquires information indicating a position relationship between a first user and a second user, a nearness determiner that determines whether or not the first user and the second user are near each other, on the basis of the information indicating the position relationship, and a contact manager that sorts, on the basis of a result of the determination, a contact list which is provided to the first user and which includes contact information for the second user.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising:

a positional relationship information acquirer that acquires information indicating a position relationship between a first user and a second user;

a nearness determiner that determines whether or not the first user and the second user are near each other, on the basis of the information indicating the position relationship; and

a contact manager that estimates, as a duration of time, a time period when the first user and the second user are near each other, and that sorts, on the basis of a result of the determination and on the basis of a result of the estimation, a contact list which is provided to the first user and which includes contact information for the second user,

wherein the sorted contact list is modified to exclude the contact information for the second user from the contact list, or to reduce a placement priority position of the contact information for the second user within the contact list, when the first user and the second user are determined to be together at a same location.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the positional relationship information acquirer acquires first position information indicating a position of the first user, and second position information indicating a position of the second user, and

the nearness determiner determines whether or not the first user and the second user are near each other on the basis of a distance between the position of the first user and the position of the second user.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the positional relationship information acquirer includes a communication unit that acquires at least one of the first position information and the second position information from a position information sharing service on a network.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the positional relationship information acquirer acquires a result of a short-range communication of data between a first terminal device carried by the first user and a second terminal device carried by the second user, and

the nearness determiner determines whether or not the first user and the second user are near each other on the basis of the result of the short-range communication of the data.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

the positional relationship information acquirer is further configured to acquire a response from the second terminal device that is transmitted from the second terminal device in response to a query transmitted from the first terminal device, and

the nearness determiner determines that the first user and the second are near each other upon the positional relationship information acquirer acquiring the response.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

the query contains information identifying the first user on a social networking service, and

the response is transmitted from the second terminal device in the case where the query is received by the second terminal device, and the first user and the second user exist in a friend relationship on the social networking service.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the nearness determiner periodically determines whether or not the first user and the second user are near each other.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

the contact manager sorts the contact list in a manner that the second user is raised to a higher place in a case where the first user and the second user have been near each other for a longer time on the basis of the periodic determination, as compared to a case where the first user and the second user have been near each other for a shorter time on the basis of the periodic determination.

9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein

the contact manager, obeying settings set by the first user, changes weighting of a time during which the first user and the second user have been near each other on a per-time-period basis.

10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

the contact manager estimates the time period when the first user and the second user are near each other on the basis of the result of the periodic determination, and sorts the contact list in a manner that the second user is raised to a higher place in a case where a current time is in a time period prior to the estimated time period.

11. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

a group manager that estimates the time period when the first user and the second user are near each other on the basis of the result of the periodic determination, and categorizes the second user who is near the first user during a shared first time period into a first group on the contact list.

12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein

the nearness determiner makes the determination when the contact list is provided to the first user, and

the contact manager sorts the contact list in a manner that the second user is raised to a higher place in a case where a time during which the contact list is provided to the first user is referred to as the first time period, and the second user categorized into the first group is not near the first user.

13. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

a group manager that estimates a place where the first user and the second user are near each other on the basis of the result of the periodic determination, and categorizes the second user who is near the first user at a shared second place into a second group on the contact list.

14. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

a group manager that categorizes the second user into a group on the contact list on the basis of the result of the periodic determination, and categorizes a user other than the second user who has contact information included on the contact list into the group in accordance with an operation by the first user.

15. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nearness determiner determines whether or not the first user and the second user are near each other when the contact list is provided to the first user.

16. The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the contact manager sorts the contact list in a manner that the second user is dropped to a lower place or the second user is not displayed in a case where the first user and the second user are near each other when the contact list is provided to the first user.

17. The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein

the nearness determiner determines whether the first user and the second user are near each other by a distance equal to or greater than a first distance, or by a distance less than the first distance, and

the contact manager sorts the contact list in a manner that the second user is raised to a higher place in a case where the first user and the second user are near each other by the distance equal to or greater than the first distance, and sorts the contact list in a manner that the second user is dropped to a lower place or the second user is not displayed in a case where the first user and the second user are near each other by the distance less than the first distance.

18. The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising:

a group manager that categorizes the second user, who is near the first user on the basis of the result of the determination, into a first group on the contact list.

19. An information processing method executed by at least one processor, the method comprising:

acquiring information indicating a position relationship between a first user and a second user;

determining whether or not the first user and the second user are near each other, on the basis of the information indicating the position relationship;

estimating, as a duration of time, a time period when the first user and the second user are near each other; and

sorting, on the basis of a result of the determination and on the basis of a result of the estimation, a contact list which is provided to the first user and which includes contact information for the second user,

wherein the sorted contact list is modified to exclude the contact information for the second user from the contact list, or to reduce a placement priority position of the contact information for the second user within the contact list, when the first user and the second user are determined to be together at a same location.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having a program recorded thereon, the program causing a computer to execute the functions of:

acquiring information indicating a position relationship between a first user and a second user;

determining whether or not the first user and the second user are near each other, on the basis of the information indicating the position relationship; and

estimating, as a duration of time, a time period when the first user and the second user are near each other; and

sorting, on the basis of a result of the determination and on the basis of a result of the estimation, a contact list which is provided to the first user and which includes contact information for the second user,

wherein the sorted contact list is modified to exclude the contact information for the second user from the contact list, or to reduce a placement priority position of the contact information for the second user within the contact list, when the first user and the second user are determined to be together at a same location.