SEARCH FILTERING BASED ON EXPECTED FUTURE TIME AND LOCATION

• US 20100305848A1
• Filed: 05/28/2009
• Published: 12/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Stallman, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 9,767,209 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/204
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for identifying points of interest and specific locations located in the vicinity of an expected future location of a user. When a user provides a search request for a point of interest that will be of interest only at a future time, the electronic device can automatically predict an expected future location of the user, and provide points of interest near the expected future location.

Claims

1. A portable electronic device for providing a mapping application, comprising:

a display operative to display a representation of a map; and

control circuitry operative to;

receive a time-dependent search request;

identify the time frame of interest for the received search;

identify the future location of the device at the identified time frame; and

search for points of interest related to the search request and located in the vicinity of the identified future location.

2. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:

receive a search request; and

determine that the search request is time-dependent.

3. The portable electronic device of claim 2, wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:

identify a time term in the search request.

4. The portable electronic device of claim 2, wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:

identify at least one term in the search request;

compare the identified at least one term with a catalog of time-dependent search terms; and

determine that the identified at least one search term is within the catalog in response to comparing.

5. The portable electronic device of claim 4, wherein:

the catalog comprises a listing of search terms, each search term associated with a specific time frame.

6. The portable electronic device of claim 5, wherein:

the listing of search terms comprises at least one term related to meals, each of which are associated with meal times.

7. The portable electronic device of claim 6, wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:

identify the destination of a user of the electronic device;

plot a path from a current location of the device to the destination; and

identify the future location along the plotted path.

8. The portable electronic device of claim 7, wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:

receive from the user the destination.

9. The portable electronic device of claim 7, wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:

predict the destination based on at least one of;

prior user movement;

locations of calendar events; and

locations retrieved from communications performed using the device.

10. A method for identifying points of interest positioned in a user'"'"'s future location, comprising:

receiving at least one search term for identifying a point of interest;

determining that the search term is associated with a time frame other than the current time frame;

identifying a future location at which the user will be at the time frame associated with the search term; and

retrieving points of interest based on the at least one search term located in proximity of the identified future location.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying a path for the user; and

identifying the future location along the path.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

comparing the search term with a library of search terms, wherein each term in the library is associated with a time frame; and

determining the time frame associated with the term in the library corresponding to the search term.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

identifying a condition associated with the search term; and

determining the time frame from the condition.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the condition comprises a condition satisfied by information received from the user'"'"'s environment; and

determining the time frame comprises determining the time frame at which the information is expected to be received.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the condition comprises at least one of:

temperature;

weather;

remaining fuel in a vehicle;

movement; and

light.

16. A method searching for points of interest in the vicinity of a user'"'"'s future position, comprising:

receiving a search term;

determining that the search term is associated with a condition tied to the user'"'"'s environment;

determining that the condition will be satisfied a future time;

identifying the user'"'"'s future location at the future time; and

providing a listing of points of interest in the vicinity of the identified future location.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

monitoring the user'"'"'s environment based on the output of at least one sensor; and

predicting the future time at which the condition will be met in response to monitoring.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

identifying the user'"'"'s expected path; and

identifying the user'"'"'s location on the expected path at the future time.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the condition comprises at least one of:

temperature;

weather;

remaining fuel in a vehicle;

movement; and

light.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

identifying a category of points of interest associated with the search term from a plurality of categories, wherein each category is identified with a particular time frame; and

identifying the particular time frame as the future time.

21. Computer readable media for identifying points of interest positioned in a user'"'"'s future location, comprising a computer-readable instructions for:

receiving at least one search term for identifying a point of interest;

determining that the search term is associated with a time frame other than the current time frame;

identifying a future location at which the user will be at the time frame associated with the search term; and

retrieving points of interest based on the at least one search term located in proximity of the identified future location.

22. The computer readable media of claim 21, further comprising additional computer-readable instructions for:

identifying a path for the user; and

identifying the future location along the path.

23. The computer readable media of claim 21, further comprising additional computer-readable instructions for:

comparing the search term with a library of search terms, wherein each term in the library is associated with a time frame; and

determining the time frame associated with the term in the library corresponding to the search term.