Geolocation Leaderboard System Using Reverse Geocoding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional videogame leaderboard systems fail to provide a personal and meaningful experience for users as they often rely on global rankings or ad-hoc local rankings, which are ephemeral and lack geographical relevance.
Innovation Solution
A leaderboard system that utilizes reverse geocoding to create hierarchically organized leaderboards based on real-world geographical locations, allowing users to compete and compare scores within meaningful regions such as streets, suburbs, cities, and countries, using GPS coordinates and metadata to generate a hierarchy of locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If global leaderboards are used, then users can compare scores with many players, but the leaderboard lacks personal relevance and geographical meaning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the global player base into multiple geographical regions (countries, cities, neighborhoods) using GPS coordinates. Instead of a single global leaderboard, users can view segmented leaderboards for their specific location, providing personal relevance while maintaining access to larger pools through hierarchical navigation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by creating leaderboards tailored to specific geographical locations. Each location has its own leaderboard with players from that area, making the comparison personally relevant. The system allows users to drill down from global to local levels, ensuring the leaderboard matches their specific context.
2Adaptability or versatility
If ad-hoc local rankings based on GPS are used, then geographical relevance is improved, but the rankings become ephemeral and lack stability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by pre-defining stable geographical regions and their boundaries before users play. These regions are established with clear criteria for inclusion, so when users are ranked, they are consistently placed in the same geographical context, providing stability to the ranking system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a nested structure where smaller geographical regions (neighborhoods) are contained within larger ones (cities, countries). This nesting provides multiple levels of stability - users can see their ranking locally in their neighborhood, but also in broader contexts, ensuring their performance is consistently evaluated across multiple stable frameworks.
3Measurement precision
If complex addressing processes are used for location-based leaderboards, then geographical precision is improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer - pre-defined geographical regions with assigned identifiers - that mediates between precise GPS coordinates and the leaderboard system. Instead of directly using complex coordinate calculations, the system uses these intermediary region definitions to determine which leaderboard a user should join, simplifying the overall process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter from continuous GPS coordinates to discrete geographical region identifiers. By converting precise location data into categorical region assignments, the system maintains location precision for grouping purposes while simplifying the complexity of addressing and leaderboard selection.
Data Source
AI summary
An entertainment device comprises means to obtain a set of GPS co-ordinates describing the location of the device, means to initiate reverse geocoding responsive to the co-ordinates to obtain a hierarchy of geographical names, means to request, from a leaderboard server, leaderboard data corresponding to one of the hierarchy of geographical names, and means to display some or all of the leaderboard. A leaderboard server comprises means to host multiple leaderboards either linked together according to a geographical hierarchy or each associated with a geographical name, means to obtain a hierarchy of geographical names generated by reverse geocoding, means to identify one or more leaderboards either in a hierarchical sequence corresponding to one or more of the geographical names or whose associated geographical name matches one or more of the geographical names in the hierarchy of geographical names, and means to provide to the client data of selected identified leaderboards.