Sharing information with other users

• US 9,607,024 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2013
• Issued: 03/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Huibers, Andrew G., Lieb, David F., Gabayan, Kevin N., Raphael, Seth T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ortiz Ditren, Belix M
• Application Number:
  US13/917,219
• Publication Number:
  US 20130339358A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,384 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/176 Support for shared access to files; File sharing support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24534 Query rewriting; Transformation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services

Abstract

Systems and techniques are described for facilitating sharing information. Some embodiments can receive a set of data items that is to be analyzed for sharing, analyze the set of data items based on a first set of criteria to obtain a subset of the set of data items that is a likely candidate for sharing, and present the subset of the set of data items to a first user. Additionally, some embodiments can receive a set of users that is to be analyzed for sharing information, analyze the set of users based on a second set of criteria to obtain a subset of the set of users with whom the information is likely to be shared, and present the subset of the set of users to the first user.

Claims

1. A method for sharing information, the method comprising:

receiving, at a computing device, a set of data items to be analyzed for sharing;

analyzing, by the computing device and based on a first set of criteria that includes a time window and a spatial region, the set of data items to determine a subset of the set of data items that were created during the time window at a location that is within the spatial region, the subset of data items being a likely candidate for sharing;

receiving, at the computing device, a set of users to be analyzed for sharing information;

analyzing, by the computing device and based on a second set of criteria, the set of users to obtain a subset of the set of users with whom the information is likely to be shared; and

outputting, by the computing device and for concurrent presentation to the user, the subset of the set of data items and the subset of the set of users.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second set of criteria includes a time window, a spatial region, and a distance threshold in a social network, and wherein analyzing the set of users includes determining users that are within the distance threshold from the first user in the social network and who also were within the spatial region during the time window.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

outputting, by the computing device and for presentation to the user, a first set of user interface elements to enable the user to modify the subset of the set of data items; and

outputting, by the computing device and for presentation to the user, a second set of user interface elements to enable the user to modify the subset of the set of users.

4. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

receive a set of data items to be analyzed for sharing;

analyze, based on a first set of criteria that includes a time window and a spatial region, the set of data items to determine a subset of the set of data items that were created during the time window at a location that is within the spatial region, the subset of data items being a likely candidate for sharing;

receive a set of users to be analyzed for sharing information;

analyze, based on a second set of criteria, the set of users to obtain a subset of users with whom the information is likely to be shared; and

output, for concurrent presentation to the user, the subset of the set of data items and the subset of the set of users.

5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the second set of criteria includes a time window, a spatial region, and a distance threshold in a social network, and wherein analyzing the set of users includes determining users that are within the distance threshold from the user in the social network and who also were within the spatial region during the time window.

6. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4 further storing instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to:

output, for presentation to the user, a first set of user interface elements to enable the user to modify the subset of the set of data items; and

output, for presentation to the user, a second set of user interface elements to enable the user to modify the subset of the set of users.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

a monitor; and

a non-transitory storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to;

receive a set of data items to be analyzed for sharing;

analyze, based on a first set of criteria that includes a time window and a spatial region, the set of data items to determine a subset of the set of data items that were created during the time window at a location that is within the spatial region, the subset of data items being a likely candidate for sharing;

receive a set of users to be analyzed for sharing information;

analyze, based on a second set of criteria, the set of users to obtain a subset of users with whom the information is likely to be shared; and

output, for concurrent presentation to the user, the subset of the set of data items and the subset of the set of users.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the second set of criteria includes a time window, a spatial region, and a distance threshold in a social network, and wherein analyzing the set of users includes determining users that are within the distance threshold from the user in the social network and who also were within the spatial region during the time window.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 further storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to:

output, for presentation to the user, a first set of user interface elements to enable the user to modify the subset of the set of data items; and

output, for presentation to the user, a second set of user interface elements to enable the user to modify the subset of the set of users.