System and method for display of user relationships corresponding to network-enabled communications

• US 9,438,685 B2
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Issued: 09/06/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Smith Micro Software Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Location Labs (Gen Digital Inc.)
• Inventors: Hernandez, Sarah, Weiss, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Winder, Patrice
• Assistant Examiner(s): de Rodriguez, Angela Widhalm
• Application Number:
  US13/837,882
• Publication Number:
  US 20140280553A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,271 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/40 Support for services or applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds

Abstract

A computer-implemented method of displaying indications of relationships of device users is provided. The method includes determining relationship strength between a first user and at least one other user wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the first user and the at least one other user. A first indication corresponding to the first user is displayed on a display of a device, and at least one other indication corresponding to the at least one other user is displayed on the display, wherein the at least one other indication is shown distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength. A system for performing the method is further provided.

Claims

1. A method of displaying indications of relationships of device users, the method comprising:

providing an application enabling a monitoring agent on a first mobile computing device corresponding to a first user;

monitoring communications between the first user and at least one other user via the monitoring agent on the first mobile computing device;

determining by a location determining system on the first mobile computing device via the monitoring agent the geographic location of the first mobile computing device;

determining the geographic location of the at least one other user;

determining when the first user is located within a particular geographic distance of the at least one other user;

determining relationship strength between the first user and the at least one other user wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the first user and the at least one other user and based on a frequency of the first user being located within a particular geographic distance of the at least one other user;

displaying on a display of a computing device corresponding to a second user a first indication corresponding to the first user; and

displaying on the display at least one other indication corresponding to the at least one other user, wherein the at least one other indication is shown distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication of at least one particular geographic location; and

determining the relationship strength further based on the geographic location of at least the first user relative to the at least one particular geographic location when the first user is located within the particular distance of the at least one other user.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a schedule of organized activities for the first user; and

in determining the relationship strength, weighting the determination of the first user being located within a particular geographic distance of the at least one other user less during a period of time corresponding to the organized event than during a period of time not corresponding to the organized event.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a frequency that the first user and the at least one other user are located together at a particular geographic location; and

determining the relationship strength further based on the frequency of the first user and the at least one other user being located together at the particular geographic location.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

determining a weighting of the particular geographic location;

determining the relationship strength further based on the weighting of the particular geographic location.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the particular geographic location comprises at least one of a school, a shopping mall, or activity field.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the relationship strength based on content of the communications between the first user and the at least one other user.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining at least one particular topic corresponding to an organized activity associated with the first user; and

weighting communication corresponding to the at least one particular topic less than communication not corresponding to the particular topic in determining the relationship strength.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining a number of topics of the content of the communications between the first user and the at least one other user; and

determining the relationship strength further based on the number of topics.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining at least one latency time between the communications between the first user and the at least one other user; and

determining the relationship strength further based on the at least one latency time between the communications between the first user and the at least one other user.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one other user comprises a plurality of other users and the at least one other indication comprises a plurality of other indications corresponding to at least one of the plurality of other users, and wherein the plurality of other indications are shown distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength of the at least one of the plurality of other users and the first user.

12. The method of claim 11, the method further comprising:

receiving a request to filter data corresponding to the determined relationship strength based on a rate of change of relationship strength; and

displaying an indication corresponding to at least one of the plurality of other users which correspond to the request to filter data based on a rate of change of relationship strength.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising displaying an indication corresponding to at least one of the plurality of other users which correspond to the highest rate of change of relationship strength.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving a request to filter data corresponding to the determined relationship strength based on a selection of one or more of the plurality of other users; and

displaying indications corresponding to the selection of the one or more of the plurality of other users.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving a request to filter data corresponding to the determined relationship strength based on a selection of a particular communication protocol; and

displaying indications corresponding to the particular protocol.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the communication protocol corresponds to at least one of Short Message Service (SMS) protocol or telephone protocol.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving a request to filter data corresponding to the determined relationship strength based on geographic location of one or more of the plurality of other users; and

displaying indications corresponding to the geographic location of the one or more of the plurality of other users.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising determining at least one grouping of the plurality of other users based on one or more criteria, wherein at least one of the plurality of other indications corresponds to the at least one grouping.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one grouping is a plurality of groupings, the method further comprising:

receiving a request to filter data corresponding to the determined relationship strength of the plurality of other users based on a selection of one or more of the groupings; and

displaying at least one indication corresponding to the selection of the one or more of the groupings.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein a particular one of the plurality of other users corresponds to a plurality of groupings.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

determining a frequency of communication of the plurality of other users; and

determining the at least one grouping of the plurality of other users based on the frequency of communication.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

determining a frequency of communication of the first user and the plurality of other users within the at least one grouping; and

displaying an indication of the frequency of communication of at least one of the first user or the plurality of other users within the at least one grouping.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one indication of the frequency of communication comprises an indication of one or more of the first user and the plurality of other users having a frequency of communication within the at least one grouping exceeding a particular threshold.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

determining a quality of communication of the first user and the plurality of other users within the at least one grouping based on content of communications within the at least one grouping; and

displaying an indication of the quality of communication of at least one of the first user or the plurality of other users within the at least one grouping.

25. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the at least one other indication at a size based on a number of users corresponding to the at least one other indication.

26. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a relationship quality between the first user and the at least one other user based on content of communications between the first user and the at least one other user; and

displaying a particular indication based on the determined relationship quality.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising displaying the particular indication at least one of on or in proximity to the at least one other indication.

28. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a relationship quality between the first user and the at least one other user; and

displaying a color at least one of on or in proximity to the at least one other indication based on the determined relationship quality.

29. The method of claim 28, further comprising displaying an intensity of the color based on the distance from the first indication to the at least one other indication.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the relationship quality is determined based on content of communications between the first user and the at least one other user.

31. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a relationship quality between the first user and the at least one other user based on content of communications between the first user and the at least one other user; and

displaying a particular indication of the relationship quality.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein displaying the indication of the relationship quality comprises displaying changes in the relationship quality which have occurred over a period of time.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the at least one other user comprises a plurality of other users and the at least one other indication comprises a plurality of other indications corresponding to at least one of the plurality of other users, and wherein the plurality of other indications are shown distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength of at least one of the plurality of other users and the first user, the method further comprising:

receiving a request to filter data corresponding to the determined relationship quality between the first user and the plurality of other users based on a level of relationship quality; and

displaying an indication corresponding to at least one of the plurality of other users which corresponds to the level of relationship quality.

34. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a content of communication between the first user and the at least one other user; and

displaying an icon representative of the content of communication in proximity to the at least one other indication.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the content of the communication corresponds to illicit drugs, and the icon corresponds to a visual representation of illicit drugs.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the content of the communication corresponds to aggression, and the icon corresponds to a visual representation of an angry face.

37. The method of claim 34, further comprising displaying a plurality of icons representative of the content of communication in proximity to the at least one other indication.

38. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a content of communication between the first user and the at least one other user;

categorizing the content of communication between the first user and the at least one other user in a plurality of categories; and

displaying an indication of the content of communication based on a user-selected category.

39. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a content of communication between the first user and the at least one other user;

categorizing the content of communication between the first user and the at least one other user in a plurality of categories; and

displaying an indication of a number of topics of communications between the first user and the at least one other user corresponding to a particular category.

40. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the at least one other indication at a decreased distance from the first indication responsive to an increase in the determined relationship strength.

41. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the at least one other indication at an increased distance from the first indication responsive to a decrease in the determined relationship strength.

42. The method of claim 1, wherein the first indication and the at least one other indication are displayed showing the change in the relationship strength over a period of time.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the at least one other user comprises a plurality of other users and the at least one other indication comprises a plurality of other indications corresponding to at least one of the plurality of other users, and wherein the plurality of other indications are shown distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength of the at least one of the plurality of other users and the first user, the method further comprising:

receiving a request to filter data corresponding to the determined relationship strength based on a selection of one or more of the plurality of users; and

displaying an indication corresponding to the selection of the one or more of the plurality of users.

44. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one other user comprises a plurality of other users and the at least one other indication comprises a plurality of other indications corresponding to at least one of the plurality of other users, and wherein the plurality of other indications are shown distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength of the at least one of the plurality of other users and the first user, the method further comprising:

receiving a request to filter data corresponding to the determined relationship strength based on a selection of one or more of the plurality of users; and

displaying an indication corresponding to the selection of the one or more of the plurality of users.

45. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one other user comprises a plurality of other users, the method further comprising:

receiving a request to determine relationship strength between a particular one of the plurality of other users and others of the plurality of other users;

determining the relationship strength between the particular one of the plurality of users and the others of the plurality of other users wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the particular one of the plurality of users and the others of the plurality of other users;

displaying on the display a particular indication corresponding to the particular one of the plurality of other users; and

displaying on the display at least one other particular indication corresponding to the others of the plurality of other users, wherein the at least one other particular indication is shown distanced from the particular indication based on the determined relationship strength.

46. The method of claim 45, further comprising determining the relationship strength between the particular one of the plurality of users and the others of the plurality of other users and the first user, wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the particular one of the plurality of users and the others of the plurality of other users and the first user, wherein the at least one other particular indication corresponds to the others of the plurality of other users and the first user.

47. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that content of communication between the first user and the at least one other user corresponds to a particular topic;

determining a relationship quality between the first user and the at least one other user based on the determination that the content of communication corresponds to the particular topic; and

displaying a particular indication based on the determined relationship quality.

48. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication of a particular topic and an indication of a quality of the particular topic from a second user;

determining content of communication between the first user and the at least one other user corresponds to the particular topic;

determining a relationship quality between the first user and the at least one other user based on the determination that the content of communication corresponds to the particular topic and based on the indication of the quality of the particular topic received from the second user; and

displaying a particular indication based on the determined relationship quality.

49. A method of determining and displaying indications of relationships of device users, the method comprising:

providing an application enabling a monitoring agent on a computing device corresponding to a first user;

monitoring communications between the first user and a plurality of other users via the monitoring agent on the first computing device;

determining relationship strength between the first user and the plurality of other users wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the first user and the plurality of other users;

determining a frequency of communication of the plurality of other users;

determining via the monitoring agent on the first mobile computing device a quality of communication of the first user and the plurality of other users based on content of communications, wherein the content comprises at least one of text language or voice language;

determining at least one grouping of the plurality of other users based on the frequency of communication and the quality of communication;

displaying on a display of a computing device corresponding to a second user a first indication corresponding to the first user; and

displaying on the display a plurality of other indications corresponding to at least one of the plurality of other users wherein at least one of the plurality of other indications corresponds to the at least one grouping, wherein the plurality of other indications are shown distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength of the at least one of the plurality of other users and the first user.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

determining geographic location of the first user and the plurality of other users; and

determining the at least one grouping of the plurality of other users further based on the geographic location of the first user and the plurality of other users.

51. A method of determining and displaying indications of relationships of device users, the method comprising:

providing an application enabling a monitoring agent on a computing device corresponding to a first user and a computing device corresponding to at least one of a plurality of other users;

monitoring communications between the first user and the plurality of other users via the monitoring agent on the first computing device;

determining relationship strength between the first user and the plurality of other users wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the first user and the plurality of other users;

monitoring communication of the plurality of other users via the monitoring agent on the computing device of the at least one of the plurality of other users;

determining via the monitoring of the communications of the plurality of other users at least one grouping of the plurality of other users based on one or more criteria;

determining a frequency of communication of the plurality of other users within the at least one grouping;

displaying on a display of a computing device corresponding to a second user a first indication corresponding to the first user;

displaying on the display a plurality of other indications corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of other users wherein at least one of the plurality of other indications corresponds to the at least one grouping, wherein the plurality of other indications are shown distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength of the at least one of the plurality of other users and the first user; and

displaying on the display an indication of the frequency of communication of the at least one of the plurality of other users within the at least one grouping.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein the indication of the frequency of communication comprises an indication of one or more of the plurality of other users having a frequency of communication within the at least one grouping exceeding a particular threshold.

53. The method of claim 51, wherein the indication of the frequency of communication comprises an indication of one or more of the plurality of users having the highest frequency of communication within the at least one grouping.

54. A method of determining and displaying indications of relationships of device users, the method comprising:

providing an application enabling a monitoring agent on a computing device corresponding to a first user;

monitoring communications between the first user and at least one other user via the monitoring agent on the first computing device;

determining relationship strength between the first user and the at least one other user wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the first user and the at least one other user;

determining a relationship quality between the first user and the at least one other user based on the monitoring;

displaying on a display of a computing device corresponding to a second user a first indication corresponding to the first user; and

displaying on the display at least one other indication corresponding to the at least one other user, wherein the at least one other indication is shown distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength;

displaying a first color at least one of on or in proximity to the at least one other indication when the determined relationship quality is healthy; and

displaying a second color at least one of on or in proximity to the at least one other indication when the determined relationship quality is unfriendly.

55. A method of determining and displaying indications of relationships of device users, the method comprising:

providing an application enabling a monitoring agent on a computing device corresponding to a first user;

monitoring communications between the first user and a plurality of other users via the monitoring agent on the first computing device;

determining relationship strength between the first user and the plurality of other users wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the first user and the plurality of other users;

determining relationship quality between the first user and the plurality of other users based on content of monitored communications between the first user and the plurality of other users, wherein the content comprises at least one of text language or voice language;

receiving a request to filter data corresponding to the determined relationship quality between the first user and the plurality of other users based on a particular level of relationship quality wherein the level of the relationship quality corresponds to an unhealthy relationship quality;

displaying on a display of a computing device corresponding to a second user a first indication corresponding to the first user; and

displaying on the display an indication corresponding to at least one of the plurality of other users which corresponds to the level of relationship quality indicated in the request, wherein the at least one of the plurality of other users is shown on the display as distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength.

