Abstract:
Systems and methods for providing a navigational tool usable on a web platform or on a smart device platform, where a user may interactively navigate a given facility and obtain desired information faster and more efficiently than via conventional applications that do not offer interactivity. One or more hot spots are provided on an image of the facility, and when a selection of one of the hot spots is received from the user, other hot spots, text, images and videos are provided to the user, wherein the hot spots are embedded in a displayed image of the facility, each hot sport corresponding to a specific portion of the facility, and a selection of a hot spot by the user provides the user with at least one of menus, text, images and videos related to the portion of the facility to which the hot spot corresponds.

Description:
The present application claims priority from provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 61/607,336, filed on Mar. 6, 2012, titled “Methods and Systems for Facilitating a Navigation of a Facility,” and U.S. Patent Application No. 61/607,876, filed on Mar. 7, 2012, titled “Methods and Systems for Facilitating a Navigation of a Facility,” which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     Aspects of the present invention relate to methods and systems for facilitating the navigation of a facility. More particularly, aspects of the current invention relate to methods and systems for facilitating navigation of a facility via a web or smart device platform. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Most web or smart device applications that describe a facility, such as a dwelling, a location, or a vacation facility, the device application being, for example, smart phone applications, merely display to a user a series of graphics, including information that the user may view. However, most of these applications do not provide any interactivity to the user and are merely rigid repositories of information. 
     A Content Management System (CMS) or Web Management System (WMS) is a software program or a group or suite of applications and tools that allow publishing and formatting of digital content in a consistent and structured manner to create, edit, review and publish electronic text. A CMS typically supports collaborative publishing, allowing varying levels of access to different content managers, and ensures that content is structured consistently, which improves how information and data are provided and shared. Many content management systems offer a Web-based graphical user interface (GUI), enabling publishers to access the CMS online using a Web browser. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In light of the above described problems and unmet needs, aspects of the current invention provide systems and methods of providing a navigational tool usable on a web platform or on a smart device platform, where a user may interactively navigate a given facility or location and obtain desired information faster and more efficiently than via conventional applications that do not offer interactivity. 
     Various aspects of the current invention provide a Content Management System (CMS) usable on a web platform or a smart device platform, such as an application usable on an iPhone or iPad device. According to various aspects, most or all content for various menus and submenus presented to a user may be entered into the CMS, and the CMS may input the information into the smart device application. For example, the CMS may provide a user with the ability to manage all internal content of the smart device application, including images, videos, text, and the like. The CMS may also provide a user with the ability to update and manage the various images, videos, icons, other graphic elements of the application, and the like, without changing the core structure and base functionality of the application, such as navigation tools, user interaction, animation and data structure. According to various aspects, the CMS may also provide the ability to grant access to several tiers of administrators so that, for example, a Property Manager may be granted access to the entire content of the application, while a Section Manager or a General Content Manager may only be granted access to specific portions of the content of the application relevant to their respective functions. 
     According to various aspects of the current invention, an implementation of the CMS may include providing a user with a main navigation menu that may include a plurality of top level menu items. According to various aspects, when the user of a smart device selects a top level menu item by, for example, tapping on or otherwise selecting an icon representing the menu item on the screen of the smart device, then graphics and/or one or more sub-level menu navigation items may be displayed to the user. When the user selects one of the sub-level menu navigation items, for example, by tapping on the sub-level menu navigation items, then information relevant to the sub-level menu item may be displayed to the user. According to various aspects, one or more of the sub-level menu items may each include one or more third, fourth, or lower level menu items, so that selecting these sub-level menu items may result in the display of the lower level menu items. 
     Additional advantages and novel features of aspects of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or upon learning by practice of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Various example aspects of the systems and methods will be described in detail, with reference to the following figures, wherein: 
         FIGS. 1( a ) and 1( b )  are diagrams illustrating a plurality of top level menu items displayed to a user, according to various aspects of the current invention; 
         FIGS. 2( a )-2( f )  are diagrams illustrating a display of a plurality of views corresponding to a “Home” menu item, according to various aspects of the current invention; 
         FIGS. 3( a ) and 3( b )  are diagrams illustrating a plurality of views corresponding to an “Amenities” menu item, according to various aspects of the current invention; 
         FIGS. 4( a ) and 4( b )  are diagrams illustrating a plurality of views corresponding to an “Attractions” menu item, according to various aspects of the current invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a flow chart illustrating a method of facilitating navigation of a facility, according to various aspects of the current invention; 
         FIG. 6  presents an example system diagram of various hardware components and other features, for use in accordance with an aspect of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram of various example system components, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     These and other features and advantages in accordance with aspects of this invention are described in, or are apparent from, the following detailed description thereof. 
