U.S. patent application number 14/516066 was filed with the patent office on 2015-03-05 for source switching for devices supporting dynamic direction information.
The applicant listed for this patent is MICROSOFT CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Moe Khosravy, Lev Novik.
Application Number | 20150066365 14/516066 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 41430673 |
Filed Date | 2015-03-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150066365 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Khosravy; Moe ; et
al. |
March 5, 2015 |
SOURCE SWITCHING FOR DEVICES SUPPORTING DYNAMIC DIRECTION
INFORMATION
Abstract
With the addition of directional information in the environment,
a variety of service(s) can be provided on top of user
identification or interaction with specific object(s) of interest
by pointing at the objects. Sometimes either the device user and/or
the publishers of content cannot complete a content exchange due to
connectivity to data or services becoming lost. A device
provisioned for pointing or direction based services losing
connectivity to a first network while engaging pointing based
services. In response, one or more other sources for the pointing
based services are identified on a second network or device to
which the device can connect and the device automatically connects
to the second network or device to receive the pointing based
services, or data for use with the pointing based services (e.g.,
GPS information, point of interest data, direction data, etc.),
from the one or more other sources.
Inventors: |
Khosravy; Moe; (Bellevue,
WA) ; Novik; Lev; (Bellevue, WA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
MICROSOFT CORPORATION |
Redmond |
WA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
41430673 |
Appl. No.: |
14/516066 |
Filed: |
October 16, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
12476426 |
Jun 2, 2009 |
|
|
|
14516066 |
|
|
|
|
61074415 |
Jun 20, 2008 |
|
|
|
61074590 |
Jun 20, 2008 |
|
|
|
61073849 |
Jun 19, 2008 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
701/522 ;
701/537 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01C 21/3664 20130101;
G01C 21/00 20130101; H04L 67/18 20130101; H04W 4/026 20130101; G01C
21/20 20130101; G06Q 30/0241 20130101; H04W 4/02 20130101; H04W
4/029 20180201 |
Class at
Publication: |
701/522 ;
701/537 |
International
Class: |
G01C 21/00 20060101
G01C021/00 |
Claims
1. A computing system comprising: at least one processor; and one
or more storage device having stored computer executable
instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor,
implement a method for obtaining point of interest information for
a device, the method comprising: receiving point of interest data
from a first source that is presented to the device, based on
pointing information associated with at least one direction of the
device, the point of interest data being received from the first
source through a first network connection; detecting that the
device has lost connectivity to the first source through the first
network connection; identifying a second source of the point of
interest data, to which the device can connect via a second network
connection that is different than the first network connection; and
using a network switching controller and interface to automatically
connect the device to the second source through the second network
connection to enable receipt of the point of interest data from the
second source in direct response to losing connectivity to the
first source through the first network connection.
2. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the identifying
includes automatically searching for an on-site data store of point
of interest information pertaining locally to the device.
3. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the identifying
includes automatically searching for a data store of point of
interest information pertaining to points of interest of a physical
structure where the device is located.
4. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the identifying
includes automatically identifying at least one other computing
device having stored thereon point of interest data.
5. The computing system of claim 4, further comprising requesting
permission to receive the point of interest data from the at least
one other computing device.
6. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the identifying
includes automatically identifying at least one other computing
device having access to point of interest data to which the at
least one other computing device can connect via a third network
connection.
7. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the point of interest
data provided by the second source is specifically related to the
second source the same point of interest data.
8. The computing system of claim 1, wherein the losing connectivity
includes losing connectivity to a long range wireless
communications network and the identifying includes identifying a
short range wireless communications network, the long range
wireless communications network overlapping a geographic area
surrounding an area defined by the short range wireless
communications network.
9. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the losing connectivity
includes losing connectivity to a mobile device communications
network and the identifying includes identifying at least one other
source of point of interest data to which the device can connect
via Bluetooth.
10. A portable electronic device, comprising: a memory that stores
at least information related to at least direction information
representing information pertaining to orientation of the device,
position information representing information pertaining to
location of the device and point of interest information
representing information pertaining to points of interest
substantially within interactive range of the device; a positional
component for receiving the position information as a function of a
location of the portable electronic device; a directional component
that measures the direction information as a function of an
orientation of the portable electronic device; and a switching
component that automatically switches among at least two sources
that are remotely located from the portable electronic device for
the position information in response to determining that a first
source that is providing position information to the portable
electronic device has stopped delivering the position information
to the device and wherein the switching component is configured to
select a new source from the at least two sources based at least in
part on a power setting of the device.
11. The device of claim 10, wherein the switching component is
further configured to switch among the at least two sources for the
direction information when the first source of is detected to not
be operating.
12. The device of claim 10, wherein the switching component is
further configured to switch among the at least two sources for the
point of interest information when the first source indicates point
of interest information is unavailable.
13. The device of claim 10, further comprising: at least one
processor configured to process the position information and the
direction information to determine at least one identifier of at
least one point of interest within scope of the device, to receive
information corresponding to the at least one identifier of the at
least one point of interest, and to display information when the
device interacts with the at least one point of interest with the
device.
14. The device of claim 10, further comprising: at least one
processor configured to process the position information and the
direction information to determine at least one identifier of at
least one point of interest within scope of the device, to receive
advertisement content corresponding to the at least one identifier
of the at least one point of interest, and to render the
advertisement content when the device interacts with the at least
one point of interest with the device.
15. The device of claim 10, further comprising: a pointer that
visually indicates the orientation of the portable electronic
device based upon which the directional component outputs the
direction information.
16. The device of claim 10, wherein the directional component is a
digital compass that outputs the direction information.
17. A computing system comprising: at least one processor; and one
or more storage device having stored computer executable
instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor,
implement a method comprising: determining, by the device,
direction information as a function of a direction for the device;
determining position information as a function of a position for
the device; the device detecting a failure of an internal component
of the device; the device, in response to detecting the failure of
the internal component of the device, automatically identifying at
least one source remote from the device that is capable of
providing one or more services that were previously provided by the
internal component that has the detected failure; and the device,
automatically in response to detecting the failure, connecting to
the at least one source remote from the device to obtain the one or
more services.
18. The computing system of claim 17, further comprising:
determining motion information as a function of movement of the
device, wherein the one or more services includes pointing based
services that are based on the direction information, position
information and the motion information.
19. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the connecting
includes automatically connecting to a nearby device that hosts
pointing based services.
20. The computing system of claim 17, wherein the internal
component is an internal compass.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 12/476,426 filed on Jun. 2, 2009, entitled
"SOURCE SWITCHING FOR DEVICES SUPPORTING DYNAMIC DIRECTION
INFORMATION," which issued as U.S. patent Ser. No. ______ on
______, which claims the benefit of each of the following
provisional applications: U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.
61/074,415 filed on Jun. 20, 2008, U.S. Provisional Application
Ser. No. 61/074,590 filed on Jun. 20, 2008, and U.S. Provisional
Application Ser. No. 61/073,849 filed on Jun. 19, 2008, the
entireties of each of which are incorporated herein by
reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. The Field of the Invention
[0003] The subject disclosure relates to the provision of
direction-based services for a device based on direction
information and/or other information, such as location information,
and to automatic switching between disparate networks, sources of
information and/or services upon which the direction-based services
are based.
[0004] 2. The Relevant Technology
[0005] By way of background concerning some conventional systems,
mobile devices, such as portable laptops, PDAs, mobile phones,
navigation devices, and the like have been equipped with location
based services, such as global positioning system (GPS) systems,
WiFi, cell tower triangulation, etc., which can determine and
record a position of mobile devices. For instance, GPS systems use
triangulation of signals received from various satellites placed in
orbit around Earth to determine device position. A variety of
map-based services have emerged from the inclusion of such location
based systems that help users of these devices to be found on a map
and to facilitate point to point navigation in real-time and search
for locations near a point on a map.
[0006] However, such navigation and search scenarios are currently
limited to displaying relatively static information about endpoints
and navigation routes. While some of these devices with location
based navigation or search capabilities allow update of the bulk
data representing endpoint information via a network, e.g., when
connected to a networked portable computer (PC) or laptop, such
data again becomes fixed in time. Accordingly, it would be
desirable to provide a set of richer experiences for users than
conventional experiences predicated on location and conventional
processing of static bulk data representing potential endpoints of
interest.
[0007] Moreover, with conventional navigation systems, a user may
wish to request information about a particular point of interest
(POI), but if the user becomes disconnected from a given network or
information source (e.g., if the user goes underground losing
visibility to GPS satellites, communications network interrupted or
out of service, etc.), the location based services become
dysfunctional. The user experience suffers as a result since users
cannot interact with desired point of information.
[0008] The above-described deficiencies of today's location based
systems and devices are merely intended to provide an overview of
some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended
to be exhaustive. Other problems with the state of the art and
corresponding benefits of some of the various non-limiting
embodiments may become further apparent upon review of the
following detailed description.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0009] A simplified summary is provided herein to help enable a
basic or general understanding of various aspects of exemplary,
non-limiting embodiments that follow in the more detailed
description and the accompanying drawings. This summary is not
intended, however, as an extensive or exhaustive overview. Instead,
the sole purpose of this summary is to present some concepts
related to some exemplary non-limiting embodiments in a simplified
form as a prelude to the more detailed description of the various
embodiments that follow.
[0010] Direction based pointing services are provided for portable
devices or mobile endpoints. Mobile endpoints can include a
positional component for receiving positional information as a
function of a location of the portable electronic device, a
directional component that outputs direction information as a
function of an orientation of the portable electronic device and a
processing engine that processes the positional information and the
direction information to determine a subset of points of interest
relative to the portable electronic device as a function of the
direction information and/or the location information.
[0011] Devices or endpoints can include compass(es), e.g., magnetic
or gyroscopic, to determine a direction and location based systems
for determining location, e.g., GPS. To supplement the positional
information and/or the direction information, devices or endpoints
can also include component(s) for determining speed and/or
acceleration information for processing by the engine, e.g., to aid
in the determination of gestures made with the device.
