Indicating the geographic origin of a digitally-mediated communication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10535196-B2
Application number	US-201715651904-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 17, 2017
Priority date	Aug 27, 2012
Publication date	Jan 14, 2020
Grant date	Jan 14, 2020

Abstract

Technologies are described for indicating a geographic origin of a digitally-mediated communication relative to a location of a recipient by presenting the indication in an augmented reality scene. For example, an augmented reality scene can be presented to the recipient. The geographic origin of an incoming digital communication may be determined and a relative location of the origin with respect to the recipient's location may be computed. A format for presenting the relative location may be derived from the digital communication and the geographic origin. The augmented reality scene may be updated with the relative location based on the derived format. Techniques for integrating digital communications, location-based services, and augmented reality applications can enhance the recipient's experience by providing a perceptual solution to the loss of certain fundamental aspects of natural communication, such as the ability to instantly determine the geographic origin or relative location of an incoming digital communication.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method to indicate a geographic origin of a digital communication, the method comprising:
retrieving an image of a scene based on a first geographic location of a first device;
generating an augmented reality scene from the retrieved image;
determining a second geographic location associated with the digital communication which is initiated from a second device towards the first device;
displaying a first graphical object and a second graphical object in the augmented reality scene, wherein:
the first graphical object includes a glyph, wherein the glyph includes an avatar of a user associated with the second device, the digital communication, and text that is descriptive of the second geographic location,
the second graphical object includes text that specifies a direction and a distance from the first geographic location towards the second geographic location, and
a length of the second graphical object is indicative of the distance from the first geographic location to the second geographic location; and

updating a size of each of the first graphical object and the second graphical object in the augmented reality scene based on an update of a distance between the first device and the second device, wherein updating the size of the first graphical object includes increasing a size of the glyph in response to a decrease in the distance between the first device and the second device, and wherein updating the size of the second graphical object includes decreasing a size of the second graphical object in response to the decrease in the distance between the first device and the second device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein retrieving the image of the scene comprises retrieving the image from data stored locally on the first device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein retrieving the image of the scene comprises retrieving the image from another device or a server in communication with the first device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first geographic location and the second geographic location are derived from one or more of: global positioning system (GPS) based information, cellular triangulation data, wireless access points interpolation data, and geographical tags.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the second geographic location comprises determining a resolution level that is indicative of an accuracy range of the second geographic location, and wherein the resolution level is based on one or more of: a privacy level of sharing the second geographic location, and a preview presentation of the second geographic location.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
animating the first graphical object until the digital communication is acknowledged by a user associated with the first device.

7. A method to indicate a geographic origin of a user that initiates a digital communication, the method comprising:
generating an augmented reality scene based on a first location of a recipient of the digital communication;
determining a second location of the user that initiates the digital communication, wherein determination of the second location is controlled by the user, and wherein the control comprises control of one or more of: a sharing degree, a resolution level, and a presentation preview;
determining a format for an object based on the first location and the second location, wherein the object includes a glyph, and wherein the glyph includes an avatar of the user, the digital communication, and text that is descriptive of the second location;
determining a format for another object, wherein the another object includes text that specifies a direction and a distance from the first location towards the second location, and wherein a length of the another object is indicative of the distance from the first location to the second location;
displaying the object and the another object in the augmented reality scene which is rendered on a device associated with the recipient of the digital communication;
increasing a size of the glyph, displayed in the augmented reality scene, in response to a decrease in a distance between the user and the recipient; and
decreasing a size of the another object, displayed in the augmented reality scene, in response to the decrease in the distance between the user and the recipient.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein determining the format for the object comprises determining a cross-modality presentation configured to provide a three-dimensional perception of the second location relative to the first location.

9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
animating the first object until the digital communication is acknowledged by the recipient.

10. A system to indicate a geographic origin of a digital communication, the system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the memory is configured to store instructions that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the system to perform or control performance of operations that comprise:
retrieve an image of a scene based on a first geographic location of a first device;
generate an augmented reality scene from the retrieved image;
determine a second geographic location of a second device that initiated the digital communication towards the first device;
display a first graphical object and a second graphical object in the augmented reality scene rendered on the first device, wherein:
the first graphical object includes a glyph, wherein the glyph includes an avatar of a user associated with the second device, the digital communication, and text that is descriptive of the second geographic location,
a format of the first graphical object is indicative of whether the digital communication includes an email, a text message, a phone call, an instant message, or a social media message, and
the second graphical object includes information that is descriptive of a direction from the first geographic location towards the second geographic location;

update a size of each of the first graphical object and the second graphical object in the augmented reality scene based on an update of a distance between the first device and the second device,
wherein to update the size of each of the first graphical object and the second graphical object, the instructions, in response to execution by the processor, cause the system to perform or control performance of operations that comprise:
increase the size of the glyph in response to a decrease in the distance between the first device and the second device; and
decrease the size of the second graphical object in response to the decrease in the distance between the first device and the second device; and

animate the first graphical object until the digital communication is acknowledged by a user associated with the first device.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein to retrieve the image of the scene, the instructions, in response to execution by the processor, cause the system to perform or control performance of at least one operation that comprises:
retrieve the image of the scene from data stored locally on the first device.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein to retrieve the image of the scene, the instructions, in response to execution by the processor, cause the system to perform or control performance of at least one operation that comprises:
retrieve the image of the scene from another device or a server in communication with the first device.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first geographic location and the second geographic location are derived from one or more of: global positioning syst

Assignees

• Empire Technology Dev Llc

Inventors

• Malamud Mark
• Levien Royce

Classifications

• G01C21/3632

  Guidance using simplified or iconic instructions, e.g. using arrows (G01C21/365 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G01C21/3629

  Guidance using speech or audio output, e.g. text-to-speech (text to speech systems per se G10L13/00) · CPC title

• G06T17/05

  Geographic models · CPC title

• G01C21/3652

  Guidance using non-audiovisual output, e.g. tactile, haptic or electric stimuli · CPC title

• G06T19/006 Primary

  Mixed reality (object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00) · CPC title