Electronic apparatus, information determining server, information determining method, program, and information determining system

• US 9,824,096 B2
• Filed: 07/25/2016
• Issued: 11/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Kenichiro
• Primary Examiner(s): SIVJI, NIZAR N
• Application Number:
  US15/219,157
• Publication Number:
  US 20160334497A1
• Time in Patent Office: 484 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/00 Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism healthcare informatics G16H
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/10 Map spot or coordinate position indicators; Map reading aids optical projection apparatus per se G03B
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A method is provided for determining a category of a location. The method comprises determining, at a first time, information identifying a first device location of a first device associated with a user; and storing the first device location information and information identifying the first time in a location history. The method further comprises determining, at a second time, information identifying a second device location of the first device; and storing, in the location history, the second device location information and information identifying the second time. The method still further comprises determining, based on the location history, a category of a location.

Claims

1. At least one apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory, storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one apparatus to;

access information identifying a first device location of a first device associated with a user at a first time;

store the first device location information and information identifying the first time in a location history;

access information identifying a second device location of the first device at a second time;

store, in the location history, the second device location information and information identifying the second time;

determine a category of a location based at least in part on the location history and personal information associated with the user, the category of the location comprising a lifezone;

select information based at least in part upon the determined category of the location;

determine whether a current device location is in a lifezone, based at least in part on the location history, to obtain a determination result; and

control a display so as to display the determination result.

2. The at least one apparatus of claim 1, wherein the location history is stored on a device associated with the user.

3. The at least one apparatus of claim 1, wherein the category comprises at least one of a home, a work place, a school, a transportation area, a meal area, a shopping area, a sports area, or an entertainment area.

4. The at least one apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one apparatus to:

send the first device location and the second device location to a server; and

receive a range of a lifezone from the server.

5. The at least one apparatus of claim 4, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one apparatus to:

determine information identifying a third location associated with the user;

send, to the server, a request for information associated with the third location; and

receive, from the server, information associated with the third location.

6. The at least one apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one apparatus to:

display the information associated with the third location.

7. The at least one apparatus of claim 1, wherein the category is a first category of a first visited location associated with the user.

8. The at least one apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one apparatus to:

store, in a category history, information identifying the first category and information identifying the first visited location;

determine, based on the location history, a second category of a second visited location, the second visited location being associated with the user; and

store, in the category history, information identifying the second category and information identifying the second visited location.

9. The at least one apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least memory stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one apparatus to:

receive, from the first device, a request for information associated with a third location associated with the user;

acquire information associated with the third location;

select a subset of the acquired information; and

send the subset to the first device.

10. The at least one apparatus of claim 9, wherein the subset is selected based on the category history.

11. The at least one apparatus of claim 9, wherein the subset is selected based on the request.

12. The at least one apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is programmed via the instructions to:

process the category of the location based on the location history and the personal information associated with the user, wherein the personal information includes a gender of the user, a home address of the user, a zip code associated with the user, a phone number or a date of birth of the user.

13. The at least one apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one apparatus to:

if a current user location information indicates that user location belongs in a lifezone, control a display to display information based on the lifezone; and

if a current user location information indicates that user location belongs out of a lifezone, control the display to display information based on the current user location.

14. The at least one apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one apparatus to:

if a current user location information indicates that user location belongs in a lifezone, control a display to display information of a store belonging to the lifezone; and

if a current user location information indicates that user location belongs out of a lifezone, control the display to display information including at least one of travelling information or leisure information.

30. The at least one apparatus of claim 1, wherein determining the category of the location comprises determining the category of the location from a portion of the location history for a duration of time that is equal to or greater than a predetermined period of time, wherein the predetermined period of time depends on a type of activity associated with the category of the location.

31. The at least one apparatus of claim 1, wherein determining the category of the location comprises determining the category of the location based on a type of day associated with the first device location and/or a type of day associated with the second device location.

15. A method for determining a category of a location, comprising:

accessing information identifying a first device location of a first device associated with a user at a first time;

storing the first device location information and information identifying the first time in a location history;

accessing information identifying a second device location of the first device at a second time;

storing, in the location history, the second device location information and information identifying the second time;

determining a category of a location based at least in part on the location history and personal information associated with the user, the category of the location comprising a lifezone;

selecting information based at least in part on the determined category of the location;

determining whether a current device location is in a lifezone, based at least in part on the location history, to obtain a determination result; and

controlling a display so as to display the determination result.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the location history is stored on a device associated with the user.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein

the category comprises at least one of a home, a work place, a school, a transportation area, a meal area, a shopping area, a sports area, or an entertainment area.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

sending the first device location and the second device location to a server; and

receiving a range of a lifezone from the server.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

determining information identifying a third location associated with the user;

sending, to the server, a request for information associated with the third location; and

receiving, from the server, information associated with the third location.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the method further comprises:

displaying the information associated with the third location.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the category is a first category of a first visited location associated with the user.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises:

storing, in a category history, information identifying the first category and information identifying the first visited location;

determining, based on the location history, a second category of a second visited location, the second visited location being associated with the user; and

storing, in the category history, information identifying the second category and information identifying the second visited location.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from the first device, a request for information associated with a third location associated with the user;

acquiring information associated with the third location;

selecting a subset of the acquired information; and

sending the subset to the first device.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the subset is selected based on the category history.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the subset is selected based on the request.

26. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

processing the category of the location based on the location history and the personal information associated with the user, wherein the personal information includes a gender of the user, a home address of the user, a zip code associated with the user, a phone number or a date of birth of the user.

27. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

if a current user location information indicates that user location belongs in a lifezone, controlling a display to display information based on the lifezone; and

if a current user location information indicates that user location belongs out of a lifezone, controlling the display to display information based on the current user location.

28. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises:

if a current user location information indicates that user location belongs in a lifezone, controlling a display to display information of a store belonging to the lifezone; and

if a current user location information indicates that user location belongs out of a lifezone, controlling the display to display information including at least one of travelling information or leisure information.

29. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by at least one computer, cause the at least one computer to perform a method of determining a category of a location, the method comprising:

accessing information identifying a first device location of a first device associated with a user at a first time;

storing the first device location information and information identifying the first time in a location history;

accessing information identifying a second device location of the first device at a second time;

storing, in the location history, the second device location information and information identifying the second time;

determining a category of a location based at least in part on the location history and personal information associated with the user, the category of the location comprising a lifezone;

selecting information based at least in part on the determined category of the location;

determining whether a current device location is in a lifezone, based at least in part on the location history, to obtain a determination result; and

controlling a display so as to display the determination result.