Patent Publication Number: US-8525669-B2

Title: Interaction analyzer

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/540,041, filed Jul. 2, 2012, (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,384,550), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/621,168, filed Nov. 18, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,228,203, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/820,158, filed Jun. 18, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,642,920, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety as if set forth fully herein. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This invention relates generally to data analysis and more particularly to methods and apparatus for analyzing activity based on tracking movement of individuals. 
     Data analysis can be used to assist in optimizing marketing efforts. Data analysis of spending habits (such as shopping, travelling, dining, etc.) enable purveyors of these services to more accurately and precisely identify and communicate with their target (i.e. likely) consumers. 
     Currently, there does not exist an automated method for analyzing interaction between individuals in certain environments such as at a conference. The effectiveness or success of a conference is typically determined based on attendance. 
     Participants may attend educational sessions or they may conduct these sessions. Participants may also be vendors who set up booths to promote their products/services. Participants may only have contact information from other participants in the form of business cards evidencing any interaction. This information may be used for evaluating the effectiveness of conference attendance. However, this approach is cumbersome since contact information has to be exchanged manually and perhaps scanned in for later retrieval and analysis. There exists a need for more accurately analyzing interaction between participants in a particular environment such as at a conference. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to exemplary embodiments, a method of analyzing participant activity comprises providing an identification unit to a participant, receiving signals from the identification unit, determining location of the participant based on the received signals, storing the location information and the associated timestamp and analyzing the stored information. 
     According to further exemplary embodiments, a monitoring system for analyzing participant activity comprises a receiver for receiving signals from a plurality of participants and a computer for associating the received signals to corresponding participants, determining a location of the participants based on the received signals, determining a level of interaction between at least two participants and storing the location and interaction information. 
     In further embodiments, a computer-readable medium contains a computer program for analyzing participant activity. The computer program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to assign an identification unit to a participant, receive signals from the identification unit, determine location of the participant based on the received signals, store the location information and analyze the stored information. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The various features, advantages, and objects of the invention will be understood by reading this description in conjunction with the drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary conference facility; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates an exemplary identification unit worn by participants; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary central monitoring station; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates an exemplary record generated from location information according to exemplary embodiments; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary method for monitoring location of a participant; and 
         FIG. 6  illustrates components of an exemplary computing device utilized for monitoring location of participants in accordance with exemplary embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following description of the implementations consistent with the present invention refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawings identify the same or similar elements. The following detailed description does not limit the invention. Instead, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims. 
     In general, exemplary embodiments describe tracking movement of participants at a gathering such as at a conference for example. Specifically, a participant&#39;s physical location as well as his or her location with respect to other participants may be monitored utilizing tracking devices or modules. The devices may be on the person of the participants. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an environment such as, but not limited to, a conference facility  100  for implementing exemplary embodiments. Exemplary embodiments as described herein may be implemented in shopping centers, malls, nursing homes, hospitals, child care/day care centers, prisons, farms and grocery stores. The conference facility  100  may be located within a hotel or a convention center for example. Access to the conference facility  100  may be provided via a main entrance  110  as well as other entrances  120 . Conference facility  100  may include a registration section  130  where participants may register to attend a conference and/or events occurring at the conference facility  100 . Conference facility  100  may include a plurality of rooms  140  for conducting educational sessions, etc. A plurality of booths  150  may also be included within conference facility  100 . Booths  150  may be occupied by vendors to promote, demonstrate or provide information on their products for example. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , a tracking module  220  may be integrated into identification units associated with participants  160  attending conferences and/or events at the conference facility  100 . Also shown in  FIG. 2  and discussed below, the identification unit may include a badge  210  worn by the participants  160  attending a conference and/or event at the conference facility  100 . The tracking modules  220  may emit signals that can be detected within a predetermined range. The range may depend on the type of tracking module  220  that is in use. 
     The tracking module  220  may transmit a signal in one of many forms. The signal could be an electronic signal such as a radio frequency signal. One example of the tracking module  220  using a radio frequency signal may be a radio frequency identification (RFID) module. A cellular telephone may function as the tracking module  220  as well. 
