Inferring logical user locations

• US 9,872,150 B2
• Filed: 01/27/2016
• Issued: 01/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Priness, Ido, Weinberg, Shira, Dotan-Cohen, Dikla, Avihoo, Assaf
• Primary Examiner(s): Cumming, William D
• Application Number:
  US15/008,158
• Publication Number:
  US 20170034666A1
• Time in Patent Office: 720 Days
• Field of Search: 4554561, 379 9307, 37914201
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

A logical location of a user may be inferred using semantics of the user'"'"'s computing device(s). The logical locations may correspond to venues visited by the user, such as frequently visited venues, referred to as hubs. Logical hubs, representing logical locations, may be tagged to the computing device by classifying the device as being associated with a logical hub. Classification may be based on signals or features of the device, such as device usage or device characteristics. The device may be monitored to detect user activity. Based on analysis of the user activity and associated logical hub, the user'"'"'s logical location may be inferred. A computer user-experience may be personalized to the user based on the user'"'"'s inferred logical location or logical hub(s) associated with the device. In some cases, geographical location information is not used to determine the logical hubs or infer a user'"'"'s logical location.

Claims

1. A computerized system comprising:

one or more sensors configured to collect user data;

a user device monitor configured to identify and monitor a user device and user activity on the user device;

a device features identifier configured to identify features of a user device;

one or more processors; and

one or more computer storage media storing computer-useable instructions that, when used by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

determining, using the user device monitor, a first user device associated with a user;

determining, using the device features identifier, a first set of device features for the first user device, the first set of device features characterizing aspects of the first user device and determined based at least in part on the user data, wherein the first set of device features includes usage pattern features determined from a pattern of user interactions with the first user device;

based on the first set of features, classifying the first user device as being associated with at least a first logical hub;

monitoring the first user device, using the user device monitor, to detect user activity on the first user device; and

based on the detected user activity on the first user device, determining a logical location of the user.

2. The computerized system of claim 1, wherein the user data comprises one or more of biometric data, motion data, time-related data, network-related data, and usage-related data.

3. The computerized system of claim 1, wherein the user data does not include geographical location information.

4. The computerized system of claim 1, wherein the first set of features for the first user device comprise one or more of time-related features, device characteristics, usage-related features, and complementary features, and wherein the at least a first logical hub comprises one or more of a home, office, gym, and school logical hub.

5. The computerized system of claim 1, wherein the logical location of the user is further determined based on an analysis of the detected user activity and the first logical hub.

6. The computerized system of claim 5, further comprising causing a modified user experience to be provided based on the determined logical location.

7. The computerized system of claim 6, wherein the modified user experience comprises presenting, on the first user device, a content item that is related to the determined logical location of the user.

8. The computerized system of claim 6, wherein the modified user experience comprises not presenting, on the first user device, a content item that is not related to the logical location of the user.

9. The computerized system of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, using the user device monitor, a second user device associated with a user;

determining, using the device features identifier, a second set of device features for the second user device, the second device features characterizing aspects of the second user device and determined based at least in part on the user data that does not include geographical location information of the second user device; and

based on the second set of features, classifying the second user device as being associated with a logical hub.

10. The computerized system of claim 9, wherein the first logical hub associated with the first user device and the logical hub associated with the second device are the same logical hub.

11. The computerized system of claim 10, wherein the first user device and the second user device are located at geographically distinct locations.

12. A computerized system comprising:

one or more sensors configured to provide sensor data;

a device features identifier configured to determine device features of a user device;

one or more processors; and

one or more computer storage media storing computer-useable instructions that, when used by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving an indication of a user device, the user device comprising a computing device associated with a user;

determining, using the device features identifier, a set of device features characterizing aspects of the user device, the set of device features determined based at least in part on the sensor data, wherein the set of features includes usage pattern features determined from a pattern of user interactions with the first user device; and

based on the set of device features, determining a logical hub associated with the user device.

13. The computerized system of claim 12, wherein the sensor data does not include geographical location information of the user device.

14. The computerized system of claim 12, further comprising determining content for presentation via the user device based on the determined logical hub associated with the user device.

15. The computerized system of claim 12, further comprising:

monitoring the sensor data to determine user activity associated with the user device; and

based on an analysis of the user activity and the determined logical hub, inferring a logical location of the user.

16. A computerized method for providing a personalized user experience on a user device, the method comprising:

receiving an indication of a first user device, the first user device associated with a user and comprising a computing device having one or more sensors configured to provide sensor data regarding the first user device;

determining a set of features characterizing aspects of the first user device, the set of features determined based at least in part on the sensor data, wherein the set of features includes usage pattern features determined from a pattern of user interactions with the first user device;

based on the set of features, determining a logical hub associated with the first user device; and

determining content for presentation via the first user device, the content determined based on the logical hub associated with the first user device.

17. The computerized method of claim 16, wherein the sensor data does not include geographical location information of the first user device.

18. The computerized method of claim 16, wherein determining the logical hub comprises:

providing the set of features as inputs to a statistical trained classifier; and

determining the logical hub based on the output of the statistical trained classifier.

19. The computerized method of claim 16, wherein the determined set of features include user-device features characterizing at least a second user device, the second user device associated with the same user as the first user device.

20. The computerized method of claim 16, further comprising:

monitoring the sensor data to determine user activity associated with the user device; and

based on an analysis of the user activity and the determined logical hub, inferring a logical location of the user.