[0012] With the addition of directional information in the
environment, a variety of service(s) can be provided on top of user
identification or interaction with specific object(s) of interest.
For instance, various embodiments automatically switch among
sources for points of interest data, direction data, position data,
direction based services, and/or various networks that interconnect
the devices and the data and services for direction-based
services.
[0013] Various embodiments for a device provisioned for pointing
based services include receiving pointing based services by a
device via a first network, but losing connectivity to the first
network. In response, one or more other sources for the pointing
based services are identified on a second network or device to
which the device can connect and the device automatically connects
to the second network or device to receive the pointing based
services, or data for use with the pointing based services (e.g.,
GPS information, point of interest data, direction data, etc.),
from the one or more other sources.
[0014] These and other embodiments are described in more detail
below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0015] Various non-limiting embodiments are further described with
reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
[0016] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a non-limiting device
architecture for pointing based services including automatic data
or services switchover capabilities;
[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a non-limiting device
architecture for pointing based services including automatic
network switchover capabilities;
[0018] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a device that
supports pointing based services and includes a location data
connectivity switching subsystem;
[0019] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a device that
supports pointing based services and includes a direction data
connectivity switching subsystem;
[0020] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a device that
supports pointing based services and includes a point of interest
data connectivity switching subsystem;
[0021] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a device that
supports pointing based services and includes a network switching
subsystem;
[0022] FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a device that
supports pointing based services and includes a direction based
service switching subsystem;
[0023] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary
non-limiting process for automatically recovering from connectivity
loss;
[0024] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary
non-limiting process for automatically recovering from connectivity
loss in the context of loss of location information;
[0025] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary
non-limiting process for automatically recovering from connectivity
loss in the context of loss of direction information;
[0026] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary
non-limiting process for automatically recovering from connectivity
loss in the context of loss of point of interest information;
[0027] FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a representative
architecture for supporting predictive pointing based services;
[0028] FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a representative
device for supporting predictive pointing based services;
[0029] FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating the formation of
motion vectors for use in connection with location based
services;
[0030] FIG. 15, FIG. 16 and FIG. 17 illustrate aspects of
algorithms for determining intersection endpoints with a pointing
direction of a device;
[0031] FIG. 18 represents a generic user interface for a mobile
device for representing points of interest based on pointing
information;
[0032] FIG. 19 represents some exemplary, non-limiting alternatives
for user interfaces for representing point of interest
information;
[0033] FIG. 20 represents some exemplary, non-limiting fields or
user interface windows for displaying static and dynamic
information about a given point of interest;
[0034] FIG. 21 illustrates a sample overlay user interface for
overlaying point of interest information over a camera view of a
mobile device;
[0035] FIG. 22 illustrates a process for predicting points of
interest and aging out old points of interest in a region-based
algorithm;
[0036] FIG. 23 illustrates a first process for a device upon
receiving a location and direction event;
[0037] FIG. 24 illustrates a second process for a device upon
receiving a location and direction event;
[0038] FIG. 25 is a block diagram representing an exemplary
non-limiting networked environment in which embodiment(s) may be
implemented; and
[0039] FIG. 26 is a block diagram representing an exemplary
non-limiting computing system or operating environment in which
aspects of embodiment(s) may be implemented.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Overview
[0040] While each of the various embodiments herein are presented
independently, e.g., as part of the sequence of respective Figures,
one can appreciate that a portable device and/or associated network
services, as described, can incorporate or combine two or more of
any of the embodiments. Given that each of the various embodiments
improve the overall services ecosystem in which users wish to
operate, together a synergy results from combining different
benefits. Accordingly, the combination of different embodiments
described below shall be considered herein to represent a host of
further alternate embodiments.
[0041] Among other things, current location services systems and
services, e.g., GPS, cell triangulation, P2P location service, such
as Bluetooth, WiFi, etc., tend to be based on the location of the
device only, and tend to provide static experiences that are not
tailored to a user because the data about endpoints of interest is
relatively static, or fixed in time. Such conventional location
systems have not factored in direction information into the
experience either.
[0042] In this regard, one or more embodiments herein employ
direction information in connection with location information
enabling a pointing or directional approach to interacting with
points of interest. In such systems, a user may become unable to
receive pointing or direction based services because of
disconnection from a communications network. Similarly, the user
may experience interruption of receiving data needed to carry out
the direction based services. For instance, the user may lose
access to any of position data (e.g., disconnected from GPS
satellites), direction information (e.g., compass not working), or
point of interest data or services (e.g., cellular network
unavailable), which may make fulfillment of any real time location
or direction based services a further challenge.
[0043] Accordingly, in various non-limiting embodiments, when
connectivity is lost to one or more parts of the provision of
pointing based services, an automatic network switchover occurs,
which can be based on automatically searching for and finding an
alternate source for a given set of information or services sought.
The switchover can be based on prioritization rules as well.
[0044] An exemplary non-limiting pointing based services enabled
device includes an engine for analyzing location information (e.g.,
GPS), compass information (N, W, S, E), and movement information
(e.g., accelerometer) to allow a platform for finding objects of
interest in a user's environment. A variety of scenarios are
provided based on a user finding information of interest about
objects of interests, such as restaurants, or other items around an
individual, and tailoring information to that user (e.g., coupons,
advertisements). However, to maximize interaction with objects of
interest, a way to switch over to alternate sources for information
and services is desired. Such services can be offered as part of
cloud services, web services, or from other devices near a given
device, e.g., via Bluetooth.
[0045] In such a system, a user may interact with a lot of
different POIs, and request information about those POIs, however,
in the situation where a user loses connectivity to a data network,
or loses a signal to a GPS satellite, rather than fail, it would be
beneficial to provide requested information to a user from an
alternate source.
[0046] A way to switchover to alternative sources is thus provided
for information if any of the data or positional information is
temporarily unavailable, e.g., from a nearby other device, or from
location information received by a bus in which the user is
travelling. A variety of scenarios are explored illustrating the
benefits of being able to maintain a consistent user experience
that minimizes failure.
[0047] In one embodiment, a device provisioned for pointing based
services receives point of interest data from pointing based
services based on pointing information associated with a direction
of the device via a first network. If the device loses connectivity
to the first network, another source of point of interest data to
which the device can connect via a second network is identified and
the device automatically connects to the second network to receive
the point of interest information from the other source.
[0048] The other source can be an on-site data store of point of
interest information pertaining locally to the device. The other
source can be a data store of point of interest information
pertaining to points of interest of a physical structure (e.g., a
building or store such as Costco) where the device is located. The
other source can be another nearby computing device having point of
interest data that can be shared, e.g., upon receiving a request
for permission to obtain the point of interest data.
[0049] In one embodiment, another device may not already include
the data of interest, but the other device can provide access to
needed data for direction based services via a third network
unavailable to the device directly. Thus, for instance, the device
connects to a second device, e.g., via Bluetooth, and the second
device in effect provides access to the third network to the
device, e.g., for a negotiated fee. In this way, the device obtains
its point of interest data or direction based services and the
second device profits from making such data or services available
to the device.
[0050] Another scenario is where a user connected to a long range
wireless communications network, such as a cellular network,
becomes unable to connect to the long range network, e.g., if the
user goes in a tunnel. Thus, the tunnel itself could host a short
range network that covers the local area, or otherwise provide
surrogate access to a longer range network. This way, when the
device loses connection to the long range network, the short range
network replaces the long range network automatically. For
instance, when a mobile phone loses connection to a mobile device
communications network, the mobile phone automatically switches to
another device with needed data or network access via Bluetooth to
provide a seamless user experience.
[0051] In one embodiment, a portable electronic device includes a
memory that stores direction information representing information
pertaining to orientation of the device, position information
representing information pertaining to location of the device and
point of interest information representing information pertaining
to points of interest substantially within interactive range of the
device. The device includes a positional component for receiving
the position information as a function of a location of the
portable electronic device and a directional component that
measures the direction information as a function of an orientation
of the portable electronic device.
[0052] The device further includes a switching component that
switches among at least two sources for the position information
when a source for the position information is not delivering
position information to the device. The switching component can
also switch among at least two sources for the direction
information when a source for the direction information is not
operating. The switching component can also switch among at least
two sources for the point of interest information when a source for
the point of interest information is unavailable.
[0053] The device can further include a processor (e.g., CPU, GPU,
etc.) configured to process the position information and the
direction information to determine identifier(s) of points of
interest within scope of the device, to receive information
corresponding to the identifier(s) of the points of interest, and
to display information if the device interacts with at least one
point of interest. The processor can process the position
information and the direction information to determine identifiers
of at least one point of interest within scope of the device, to
receive advertisement content corresponding to the at least one
identifier of the at least one point of interest, and to render the
advertisement content if the device interacts with at least one
point of interest.
[0054] The device can include a pointer that visually indicates the
orientation of the portable electronic device based upon which the
directional component outputs the direction information. The
directional component can be a digital compass that outputs
direction information.
[0055] In another embodiment, a method for a pointing based
services enabled device can include determining direction
information as a function of a direction for the device,
determining position information as a function of a position for
the device, receiving pointing based services based on the
direction information and position information via a first network,
losing connectivity by the device to the first network, identifying
at least one other source for the pointing based services to which
the device can connect on a second network and automatically
connecting to the second network to receive the pointing based
services from the at least one other source.
[0056] The method can further include determining motion
information as a function of movement of the device and the
receiving of pointing base services is based on the direction
information, position information and the motion information. The
connecting can include automatically connecting to a nearby device
that hosts the pointing based services, e.g., via Bluetooth.
[0057] Details of various other exemplary, non-limiting embodiments
are provided below.
Data Source/Network Switching for Devices Supporting Dynamic
Direction Information
[0058] With direction based services, users can thus interact with
a set of endpoints in a host of context sensitive ways to provide
or update information associated with endpoints of interest, or to
receive beneficial information or instruments (e.g., coupons,
offers, etc.) from entities associated with the endpoints of
interest, and where failure would otherwise occur due to loss of
connectivity to data or a network, any of such actions can be
facilitated by automatic switchover to alternate source(s) of
data/networks.