       FIGS. 1( a ) and 1( b )  are diagrams illustrating a plurality of top level menu items displayed on a portion of a screen displayed to a user, according to various aspects of the current invention. In  FIGS. 1( a ) and 1( b ) , a plurality of top level menu items  120  are displayed as icons at the bottom of the screen  110 , such as the screen of a smart device, but may be displayed on any suitable portion of the screen. According to various aspects, when the user of the smart device selects any of the icons  120 , for example by tapping the icon  120 , a sub-level menu  130  corresponding to the selected icon may be displayed, as illustrated in  FIG. 1( a ) . In the aspects illustrated in  FIGS. 1( a ) and 1( b ) , the various top level menu items  120  shown include Home, Amenities, Attractions, Reservation and Contact. Other top level menu items or icons may be added, according to various aspects. Also, the display of the icons  120  may be in the form of a sliding shelf that is either always present at a portion of the screen, or that appears when the user selects the screen  110 , for example by tapping the screen  110 . According to various aspects, the sub-level menus  130  corresponding to each menu item  120  may be displayed, for example, as a list of items, as illustrated in  FIG. 1( a ) , or as a list of illustrations, as illustrated in  FIG. 1( b ) , in which case the sub-level items may be slightly transparent and superimposed to the background image displayed on the screen of the smart device. According to various aspects, the text displayed on the screen may be enlarged by the user in order to facilitate reading of the various items, for example via “small A” and “large A” graphics. Accordingly, the application may allow the user to have an overview of all options available by simply tapping on the screen of the smart device. 
       FIGS. 2( a )-2( f )  are diagrams illustrating a display of a plurality of views  200  corresponding to a “Home” menu item, according to various aspects of the current invention.  FIG. 2( a )  illustrates an image that may appear to the user when the user selects, for example by tapping, the screen  210  of the smart device at the location of the icon titled “Home,” similarly to as discussed above with respect to  FIGS. 1( a ) -( 1 ( b ). When the “Home” menu is displayed, an application may be launched via the CMS to display the default landing screen, which may include an area map  220 . According to various aspects, the map  220  may be highly interactive, and the user may explore the map  220  by selecting the screen  210 , for example via a single or double tap of the screen  210  of the smart device, or via a finger or other motion in either direction on the screen  210  of the smart device. According to various aspects, one or more “hot spots”  230  may be defined on the map that may be used to explore specific areas of the map when the user selects a given “hot spot”  230 . The user may thus explore a plurality of portions of an image, such as a map, by selecting one or more of the various “hot spots”  230 , and each selection may launch a new display via the CMS, and the new display may also contain additional hotspots that, when selected, provide additional displays to the user. According to various aspects, the “hot spots”  230  may be embedded in various portions of a displayed image of the facility, for example, each “hot spot”  230  corresponding to a specific portion of the facility. Accordingly, when the user selects a given “hot spot”  230 , one or more menus, text, images or videos that are specifically related to the portion of the facility to which the “hot spot”  230  corresponds may be provided or displayed to the user. 
     According to various aspects, the “Home” menu  120  illustrated in  FIGS. 1( a )-1( b )  may include a plurality of sub-level menu items  240 , such as “About,” “Campus,” Pictures” and/or “Videos.”  FIG. 2( b )  illustrates the display  250  that is launched by the application according to various aspects for the sub-level menu  240  “About.” When selecting, e.g., by tapping, the “About” icon  240  on the screen  210  of the smart device, the user may be presented with both text and imagery  250 , that may also include lower-level icons  260  that may be further selected to display additional text, pictures or videos. The “About” display  250  may include information about the facility, such as location, name, date of creation, mission, and the like. 