     The signal transmitted by the tracking module  220  may include a sonic signal, an optical signal, or any other forms of wireless signal. Any one of the types of tracking modules  220  used herein may transmit a wireless signal and operate autonomously. Each of these types of tracking modules  220  may require different amounts of power for transmission of the signal. The range of the signal may depend on the amount of power used for transmission. 
     Each of the participants  160  may be wearing an identification unit, such as the badge  210  as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . Badge  210  may include information  215  about the participant  160  such as the name of the participant, the name of an employer/company of the participant, etc. Badge  210  may also include, or have integrated within, the tracking module  220 . 
     A central monitoring station  170  may also be located within conference facility  100 . Central monitoring station (CMS)  170  may detect or receive signals from the tracking modules  220  located within accessible/detectable range of the CMS  170 . In order to optimize the reception of signals from the tracking modules  220 , central monitoring station  170  may be located near the center of conference facility  100 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the central monitoring station  170 . Central monitoring station  170  may include a receiving component such as an antenna  310 . Antenna  310  may receive signals  225  emitted from tracking modules  220 . 
     Central monitoring station  170  may also include a computing device  320  for processing received signals  225  and for determining a location of the participant  160  based on the signal  225  from the tracking module of the badge  210  associated with the particular participant  160 . Some tracking modules  220  may provide their geographic location in the transmitted signal  225 . Participant location may also be determined from the transmitted signal by triangulation for example. An indoor localization system that is economical and may be utilized is the LANDMARC system. 
     In addition to determining the location of the participant  160 , exemplary embodiments may also determine interaction between participants  160  and between the participant  160  and one or more of the booths  150 . Signals  225  from tracking modules  220  may be utilized to determine the location of participants  160  wearing the badges  210  including the tracking modules  220 . 
     If the participant  160  remains at the booth  150  for a predetermined amount of time, then a determination may be made that participant  160  has shown some interest in products or services offered by a vendor corresponding to booth  150 . Presence at the booth  150  may be determined by comparing the participant&#39;s location with locations corresponding to the plurality of booths  150 . 
     Similarly, if two participants  160  are determined to have been located at the same location or within close proximity of each other for a predetermined amount of time, then a determination may be made that these two participants have interacted with each other. The length of the predetermined amount of time may also represent the extent of interaction between the participants  160 . 
     A timestamp may be associated with a location of the participant  160 . That is, as the tracking module  220  of the participant  160  emits signals  225 , the central monitoring station  170  may also record a time at which the signal is received. In this manner, the location of the participant  160  at a particular time may be chronicled/recorded. 
     A record  430  for each of the participants  160  may be maintained within computing device  320 . As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , record  430  may include the identity of participant  160 , the location information associated with the participant, and the time information associated with the location information for example. Record  430  may include columns  440  and  445  where column  440  may include a timestamp and column  445  may include a location corresponding to the timestamp. 
     In some embodiments, badge  210  may also include a code  222 . Code  222  may be an identification assigned to participant  160  wearing badge  210 . Code  222  may not include any personal information that can be used to identify the particular participant  160 . Code  222  thus may be used to anonymously analyze data collected about location and time (spent at a particular location) of participant  160  at a conference. Participant  160  may be provided with his or her personal code  222 , but central monitoring station  170  may not be provided with the identity of participant  160  corresponding to personal code  222 . 
     The participant  160 , after the conference or at the end of a day at the conference, may request or collect information about his or her location at the conference (such as places visited at the conference). The information collected may indicate for example, how long the participant  160  spent at the booth  150  of a particular vendor. Based on this information, the participant  160  may decide whether to release his or her information to a particular vendor. The information collected (anonymously) by the conference may also be used for analytic purposes as described further below. A first participant may also obtain information about other participants that interacted with the first participant during the conference or event. 
     As noted above, the tracking module  220  may include a RFID module. The RFID module may include an active RFID module or a passive RFID module. The active RFID module may transmit a signal at a predetermined interval such as at every two minutes for example. 