[0059] For instance, as shown in FIG. 1, a direction based services
enabled device 100 includes various sub-components that can be used
in connection with the provision of such direction based services.
For instance, as input to a direction based services engine 110,
the device 100 uses point of interest data, location information
and direction information as part of interacting with various
direction based services. A user can also interact graphically or
otherwise via key input with user interface 120, the commands for
which are carried out by the direction based services engine 110.
In this regard, in various embodiments, the device 100 can include
any one or more of point of interest data source controller and
interface 102, direction based services source controller and
interface 104, location information source controller and interface
106 or direction information source controller and interface 108,
which perform the automatic switchover among one or more sources
for their respective information domains. Components 102, 104, 106,
108 can be combined or provided separately, or according to
sub-combinations.
[0060] For instance, point of interest data source controller and
interface 102 operates to automatically switch among different
sources of point of interest data 112, 114, . . . , 116. Thus, if
the device 100 is outside and then goes inside a store and becomes
disconnected to a data source 112 for point of interest
information, then the device 100 can automatically switch over to a
server source 114 inside the store which provides a local geo-cache
of point of interest information applicable to the store. When the
user goes outside again, the server 114 is no longer visible to the
device, and the device 100 automatically switches back to source
112 or another source 116 for point of interest data.
[0061] For another example, location information source controller
and interface 106 can switch among different sources for location
information, depending on power of the device, connectivity, etc.
For instance, source 132 might be GPS signals, source 134 might be
cellular tower triangulation techniques, and source 136 might be a
local in-store set of transceivers that perform signal timing and
triangulation for devices that are inside the store only so that a
maximally effective in store pointing based experience is provided.
Thus, controller and interface 106 automatically switches among
different sources of location information on behalf of the
direction based services enabled device 100.
[0062] For another example, direction information source controller
and interface 108 can switch among different sources for direction
information, depending on power of the device, connectivity, etc.
As a non-limiting example, source 142 might be an on device digital
compass, source 144 might be a compass on a bus or airplane in
which the device 100 is travelling, and source 146 might be an
external connection to a compass. Thus, controller and interface
108 automatically switches among different sources of direction
information on behalf of the direction based services enabled
device 100. In this regard, if the on device digital compass source
142 becomes disabled, and the user is travelling in a bus, then the
user may switch over to a different source of direction
information. When travelling in a bus, the direction information
associated with the bus may be more relevant than the device
orientation. Or, in one non-limiting embodiment, the device 100 can
make use of both device orientation source 142 and the bus
orientation source 144 to make both bus and device orientation a
part of an interactive point of interest experience via direction
based services.
[0063] In addition, the device 100 may include a direction based
services source controller and interface 104. In this regard, there
may be multiple different providers of the same or different
direction based services from sources 122, 124, . . . 126, and
where device 100 experiences failure of delivery of services from
any of such sources, the device 100 automatically switches over to
an alternate source for the service or services. As noted, the
sources of point of interest data, direction based services,
location information, and direction information may all be accessed
via a variety of wired or wireless data/communications networks
130.
[0064] This is illustrated in more detail in the embodiment of the
block diagram of FIG. 2 in which network switching controller and
interface 140 is introduced. As a layer between point of interest
data, direction based services, location information, and direction
information, networks 130 can also have automatic switchover
applied to them. For instance, when the device 100 switches over
from location information source 132 to location information source
136, the device 100, via network switching controller and interface
140, may also correspondingly switch between network N1 to N2. In
addition, as illustrated by networks N3, N4, and N5 in the context
of direction information sources 142, 144 and 146, interface 140
may be able to reach a subset of sources, thus affecting potential
prioritization of switchover. If N4 can reach all of the sources
142, 144, . . . , 146, then it may be the preferable network to try
first. Other factors, such as power consumption, might also affect
the prioritization, but all other factors being the same, a device
would prefer a more ubiquitously available network choice.
[0065] FIG. 3 illustrates a non-limiting example of a mobile
computing device 300 according to an embodiment. In this regard, a
set of services 360 can be built based on location information 322
and direction information 332 collected by the phone. For instance,
location information 322 can be recorded by a location subsystem
320 such as a GPS subsystem communicating with GPS satellites 340.
Direction or pointing information 332 can be collected by a
direction subsystem 330, such as a compass, e.g., gyroscopic,
magnetic, digital compass, etc. In addition, optionally, movement
information 312 can be gathered by the device 300, e.g., via tower
triangulation algorithms, and/or acceleration of the device 300 can
be measured as well, e.g., with an accelerometer. The collective
information 350 can be used to gain a sense of not only where the
device 300 is located in relation to other potential points of
interest tracked or known by the overall set of services 360, but
also what direction the user is pointing the device 300, so that
the services 360 can appreciate at whom or what the user is
pointing the device 300.
[0066] In addition, a gesture subsystem 370 can optionally be
included, which can be predicated on any one or more of the motion
information 312, location information 322 or direction information
332. In this regard, not only can direction information 332 and
location information 322 be used to define a set of unique
gestures, but also motion information 312 can be used to define an
even more complicated set of gestures. The gesture monitor 370
produces gesture information 372, which can be input as appropriate
in connection with delivering services 360.
[0067] As mentioned, in another aspect, a device 300 can include a
client side memory 380, such as a cache, of potentially relevant
points of interest, which, based on the user's movement history can
be dynamically updated. The context, such as geography, speed, etc.
of the user can be factored in when updating. For instance, if a
user's velocity is 2 miles an hour, the user may be walking and
interested in updates at a city block by city block level, or at a
lower level granularity if they are walking in the countryside.
Similarly, if a user is moving on a highway at 60 miles per hour,
the block-by-block updates of information are no longer desirable,
but rather a granularity can be provided and predictively cached on
the device 300 that makes sense for the speed of the vehicle.
[0068] In this regard, such a mobile computing device 300 may
include a location data connectivity switching subsystem 390, which
switches among sources 340, 342, 344, etc. FIG. 4 illustrates that
a device 400 based on the device of FIG. 3 can include direction
data connectivity switching subsystem 490, which switches among
sources 440, 442, 444, etc. As mentioned, device 400 may also
benefit from combining the results of sources 440, 442, 444, etc.
where multiple sources are available. FIG. 5 illustrates that a
device 500 based on the device of FIG. 3 can include a POI data
switching subsystem 590 that switches among various sources 540,
542, 544, etc. to retrieve POI information and data. FIG. 6 in turn
illustrates a device 600 based on the device of FIG. 3 that uses a
network switching subsystem 690 to switch among various networks,
such as WiFi 640, Bluetooth 642 to another computing device 646, or
cellular networks 644 to reach the set of services 360. Similarly,
flattening out networks 740, the switching of which is handled by
network switching subsystem 690, FIG. 7 illustrates that a
direction based service switching subsystem 790 can be provided
within a device 700 based on the device of FIG. 3 that switches
among different direction based services 760, 762, 764, etc.
[0069] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an exemplary non-limiting
process that can be employed in the context of direction based
services. At 800, a device is engaging pointing based services
using at least a first network for connectivity to one or more
direction based service providers. At 810, such connectivity is
lost for any reason. At 820, connectivity is regained quickly, or
in real time, e.g., due to an automatic search for an alternate
source for the missing aspect(s) of the failed direction based
service being used at 800. One common scenario might be losing a
long range network in favor of a short range network, or vice
versa, when a device goes into, or conversely leaves, a confined
space from an open space. At 830, or at anytime, the device may
explicitly or implicitly be opted into a mesh device cooperation
network, so that, for example, all of the devices inside a given
store can collectively share information about points of interest
in the store.
[0070] A user might be standing next to a frequent shopper of a
store who has purchased the item of interest, and that user can
have access to that information if the frequent shopper has opted
in to the cooperative store network. Processing, memory, and other
computing resources can be shared via a cooperative network as
well.
[0071] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of an exemplary non-limiting
process that can be employed in the context of direction based
services and the loss of location information from a source. At
900, optionally, a user can opt into a mesh network for sharing of
location information. This way, the user's device becomes part of
sharing network that other devices can take advantage of in the
event their connectivity is compromised. At 910, connectivity to
device location services is lost, or the device may not even be
equipped to support location services. At 920, location data is
received from one or more other nearby sources (e.g., other
devices) equipped with location subsystems. At 930, the surrogate
location information provides a basis for a device, which otherwise
could not receive direction based services based on a set of points
of interest in the area, to receive and interact with direction
based services.
[0072] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of an exemplary non-limiting
process that can be employed in the context of direction based
services and the loss of direction information from a source, such
as an on-device digital compass. At 1000, a user can opt into a
mesh network for sharing of direction information. At 1010,
connectivity to the device's direction services, e.g., the
on-device digital compass, is lost for some reason, e.g., the
digital compass was made in an inferior factory, and stopped
working after 6 months, a nearby magnetic force is compromising the
results of the compass, etc. At 1020, in accordance with one or
more embodiments, the direction data can be received from other
nearby sources (e.g., other devices, a containing vehicle, etc.).
At 1030, direction based services are carried out based on or as a
function of the surrogate direction information.
[0073] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of an exemplary non-limiting
process that can be employed in the context of direction based
services and the loss of point of interest data for device
interaction via the direction based services. At 1100, the device
loses connectivity to point of interest data for the given
location, which is normally obtained from a first data network. As
an example, a mobile phone user may walk into a Costco warehouse
inviting interference with signal reception from the shielded
primarily metal walls. At 1110, however, according to one or more
embodiments herein, the point of interest data is received from one
or more nearby sources. For example, Costco might make available a
local geo-cache information available by WiFi about all of the
objects in the store and allow users to receive the information as
well. At 1120, direction based services are performed based on the
points of interest using the surrogate point of interest
information.
[0074] As an example of the power of this scenario, a user can walk
into Costco, automatically acquire information about items of
interest in the store, automatically use Costco's location
information based on local tower triangulation within the store (or
other location information), and then with direction information,
as the user points at various objects, a voice audio or video
notification or both can inform the user of a great deal on that
object based on deals available today.
