ELECTRONIC APPARATUS, INFORMATION DETERMINING SERVER, INFORMATION DETERMINING METHOD, PROGRAM, AND INFORMATION DETERMINING SYSTEM

• US 20160334497A1
• Filed: 07/25/2016
• Published: 11/17/2016
• 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, Kenichi
• Granted Patent: US 9,824,096 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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, at a first time, information identifying a first device location of a first device associated with a user;

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

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

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

process a category of a location based on the location history, wherein the processing of the category of the location comprises determining whether an amount of time during which the first device was located at the first device location, the second device location, or the first device location and the second device location is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount of time.

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 personal information associated with the user, wherein the personal information includes a gender of the user or a date of birth of the user.

13. The at least one apparatus of claim 1, wherein the category includes at least one of:

in a lifezone of the user or out of a lifezone of the user.

14. The at least one apparatus of claim 13, 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.

15. The at least one apparatus of claim 13, 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.

16. 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:

determine whether a current location is in a lifezone based on the location history and the personal information to obtain a determination result; and

control the display to display the determination result.

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

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

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

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

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

processing a category of a location based on the location history, wherein the processing of the category of the location comprises determining whether an amount of time during which the first device was located at the first device location, the second device location, or the first device location and the second device location is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount of time.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the location history is stored on a device associated with the user.

19. The method of claim 17, 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.

20. The method of claim 17, 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.

21. The method of claim 20, 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.

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

displaying the information associated with the third location.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the category is a first category of a first visited location associated with the user.

24. The method of claim 23, 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.

25. The method of claim 24, 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.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the subset is selected based on the category history.

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

28. The method of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

processing the category of the location based on the location history and personal information associated with the user, wherein the personal information includes a gender of the user or a date of birth of the user.

29. The method of claim 17, wherein the category includes at least one of:

in a lifezone of the user or out of a lifezone of the user.

30. The method of claim 29, 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.

31. The method of claim 29, 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.

32. The method of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises:

determining whether a current location is in a lifezone based on the location history and the personal information to obtain a determination result; and

controlling the display to display the determination result.

33. 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, at a first time, information identifying a first device location of a first device associated with a user;

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

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

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

processing a category of a location based on the location history, wherein the processing of the category of the location comprises determining whether an amount of time during which the first device was located at the first device location, the second device location, or the first device location and the second device location is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount of time.