     The passive RFID module may respond to a signal from the central monitoring station  170 . That is, the central monitoring station  170  may poll the passive RFID module at a pre-determined frequency. The central monitoring station  170  may poll the passive RFID module periodically, such as every two minutes, or at any other amounts of time based on a number of factors such as, for example, the number of participants, etc. The operation of RFID modules is well known and will not be described in further detail. 
     An exemplary method  500  may be described with reference to the flow diagram of  FIG. 5 . The badge  210  including tracking module  220  may be provided to a participant, such as the participant  160 , when the participant arrives at the conference facility  100  at  505 . The participant  160  may be attending a conference, convention, etc, at the facility  100 . The badge  210  may be worn by the participant  160  or associated with the participant in some other manner. 
     Central monitoring station (CMS)  170  may commence monitoring the location of participant  160  at  510 . As described, monitoring may be performed by receiving signals  225  from tracking module  220  associated with the badge  210  at a predetermined frequency. 
     The received signals  225  may be utilized to identify the participant  160  associated with the tracking module  220  emitting the signal and determine a location (in terms of coordinates for example) of the participant at  515 . A timestamp may be associated with the monitored location at  520 . The time may be accessible to CMS  170  and may be dependent on an atomic clock to ensure accuracy for example. 
     The determined location may be compared to coordinates of the conference facility  100  at  525 . A list of coordinates corresponding to various areas of the conference facility may be stored within memory  322  of computing device  320  for example ( FIG. 6 ). The coordinates may correspond to areas of conference facility  100  described above (such as entrances  110  and  120 , registration area  130 , rooms  140 , booths  150 , etc.). The match may be an exact match or within a predetermined threshold range. Based on this comparison, a participant&#39;s visit to a particular booth, such as booth  150 , may be identified. 
     If signals from a plurality of participants indicate a similar or same location (in terms of coordinates) over a preset period of time (i.e. a number of seconds or minutes for example), then a determination may be made that these plurality of participants may have interacted with each other. The received signals may also be compared to the list of coordinates stored within memory  322  of computing device  320  to determine the location at which the plurality of participants interacted with each other. 
     In some embodiments, a plurality of participants  160  wearing badges  210  may move around the conference facility  100 . CMS  170  may receive signals from each of these badges  210  and determines not only the location of each of the participants  160  (at a particular booth for example) at a particular time (i.e. the time at which the signal is received) but also a participant&#39;s location with respect to another participant. 
     Location information and time stamp may be stored at  530  as a record, such as the record  430 , within computing device  320 . A plurality of the records  430  may be stored within the computing device  230 . Each record  430  may be identified by the anonymous identification code  222 . In exemplary embodiments, the participant  160  may present his code  222  to CMS  170  and retrieve information pertaining to areas of the conference facility  100  that the participant visited at the conference. The participant data may be presented to the participant  160  at  535  (based on participant providing his or her anonymous code  222 ). In some embodiments, the data from the stored records  430  may be analyzed to evaluate success of the conference at  540  for example. 
     In some embodiments, the participant  160  may choose not to exchange his or her contact information with a vendor at one of the plurality of booths  150 . The participant  160  may choose, after the conference, to provide the contact information to the vendor upon analyzing information received at the conference through verbal communications, print, and/or multimedia. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , computing device  320  at central monitoring station  170  may be a general purpose computing device. Computing device  320  can be a personal computer such as a desktop computer or a laptop computer or any other type of computing device having a processor  321 , a memory  322 , input means  323 , output means  324  and communication means  325 . It may be connected to a network via communication means such as a modem. 
     The information collected from the tracking modules  220  may be analyzed to evaluate several factors. Participant activity near or interest in particular vendors taking part in the conference (with booths  150  exhibiting offered products/services) may be measured. The activity/interest in the various vendors may be ranked according to the number of location signals received from each of the vendors. The popularity (based on received location signals) of a particular vendor may result either from location of the vendor booth  150  or from the products/services offered by the vendor. The value of a particular location within the conference facility  100  may be determined based on the volume of traffic through or at that location. Based on the determined value, the corresponding location may become more desirable for vendors. 
