Geospatial Activity Indexing for Unified Record Retrieval

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional tools struggle to provide a comprehensive record of daily activities, especially for professionals like salespeople and real estate agents, who engage in numerous meetings and conversations across various locations, making it cumbersome to maintain and access associated documents and records.

Innovation Solution

A geographic location-based search and replay system that uses geospatial positioning and timestamp data to tag and index experiences such as meetings, conversations, and email exchanges, allowing users to retrieve and replay their activities through a user interface that provides visual feedback and actionable links to documents and recordings.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Quantity of substance

If conventional tools like calendars and notebook applications are used to maintain records of daily activities, then a record of activities can be maintained, but it becomes difficult to maintain an overall record of activities as the number of activities increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvenumber of activitiesVSAvoiddifficulty to maintain overall record
Core Design Contradiction:
Quantity of substanceVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple activity records from different applications (calendar, notebook, communication tools) into a single unified interface. The system aggregates activities from various sources and presents them together with associated documents and records in one comprehensive view, eliminating the need to switch between multiple applications to maintain an overall record.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The system provides a universal platform that handles multiple types of activities (meetings, conferences, email exchanges, voice/video communications) and multiple record types (documents, recordings, notes) through a single interface. This multi-functional approach allows users to maintain and access all activity records in one place rather than using separate tools for each activity type.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Reliability

If professionals manually prepare records for daily activities, then a comprehensive record can be maintained, but it requires valuable time that could be spent on other activities

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecomprehensive recordVSAvoidtime to prepare records
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system automatically performs preliminary actions by capturing activity data and associated documents/records at the time activities occur, without requiring manual intervention. The automatic aggregation and indexing of activities and their related materials happen in real-time or near real-time, so records are prepared in advance and ready for retrieval when needed.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system serves itself by automatically collecting, organizing, and storing activity records from multiple sources without requiring manual preparation. The automated processes handle data aggregation, categorization, and storage, freeing professionals from the time-consuming task of manually preparing and maintaining comprehensive activity records.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Productivity

If different activities are recorded by different applications, then each activity can be tracked, but it becomes difficult to access associated documents and other records through a cumbersome process

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetracking of activitiesVSAvoidaccess process
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines access to activities and their associated documents/records from multiple applications into a single unified access point. The system integrates data from calendar applications, notebook applications, communication tools, and document management systems, allowing users to access all related materials through one interface rather than navigating through multiple applications.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The system acts as an intermediary layer between users and multiple underlying applications. It provides a unified access interface that translates user requests into appropriate data retrieval operations across different applications, simplifying the access process by hiding the complexity of multiple data sources behind a single entry point.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS8682889B2Search and replay of experiences based on geographic locations
Publication Date: 2014.03.25 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC
  • US8682889B2 patent drawing
  • US8682889B2 patent drawing
  • US8682889B2 patent drawing

AI summary

Users are enabled to record and retrieve their experiences temporally and based on geographic locations. Experiences such as meetings, conferences, emails, other forms of communications are indexed along a timeline and associated with geographic locations. A user interface provides replay of experiences with links to associated documents, recordings, etc. employing a user friendly map feature.