[0075] For existing motor vehicle navigation devices, or other
conventional portable GPS navigation devices, where a device does
not natively include directional means such as a compass, the
device can have an extension slot that accommodates direction
information from an external directional device, such as a compass.
Similarly, for laptops or other portable electronic devices, such
devices can be outfitted with a card or board with a slot for a
compass. While any of the services described herein can make web
service calls as part of the pointing and retrieval of endpoint
process, as mentioned, limited bandwidth may degrade the
interactive experience. As a result, a limited amount of data can
be predictively maintained on a user's device in cache memory and
optionally aged out as data becomes stale, e.g., when relevance to
the user falls below a threshold.
[0076] FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an exemplary general
architecture for delivering pointer based services 1210 based on
points of interest information retrieved from the network according
to one or more embodiments. Location information 1200 (e.g., WiFi,
GLS, tower triangulation, etc.), direction information 1202 (e.g.,
digital compass) and optionally user intent information 1204, which
can be implicit or explicit, are input to services 1210, which may
be any one or more of web services 1212, cloud services 1214 or
other data services 1216. As a result, content 1240 is returned for
efficient real-time interactions with POIs of current relevance.
POI data and content can come from more than one storage layer or
abstraction 1220, 1222, 1224, . . . , or abstraction 1230, 1232,
1234, . . . , e.g., from local server databases or remote third
party storage locations.
[0077] In accordance with various embodiments described herein, an
intelligent switch 1250 is inserted as a layer between the devices
and their desire for services, and the services and their desire to
deliver services, so as to automatically switch over to alternate
networks in order to connect the two desires. In this regard, while
one or more embodiments described herein have implied such switch
in the device, such switch can be as far out in the network as may
make sense for the given alternate sources for the same information
or services needed to perform direction based services.
[0078] FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary non-limiting device 1300
including processor(s) 1310 having a position engine or subsystem
1320 for determining a location of the device 1300 and a direction
engine or subsystem 1330 for determining a direction or orientation
of the device 1300. Then, by interacting with local application(s)
1340 and/or service(s) 1370, POI content can be delivered to the
device, which can tailored to device intent and a place in which
the device is present, or other factors. When the content is
displayed according to an interaction, the tailored content can be
rendered by graphic subsystem or display/UI 1350 or audio subsystem
1360.
[0079] In one non-limiting embodiment, point structure 1390 is
included, e.g., a triangular or other polygonal piece that points
along an orientation line 1395 upon which directional calculations
are based. Similarly, the orientation line 1395 can be indicated by
graphics subsystem display/UI 1350 with or without point structure
1390. In this regard, various embodiments herein enable POI ID
information 1380 to be sent to services 1370 so that interactions
based on the associated POIs can occur as assisted by services
1370. In this regard, whenever there is a disconnect between
data/communications network and information or services that a
device desires in connection with the performance of direction
based services, the device 1300 employs intelligent switch 1375 to
find a new source for the information and services, and
automatically switch over to the new source.
[0080] Additionally, whether the point of interest at issue falls
within the vector can factor in the error in precision of any of
the measurements, e.g., different GPS subsystems have different
error in precision. In this regard, one or more items or points of
interest may be found along the vector path or arc, within a
certain distance depending on context.
[0081] While there are a variety of implementations, and ways to
sub-divide regions, whether overlapping or not, predictive caching
and aging can thus be performed in which a user's present location
is discerned. The local cache may still include age out candidate
locations, but as the velocity of the user indicates the user will
be at various other predicted locations in the future, these
regions of POIs associated with the predicted locations are
downloaded to the mobile device. Accordingly, as the user travels
to predicted locations, the user no longer needs the data from the
age out candidate locations, which can then be removed, or flagged
for removal when storage is challenged.
[0082] Accordingly, using the regional data cache, callbacks and an
update mechanism that is updated dynamically based on movement, new
point of interest can be added by a service or by a user. Update is
thus performed continuously or substantially continuously based on
updated travel, velocity, speed, etc. In this regard, a user can
add a new point of interest in the region, add info to a local
cache, and then upload to the zone. To appreciate the problem, the
number of worldwide POIs is practically limitless, however only a
small number of POIs will be relevant to a user at a given time.
Thus, predictively, a cube of data can be taken to the device, the
user can go offline such that when the user reconnects. Moreover,
the device is intelligent to figure out what has changed, been
weighted, etc., so that the device can synchronize with the network
services and expose the user's changes for other people.
[0083] Any device can include the embodiments described herein,
including MP3 players, such as a Zune device, GPS navigation
devices, bike computers, sunglass/visor systems, motor vehicles,
mobile phones, laptops, PDA, etc.
[0084] One way to obtain the service applications, assuming the
underlying measuring instruments to participate in the real-time
gathering of directional information, is to message to a service to
obtain the application, e.g., by text messaging to service, or
getting a client download link. Another vehicle for enabling the
service is to provide it natively in the operating system or
applications of a mobile devices. Since a hardware abstraction
layer accommodates different methods for collecting position,
direction, acceleration information, the same platform can be used
on any device regardless of the precise underlying hardware.
[0085] With location services, it can be determined that a user's
device is physically inside an actual store, or near a window
display of a store. Coupling that to the user's interacting with an
object of interest with direction information to enable
direction-based services results in a new opportunity to take
action based on the interaction with specific items.
[0086] As mentioned, a device can include a directional component
that outputs direction information as a function of an orientation
of the portable electronic device and that facilitates determining
an intent of the device. The directional component can optionally
be a digital compass that outputs the direction information. The
device can determine a subset of items of interest relative to
candidate items of interest within a 3-D space as a function of the
positional information or the direction information.
[0087] Interacting with an endpoint can include orientating the
device toward some item(s) of interest and determining direction
information associated with the orientation of the device from
which a subset of the item(s) of interest are identified. For
instance, interacting can include pointing the device in a
direction defining a pointing line generally towards items of
interest in the place(s) and determining a set of candidate items
of interest as a subset of items of interest that substantially
intersect with the pointing line, and enabling the selection of one
or more items from the set of candidate items.
[0088] In one embodiment, a method for a device provisioned for
direction based services comprises determining direction
information associated with a pointed to direction relative to a
pre-defined orientation of the device and identifying POIs within
an area defined as a function of the pointed to direction including
determining which of a set of POIs intersect with the area. Next,
based on information with respect to the POIs already received by
the device, information corresponding to the POIs identified within
the area is displayed, e.g., on a map or list. In one embodiment,
as new POIs are within range of the device, the IDs associated with
the designated POIs are transmitted to a network service enabling
static information and/or dynamic information about the designated
POIs to be received from the service.
[0089] The designation of POIs for interaction can include explicit
input with respect to the designated one or more POIs, such as one
or more of a gesture input, a keyword input, an audio input, a
video camera input or a touchscreen input with respect to the one
or more POIs. The designation of POIs for interaction can include
implicit input with respect to the designated one or more POIs
including making inferences about the interaction based on a
context of present interaction.
[0090] The displaying of POI information can be made on a
topographical map visually representing at least the area defined
as a function of a pointed to direction and graphical indications
of the POIs can be displayed within the area at corresponding
locations on the topographical map view. The POIs can also be
represented in a filtered list view, e.g., filtered by restaurants
in the area. The designating of POIs can include designating
pre-defined criteria explicitly or implicitly. The designating can
include marking one or more POIs with touchscreen input relating to
the one or more designated POIs, tagging the one or more POIs with
tag information, or other ways to designate POIs for interaction,
whereby content with respect to the POIs is downloaded in local
memory of the device.
[0091] In another embodiment, a portable electronic device includes
a positional component for receiving position information as a
function of a location of the portable electronic device and a
directional component that outputs direction information as a
function of an orientation of the portable electronic device. In
addition, the device includes a processor configured to process the
position information and the direction information to determine
identifiers or IDs of POIs within a pre-defined geographical area
of the device, interact with a selected ID, having already received
information about the POI corresponding to the selected identifier,
and receive input regarding the selected ID defining an
interaction.
[0092] Information about the selected ID defining the future
interaction is transmitted along with the point of interest to a
network service. In one embodiment, a pointer structure is provided
on the device that visually indicates the orientation of the
portable electronic device based upon which the directional
component outputs the direction information. For example, this
could be a triangular structure that comes to a point to show a
primary orientation of the device. This could also be indicated on
the display of the device during provision of direction based
services.
[0093] In one embodiment, the position information and the
direction information determine a pointing line and a set of
candidate points of interest are determined as a subset of points
of interest that substantially intersect with a function based on
the pointing line. An intersection test for determining subsets of
points of interest can include defining an arc based on an angle
with respect to a pointing line, defining a cone based on an angle
with respect to the pointing line, or a line function defining a
rectangular space oriented along the pointing line (2-D or 3-D
depending on the application). A speaker can render audio content
if a condition upon which the predicted interaction is predicated
occurs. The directional component can be a digital compass that
outputs the direction information.
[0094] In another embodiment, a method comprises determining a
place in which a portable device is located based on location
information determined for the device and identifying a subset of
items of interest in the place including determining an orientation
of the device based on direction information of the device and
determining the subset of items of interest in the place as a
function of the orientation. Next, input with respect to an item of
the subset of items is received defining an interaction with the
item. Predicted interactions can include receiving a notification
when a characteristic of an item meets a pre-defined condition,
such as when a price of the item meets a target price condition,
thereby initiating the predicted interaction.
Supplemental Context Regarding Pointing Devices, Architectures and
Services
[0095] The following description contains supplemental context
regarding potential non-limiting pointing devices, architectures
and associated services to further aid in understanding one or more
of the above embodiments. Any one or more of any additional
features described in this section can be accommodated in any one
or more of the embodiments described above with respect to delayed
direction based services at a particular location for given POI(s).
While such combinations of embodiments or features are possible,
for the avoidance of doubt, no embodiments set forth in the subject
disclosure should be considered limiting on any other embodiments
described herein.