     The level of interest in a particular vendor during different days of the conference may also be ranked. The number of location signals received from a particular vendor location during each day of the conference may be accumulated (or counted) and compared between the various days. A ranking for each day may be determined based on comparing the number of location signals received for each of the different days. Similarly, ranking interest in a particular vendor during various times of the day (on an hourly basis for example) may also be determined. 
     In some embodiments, if multiple (i.e. at least two) participants  160  are determined to have interacted with each other, then the activity of each of the interacting participants may be analyzed further. A participant&#39;s activity after the interaction may be determined to have resulted from the interaction. As an example, if a first participant is determined to have visited a set of vendors prior to interacting with a second participant and the second participant then visits substantially the same set of vendors after the interaction, a determination may be made that the second participant&#39;s activity after the interaction resulted from or was influenced by the interaction. 
     Tracking modules  220  may also include a memory for storing locations visited by the participant  160  wearing the badge  210  including the tracking module. Vendor booths  150  may include transmitters for emitting location signals identifying the booth to the tracking module and the received location signal might be stored in the tracking module. 
     In some embodiments, tracking modules  220  may also receive information about products and services offered by vendors. This information may be received via information signals emitted by the transmitters at the vendor booths  150 . Information received from the vendor booths  150  via the information signals may also be stored within the tracking modules  220 . The stored product/service information may also be exchanged or transmitted to another tracking module. This may be desirable in settings where multiple participants from one organization (or unrelated to each other) may attend a conference or convention. One of the participants  160  may visit one part of the conference facility  100  and another participant may visit another part of the conference facility, and each of them may collect information in their respective tracking modules  220 . At the end of each day or at the end of the convention, the participants may exchange or share information. 
     In some embodiments, the system as described herein is not limited to having one central monitoring station  170  for receiving location signals from tracking modules. A plurality of monitoring stations, either in place of the central monitoring station  170  or in addition to the central monitoring station, may be present within the conference or convention facility  100 . The location of these stations may be distributed throughout the facility  100 . Some of these monitoring stations may be located within vendor booths  150  for example. Each of these stations may receive the signals from the tracking modules  220  and forward them to the central monitoring station  170  either instantly or periodically at a predetermined frequency. 
     Exemplary methods described above are not restricted to application in a conference or trade show. In some embodiments, an individual&#39;s shopping interests may be determined by detecting the individual&#39;s presence at or near a particular store in a shopping mall for example. 
     Furthermore, the central monitoring station  170  described above may not be limited to one central location. In a conference setting for example, a plurality of vendors may have areas or booths  150  set up to demonstrate their products and services. A number of these booths  150  or areas may have non-central (or local) monitoring stations in addition to the central monitoring station  170 . The local monitoring stations may achieve the same goal of tracking and analyzing participant activity. In some embodiments, each local monitoring station may periodically provide the stored information to the central monitoring station  170 . 
     Exemplary embodiments can be within any form of computer-readable storage medium having stored therein an appropriate set of instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction-execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch instructions from a medium and execute the instructions. As used here, a “computer-readable medium” can be any means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction-execution system, apparatus, or device. The computer-readable medium can be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), and an optical fiber. 
     It will also be appreciated that procedures described above are carried out repetitively as necessary. To facilitate understanding, aspects of the invention are described in terms of sequences of actions that can be performed by, for example, elements of a programmable computer system. It will be recognized that various actions could be performed by specialized circuits (e.g., discrete logic gates interconnected to perform a specialized function or application-specific integrated circuits), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. 
     It is emphasized that the terms “comprises” and “comprising”, when used in this application, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, or components and do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components, or groups thereof. In the following claims, the term identification unit may refer to badge  210 . 
     Thus, this invention may be embodied in many different forms, not all of which are described above, and all such forms are contemplated to be within the scope of the invention. The particular embodiments described above are merely illustrative and should not be considered restrictive in any way. The scope of the invention is determined by the following claims, and all variations and equivalents that fall within the range of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.