     According to various aspects,  FIGS. 2( c )-2( d )  illustrate screens  260  and  270  that may be launched by the CMS when the sub-level menu icon  240  “Campus” is selected, e.g., tapped, by the user. When the “Campus” icon  240  is selected by the user, a high level campus map  260  may be displayed to the user, and the user may be able to explore various portions of the campus map and navigate the campus map, such as by moving the user&#39;s finger over “hot spots”  265  on the screen of the smart device. According to various aspects, the “Campus” map  260  may have additional lower-level menus  268  to allow the user to navigate to various areas of the map quickly and efficiently, such as by simply tapping on the screen of the smart device at the location of the lower level menus  268 . 
     According to various aspects,  FIG. 2( e )  illustrates a display  270  that may be launched via the CMS if the sub-level menu  240  “Pictures” illustrated in  FIG. 2( a )  is selected, e.g., tapped, by the user. According to various aspects, when the “Pictures” icon  240  is selected by the user, the CMS may provide a gallery  270  of pictures on the display of the smart device, where the gallery of pictures  270  may be organized in stacks or albums of pictures, or may merely include a plurality of individual pictures, for example. According to various aspects, when the user selects an album or stack of pictures  270 , for example by single tapping or double tapping a given picture icon  275  corresponding to a given album, another screen may launch to display the pictures that are included in the given album  275 . According to various aspects, when the user selects a picture from the album  275 , for example by tapping the picture icon, then the application may launch the selected picture via the CMS, and the picture may be, for example, displayed in a large format on the screen of the smart device. The application may also launch a slide show, such as if the user selects a “slide option” on the screen menu. According to various aspects, tapping on or otherwise selecting each gallery  275  may provide the gallery to the user and display the stack of images, and tapping on each image from that gallery  275  may enlarge the image to full screen. When in a gallery, the user may be able to flick from left to right, right to left, up to down or down to up, for example, from one picture to the next. According to various aspects, when a given image is selected, a “postcard” menu item of the selected image may be displayed on the screen, which may allow the user to enter an email address, a telephone number, or a postal address, on the selected picture, and to send that picture along with an accompanying message to the email address in the form of a postcard, or to a portable device, in the form of a text message for example. 
     According to various aspects,  FIG. 2( f )  illustrates a screen that may be launched by the application if the sub-level menu “Videos”  240  is selected, e.g., tapped, by the user. In  FIG. 2( f ) , several videos or video stacks  285  are displayed as smaller icons on the display screen  280  of the smart device. For example, if the user selects a given video stack  285 , then a new display may be launched via the CMS, and the videos included in the selected video stack  285  may be displayed to the user as a gallery of smaller icons on the screen of the smart device. According to various aspects, when the user selects a specific video from the displayed gallery of videos, such as via tapping the screen or via another selecting method, the video may be displayed on a similar-sized or larger screen of the smart device. When the video is displayed, a sub-menu of video controls may also be displayed to the user on a portion of the screen, the control including, for example, buttons for playing the video, stopping, rewinding and fast forwarding, as well as volume and image quality control buttons and other video control features. 
       FIGS. 3( a )-3( b )  are diagrams illustrating a display of a plurality of views corresponding to an “Amenities” and “Lodging” menu items, according to various aspects of the current invention. According to various aspects, the “Amenities” screen  310  illustrated in  FIG. 3( a ) , when selected by the user via, for example, tapping on the screen  310  of the smart device, may launch an application or display  320  via the CMS to provide the user with a list, which may includes text, pictures and/or videos, of the various amenities available at the facility. The user may select individual images or icons  330  representing individual amenities, such as dining, leisure, business facilities, and the like, and/or a picture, a text and/or a video corresponding to the specific amenity selected by the user may be displayed on the screen of the smart device as a result of the selection. According to various aspects, the display  320  corresponding to the specific amenity may also be launched by the CMS as a pop-up window on the screen. It should be noted that pictures from any of the menu item may also be stored in the “Pictures” menu, and videos from any sub-level menu item may also be stored in the “Videos” menu. 
       FIG. 3( b )  illustrates a display of a “Lodging” menu item, according to various aspects. When tapping on the “Lodging” screen  130 , CMS may launch a list of accommodation choices  340  to be displayed to the user. For example, each accommodation choice may feature one or more images, videos and/or text to describe the various accommodations available to the user at the facility. For example, the layout of various rooms  350  may be displayed on the screen  310 , and an icon to book a room via the smart device may also be displayed on a portion of the screen  310 . According to various aspects, if the user selects an icon to book a room, then a booking application may be launched via the CMS, and an interactive page or a booking screen may be displayed to the user, where the user may enter, for example, name, address and credit card information. For example, the booking screen may include a webkit view of the booking website for the facility. 