[0096] As mentioned, a broad range of scenarios can be enabled by a
device that can take location and direction information about the
device and build a service on top of that information. For example,
by using an accelerometer in coordination with an on board digital
compass, an application running on a mobile device updates what
each endpoint is "looking at" or pointed towards, attempting hit
detection on potential points of interest to either produce
real-time information for the device or to allow the user to select
a range, or using the GPS, a location on a map, and set information
such as "Starbucks--10% off cappuccinos today" or "The Alamo--site
of . . . " for others to discover. One or more accelerometers can
also be used to perform the function of determining direction
information for each endpoint as well. As described herein, these
techniques can become more granular to particular items within a
Starbucks, such as "blueberry cheesecake" on display in the
counter, enabling a new type of sale opportunity.
[0097] Accordingly, a general device for accomplishing this
includes a processing engine to resolve a line of sight vector sent
from a mobile endpoint and a system to aggregate that data as a
platform, enabling a host of new scenarios predicated on the
pointing information known for the device. The act of pointing with
a device, such as the user's mobile phone, thus becomes a powerful
vehicle for users to discover and interact with points of interest
around the individual in a way that is tailored for the individual.
Synchronization of data can also be performed to facilitate roaming
and sharing of POV data and contacts among different users of the
same service.
[0098] In a variety of embodiments described herein, 2-dimensional
(2D), 3-dimensional (3D) or N-dimensional directional-based search,
discovery, and interactivity services are enabled for endpoints in
the system of potential interest to the user.
[0099] The pointing information and corresponding algorithms depend
upon the assets available in a device for producing the pointing or
directional information. The pointing information, however produced
according to an underlying set of measurement components, and
interpreted by a processing engine, can be one or more vectors. A
vector or set of vectors can have a "width" or "arc" associated
with the vector for any margin of error associated with the
pointing of the device. A panning angle can be defined by a user
with at least two pointing actions to encompass a set of points of
interest, e.g., those that span a certain angle defined by a
panning gesture by the user.
[0100] In one non-limiting embodiment, a portable electronic device
includes a positional component for receiving positional
information as a function of a location of the portable electronic
device, a directional component that outputs direction information
as a function of an orientation of the portable electronic device
and a location based engine that processes the positional
information and the direction information to determine a subset of
points of interest relative to the portable electronic device as a
function of at least the positional information and the direction
information.
[0101] The positional component can be a positional GPS component
for receiving GPS data as the positional information. The
directional component can be a magnetic compass and/or a gyroscopic
compass that outputs the direction information. The device can
include acceleration component(s), such as accelerometer(s), that
outputs acceleration information associated with movement of the
portable electronic device. The use of a separate sensor can also
be used to further compensate for tilt and altitude adjustment
calculations.
[0102] In one embodiment, the device includes a cache memory for
dynamically storing a subset of endpoints of interest that are
relevant to the portable electronic device and at least one
interface to a network service for transmitting the positional
information and the direction information to the network service.
In return, based on real-time changes to the positional information
and direction/pointing information, the device dynamically receives
in the cache memory an updated subset of endpoints that are
potentially relevant to the portable electronic device.
[0103] For instance, the subset of endpoints can be updated as a
function of endpoints of interest within a pre-defined distance
substantially along a vector defined by the orientation of the
portable electronic device. Alternatively or in addition, the
subset of endpoints can be updated as a function of endpoints of
interest relevant to a current context of the portable electronic
device. In this regard, the device can include a set of
Representational State Transfer (REST)-based application
programming interfaces (APIs), or other stateless set of APIs, so
that the device can communicate with the service over different
networks, e.g., Wi-Fi, a GPRS network, etc. or communicate with
other users of the service, e.g., Bluetooth. For the avoidance of
doubt, the embodiments are in no way limited to a REST based
implementation, but rather any other state or stateful protocol
could be used to obtain information from the service to the
devices. For the avoidance of doubt, implementations of direction
based services and devices are not dependent on REST based
implementations, but could also be performed with REST, simple
object access protocol (SOAP), really simple syndication (RSS),
etc.
[0104] The directional component outputs direction information
including compass information based on calibrated and compensated
heading/directionality information. The directional component can
also include direction information indicating upward or downward
tilt information associated with a current upward or downward tilt
of the portable electronic device, so that the services can detect
when a user is pointing upwards or downwards with the device in
addition to a certain direction. The height of the vectors itself
can also be taken into account to distinguish between an event of
pointing with a device from the top of a building (likely pointing
to other buildings, bridges, landmarks, etc.) and the same event
from the bottom of the building (likely pointing to a shop at
ground level), or towards a ceiling or floor to differentiate among
shelves in a supermarket. A 3-axis magnetic field sensor can also
be used to implement a compass to obtain tilt readings.
[0105] Secondary sensors, such as altimeters or pressure readers,
can also be included in a mobile device and used to detect a height
of the device, e.g., what floor a device is on in a parking lot or
floor of a department store (changing the associated map/floorplan
data). Where a device includes a compass with a planar view of the
world (e.g., 2-axis compass), the inclusion of one or more
accelerometers in the device can be used to supplement the motion
vector measured for a device as a virtual third component of the
motion vector, e.g., to provide measurements regarding a third
degree of freedom. This option may be deployed where the provision
of a 3-axis compass is too expensive, or otherwise unavailable. In
this regard, any type of compass, or combination of compasses can
be used according to the sensitivity or degree of directional
information for a given application or set of services. Thus,
electromagnetic compass(es), digital compass(es), SW, etc., or any
combination of compass(es) are all contemplated for a device in
order to interact with POIs. Moreover, any one or more of the
compass(es) can include support for 1, 2 or 3 axes.
[0106] In this respect, a gesturing component can also be included
in the device to determine a current gesture of a user of the
portable electronic device from a set of pre-defined gestures. For
example, gestures can include zoom in, zoom out, panning to define
an arc, all to help filter over potential subsets of points of
interest for the user.
[0107] For instance, web services can effectively resolve vector
coordinates sent from mobile endpoints into <x,y,z> or other
coordinates using location data, such as GPS data, as well as
configurable, synchronized POV information similar to that found in
a GPS system in an automobile. In this regard, any of the
embodiments can be applied similarly in any motor vehicle device.
One non-limiting use is also facilitation of endpoint discovery for
synchronization of data of interest to or from the user from or to
the endpoint.
[0108] Among other algorithms for interpreting
position/motion/direction information, as shown in FIG. 14, a
device 1400 employing the direction based location based services
1402 as described herein in a variety of embodiments herein include
a way to discern between near objects, such as POI 1414 and far
objects, such as POI 1416. Depending on the context of usage, the
time, the user's past, the device state, the speed of the device,
the nature of the POIs, etc., the service can determine a general
distance associated with a motion vector. Thus, a motion vector
1406 will implicate POI 1414, but not POI 1416, and the opposite
would be true for motion vector 1408.
[0109] In addition, a device 1400 includes an algorithm for
discerning items substantially along a direction at which the
device is pointing, and those not substantially along a direction
at which the device is pointing. In this respect, while motion
vector 1404 might implicate POI 1412, without a specific panning
gesture that encompassed more directions/vectors, POIs 1414 and
1416 would likely not be within the scope of points of interest
defined by motion vector 1404. The distance or reach of a vector
can also be tuned by a user, e.g., via a slider control or other
control, to quickly expand or contract the scope of endpoints
encompassed by a given "pointing" interaction with the device.
[0110] In one non-limiting embodiment, the determination of at what
or whom the user is pointing is performed by calculating an
absolute "Look" vector, within a suitable margin of error, by a
reading from an accelerometer's tilt and a reading from the
magnetic compass. Then, an intersection of endpoints determines an
initial scope, which can be further refined depending on the
particular service employed, i.e., any additional filter. For
instance, for an apartment search service, endpoints falling within
the look vector that are not apartments ready for lease, can be
pre-filtered.
[0111] In addition to the look vector determination, the engine can
also compensate for, or begin the look vector, where the user is by
establish positioning (.about.15 feet) through an A-GPS stack (or
other location based or GPS subsystem including those with
assistance strategies) and also compensate for any significant
movement/acceleration of the device, where such information is
available.
[0112] As mentioned, in another aspect, a device can include a
client side cache of potentially relevant points of interest,
which, based on the user's movement history can be dynamically
updated. The context, such as geography, speed, etc. of the user
can be factored in when updating. For instance, if a user's
velocity is 2 miles an hour, the user may be walking and interested
in updates at a city block by city block level, or at a lower level
granularity if they are walking in the countryside. Similarly, if a
user is moving on a highway at 60 miles per hour, the
block-by-block updates of information are no longer desirable, but
rather a granularity can be provided to the device that makes sense
for the speed of the vehicle.
[0113] In an automobile context, the location becomes the road on
which the automobile is travelling, and the particular items are
the places and things that are passed on the roadside much like
products in a particular retail store on a shelf or in a display.
The pointing based services thus creates a virtual "billboard"
opportunity for items of interest generally along a user's
automobile path. Proximity to location can lead to an impulse buy,
e.g., a user might stop by a museum they are passing and pointing
at with their device, if offered a discount on admission.
[0114] In various alternative embodiments, gyroscopic or magnetic
compasses can provide directional information. A REST based
architecture enables data communications to occur over different
networks, such as Wi-Fi and GPRS architectures. REST based APIs can
be used, though any stateless messaging can be used that does not
require a long keep alive for communicated data/messages. This way,
since networks can go down with GPRS antennae, seamless switching
can occur to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth networks to continue according to
the pointing based services enabled by the embodiments described
herein.
[0115] A device as provided herein according to one or more
embodiments can include a file system to interact with a local
cache, store updates for synchronization to the service, exchange
information by Bluetooth with other users of the service, etc.
Accordingly, operating from a local cache, at least the data in the
local cache is still relevant at a time of disconnection, and thus,
the user can still interact with the data. Finally, the device can
synchronize according to any updates made at a time of
re-connection to a network, or to another device that has more up
to date GPS data, POI data, etc. In this regard, a switching
architecture can be adopted for the device to perform a quick
transition from connectivity from one networked system (e.g., cell
phone towers) to another computer network (e.g., Wi-Fi) to a local
network (e.g., mesh network of Bluetooth connected devices).
