Location-Aware App Adapting Interface to Provider Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current location-aware applications on portable devices rely on third-party databases, which may not provide current, complete, or reliable information, and do not change their appearance or features based on detected location, failing to offer location-specific content from the service provider's databases.
Innovation Solution
A location-aware application on portable devices that detects location using GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, or geo-fencing with beacons, and changes its appearance and features to display location-specific information from databases controlled by the service provider, allowing for customized user experiences based on the user's status and proximity to specific locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If third-party databases are used to provide location information, then the application can function with basic location awareness, but the information may not be current, complete, or reliable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a service provider-specific database as an intermediary between the location-aware application and the location information sources. This mediator database, maintained by the service provider (e.g., university, restaurant, vendor), ensures information reliability by providing current, complete, and accurate location-specific data, while the application itself remains relatively simple in structure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the application displays generic location information, then it can serve multiple locations, but it does not change appearance or provide location-specific content
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic adaptation where the application's appearance and displayed information automatically change based on the detected location. The system dynamically retrieves location-specific data from service provider databases and adjusts the user interface, colors, logos, and content to match the relevant service provider, enabling the same application to serve multiple locations with customized presentations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by making different parts of the application display different location-specific information. When the application detects a specific location, it presents customized content, branding, and features relevant to that location while maintaining a unified application structure, allowing each location to have its own unique characteristics within the same app.
3Measurement precision
If the application uses multiple location detection methods, then location detection accuracy improves, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple location detection methods (GPS, Wi-Fi, mobile network, Bluetooth, NFC, geo-fencing with beacons) into a unified location detection system. The application integrates these various detection mechanisms to improve location detection precision and reliability, using them in conjunction rather than isolation to achieve more accurate and robust location awareness.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for providing location-specific information to users, wherein this information is directly maintained and supplied by the provider of the service. This information is supplied by means of an application running on a personal communication device, where the application is developed and provided by a third-party servicer (e.g., CollegeNET) and the third party servicer makes various program options/APIs of the application available to and selectable by its customers (e.g., various universities). This way, the organization wanting to supply the information, such as a university, does not have to develop their own unique applications to provide a unique user experience tied to the university, and the users don't have to download an application for each school they visit.