       FIGS. 4( a )-4( b )  are diagrams illustrating a display of a plurality of views corresponding to the “Activities” and “Geology” menu items, according to various aspects of the current invention.  FIG. 4( a )  illustrates a display of an “Activities” screen  410 , according to various aspects. When the user selects the “Activities” menu, a list  420  of activities available at the facility may be displayed to the user. For example, if the facility is a vacation resort, then a plurality of leisure activities  420 , such as hiking, swimming in a pool, dining, and the like, may be displayed on the screen of the user&#39;s smart device via the CMS. For example, each activity choice may feature one or more images  430 , videos and/or text to describe the various activities available to the user at the facility, and may be provided to the user as a pop-up window on the screen of the smart device.  FIG. 4( b )  illustrates a display of a “Geology” menu item, according to various aspects, which may provide to the user a vivid representation, via pictures and/or videos as well as text, for example, of the geology surrounding the facility. The user may explore the various portions of the surrounding geology by selecting the screen  410  of the smart device by, for example, tapping various portions of the screen, or flicking the screen to the left, right, upwards or downwards. “hot spots”  440  and  450  may also be provided via the CMS to further explore specific areas of the facility surroundings. 
     According to various aspects, the “Attractions” menu may also include as a sub-menu a “History” icon that provides the user with a narrative of the history of the facility via text, pictures and/or videos, each of which may be activated, for example, when the user selects respective icons on the screen of the smart device. 
     According to various aspects, a “Reservations” menu may also be provided to the user to allow the user to make a reservation directly from the smart device, where, when the user selects the “Reservations” icon, a reservations application is launched via the CMS. A “Contact” menu may also be displayed, to provide the user with pertinent contact data for the facility, and enable display images, videos and text with links, telephone numbers and other data. A “Directions” icon may also be displayed on the screen to provide the user with directions on how to access the facility. According to various aspects, the directions may be provided by using a Global Positioning Feature (GPS), to provide customized directions to the user based on the user&#39;s location at the time of the search. 
       FIG. 5  is a flow chart illustrating a method of facilitating virtual navigation of a facility, according to various aspects of the current invention. In  FIG. 5 , the method starts at S 100 , where a user launches an application on a smart device, such as a computer, a smart phone or a tablet. According to various aspects, when the application is launched, one or more graphics and a plurality of menu items may be provided to the user at S 110 . Accordingly, the user may enter a selection of the menu items at S 120 . According to various aspects, the selection of a given menu item may be performed by tapping one or more times the screen of the smart device at the location on the screen of the desired menu item with a finger, or by otherwise selecting the desired menu item by the user via any other method such as moving a mouse or any other urging or other selection method. 
     According to various aspects, when the desired menu item is selected, then graphics and/or one or more sub-level menus may be displayed to the user at S 130  via the CMS. Accordingly, the user may either navigate the graphics or select one of the displayed sub-level menus. Navigating the graphics may be performed by, for example, selecting one or more CMS activated “hot spots” present at various locations on the graphics, each one of the “hot spots”, when selected, causing the launch of a sub-application to display additional relevant information corresponding to the “hot spot” being selected, the information being relevant to the given facility. At S 140 , the user may select one or more graphics, and/or other lower-level menu items, that are displayed to the user on the screen of the smart device. According to various aspects, other multimedia information, including text, videos and pictures, may be displayed to the user at S 150  as a result of the user&#39;s selection at S 140 , and the user may navigate the displayed graphics by, for example, selecting various “hot spots” and/or other menu items, pictures, videos, and the like, to gain better virtual access to the facility. 
       FIG. 6  presents an example system diagram of various hardware components and other features, for use in accordance with an aspect of the present invention. Aspects of the present invention may be implemented using hardware, software, or a combination thereof and may be implemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems. In one exemplary variation, aspects of the invention are directed toward one or more computer systems capable of carrying out the functionality described herein. An example of such a computer system  900  is shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     Computer system  900  includes one or more processors, such as processor  904 . The processor  904  is connected to a communication infrastructure  906  (e.g., a communications bus, cross-over bar, or network). Various software aspects are described in terms of this example computer system. After reading this description, it will become apparent to a person skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement aspects of the invention using other computer systems and/or architectures. 
