Determination of a geographical location of a user

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016371840-A1
Application number	US-201514888629-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 25, 2015
Priority date	Mar 25, 2015
Publication date	Dec 22, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method, a device and a computer program product for determining a geographical location of a user are disclosed. The method comprises: extracting characters or icons in an image taken at a place where the user is located; analyzing the extracted characters or icons to determine a meaning of the characters or the icons; and determining the geographical location of the user based on the meaning of the characters or the icons. With the method, the device and the computer program product, the geographical location of the user may be accurately determined in various scenarios.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for determining a geographical location of a user, comprising:
extracting characters or icons in an image taken at a place where the user is located; analyzing the extracted characters or icons to determine a meaning of the characters or the icons; and determining the geographical location of the user based on the meaning of the characters or the icons.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the image is taken by a portable device of the user.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the characters or the icons are an identification of an office building, a store, a residential building or a street.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the extracting characters or icons in an image taken at a place where the user is located includes:
recognizing characters or icons in the image, and extracting all the recognized characters or icons, or characters or icons with confidence greater than a threshold in all the recognized characters or icons.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the analyzing the extracted characters or icons to determine a meaning of the characters or the icons includes:
organizing the extracted characters into a character string in a row or column order; and analyzing the character string to determine one or more words with a specific meaning.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the analyzing the extracted characters or icons to determine a meaning of the characters or the icons includes:
matching the extracted icons with pre-stored icons with specific meanings to determine the meaning of the extracted icons.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the determining the geographical location of the user based on the meaning of the characters or the icons includes:
using geographical locations which are searched for in a predetermined geographical region on a map and associated with the meaning of the characters or the icons as candidate geographical locations; determining the geographical location of the user based on the candidate geographical locations.

8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the predetermined geographical region is determined according to historical positioning information of the user or positioning information indicating a geographical region where the user is located.

9 . A device for determining a geographical location of a user, comprising:
a processor; a memory; and computer program instructions stored in the memory, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to execute steps of:
extracting characters or icons in an image taken at a place where the user is located;
analyzing the extracted characters or icons to determine a meaning of the characters or the icons; and
determining the geographical location of the user based on the meaning of the characters or the icons.

10 . The device according to claim 9 , further comprising:
a camera, configured to taking the image.

11 . The device according to claim 9 , wherein the characters or the icons are an identification of an office building, a store, a residential building or a street.

12 . The device according to claim 9 , wherein the extracting characters or icons in an image taken at a place where the user is located includes:
recognizing characters or icons in the image, and extracting all the recognized characters or icons, or characters or icons with confidence greater than a threshold in all the recognized characters or icons.

13 . The device according to claim 9 , wherein the analyzing the extracted characters or icons to determine a meaning of the characters or the icons includes:
organizing the extracted characters into a character string in a row or column order; and analyzing the character string to determine one or more words with a specific meaning.

14 . The device according to claim 9 , wherein the analyzing the extracted characters or icons to determine a meaning of the characters or the icons includes:
matching the extracted icons with pre-stored icons with specific meanings to determine the meaning of the extracted icons.

15 . The device according to claim 9 , wherein the determining the geographical location of the user based on the meaning of the characters or the icons includes:
using geographical locations which are searched for in a predetermined geographical region on a map and associated with the meaning of the characters or the icons as candidate geographical locations; determining the geographical location of the user based on the candidate geographical locations.

16 . The device according to claim 15 , wherein the predetermined geographical region is determined according to historical positioning information of the user or positioning information indicating a geographical region where the user is located.

17 . A computer program product for determining a geographical location of a user, comprising a computer readable storage medium on which computer program instructions are stored, the computer program instruction being executed by a processor to cause the processor to:
extract characters or icons in an image taken at a place where the user is located; analyze the extracted characters or icons to determine a meaning of the characters or the icons; and determine the geographical location of the user based on the meaning of the characters or the icons.

18 . The computer program product according to claim 17 , wherein the image is taken by a portable device of the user.

19 . The computer program product according to claim 17 , wherein the characters or the icons are an identification of an office building, a store, a residential building or a street.

20 . The computer program product according to claim 17 , wherein the determining the geographical location of the user based on the meaning of the characters or the icons includes:
using geographical locations which are searched for in a predetermined geographical region on a map and associated with the meaning of the characters or the icons as candidate geographical locations; determining the geographical location of the user based on the candidate geographical locations.

Assignees

• Beijing Kuangshi Tech Co Ltd
• Pinhole (Beijing) Tech Co Ltd

Inventors

• Zhou Shuchang
• Zhou Xinyu
• Wu Yuxin
• Wu Jianan

Classifications

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• H04W4/33

  for indoor environments, e.g. buildings · CPC title

• G06K9/4604

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30256

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F17/30241

  Physics · mapped topic