Predictive travel planning system

• US 9,568,331 B1
• Filed: 03/15/2014
• Issued: 02/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Radhika Narang, Rahul Agarwal
• Original Assignee: Radhika Narang, Rahul Agarwal
• Inventors: Narang, Radhika, Agarwal, Rahul
• Primary Examiner(s): Marc-Coleman, Marthe
• Application Number:
  US14/214,843
• Time in Patent Office: 1,067 Days
• Field of Search: 701/423, 701/426, 701/438, 340/995.14 M, 340/995.19
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/343 Calculating itineraries, i.e. routes leading from a starting point to a series of categorical destinations using a global route restraint, round trips, touristic trips travelling salesman problem G06Q10/04; optimisation of routes G06Q10/047
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3617 using user history, behaviour, conditions or preferences, e.g. predicted or inferred from previous use or current movement
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3694 Output thereof on a road map

Abstract

A novel predictive travel planning system is disclosed for gathering a user intention, interactively interacting with the user to create a travel plan, supporting the user'"'"'s execution of the trip on a real-time basis during travel, allowing the user to share his/her experiences with others and learning from the user'"'"'s experiences. The system can use a variety of computing devices to gather information before and during travel, such as for example a desktop computer, a tablet computer, or a smart phone.

Claims

1. A system used by a user, comprising:

a.) an information acquisition device, executes at least a portion of a computer readable code stored on a computer readable medium, acquires at least one indicator of user intent information, acquires at least one point of interest information;

b.) an initial area of interest, specified by the user or around a start position;

c.) a dynamic area of interest, centered about a dynamic route position, along the user'"'"'s intended or projected route, wherein inside the dynamic area of interest the at least one point of interest information is collected by the information acquisition device, and;

d.) a processor, adapted to execute the computer readable code, processing the at least one point of interest information available inside the initial area of interest, and furthermore inside the dynamic area of interest, the acquired at least one indicator of user intent information, outputs at least one suggestion of accessible point of interest information.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one accessible point of interest information is selected from the group comprising a location and an activity.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the information acquisition device is a computing device selected from the group comprising a laptop, a desktop, a tablet, a mobile phone, a smart car, or a watch.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the information acquisition device calculates a speed and a direction, wherein the processor executes computer readable code to process an updated the at least one point of accessible information associated with an updated dynamic area of interest with the acquired at least one indicator of user intent information.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the acquired at least one indicator of user intent information is characterized as explicit.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the acquired at least one indicator of user intent information characterized as explicit comprises information manually entered by the user.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein the acquired at least one indicator of user intent information is characterized as implicit.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the acquired at least one indicator of user intent information characterized as implicit is acquired from a type of device or a user location.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising an audio/visual presentation of the at least one suggestion, wherein the user may manually select the at least one suggestion.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor is disposed on a remote server in operative communication with a client processor disposed on the information acquisition device.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the at least one suggestion comprises navigation instructions to a target location, wherein the target location is selected from the at least one point of accessible point of interest information, stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium.

12. The system of claim 11, communicating a relevant quantity of information to at least one other information acquisition device.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the relevant quantity of information is selected from the group consisting of:

information that is needed for the system to calculate the suggestions for places, or information that is needed for the system to determine the current state of a user'"'"'s trip, or information related to location, bearing, acceleration, environmental measurements and inputs from various other sensors on any device the user could be using, or information about the user'"'"'s interaction with the device/client software.

14. The system of claim 11, providing an alert or notification, responsive to a multitude of situations, selected from the group consisting of:

a) user is obstructing the intended path of an emergency vehicle;

b) there are incidents along the user'"'"'s intended route that would affect his/her journey, such as accidents, weather changes or other adverse incidents;

c) impending loss of mobile network;

d) unavailability of resources such as food, rest stops, gas stations for a long stretch;

e) worse than expected road conditions coming up;

f) if unscheduled stops or delay at scheduled stops are affecting the rest of the trip;

g) user is driving above the speed limit;

h) accident/crime/news reports relevant to the user in situations such as violence reports in the hotel the user has a reservation in;

i) public transit delays;

j) situations indicating the user is in need of assistance, for instance when it detects the user has stopped on a highway when there is no traffic;

k) other vehicle(s) included within the trip need assistance;

l) request to specify user preferences and ratings, for example rating a restaurant the user just visited and specifying brand preference of a gas station;

m) new points of interest were found that might make a good addition to the trip;

n) radio station boundary exited and different station needs to be tuned to for the genre.