Electronic apparatus, information determining server, information determining method, program, and information determining system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9552371-B2
Application number	US-201113196331-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 2, 2011
Priority date	Aug 12, 2010
Publication date	Jan 24, 2017
Grant date	Jan 24, 2017

Abstract

A method is provided for determining a category of a location. The method comprises determining, at a first time, information identifying a first device location of a first device associated with a user; and storing the first device location information and information identifying the first time in a location history. The method further comprises determining, at a second time, information identifying a second device location of the first device; and storing, in the location history, the second device location information and information identifying the second time. The method still further comprises determining, based on the location history, a category of a location.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for determining a category of a location, comprising:
determining, at a first time, information identifying a first device location of a first device associated with a user;
storing the first device location information and information identifying the first time in a location history;
determining, at a second time, information identifying a second device location of the first device;
storing, in the location history, the second device location information and information identifying the second time;
determining personal information associated with the user;
determining, based on the location history and the personal information, a category of a location, wherein the determining of the category of the location comprises determining whether an amount of time during which the first device was located at at least one of the first device location and the second device location is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount of time;
determining information based on the determined category of the location and user setting of the category of the location; and
customizing presentation of information to the user based on the determined information.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the category comprises at least one of a home, a work place, a school, a transportation area, a meal area, a shopping area, a sports area, or an entertainment area.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the category is a first category of a first visited location, the first visited location being associated with the user.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
storing, in a category history, information identifying the first category and information identifying the first visited location;
determining, based on the location history, a second category of a second visited location, the second visited location being associated with the user; and
storing, in the category history, information identifying the second category and information identifying the second visited location.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining information identifying a third location associated with the user; and
respectively determining, based on the category history, if the first and second categories are categories of the third location.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
displaying, if the first category is a category of the third location, an indication that the first category is a category of the third location; and
displaying, if the second category is a category of the third location, an indication that the second category is a category of the third location.

7. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
determining information identifying a third location associated with the user;
acquiring information associated with the third location; and
selecting a subset of the acquired information.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the information associated with the third location is acquired from at least one of:
a device associated with the user; or
a server.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the subset is selected based on the category history.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the subset is selected based on a user input.

11. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
displaying the subset.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the personal information includes a gender of the user or a date of birth of the user.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the category includes at least one of: a lifezone of the user or out of a lifezone of the user.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
if a current user location information indicates that user location belongs in a lifezone, controlling a display to display information based on the lifezone; and
if a current user location information indicates that user location belongs out of a lifezone, controlling the display to display information based on the current user location.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
if a current user location information indicates that user location belongs in a lifezone, controlling a display to display information of a store belonging to the lifezone; and
if a current user location information indicates that user location belongs out of a lifezone, controlling the display to display information including at least one of travelling information or leisure information.

16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether a current location is in a lifezone based on the location history and the personal information to obtain a determination result; and
controlling the display to display the determination result.

17. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, which when executed by at least one computer, cause the at least one computer to perform a method of determining a category of a location, the method comprising:
determining, at a first time, information identifying a first device location of a first device associated with a user;
storing the first device location information and information identifying the first time in a location history;
determining, at a second time, information identifying a second device location of the first device;
storing, in the location history, the second device location information and information identifying the second time;
determining personal information associated with the user;
determining, based on the location history and the personal information, a category of a location, wherein the determining of the category of the location comprises determining whether an amount of time during which the first device was located at at least one of the first device location and the second device location is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount of time;
determining information based on the determined category of the location and user setting of the category of the location; and
customizing presentation of information to the user based on the determined information.

18. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the category comprises at least one of a home, a work place, a school, a transportation area, a meal area, a shopping area, a sports area, or an entertainment area.

19. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the category is a first category of a first visited location, the first visited location being associated with the user.

20. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the method further comprises:
storing, in a category history, information identifying the first category and information identifying the first visited location;
determining, based on the location history, a second category of a second visited location associated with the user; and
storing, in the category history, information identifying the second category and information identifying the second visited location.

21. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 20 , wherein the method further comprises:
determining information identifying a third location associated with the user; and
respectively determining, based on the category history, if the first and second categories are categories of the third location.

22. The at least one computer-readable medium of claim 21 , wherein the method further comprises:
displaying, if the first category is a category of the third location, an indication that the first category is a category of the third location; and
displaying, if the

Assignees

• Kobayashi Kenichiro
• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Kobayashi Kenichiro

Classifications

• G06F17/30241 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G09B29/10

  Map spot or coordinate position indicators; Map reading aids (optical projection apparatus per se G03B) · CPC title

• G06Q50/00

  Information and communication technology [ICT] specially adapted for implementation of business processes of specific business sectors, e.g. utilities or tourism (healthcare informatics G16H) · CPC title

• H04W4/029

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title

• G06F16/29 Primary

  Geographical information databases · CPC title