Weather forecasts based on expected location

• US 8,959,168 B2
• Filed: 07/12/2013
• Issued: 02/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Praun, Emil, Guggemos, James A., Gultekin, Gokay Baris, Stamm, Tom Carl
• Primary Examiner(s): Donabed, Ninos
• Application Number:
  US13/940,439
• Publication Number:
  US 20130346523A1
• Time in Patent Office: 585 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 1/10 Devices for predicting weather conditions computers per se G06; display devices G09
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area

Abstract

A computing system is described that can automatically provide weather forecast information to a user based on the user'"'"'s expected future location. In some embodiments, the methods can include predicting a future location of a user and storing the future location in the memory, fetching weather forecast information associated with the future location of the user, and outputting, to a mobile device associated with the user, the weather forecast information associated with the future location of the user.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing system, one or more communications associated with a user of a computing device, the one or more communications including information comprising at least one of an e-mail associated with the user, a phone call associated with the user, a message associated with the user, or social interaction data associated with the user;

determining, by the computing system, based at least in part on a location history of the computing device and the one or more communications, a future location and a future time at which the user is predicted to engage in an outdoor activity;

determining, by the computing system, one or more differences between an average weather forecast for the future location over a period of time and a predicted weather forecast for the future location at the future time; and

responsive to determining that at least one of the one or more differences satisfies a threshold, automatically sending, by the computing system, to the computing device, notification data comprising an indication of the predicted weather forecast.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the future location and the future time further comprises:

identifying, by the computing system, recurring locations from a location history associated with the user;

determining, by the computing system, and based on the recurring locations, a travel pattern associated with the user; and

determining, by the computing system, based on the travel pattern, the future location and the future time.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the future location and the future time further comprises:

identifying, by the computing system, based on a calendar entry associated with the user, a time of an event associated with the outdoor activity and a location of the event; and

determining, by the computing system, that the future location corresponds to the location of the event and that the future time corresponds to the time of the event.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the future location and the future time further comprises:

identifying, by the computing system, based on the one or more communications, a time of an event associated with the outdoor activity and a location of the event; and

determining, by the computing system, that the future location of the user corresponds to the location of the event and that the future time corresponds to the time of the event.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the future location and the future time further comprises:

determining, by the computing system, a current location of the computing device at a current time; and

determining, by the computing system, based on the current location of the computing device at the current time, the future location and the future time.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the computing system, current weather forecast for a current location of the computing device at a current time;

determining, by the computing system, at least one difference between the current weather forecast for the current location at the current time with the predicted weather forecast for the future location at the future time; and

responsive to determining that the at least one difference satisfies the threshold, automatically sending, by the computing system, to the computing device, the notification data, wherein the notification data further comprises information indicative of the at least one difference.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more communications include at least one e-mail communication including information indicative of a travel reservation of the user.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the computing system, based on historical weather data for the future location and at least one of a same time of day as the future time or a same time of year as the future time, the average weather forecast.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the historical weather data is average weather data for the future location and the at least one of the same time of day as the future time or the same time of year as the future time.

8. A method comprising:

sending, by a computing device, to a computing system, a location history associated with a user of the computing device;

responsive to sending the location history to the computing system, automatically receiving, by the computing device, from the computing system, notification data comprising a predicted weather forecast for a predicted future location of the user at a future time, wherein the predicted future location of the user at the future time is determined based at least in part on the location history and one or more communications associated with the user that indicate that the user is predicted to engage in an outdoor activity at the predicted future location of the user at the future time and that at least one difference between the predicted weather forecast for the predicted future location at the future time and an average weather forecast for the predicted future location over a period of time satisfies a threshold, the one or more communications comprising at least one of an e-mail associated with the user, a phone call associated with the user, a message associated with the user, or social interaction data associated with the user;

receiving, by the computing device, an indication of an input corresponding to a command to present information predicted to be of interest to the user; and

responsive to receiving the input, outputting, by the computing device and for display, an indication of the outdoor activity and the predicted weather forecast.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, from the computing system, prior to the future time, information indicative of a difference between a metric associated with the predicted weather forecast for the predicted future location and a corresponding metric associated with a current weather forecast for a current location associated with the computing device exceeds the threshold; and

responsive to receiving the information indicative of the difference, automatically outputting, by the computing device, for display, a graphical indication of the information indicative of the difference.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, from the computing system, prior to the future time, information indicative of a difference between a metric associated with the predicted weather forecast for the predicted future location and a corresponding metric associated with the average weather forecast exceeds the threshold; and

responsive to receiving the information indicative of the difference, automatically outputting, by the computing device, for display, a graphical indication of the information indicative of the difference.