[0116] With respect to user input, a set of soft keys, touch keys,
etc. can be provided to facilitate in the directional-based
pointing services provided herein. A device can include a windowing
stack in order to overlay different windows, or provide different
windows of information regarding a point of interest (e.g., hours
and phone number window versus interactive customer feedback
window). Audio can be rendered or handled as input by the device.
For instance, voice input can be handled by the service to
explicitly point without the need for a physical movement of the
device. For instance, a user could say into a device "what is this
product right in front of me? No, not that one, the one above it"
and have the device transmit current direction/movement information
to a service, which in turn intelligently, or iteratively,
determines what particular item of interest the user is pointing
at, and returns a host of relevant information about the item.
[0117] One non-limiting way for determining a set of points of
interest is illustrated in FIG. 15. In FIG. 15, a device 1500 is
pointed (e.g., point and click) in a direction D1, which according
to the device or service parameters, implicitly defines an area
within arc 1510 and distance 1520 that encompasses POI 1530, but
does not encompass POI 1532. Such an algorithm will also need to
determine any edge case POIs, i.e., whether POIs such as POI 1534
are within the scope of pointing in direction D1, where the POI
only partially falls within the area defined by arc 1510 and
distance 1520.
[0118] Other gestures that can be of interest in for a gesturing
subsystem include recognizing a user's gesture for zoom in or zoom
out. Zoom in/zoom out can be done in terms of distance like FIG.
16. In FIG. 16, a device 1600 pointed in direction D1 may include
zoomed in view which includes points of interest within distance
1620 and arc 1610, or a medium zoomed view representing points of
interest between distance 1620 and 1622, or a zoomed out view
representing points of interest beyond distance 1622. These zoom
zones correspond to POIs 1630, 1632 and 1634, respectively. More or
less zones can be considered depending upon a variety of factors,
the service, user preference, etc.
[0119] For another non-limiting example, with location information
and direction information, a user can input a first direction via a
click, and then a second direction after moving the device via a
second click, which in effect defines an arc 1710 for objects of
interest in the system as illustrated in FIG. 17. For instance, via
first pointing act by the user at time t1 in direction D1 and a
second pointing act at time t2 by the user in direction D2, an arc
1710 is implicitly defined. The area of interest implicitly
includes a search of points of object within a distance 1720, which
can be zoomed in and out, or selected by the service based on a
known granularity of interest, selected by the user, etc. This can
be accomplished with a variety of forms of input to define the two
directions. For instance, the first direction can be defined upon a
click-and-hold button event, or other engage-and-hold user
interface element, and the second direction can be defined upon
release of the button. Similarly, two consecutive clicks
corresponding to the two different directions D1 and D2 can also be
implemented.
[0120] Also, instead of focusing on real distance, zooming in or
out could also represent a change in terms of granularity, or size,
or hierarchy of objects. For example, a first pointing gesture with
the device may result in a shopping mall appearing, but with
another gesture, a user could carry out a recognizable gesture to
gain or lose a level of hierarchical granularity with the points of
interest on display. For instance, after such gesture, the points
of interest could be zoomed in to the level of the stores at the
shopping mall and what they are currently offering.
[0121] In addition, a variety of even richer behaviors and gestures
can be recognized when acceleration of the device in various axes
can be discerned. Panning, arm extension/retraction, swirling of
the device, backhand tennis swings, breaststroke arm action, golf
swing motions could all signify something unique in terms of the
behavior of the pointing device, and this is to just name a few
motions that could be implemented in practice. Thus, any of the
embodiments herein can define a set of gestures that serve to help
the user interact with a set of services built on the pointing
platform, to help users easily gain information about points of
information in their environment.
[0122] Furthermore, with relatively accurate upward and downward
tilt of the device, in addition to directional information such as
calibrated and compensated heading/directional information, other
services can be enabled. Typically, if a device is ground level,
the user is outside, and the device is "pointed" up towards the top
of buildings, the granularity of information about points of
interest sought by the user (building level) is different than if
the user was pointing at the first floor shops of the building
(shops level), even where the same compass direction is implicated.
Similarly, where a user is at the top of a landmark such as the
Empire State building, a downward tilt at the street level (street
level granularity) would implicate information about different
points of interest that if the user of the device pointed with
relatively no tilt at the Statue of Liberty (landmark/building
level of granularity).
[0123] Also, when a device is moving in a car, it may appear that
direction is changing as the user maintains a pointing action on a
single location, but the user is still pointing at the same thing
due to displacement. Thus, thus time varying location can be
factored into the mathematics and engine of resolving at what the
user is pointing with the device to compensate for the user
experience based upon which all items are relative.
[0124] Accordingly, armed with the device's position, one or more
web or cloud services can analyze the vector information to
determine at what or whom the user is looking/pointing. The service
can then provide additional information such as ads, specials,
updates, menus, happy hour choices, etc., depending on the endpoint
selected, the context of the service, the location (urban or
rural), the time (night or day), etc. As a result, instead of a
blank contextless Internet search, a form of real-time visual
search for users in real 3-D environments is provided.
[0125] In one non-limiting embodiment, the direction based pointing
services are implemented in connection with a pair of glasses,
headband, etc. having a corresponding display means that acts in
concert with the user's looking to highlight or overlay features of
interest around the user.
[0126] As shown in FIG. 18, once a set of objects is determined
from the pointing information according to a variety of contexts of
a variety of services, a mobile device 1800 can display the objects
via representation 1802 according to a variety of user experiences
tailored to the service at issue. For instance, a virtual camera
experience can be provided, where POI graphics or information can
be positioned relative to one another to simulate an imaging
experience. A variety of other user interface experiences can be
provided based on the pointing direction as well.
[0127] For instance, a set of different choices are shown in FIG.
19. UI 1900 and 1902 illustrate navigation of hierarchical POI
information. For instance, level1 categories may include category1,
category2, category3, category4 and category5, but if a user
selects around the categories with a thumb-wheel, up-down control,
or the like, and chooses one such as category2. Then, subcategory1,
subcategory2, subcategory3 and subcategory4 are displayed as
subcategories of category2. Then, if the user selects, for
instance, subcategory4, perhaps few enough POIs, such as buildings
1900 and 1910 are found in the subcategory in order to display on a
2D map UI 1904 along the pointing direction, or alternatively as a
3D virtual map view 1906 along the pointing direction.
[0128] Once a single POI is implicated or selected, then a full
screen view for the single POI can be displayed, such as the
exemplary UI 2000. UI 2000 can have one or more of any of the
following representative areas. UI 2000 can include a static POI
image 2002 such as a trademark of a store, or a picture of a
person. UI 2000 can also include other media, and a static POI
information portion 2004 for information that tends not to change
such as restaurant hours, menu, contact information, etc. In
addition, UI 2000 can include an information section for dynamic
information to be pushed to the user for the POI, e.g., coupons,
advertisements, offers, sales, etc. In addition, a dynamic
interactive information are 2008 can be included where the user can
fill out a survey, provide feedback to the POI owner, request the
POI to contact the user, make a reservation, buy tickets, etc. UI
2000 also can include a representation of the direction information
output by the compass for reference purposes. Further, UI 2000 can
include other third party static or dynamic content in area
2012.
[0129] When things change from the perspective of either the
service or the client, a synchronization process can bring either
the client or service, respectively, up to date. In this way, an
ecosystem is enabled where a user can point at an object or point
of interest, gain information about it that is likely to be
relevant to the user, interact with the information concerning the
point of interest, and add value to services ecosystem where the
user interacts. The system thus advantageously supports both static
and dynamic content.
[0130] Other user interfaces can be considered such as left-right,
or up-down arrangements for navigating categories or a special set
of soft-keys can be adaptively provided.
[0131] Where a device includes a camera, in one embodiment shown in
FIG. 21, a representative non-limiting overlay UI 2100 is shown
having 3 POIs POI1, POI2 and POI3. The POIs are overlaid over
actual image data being real time viewed on the device via an LCD
screen or like display. The actual image data can be of products on
a shelf or other display or exhibit in a store. Thus, as the user
aims the camera around his or her environment, the lens becomes the
pointer, and the POI information can be overlaid intelligently for
discovery of endpoints of interest. Moreover, a similar embodiment
can be imagined even without a camera, such as a UI in which 3-D
objects are virtually represented based on real geometries known
for the objects relative to the user.
[0132] Thus, the device UI can be implemented consistent with a
camera, or a virtual camera, view for intuitive use of such
devices. The pointer mechanism of the device could also switch
based on whether the user was currently in live view mode for the
camera or not. Moreover, assuming sufficient processing power and
storage, real time image processing could discern an object of
interest and based on image signatures, overlay POI information
over such image in a similar manner to the above embodiments. In
this regard, with the device provided herein, a variety of gestures
can be employed to zoom in zoom out, perform tilt detection for
looking down or up, or panning across a field of view to obtain a
range of POIs associated with the panning scope.
[0133] With respect to a representative set of user settings, a
number or maximum number of desired endpoints delivered as results
can be configured. How to filter can also be configured, e.g., 5
most likely, 5 closest, 5 closest to 100 feet away, 5 within
category or sub-category, alphabetical order, etc. In each case,
based on a pointing direction, implicitly a cone or other cross
section across physical space is defined as a scope of possible
points of interest. In this regard, the width or deepness of this
cone or cross section can be configurable by the user to control
the accuracy of the pointing, e.g., narrow or wide radius of points
and how far out to search.
[0134] To support processing of vector information and aggregating
POI databases from third parties, a variety of storage techniques,
such as relational storage techniques can be used. For instance,
Virtual Earth data can be used for mapping and aggregation of POI
data can occur from third parties such as Tele Atlas, NavTeq, etc.
In this regard, businesses not in the POI database will want to be
discovered and thus, the service provides a similar, but far
superior from a spatial relevance standpoint, Yellow Pages
experiences where businesses will desire to have their additional
information, such as menus, price sheets, coupons, pictures,
virtual tours, etc. accessible via the system.