56. A method of determining and displaying indications of relationships of device users, the method comprising:

providing an application enabling a monitoring agent on a computing device corresponding to a first user;

monitoring communications between the first user and a plurality of other users via the monitoring agent on the first computing device;

determining relationship strength between the first user and the plurality of other users wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the first user and the plurality of other users;

determining relationship quality between the first user and the plurality of other users based on content of monitored communications between the first user and the plurality of other users, wherein the content comprises at least one of text language or voice language;

receiving a request to filter data corresponding to the determined relationship quality between the first user and the plurality of other users based on a rate of change of relationship quality;

determining rates of change of relationship quality between the first user and the plurality of other users;

displaying on a display of a computing device corresponding to a second user a first indication corresponding to the first user; and

displaying on the display an indication corresponding to at least one of the plurality of other users which corresponds to the request to filter data based on the rate of change in the relationship quality, wherein the at least one of the plurality of other users is shown on the display as distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength.

57. A method of determining and displaying indications of relationships of device users, the method comprising:

providing an application enabling a monitoring agent on a computing device corresponding to a first user;

monitoring communications between the first user and at least one other user via the monitoring agent on the first computing device;

determining relationship strength between the first user and the at least one other user wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the first user and the at least one other user;

determining a content of communication between the first user and the at least one other user, wherein the content comprises at least one of text language or voice language;

categorizing the content of communication between the first user and the at least one other user in a plurality of categories;

receiving a selection of a category from a second user;

displaying on a display of a computing device corresponding to the second user a first indication corresponding to the first user;

displaying on the display at least one other indication corresponding to the at least one other user, wherein the at least one other indication is shown distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength; and

displaying an indication of the content of communication based on the category selected by the second user, wherein the indication of the content of the communication comprises an indication of how many of the topics of communications between the first user and the at least one other user correspond to an alarming category.

58. A method of determining and displaying indications of relationships of device users, the method comprising:

providing an application enabling a monitoring agent on a computing device corresponding to a first user;

monitoring communications between the first user and at least one other user via the monitoring agent on the first computing device;

determining relationship strength over a period of time between the first user and the at least one other user wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the first user and the at least one other user;

displaying on a display of a computing device corresponding to the second user a first indication corresponding to the first user;

displaying on the display at least one other indication corresponding to the at least one other user, wherein the first indication and the at least one other indication are displayed as a time-lapse animation showing the first indication distanced from the second indication based on the determined relationship strength over the period of time.

59. A method of determining and displaying indications of relationships of device users, the method comprising:

providing an application enabling a monitoring agent on a computing device corresponding to a first user;

monitoring communications between the first user and at least one other user via the monitoring agent on the first computing device;

determining relationship strength between the first user and the at least one other user wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the first user and the at least one other user;

receiving an indication of a particular topic and an indication of an importance of the particular topic from a second user;

determining content of communication between the first user and the at least one other user corresponds to the particular topic, wherein the content comprises at least one of text language or voice language;

determining a relationship quality between the first user and the at least one other user based on the determination that the content of communication corresponds to the particular topic and based on the indication of the importance of the particular topic received from the second user;

displaying on a display of a computing device corresponding to the second user a first indication corresponding to the first user;

displaying on the display at least one other indication corresponding to the at least one other user, wherein the at least one other indication is shown distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength; and

displaying on the display a particular indication based on the determined relationship quality.

60. A network comprising:

a mobile computing device corresponding to a first user, the device comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium having encoded thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the device, cause the device to perform a process including;

enabling a monitoring agent on the first mobile computing device;

monitoring communications between the first user and at least one other user via the monitoring agent on the first mobile computing device; and

determining by a location determining system on the first mobile computing device via the monitoring agent the geographic location of the first mobile computing device; and

a computing system connected via the network to the mobile computing device, the computing system comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium having encoded thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the system, cause the system to perform a process including;

determining the geographic location of the at least one other user;

determining when the first user is located within a particular geographic distance of the at least one other user;

determining relationship strength between the first user and the at least one other user wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the first user and the at least one other user and based on a frequency of the first user being located within a particular geographic distance of the at least one other user;

transmitting to a display of a computing device corresponding to a second user a first indication corresponding to the first user; and

transmitting to the display at least one other indication corresponding to the at least one other user, wherein the at least one other indication is shown distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength.

61. A method comprising:

providing an application enabling a monitoring agent on a first mobile computing device corresponding to a first user;

monitoring communications between the first user and a plurality of other users via the monitoring agent on the first mobile computing device;

receiving a particular request to filter data corresponding to the determined relationship strength based on a rate of change of relationship strength;

determining relationship strength between the first user and the plurality of other users wherein the relationship strength is determined based on a frequency of communication between the first user and the plurality of other users;

determining rates of change of relationship strength between the first user and the plurality of other users and determining at least one of the plurality of other users which corresponds to the particular request to filter data;

displaying on a display of a computing device corresponding to a second user a first indication corresponding to the first user; and

displaying on the display at least one other indication corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of other users which corresponds to the particular request to filter data, wherein the at least one other indication is shown distanced from the first indication based on the determined relationship strength.