Sharing of location information in a networked computing environment

A system includes a server and a source client executable on a first electronic device in communication with the server The server is configured to provide to a second electronic device in communication with the server access to location data implementable by a user interface associated with the second electronic device The location data enables the user interface to display the geographical location of the first electronic device The access to the location data is accessible to the second electronic device only during a time interval designated by a user of the first electronic device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Technology, such as mobile phones and mobile devices, allows for greater connectivity and communication as a person may remain in constant contact with others. Because various devices maintain a persistent connection with access towers and, subsequently, the Internet, it is possible to pinpoint the location of a person's mobile device (and, hence, the person if one assumes they have their mobile device with them). However, privacy issues are a concern as a person may not wish to allow others to always know their location.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an embodiment, a system includes a server and a source client executable on a first electronic device in communication with the server. The server is configured to provide to a second electronic device in communication with the server access to location data implementable by a user interface associated with the second electronic device. The location data enables the user interface to display the geographical location of the first electronic device. The access to the location data is accessible to the second electronic device only during a time interval designated by a user of the first electronic device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the subject matter disclosed herein. The general principles described herein may be applied to embodiments and applications other than those detailed above without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject matter disclosed herein. This disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed or suggested herein.

An embodiment provides an efficient and simple way for location to be shared among multiple parties. It allows resolution of temporary ambiguity about location between parties in a real-time, detailed manner, but without forcing a long-term relationship, or having security credentials created or exchanged between the sharing parties, while still limiting the location information to the desired parties. With the described solution, there is no configuration needed; you can send your location to someone without having to create an account or asking the receivers' to authenticate, so the sharing service can validate who they are. So, a new user can send location in seconds to someone else. Such person does not need to be authenticated; the sender already has their existing email or mobile number.

FIG. 1and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which the subject matter disclosed herein may be implemented. Although not required, aspects of a system and method for sharing location information in a networked computing environment will be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a personal computer and/or computer-readable media on which such instructions are stored. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, cellular or mobile telephones, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Referring now toFIG. 2, an embodiment of the present invention can be described in the context of an exemplary computer network system200as illustrated. System200includes electronic user devices210,280, such as cellular or mobile telephones, personal computers or workstations, that are linked via a communication medium, such as a network220(e.g., the Internet), to an electronic device or system, such as a server230. The server230may further be coupled, or otherwise have access, to a database240, electronic storage270and a computer system260. Although the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 2includes one server230coupled to two user devices210,280via the network220, it should be recognized that embodiments of the invention may be implemented using two or more such user devices coupled to one or more such servers. Moreover, the network220may include or otherwise be coupled to one or more telecommunication towers (not shown) that provide network connectivity to one or more cellular or mobile telephones.

In an embodiment, each of the user devices210,280and server230may include all or fewer than all of the features associated with the computer110illustrated in and discussed with reference toFIG. 1. User devices210,280include or are otherwise coupled to a computer screen or display250,290, respectively. User devices210,280can be used for various purposes including both network- and local-computing processes.

The user devices210,280are linked via the network220to server230so that computer programs, such as, for example, a browser or other applications, running on the user devices210,280can cooperate in two-way communication with server230. Server230may be coupled to database240and/or electronic storage270to retrieve information therefrom and to store information thereto. Moreover, and as best illustrated inFIG. 3, the server230may communicate with the user device210(and/or device280) and/or GPS/triangulation systems350known in the art in such manner as to allow the server230, using map data stored in the database240, to generate location data305, such as, for example, HTML data, that may be used by a browser or similar application to display the location of the device210(and/or device280). Additionally, the server230may be coupled to the computer system260in a manner allowing the server to delegate certain processing functions to the computer system.

Referring toFIGS. 2 and 3, an embodiment includes a client-side application205executable on, for example, user device210. Upon a command of a user of the device210, the application205is operable to send to the server230a request310, including identifying information (e.g., email address, phone number, a service subscriber's user name, etc.) of a user of the user device280(or other similar user device), to create authorization data (i.e., a “ticket”) that will allow the user of the user device280(or the user of the other similar user device) to track the location of the user device210and, consequently, the user of the device210. The application205is configured to provide a user interface (not shown) displayable on the display250. The user interface functions to enable the user of the device210to select or otherwise input one or more values defining the start time and/or length of a time interval during which the user of the user device280may track the location of the device210. These values are included in the request310.