     Computer system  900  may include a display interface  902  that forwards graphics, text, and other data from the communication infrastructure  906  (or from a frame buffer not shown) for display on a display unit  930 . Computer system  900  also includes a main memory  908 , preferably random access memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory  910 . The secondary memory  910  may include, for example, a hard disk drive  912  and/or a removable storage drive  914 , representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, etc. The removable storage drive  914  reads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit  918  in a well-known manner. Removable storage unit  918 , represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, etc., which is read by and written to removable storage drive  914 . As will be appreciated, the removable storage unit  918  includes a computer usable storage medium having stored therein computer software and/or data. 
     In alternative aspects, secondary memory  910  may include other similar devices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into computer system  900 . Such devices may include, for example, a removable storage unit  922  and an interface  920 . Examples of such may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), or programmable read only memory (PROM)) and associated socket, and other removable storage units  922  and interfaces  920 , which allow software and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit  922  to computer system  900 . 
     Computer system  900  may also include a communications interface  924 . Communications interface  924  allows software and data to be transferred between computer system  900  and external devices. Examples of communications interface  924  may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a communications port, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, etc. Software and data transferred via communications interface  924  are in the form of signals  928 , which may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signals capable of being received by communications interface  924 . These signals  928  are provided to communications interface  924  via a communications path (e.g., channel)  926 . This path  926  carries signals  928  and may be implemented using wire or cable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, a radio frequency (RF) link and/or other communications channels. In this document, the terms “computer program medium” and “computer usable medium” are used to refer generally to media such as a removable storage drive  980 , a hard disk installed in hard disk drive  970 , and signals  928 . These computer program products provide software to the computer system  900 . Aspects of the invention are directed to such computer program products. 
     Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) are stored in main memory  908  and/or secondary memory  910 . Computer programs may also be received via communications interface  924 . Such computer programs, when executed, enable the computer system  900  to perform various features in accordance with aspects of the present invention, as discussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed, enable the processor  910  to perform such features. Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of the computer system  900 . 
     In variations where aspects of the invention are implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer program product and loaded into computer system  900  using removable storage drive  914 , hard drive  912 , or communications interface  920 . The control logic (software), when executed by the processor  904 , causes the processor  904  to perform the functions in accordance with aspects of the invention as described herein. In another variation, aspects are implemented primarily in hardware using, for example, hardware components, such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of the hardware state machine so as to perform the functions described herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s). 
     In yet another example variation, aspects of the invention are implemented using a combination of both hardware and software. 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram of various example system components, in accordance with an aspect of the present invention.  FIG. 7  shows a communication system  1000  usable in accordance with the present invention. The communication system  1000  includes one or more accessors  1060 ,  1062  (also referred to interchangeably herein as one or more “users”) and one or more terminals  1042 ,  1066 . In one aspect, data for use in accordance with aspects of the present invention is, for example, input and/or accessed by accessors  1060 ,  1062  via terminals  1042 ,  1066 , such as personal computers (PCs), minicomputers, mainframe computers, microcomputers, telephonic devices, or wireless devices, such as personal digital assistants (“PDAs”) or a hand-held wireless devices coupled to a server  1043 , such as a PC, minicomputer, mainframe computer, microcomputer, or other device having a processor and a repository for data and/or connection to a repository for data, via, for example, a network  1044 , such as the Internet or an intranet, and couplings  1045 ,  1046 ,  1064 . The couplings  1045 ,  1046 ,  1064  include, for example, wired, wireless, or fiberoptic links. In another example variation, the method and system in accordance with aspects of the present invention operate in a stand-alone environment, such as on a single terminal. 
     While aspects of this invention have been described in conjunction with the example features outlined above, various alternatives, modifications, variations, improvements, and/or substantial equivalents, whether known or that are or may be presently unforeseen, may become apparent to those having at least ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, the example aspects of the invention, as set forth above, are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and thereof. Therefore, aspects of the invention are intended to embrace all known or later-developed alternatives, modifications, variations, improvements, and/or substantial equivalents.