[0135] In addition, a synchronization platform or framework can
keep the roaming caches in sync, thereby capturing what users are
looking at and efficiently processing changes. Or, where a user
goes offline, local changes can be recorded, and when the user goes
back online, such local changes can be synchronized to the network
or service store. Also, since the users are in effect pulling
information they care about in the here and in the now through the
act of pointing with the device, the system generates high cost per
thousand impression (CPM) rates as compared to other forms of
demographic targeting. Moreover, the system drives impulse buys,
since the user may not be physically present in a store, but the
user may be near the object, and by being nearby and pointing at
the store, information about a sale concerning the object can be
sent to the user.
[0136] As mentioned, different location subsystems, such as tower
triangulation, GPS, A-GPS, E-GPS, etc. have different tolerances.
For instance, with GPS, tolerances can be achieved to about 10
meters. With A-GPS, tolerances can be tightened to about 12 feet.
In turn, with E-GPS, tolerance may be a different error margin
still. Compensating for the different tolerances is part of the
interpretation engine for determining intersection of a pointing
vector and a set of points of interest. In addition, as shown in
FIGS. 4-6, a distance to project out the pointing vector can be
explicit, configurable, contextual, etc.
[0137] In this regard, the various embodiments described herein can
employ any algorithm for distinguishing among boundaries of the
endpoints, such as boundary boxes, or rectangles, triangles,
circles, etc. As a default radius, e.g., 150 feet could be
selected, and such value can be configured or be context sensitive
to the service provided. On-line real estate sites can be leveraged
for existing POI information. Since different POI databases may
track different information at different granularities, a way of
normalizing the POI data according to one convention or standard
can also be implemented so that the residential real estate
location data of Zillow can be integrated with GPS information from
Starbucks of all the Starbucks by country.
[0138] In addition, similar techniques can be implemented in a
moving vehicle client that includes GPS, compass, accelerometer,
etc. By filtering based on scenarios (e.g., I need gas), different
subsets of points of interest (e.g., gas stations) can be
determined for the user based not only on distance, but actual time
it may take to get to the point of interest. In this regard, while
a gas station may be 100 yards to the right off the highway, the
car may have already passed the corresponding exit, and thus more
useful information to provide is what gas station will take the
least amount of time to drive from a current location based on
direction/location so as to provide points of interest that are up
ahead on the road, and not already aged points of interest that
would require turning around from one's destination in order to get
to them.
[0139] For existing motor vehicle navigation devices, or other
conventional portable GPS navigation devices, where a device does
not natively include directional means such as a compass, the
device can have an extension slot that accommodates direction
information from an external directional device, such as a compass.
Similarly, for laptops or other portable electronic devices, such
devices can be outfitted with a card or board with a slot for a
compass. While any of the services described herein can make web
service calls as part of the pointing and retrieval of endpoint
process, as mentioned, one advantageous feature of a user's
locality in real space is that it is inherently more limited than a
general Internet search for information. As a result, a limited
amount of data can be maintained on a user's device in cache memory
and properly aged out as data becomes stale.
[0140] While there are a variety of implementations, and ways to
sub-divide regions, whether overlapping or not, predictive caching
and aging 2200 is conceptually illustrated by FIG. 22 in which a
user's present location 2202 is discerned. At this point, the local
cache still includes age out candidate location 2210, but as the
velocity of the user indicates the user will be at predicted
locations 2204 and 2206 in the future, these regions of POIs are
downloaded to the mobile device. Accordingly, as the user travels
to predicted location 2206, it starts to be clear that the user no
longer needs the data from the age out candidate location 2210,
which can then be removed, or flagged for removal when storage is
challenged.
[0141] Accordingly, using the regional data cache, callbacks and an
update mechanism that is updated dynamically based on movement, new
point of interest can be added by a service or by a user. Update is
thus performed continuously or substantially continuously based on
updated travel, velocity, speed, etc. In this regard, a user can
add a new point of interest in the region, add info to a local
cache, and then upload to the zone. To appreciate the problem, the
number of worldwide POIs is practically limitless, however only a
small number of POIs will be relevant to a user at a given time.
Thus, predictively, a cube of data can be taken to the device, the
user can go offline such that when the user reconnects, the device
is intelligent to figure out what has changed, been weighted, etc.,
so that the device can synchronize with the network services and
expose the user's changes for other people.
[0142] The predictive algorithms again depend on what the user is
interested in finding, what service the user may be using, the
context of the user, etc. They can also be based on velocity,
direction, time, etc. For instance, if it is nighttime, assumptions
based on demographics or preferences may lead the device to return
information about nightclubs or all night diners. Or, instead of
giving directions as driving directions that calculate distances as
absolute distances, i.e., as the crow flies, a device can take road
curves into account since instantaneous pointing information on
roads can be collected and handled by a corresponding service when
giving driving directions. Or, as another alternative, the
direction one is heading on a road, such as a highway with a
concrete divider, is relevant to the directions that a navigation
system should give. Where a U-turn is unavailable and user passes
an exit with a point of interest, for instance, directions should
take this into account and consider the heading of the vehicle.
[0143] One way to obtain the service applications, assuming the
underlying measuring instruments to participate in the real-time
gathering of directional information, is to message to a service to
obtain the application, e.g., by text messaging to service, or
getting a client download link. Another vehicle for enabling the
service is to provide it natively in the operating system or
applications of a mobile devices. Since a hardware abstraction
layer accommodates different methods for collecting position,
direction, acceleration information, the same platform can be used
on any device regardless of the precise underlying hardware.
[0144] In another aspect of any of the embodiments described
herein, because stateless messaging is employed, if communications
drop with one network, the device can begin further communicating
via another network. For instance, a device has two channels, and a
user gets on a bus, but no longer have GPRS or GPS activity.
Nonetheless the user is able to get the information the device
needs from some other channel. Just because a tower, or satellites
are down, does not mean that the device cannot connect through an
alternative channel, e.g., the bus's GPS location information via
Bluetooth.
[0145] With respect to exemplary mobile client architectures, a
representative device can include, as described variously herein,
client Side Storage for housing and providing fast access to cached
POI data in the current region including associated dynamically
updated or static information, such as annotations, coupons from
businesses, etc. This includes usage data tracking and storage. In
addition, regional data can be a cached subset of the larger
service data, always updated based on the region in which the
client is roaming. For instance, POI data could include as a
non-limiting example, the following information:
TABLE-US-00001 POI coordinates and data //{-70.26322, 43.65412,
"STARBUCK'S"} Localized annotations //Menu, prices, hours of
operation, etc Coupons and ads //Classes of coupons (new user,
returning, etc)
[0146] Support for different kinds of information (e.g., blob v
structured information (blob for storage and media; structured for
tags, annotations, etc.)
[0147] A device can also include usage data and preferences to hold
settings as well as usage data such as coupons "activated,"
waypoints, businesses encountered per day, other users encountered,
etc. to be analyzed by the cloud services for business intelligence
analysis and reporting.
[0148] A device can also include a continuous update mechanism,
which is a service that maintains the client's cached copy of a
current region updated with the latest. Among other ways, this can
be achieved with a ping-to-pull model that pre-fetches and swaps
out the client's cached region using travel direction and speed to
facilitate roaming among different regions. This is effectively a
paging mechanism for upcoming POIs. This also includes sending a
new or modified POI for the region (with annotations+coupons),
sending a new or modified annotation for the POIs (with coupons),
or sending a new or modified coupon for the POI.
[0149] A device can also include a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL)
having components responsible for abstracting the way the client
communicates with the measuring instruments, e.g., the GPS driver
for positioning and LOS accuracy (e.g., open eGPS), magnetic
compass for heading and rotational information (e.g., gyroscopic),
one or more accelerometers for gestured input and tilt (achieves 3D
positional algorithms, assuming gyroscopic compass).
[0150] As described earlier, a device can also include
methods/interfaces to make REST calls via GPRS/Wi-Fi and a file
system and storage for storing and retrieving the application data
and settings.
[0151] A device can also include user input and methods to map
input to the virtual keys. For instance, one non-limiting way to
accomplish user input is to have softkeys as follows, though it is
to be understood a great variety of user inputs can be used to
achieve interaction with the user interfaces of the pointing based
services.
TABLE-US-00002 SK up/down: //Up and down on choices SK right, SK
ok/confirm: //Choose an option or drill down/next page SK left, SK
cancel/back, //Go back to a previous window, cancel Exit / Incoming
Call events //Exit the app or minimize
[0152] In addition, a representative device can include a graphics
and windowing stack to render the client side UI, as well as an
audio stack to play sounds/alerts.
[0153] As mentioned, such a device may also include spatial and
math computational components including a set of APIs to perform 3D
collision testing between subdivided surfaces such as spherical
shells (e.g., a simple hit testing model to adopt and boundary
definitions for POIs), rotate points, and cull as appropriate from
conic sections.
[0154] As described in various embodiments herein, FIGS. 23 and 24
illustrate two processes for a device when location (e.g., GPS) and
direction (e.g., compass) events occur. In FIG. 23, upon the
occurrence of a location or direction event, at 2300, it is
determined whether predictive caching should be initiated for a
next region to which a user is travelling. At 2310, if so, then the
next region of data can be pre-fetched. At 2320, old regional data
no longer of relevance can be aged out. At 2330, any usage data can
be uploaded to the service framework for business intelligence,
input to an advertisement engine, etc.
[0155] FIG. 24 represents another process for filtering potential
POIs after a pointing event. Upon the detection of a location and
direction event, at 2400, for POIs in the device's local cache, a
group of POIs are determined that pass an intersection algorithm
for the direction of pointing of the device. At 2410, POIs in the
group can be represented in some fashion on a UI, e.g., full view
if only 1 POI, categorized view, 2-D map view, 3-D perspective
view, or user images if other users, etc. The possibilities for
representation are limitless; the embodiments described herein are
intuitive based on the general notion of pointing based direction
services.
[0156] At 2420, upon selection of a POI, static content is
determined and any dynamic content is acquired via synchronization.