In response to the request310, the server230is configured to generate the ticket315and forward the ticket to the user device280. Alternatively, as indicated in dashed lines inFIG. 3, the server may provide the ticket315to the user device210, whereupon the device210may then be used to forward the ticket to the user device280. The ticket315, which may be sent via SMS, email, or other suitable messaging format, includes pointing data, such as a selectable link to a URL, that, when selected by the user of the device280, is configured to provide access to a tracking interface provided by the server230. The ticket315may further include a default message or a customized message input by the user of the device210.

Specifically, if the user of the device280selects a link to the pointing data, the server230is configured to provide location data305to the device280enabling a client application320, a browser, or other interface resident on the device280to generate a display of the geographical location of the device210. Advantageously, an embodiment merely requires a conventional browser be resident on the device280to display the location of the device210, and does not otherwise require a specific application be installed on the device280to do so. The location data305may be provided to the device280in a recurring manner, such that the user of the device280may view the real-time movement of the device210, or may be provided singly so as to merely provide a “snapshot” of the location of the device210.

In an embodiment, the server230provides the location data305to the device280only during the time interval designated by the user of the device210in generating the request310. In various embodiments, the user of the device210may set the time interval to commence upon the user device280first accessing the location data, set the time interval to occur during a specifically designated window of time (e.g., 2-3 PM of a particular day or set of days), or to occur at any other user-specified start and stop time. In an embodiment, the ticket315received by the user of device280may indicate the nature (e.g., time of commencement, duration, etc.) of the time interval. Additionally, in an alternative embodiment, the user of the device210, rather than provide the time interval in the request310prior to the location data305being provided to the device280, may provide and effectuate the time interval in a request after the device280has received the location data and begun tracking the device210. Similarly, after the device280has received the location data and begun tracking the device210, the user of the device210may revoke, or otherwise modify, the effective time interval originally included in the request310provided before generation of the ticket315. Additionally, a particular ticket315may be extended to a user other than and additional to the user of device280. In such case, the ticket may track absolute time remaining. As such, if the ticket315is a 30 minute ticket sent 20 minutes ago, it will expire in 10 minutes for both the old and new recipient. Additionally, a predefined, external event may function to modify the sharing-permission time interval. For example, the user of the device210may specify that the ticket315is valid only until the user has arrived at a user-specified destination. Alternatively, for example, the user of the device210may specify that the ticket315is valid only upon the user being a predetermined distance (e.g., one mile) from the user's departure location.

In an embodiment, the request310may further include an indication of a landmark to which the user and the user device210are travelling. Consequently, the server230, by employing the map data associated with the database240, may include the geographical location of the landmark with the location data305. As such, and as illustrated inFIG. 4, the location data305can enable the user interface400associated with the device280to display the geographical location410of the landmark in conjunction with the geographical location420of the user device210.

It should be noted that, in an embodiment, all of the functionality discussed above as attributable to the server230may instead be performed solely by the application205executing on the user device210communicating directly with the user device280over the network220. In such an embodiment, the request310need not be generated, and the ticket315is generated by the user device210and issued directly to the user device280. In such an embodiment, the user device210may constantly, or otherwise periodically, send updates to the user device280until a time interval associated with a ticket315expires. Alternatively, the user device280may include an application configured to constantly, or otherwise periodically, poll the user device210for location data. As such, in varying embodiments, the server230is not necessary for implementation of the functionality described herein.

The following examples serve to illustrate the utility of various embodiments:

Bob is running late for a meeting. Bob sends a ticket315to Tom via email. Tom receives Bob's email on a browser-enabled mobile telephone, selects a link included in the email, and invokes a browser showing Bob's current position on a map, with real-time updates. Tom can now see when Bob will actually arrive.

Latifa and Vanessa are meeting for lunch at a restaurant. Latifa sends Vanessa a ticket315via SMS. Vanessa receives Latifa's SMS on a browser-enabled mobile telephone, selects a hyperlink included in the SMS, and invokes a browser showing a map with Latifa's location, as well as the destination where they are to meet. Vanessa can select ‘refresh’ on her browser to get an updated location of Latifa.

Helen is picking up her kids from school. She sends them a ticket315via the client205. The kids can see their mom's location in real time on a map provided by the client320. The kids are then able to come outside just as Helen pulls up.

