Map Application Rendering Historical Contact Locations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current map applications only allow users to view the current locations of their contacts, limiting the ability to access historical location data, which could be useful for selecting businesses or landmarks when visiting new cities or neighborhoods.
Innovation Solution
A map application system that receives and stores historical location data for contacts, allowing users to query and view past locations associated with their contacts, rendering relevant locations on a map based on user queries and contact interactions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If map applications only display current locations of contacts, then the system remains simple and easy to operate, but the functionality is limited and cannot provide historical location information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements historical location data storage by nesting multiple layers of data structures - contacts contain location histories, which contain multiple locations, each with timestamps and additional attributes. This nested organization allows the system to store comprehensive historical information while maintaining a manageable structure that can be queried efficiently.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds a temporal dimension to location data by incorporating timestamps and time ranges, transforming static location points into dynamic historical records. This allows the system to retrieve and display locations based on specific time periods, enabling users to explore where contacts have been in the past rather than only their current positions.
2Loss of information
If the system stores and processes historical location data for multiple contacts, then users can discover more location information, but the data processing complexity and storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary location information from contact data - specifically latitude, longitude, timestamp, and location type - while omitting unnecessary personal details. This selective extraction reduces the complexity of stored data while preserving the essential information needed for location-based queries and recommendations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary processing of location data by pre-categorizing locations into types (e.g., restaurant, cafe, park) and organizing them chronologically during data collection. This preliminary organization enables faster query processing later, as the system can directly retrieve relevant location categories without performing complex analysis at query time.
3Ease of operation
If the system provides comprehensive location recommendations based on contact history, then user experience is enhanced, but the computational resources required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing personalized location recommendations based on each user's specific contact history and preferences rather than generic suggestions. The system analyzes individual user patterns and contact behaviors to generate tailored recommendations, enhancing user experience while optimizing computational resources by focusing analysis only on relevant data for each user.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements partial action by providing location recommendations based on a subset of available data - specifically focusing on recent locations and frequently visited places rather than analyzing every historical data point. This approach delivers sufficient recommendation quality while significantly reducing computational energy requirements compared to exhaustive analysis of all historical locations.
Data Source
AI summary
A map application is provided that allows a user to view and query the location data associated with the contacts of the user. The location data of a contact may include locations of where the contact has been, along with a time when the contact was at each location. The user can use the map application to view the location data of selected users or groups of users. The user can further generate a query, and the map application can determine locations from the location data of the contacts that are related to the generated query. In this way, the user can search for locations such as businesses and landmarks that were visited by their contacts, and can view the locations on a map.