When new data becomes available, it is downloaded to stay up to
date. At 2430, POI information is filtered further by user specific
information (e.g., if it is the user's first time at the store,
returning customer, loyalty program member, live baseball game
offer for team clothing discounts, etc.). At 2440, static and
dynamic content that is up to date is rendered for the POI. In
addition, updates and/or interaction with POI information is
allowed which can be synced back to the service.
Exemplary Networked and Distributed Environments
[0157] One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that the
various embodiments of methods and devices for pointing based
services and related embodiments described herein can be
implemented in connection with any computer or other client or
server device, which can be deployed as part of a computer network
or in a distributed computing environment, and can be connected to
any kind of data store. In this regard, the various embodiments
described herein can be implemented in any computer system or
environment having any number of memory or storage units, and any
number of applications and processes occurring across any number of
storage units. This includes, but is not limited to, an environment
with server computers and client computers deployed in a network
environment or a distributed computing environment, having remote
or local storage.
[0158] FIG. 25 provides a non-limiting schematic diagram of an
exemplary networked or distributed computing environment. The
distributed computing environment comprises computing objects 2510,
2512, etc. and computing objects or devices 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526,
2528, etc., which may include programs, methods, data stores,
programmable logic, etc., as represented by applications 2530,
2532, 2534, 2536, 2538. It can be appreciated that objects 2510,
2512, etc. and computing objects or devices 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526,
2528, etc. may comprise different devices, such as PDAs,
audio/video devices, mobile phones, MP3 players, laptops, etc.
[0159] Each object 2510, 2512, etc. and computing objects or
devices 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526, 2528, etc. can communicate with one
or more other objects 2510, 2512, etc. and computing objects or
devices 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526, 2528, etc. by way of the
communications network 2540, either directly or indirectly. Even
though illustrated as a single element in FIG. 25, network 2540 may
comprise other computing objects and computing devices that provide
services to the system of FIG. 25, and/or may represent multiple
interconnected networks, which are not shown. Each object 2510,
2512, etc. or 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526, 2528, etc. can also contain
an application, such as applications 2530, 2532, 2534, 2536, 2538,
that might make use of an API, or other object, software, firmware
and/or hardware, suitable for communication with or implementation
of the delayed interaction model as provided in accordance with
various embodiments.
[0160] There are a variety of systems, components, and network
configurations that support distributed computing environments. For
example, computing systems can be connected together by wired or
wireless systems, by local networks or widely distributed networks.
Currently, many networks are coupled to the Internet, which
provides an infrastructure for widely distributed computing and
encompasses many different networks, though any network
infrastructure can be used for exemplary communications made
incident to the techniques as described in various embodiments.
[0161] Thus, a host of network topologies and network
infrastructures, such as client/server, peer-to-peer, hub and
spoke, or hybrid architectures, can be utilized. In a client/server
architecture, particularly a networked system, a client is usually
a computer that accesses shared network resources provided by
another computer, e.g., a server. In the illustration of FIG. 25,
as a non-limiting example, computers 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526, 2528,
etc. can be thought of as clients and computers 2510, 2512, etc.
can be thought of as servers where servers 2510, 2512, etc. provide
data services, such as receiving data from client computers 2520,
2522, 2524, 2526, 2528, etc., storing of data, processing of data,
transmitting data to client computers 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526, 2528,
etc., although any computer can be considered a client, a server,
or both, depending on the circumstances. Any of these computing
devices may be processing data, or requesting services or tasks
that may implicate the delayed interaction model and related
techniques as described herein for one or more embodiments.
[0162] A server is typically a remote computer system accessible
over a remote or local network, such as the Internet or wireless
network infrastructures. The client process may be active in a
first computer system, and the server process may be active in a
second computer system, communicating with one another over a
communications medium, thus providing distributed functionality and
allowing multiple clients to take advantage of the
information-gathering capabilities of the server. Any software
objects utilized pursuant to the direction based services can be
provided standalone, or distributed across multiple computing
devices or objects.
[0163] In a network environment in which the communications
network/bus 2540 is the Internet, for example, the servers 2510,
2512, etc. can be Web servers with which the clients 2520, 2522,
2524, 2526, 2528, etc. communicate via any of a number of known
protocols, such as the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). Servers
2510, 2512, etc. may also serve as clients 2520, 2522, 2524, 2526,
2528, etc., as may be characteristic of a distributed computing
environment.
Exemplary Computing Device
[0164] As mentioned, various embodiments described herein apply to
any device wherein it may be desirable to perform pointing based
services, and delay interactions with points of interest. It should
be understood, therefore, that handheld, portable and other
computing devices and computing objects of all kinds are
contemplated for use in connection with the various embodiments
described herein, i.e., anywhere that a device may request pointing
based services. Accordingly, the below general purpose remote
computer described below in FIG. 26 is but one example, and the
embodiments of the subject disclosure may be implemented with any
client having network/bus interoperability and interaction.
[0165] Although not required, any of the embodiments can partly be
implemented via an operating system, for use by a developer of
services for a device or object, and/or included within application
software that operates in connection with the operable
component(s). Software may be described in the general context of
computer executable instructions, such as program modules, being
executed by one or more computers, such as client workstations,
servers or other devices. Those skilled in the art will appreciate
that network interactions may be practiced with a variety of
computer system configurations and protocols.
[0166] FIG. 26 thus illustrates an example of a suitable computing
system environment 2600 in which one or more of the embodiments may
be implemented, although as made clear above, the computing system
environment 2600 is only one example of a suitable computing
environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the
scope of use or functionality of any of the embodiments. Neither
should the computing environment 2600 be interpreted as having any
dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of
components illustrated in the exemplary operating environment
2600.
[0167] With reference to FIG. 26, an exemplary remote device for
implementing one or more embodiments herein can include a general
purpose computing device in the form of a handheld computer 2610.
Components of handheld computer 2610 may include, but are not
limited to, a processing unit 2620, a system memory 2630, and a
system bus 2621 that couples various system components including
the system memory to the processing unit 2620.
[0168] Computer 2610 typically includes a variety of computer
readable media and can be any available media that can be accessed
by computer 2610. The system memory 2630 may include computer
storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory
such as read only memory (ROM) and/or random access memory (RAM).
By way of example, and not limitation, memory 2630 may also include
an operating system, application programs, other program modules,
and program data.
[0169] A user may enter commands and information into the computer
2610 through input devices 2640 A monitor or other type of display
device is also connected to the system bus 2621 via an interface,
such as output interface 2650. In addition to a monitor, computers
may also include other peripheral output devices such as speakers
and a printer, which may be connected through output interface
2650.
[0170] The computer 2610 may operate in a networked or distributed
environment using logical connections to one or more other remote
computers, such as remote computer 2670. The remote computer 2670
may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a
peer device or other common network node, or any other remote media
consumption or transmission device, and may include any or all of
the elements described above relative to the computer 2610. The
logical connections depicted in FIG. 26 include a network 2671,
such local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), but may
also include other networks/buses. Such networking environments are
commonplace in homes, offices, enterprise-wide computer networks,
intranets and the Internet.
[0171] As mentioned above, while exemplary embodiments have been
described in connection with various computing devices, networks
and advertising architectures, the underlying concepts may be
applied to any network system and any computing device or system in
which it is desirable to derive information about surrounding
points of interest.
[0172] There are multiple ways of implementing one or more of the
embodiments described herein, e.g., an appropriate API, tool kit,
driver code, operating system, control, standalone or downloadable
software object, etc. which enables applications and services to
use the pointing based services. Embodiments may be contemplated
from the standpoint of an API (or other software object), as well
as from a software or hardware object that provides pointing
platform services in accordance with one or more of the described
embodiments. Various implementations and embodiments described
herein may have aspects that are wholly in hardware, partly in
hardware and partly in software, as well as in software.
[0173] The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean serving as an
example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the
subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In
addition, any aspect or design described herein as "exemplary" is
not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over
other aspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent
exemplary structures and techniques known to those of ordinary
skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms
"includes," "has," "contains," and other similar words are used in
either the detailed description or the claims, for the avoidance of
doubt, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar
to the term "comprising" as an open transition word without
precluding any additional or other elements.
[0174] As mentioned, the various techniques described herein may be
implemented in connection with hardware or software or, where
appropriate, with a combination of both. As used herein, the terms
"component," "system" and the like are likewise intended to refer
to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of
hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For
example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process
running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a
thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of
illustration, both an application running on computer and the
computer can be a component. One or more components may reside
within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be
localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more
computers.
[0175] The aforementioned systems have been described with respect
to interaction between several components. It can be appreciated
that such systems and components can include those components or
specified sub-components, some of the specified components or
sub-components, and/or additional components, and according to
various permutations and combinations of the foregoing.
Sub-components can also be implemented as components
communicatively coupled to other components rather than included
within parent components (hierarchical). Additionally, it should be
noted that one or more components may be combined into a single
component providing aggregate functionality or divided into several
separate sub-components, and any one or more middle layers, such as
a management layer, may be provided to communicatively couple to
such sub-components in order to provide integrated functionality.
Any components described herein may also interact with one or more
other components not specifically described herein but generally
known by those of skill in the art.
[0176] In view of the exemplary systems described supra,
methodologies that may be implemented in accordance with the
disclosed subject matter will be better appreciated with reference
to the flowcharts of the various figures. While for purposes of
simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown and
described as a series of blocks, it is to be understood and
appreciated that the claimed subject matter is not limited by the
order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur in different orders
and/or concurrently with other blocks from what is depicted and
described herein. Where non-sequential, or branched, flow is
illustrated via flowchart, it can be appreciated that various other
branches, flow paths, and orders of the blocks, may be implemented
which achieve the same or a similar result. Moreover, not all
illustrated blocks may be required to implement the methodologies
described hereinafter.
[0177] While the various embodiments have been described in
connection with the preferred embodiments of the various figures,
it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used
or modifications and additions may be made to the described
embodiment for performing the same function without deviating
therefrom. Still further, one or more aspects of the above
described embodiments may be implemented in or across a plurality
of processing chips or devices, and storage may similarly be
effected across a plurality of devices. Therefore, the present
invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, but
rather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with
the appended claims.
* * * * *