Further, the rendered map may also include additional rendered information, such as:

User Tile, Name, on map

Destination Label

Estimated Time of Arrival

If a ticket has expired, the user may be able to render the map with the last location of the user before the ticket expired, and a slightly bolder message about how old the data is.

Embodiments also include:

A “Virtual ComPort” for 1st person view of 3rd person via any app—Make a remote user ‘seem’ like they the user. So, one may channel their input to another's remote device. (For example, one could see where the user was on a GPS by having it feed on the user's data directly. Existing applications, unchanged, could act as though they were getting data from a separate device/person.

Time delayed data points—user can see where another was, only after that person has left.—“Where was Paris Hilton 5 minutes, 1 day, 1 year ago.”

Phone regions—what number to call me on based on my position—When user is home, call user's home phone. When user is at work, work phone. When user is in Russia, user's international phone, etc.

Halo—Visual radar of where user's friends are. For example, an embodiment may provide on a display a view of the location of the user's friends in a manner similar to a conventional sonar/radar display, which may include a sweeping hand or bar.

Have auto-scale with closest friend, friend diameter hints at scale. (Close big, far, small). Outer friends hover around the outer circle.—Adjust image size or screen zoom level to communicate how far away a friend is.

Starbucks® cup around the perimeter moves, showing nearest Starbucks. Steams (hot) as user get closer, slows as you get smaller—User may have a 5 mile scale map, with a Starbucks that is 10 miles to the north which shows up on the 15 border of the map at the top. A Starbucks that is 20 miles to the south would show up on the bottom at ½ the size, for example.

When user is watched, user's update rate is higher. (overridable by user)—Dynamically detect when you are being watched and change your upload frequency based on that, may also be adjusted dynamically by battery life/power.

Clocks (pies) for stopped location. Size could be larger if more recent or size could be larger if spent longer there.

Where's your BellyButton?—Show where the center of gravity is for the physical location of your friends. (Lots of friends in Seattle, bellybutton might be Space needle. Lots of friends in New York, bellybutton might be Kansas. Do the same thing for user's personal travels. “Where is the center of user's daily, monthly, lifetime position.”

Icon (glasses) showing when users are being watched.

Caller Location IDShowing Caller Location when a phone call is received. (sending it when a phone call is made).

History of past crossed-paths—Show where users have crossed paths with other people in the past.

Future Calendaring integration into location—Be able to map calendared events to future location crossing, and allow location sharing to be integrated into a calendaring program. (before meetings, allow user to send dynamic location to meeting attendees).

Auto-creating a blog from history of location:

An example may read, as follows: “I left home 20 minutes late today, dropped the kids off at 15 school, was stuck in traffic on 520, stopped off to get a latte at ABC, got gas at Chevron on 123rd ($4.22 a gallon), went to work, had lunch at 12:30 at Joe's bar, carpooled with Joe and went to a Mariners game where they lost 7-3.” All of such content may be generated from a list of locations and merged with external information, and may be generated automatically simply from the system logging the movements of the user, without actual entry by the user of the activity descriptions. This blogging functionality, in various embodiments, can be created in a list view, or in prose, with automatic hotlink integration into external information, for example weather, sports scores. Such embodiments may also have hotlink or actual integration with personal information like photos, other blog entries, or other digitally available information and accompanying timeline.

Integration into existing internet applications. For example, an eVite-like invite could use this technology to have attendees all share where their location is right before and during the event. Such could be displayed in the aggregate (e.g., 25 of 50 at party, 20 more arriving in the next 15 minutes, 5 haven't left yet, etc.) or with individual positions.

Sharing location during (and/or at ringtime of) a phone call. (picture location being updated as part of the phone call experience).

Using as a golf game assistant. Marking the ball location as users takes strokes. This data is aggregated for playback, shot analysis, shot prediction, and assisted shot selection. Can also be played back and shared with others for critique, enjoyment, or game integration.

Displaying logistics information about a person via the ‘tail’ on a map; information such as their speed, time at a location, and staleness of the data may be displayed in an area near a person's icon. For example, the color and/or width and/or length of this ‘trailing tail’ could represent the speed they were traveling, or how long ago they were at that location.

Another feature includes displaying information that informs a user at any given time that the user's location is ‘being viewed’, and optionally by whom.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Instead, the invention should be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.