GPS Friend Location System with Orientation Feedback
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing GPS systems fail to provide integrated situational awareness and effective identification of people or objects relevant to a user's perspective, particularly in crowded environments or sports events, where spectators lack a unified and personalized view of the action.
Innovation Solution
A GPS system where participants equipped with GPS-enabled devices communicate their positions to a central server, allowing users to select and render views from different angles and locations, including their own perspective, using portable devices with orientation indicators for accurate positioning and visualization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS systems provide basic location tracking, then positioning accuracy is achieved, but situational awareness and identification of relevant objects/people is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a central server as an intermediary that receives location data from multiple GPS devices, processes this information, and generates synthesized views for users. This server acts as a mediator between raw GPS data and meaningful situational awareness, transforming coordinates into contextualized information about people, objects, and events relevant to the user's perspective.
Solution Approach 2:
The system makes the GPS positioning infrastructure universal by enabling it to serve multiple functions: basic location tracking, identification of people and objects, determination of relevant events, and generation of personalized situational awareness views. The same GPS hardware and data transmission infrastructure support all these diverse functions through centralized processing.
2Quantity of substance
If GPS systems track positions of multiple objects, then location data is collected, but difficulty arises in identifying and locating specific friends or objects of interest in crowded environments
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts relevant information from the large quantity of location data by filtering and selecting only the objects and people that are relevant to the user's current situation. The central server processes all tracked objects but presents only the subset that matters to the user, such as friends nearby or objects of interest, removing unnecessary information from the user's perspective.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by customizing the information presentation based on the user's specific location, interests, and context. Different users receive different synthesized views based on their individual needs, and the system prioritizes locally relevant objects and people over globally tracked ones, making the system adaptive to individual user requirements.
3Measurement precision
If GPS systems provide location information, then positioning is achieved, but the user cannot relate map markings to their physical position or view of the situation
Solution Approach 1:
The system adds a new dimension to the traditional 2D map view by incorporating the user's actual physical perspective and orientation. The synthesized views include information about what the user can actually see, their head orientation, and the spatial relationship between map markings and their physical surroundings, creating a multi-dimensional representation that bridges digital and physical spaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback to the user about their own position and orientation relative to the tracked objects and the environment. By showing the user's current view, head orientation, and spatial relationship to map markings, the system gives real-time feedback that helps the user understand where they are in relation to both the digital map and physical world, improving spatial orientation.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for observing a personal networking event which shares the position of a number of friendly participants with other participants within a group. In one form, the position of unknown participants meeting certain criteria is also displayed to a user or one or more friendly participants. The views are selectable by friendly participants on, for example, a GPS equipped cell phone, to include a view from the participant's position, zoom, pan, and tilt views, or views from another friendly location or from another geographic location, giving increased situational awareness and identification of participants. Other information can be shared among friendly participants, including social information, status and directions. Preferably, an orientation mechanism shows when the device is correctly pointed to a position.