11. A computing system comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one module operable by the at least one processor to;

receive one or more communications associated with a user of a computing device, the one or more communications comprising at least one of an e-mail associated with the user, a phone call associated with the user, a message associated with the user, or social interaction data associated with the user;

determine, based at least in part on a location history of the computing device and the one or more communications, a future location and a future time at which the user is predicted to engage in an outdoor activity; and

determining, by the computing system, one or more differences between an average weather forecast for the future location over a period of time and a predicted weather forecast for the future location at the future time;

responsive to determining that at least one of the one or more differences satisfies a threshold, automatically send, to the computing device, notification data comprising an indication of the predicted weather forecast.

12. The computing system of claim 11, wherein the at least one module is further operable by the at least one processor to determine the future location and the future time by:

identifying recurring locations from a location history associated with the user;

determining, based on the recurring locations, a travel pattern associated with the user; and

determining, based on the travel pattern, the future location and the future time.

13. The computing system of claim 11, wherein the at least one module is further operable by the at least one processor to determine the future location and the future time by:

identifying, based on a calendar entry associated with the user, a time of an event associated with the outdoor activity and a location of the event; and

determining that the future location corresponds to the location of the event and that the future time corresponds to the time of the event.

14. The computing system of claim 11, wherein the at least one module is further operable by the at least one processor to determine the future location and the future time by:

identifying, based on the one or more communications, a time of an event associated with the outdoor activity and a location of the event; and

determining, that the future location corresponds to the location of the event and that the future time corresponds to the time of the event.

15. The computing system of claim 11, wherein the at least one module is further operable by the at least one processor to determine the future location and the future time by:

determining a current location of the computing device at a current time; and

determining, based on the current location of the computing device at the current time, the future location and the future time.

16. The computing system of claim 11, wherein the at least one module is further operable by the at least one processor to:

receive a current weather forecast for a current location of the computing device at a current time;

determine at least one difference between the current weather forecast for the current location at the current time with the predicted weather forecast for the future location at the future time; and

responsive to determining that the at least one difference satisfies the threshold, automatically send, to the computing device, the notification data, wherein the notification data further comprises information indicative of the at least one difference.

17. The computing system of claim 11, wherein the one or more communications include at least one e-mail including information indicative of travel reservations of the user.

23. The computing system of claim 11, wherein the at least one module is further operable by the at least one processor to determine, based on historical weather data for the future location and at least one of a same time of day as the future time or a same time of year as the future time, the average weather forecast.

24. The computing system of claim 23, wherein the historical weather data is average weather data for the future location and the at least one of the same time of day as the future time or the same time of year as the future time.

18. A computing device comprising:

a display device;

an input device;

at least one processor; and

at least one module operable by the at least one processor to;

send, to a computing system, a location history associated with a user of the computing device;

responsive to sending the location history to the computing system, automatically receive, from the computing system, notification data comprising a predicted weather forecast for a predicted future location of the user at a future time, wherein the predicted future location of the user at the future time is determined based at least in part on the location history and one or more communications associated with the user that indicate that the user is predicted to engage in an outdoor activity at the predicted future location of the user at the future time and that at least one difference between the predicted weather forecast for the predicted future location at the future time and an average weather forecast for the predicted future location over a period of time satisfies a threshold, the one or more communications comprising at least one of an e-mail associated with the user, a phone call associated with the user, a message associated with the user, or social interaction data associated with the user;

receive an indication of an input detected at the input device, the input corresponding to a command to present information predicted to be of interest to the user; and

responsive to receiving the input, output, for display at the display device, an indication of the outdoor activity and the predicted weather forecast.

19. The computing system of claim 18, wherein the at least one module is further operable by the at least one processor to:

receive, from the computing system, prior to the future time, information indicative of a difference between a metric associated with the predicted weather forecast for the predicted future location and a corresponding metric associated with current weather forecast for a current weather forecast for a current location associated with the computing device exceeds the threshold; and

responsive to receiving the information indicative of the difference, automatically output, for display at the display device, a graphical indication of the information indicative of the difference.

20. The computing system of claim 18, wherein the at least one module is further operable by the at least one processor to:

receive, from the computing system, prior to the future time, information indicative of a difference between a metric associated with the predicted weather forecast for the predicted future location and a corresponding metric associated with the average weather forecast exceeds the threshold; and

responsive to receiving the information indicative of the difference, automatically output, for display at the display device, a graphical indication of the information indicative of the difference.