Wireless communication driven by object tracking

• US 9,648,452 B1
• Filed: 06/05/2015
• Issued: 05/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Prosports Technologies, LLC
• Original Assignee: Prosports Technologies, LLC
• Inventors: Cronin, John
• Primary Examiner(s): Ngo, Chuong A
• Application Number:
  US14/732,533
• Time in Patent Office: 704 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/23 for mobile advertising

Abstract

Information about the real-time location of an object (e.g., a football) within a venue (e.g., a sport stadium), as determined by an object tracking system, may be used to generate communications that are then transmitted via wireless transmitters to one or more user devices (e.g., smartphones of venue spectators) located within the venue. The communications may be triggered by particular event triggers (e.g., the football enters a goal area, the football travels a particular distance, the football reaches a particular velocity, the football reaches a particular height), and the communication may be based on the event trigger that was reached. The wireless transmitter may be a local wireless transmitter, so that only user devices within the venue receive the communication.

Claims

1. A method for communication based on object tracking, the method comprising:

storing a plurality of messages in a message database prior to an event, wherein each message is associated with a range of movement values of a plurality of ranges of movement values;

receiving tracking information regarding a movable object within an event venue during an event;

calculating a movement parameter value based on the tracking information;

identifying that the movement parameter value falls within a first range of movement values of the plurality of ranges of movement values in the message database, wherein the first range of movement values corresponds to a first message of the plurality of messages in the message database;

retrieving the first message of the plurality of messages from the message database during the event in response to the identification that the movement parameter value falls within the first range of movement values, wherein the first message is distinct from both the movement parameter value and the tracking information; and

transmitting the first message to a user device in the event venue via a wireless transmitter.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the movement parameter value is a distance value corresponding to a distance of a trajectory of the movable object.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the movement parameter value corresponds to a movement of the movable object, and wherein the movement parameter value is one of a speed value, a velocity value, or a momentum value.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the movement parameter value is a height value corresponding to a point in a trajectory of the movable object.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying the wireless transmitter based on the tracking information.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the wireless transmitter is the closest wireless transmitter to the movable object of a plurality of wireless transmitters associated with the venue.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the wireless transmitter is the farthest wireless transmitter from the movable object of a plurality of wireless transmitters associated with the venue.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the message using one or more additional wireless transmitters other than the identified wireless transmitter.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the event venue is a sport venue.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the movable object is one of a ball, a puck, a frisbee, or a shuttlecock.

11. A system for communication based on object tracking, the system comprising:

a wireless receiver that receives tracking information, the tracking information describing a movable object within an event venue during an event;

a memory storing instructions, and storing a plurality of messages in a message database prior to the event, wherein each message is associated with a range of movement values of a plurality of ranges of movement values; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor causes the system to;

calculate a movement parameter value based on the tracking information,

identify that the movement parameter value falls within a first range of movement values of the plurality of ranges of movement values in the message database, wherein the first range of movement values corresponds to a first message of the plurality of messages in the message database,

retrieve the first message of the plurality of messages from the message database during the event in response to the identification that the movement parameter value falls within the first range of movement values, wherein the first message is distinct from both the movement parameter value and the tracking information, and

transmits the first message to a user device in the event venue via a wireless transmitter.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the movement parameter value is a distance value corresponding to a distance of a trajectory of the movable object.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the movement parameter value corresponds to a movement of the movable object, and wherein the movement parameter value is one of a speed value, a velocity value, or a momentum value.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the movement parameter value is a height value corresponding to a point in a trajectory of the movable object.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor identifying the wireless transmitter based on the tracking information.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the wireless transmitter is the closest wireless transmitter to the movable object of a plurality of wireless transmitters associated with the venue.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the wireless transmitter is the farthest wireless transmitter from the movable object of a plurality of wireless transmitters associated with the venue.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein execution of instructions stored in the memory by the processor further transmits the message using one or more additional wireless transmitters other than the identified wireless transmitter.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the movable object is one of a ball, a puck, a frisbee, or a shuttlecock.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method for communication based on object tracking, the method comprising:

storing a plurality of messages in a message database prior to an event, wherein each message is associated with a range of movement values of a plurality of ranges of movement values;

receiving tracking information regarding a movable object within an event venue during an event;

calculating a movement parameter value based on the tracking information;

identifying that the movement parameter value falls within a first range of movement values of the plurality of ranges of movement values in the message database, wherein the first range of movement values corresponds to a first message of the plurality of messages in the message database;

retrieving the first message of the plurality of messages from the message database during the event in response to the identification that the movement parameter value falls within the first range of movement values, wherein the first message is distinct from both the movement parameter value and the tracking information; and

transmitting the first message to a user device in the event venue via a wireless transmitter.