Proximity services
Method, systems, and computer-readable media for receiving, from an application instance operating on a client device, information that indicates a client device identifier, a wireless proximity beacon identifier, and a proximity of the identified client device to the identified wireless proximity beacon. From the received information, a determination is made whether the proximity of the identified client device to the identified wireless proximity beacon satisfies a threshold proximity. Based at least on the determination, an action is determined that the application instance operating on the identified client device is permitted to perform while the proximity of the identified client device to the identified wireless proximity beacon satisfies the threshold proximity. Information is transmitted to the identified client device that enables the application instance operating on the identified client device to perform the action.
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving, from an application instance operating on a client device and at each of multiple times, information indicating (i) a client identifier associated with the client device, (ii) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within a space, and (iii) a proximity of the client device to the wireless proximity beacon;
determining a path of movement of the client device within the space based at least on the information received at each of the multiple times indicating (i) the client identifier associated with the client device, (ii) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within the space, and (iii) a proximity of the client device to the wireless proximity beacon;
determining, based at least on the client identifier associated with the client device, a credential associated with a user of the client device;
determining an action authorized by the credential that the application instance operating on the client device is permitted to perform when a path of movement of the client device within the space is determined to satisfy a predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with performing the action authorized by the credential;
granting permission to the client device to perform the action authorized by the credential based at least on determining that the path of movement of the client device within the space satisfies the predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with performing the action; and
based at least on granting the permission to the client device to perform the action authorized by the credential, transmitting, to the client device, information that enables the application instance operating on the client device to provide, for output at a user interface of the client device, a representation of the credential to perform the action authorized by the credential.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the action authorized by the credential that the application instance operating on the client device is permitted to perform while the client device is located at the estimated physical location of the client device within the space comprises:
determining an estimated physical location of the client device within the space based at least on (i) a physical location within the space that is associated with a proximity beacon associated with a beacon identifier received at a most recent of the multiple times, and (ii) a proximity of the client device to the wireless proximity beacon associated with the beacon identifier received at the most recent of the multiple times,
determining an action authorized by the credential that the application instance operating on the client is permitted to perform while the estimated physical location of the client device within the space corresponds to a particular region within the space, and
transmitting, to the client device, information that enables the application instance operating on the client device to provide, for output at the user interface of the client device, the representation of the credential to perform the action authorized by the credential comprises transmitting, to the client device, information that enables the application instance operating on the client device to provide, for output at the user interface of the client device, the representation of the credential to perform the action authorized by the credential that the application instance operating on the client device is permitted to perform while the estimated physical location of the client device within the space corresponds to the particular region within the space.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , comprising:
determining that the estimated physical location of the client device within the space is not identified as a valid physical location for a client device within the space; and
updating the estimated physical location of the client device within the space to a physical location within the space that is (i) identified as a valid physical location of a client device within the space, and (ii) is nearest to the estimated physical location of the client device within the space among one or more physical locations within the space that are identified as valid physical locations for a client device within the space.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , comprising:
receiving, from the application instance operating on the client device and at each of the multiple times, information indicating (i) one or more other beacon identifiers that are each associated with another wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location with the space, and (ii) one or more corresponding proximities of the client device to each of the one or more other wireless proximity beacons;
determining, for each of the multiple times, an estimated physical location of the client device within the space based on performing multilateration using at least the information received at a particular time of the multiple times indicating (i) a physical location within the space associated with a wireless proximity beacon, (ii) a proximity of the client device to the wireless proximity beacon, (iii) physical locations within the space associated with each of one or more other wireless proximity beacons, and (iv) one or more corresponding proximities of the client device to each of the one or more other wireless proximity beacons; and
determining the path of movement of the client device within the space based at least on the estimated physical locations of the client device within the space at each of the multiple times.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein receiving information indicating a proximity of the client device to a wireless proximity beacon comprises:
receiving information indicating a strength of a wireless signal emitted by the wireless proximity beacon detected by the client device; and
estimating the proximity of the client device to the wireless proximity beacon based at least on the information indicating the strength of the wireless signal emitted by the wireless proximity beacon detected by the client device.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , comprising:
receiving, from a second application instance operating on a second client device that is associated with the client device, information indicating (i) a second client identifier associated with the second client device, (ii) a particular beacon identifier associated with a particular wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a particular physical location within the space, and (iii) a proximity of the second client device to the particular wireless proximity beacon;
determining, based at least on (i) the physical location within the space associated with the particular wireless proximity beacon, and (ii) the proximity of the second client device to the particular wireless proximity beacon, an estimated physical location of the second client device within the space;
granting second permission to the client device to perform the action authorized by the credential based at least on the estimated physical location of the second client device within the space; and
transmitting, to the client device, the information that enables the application instance operating on the client device to provide, for output at the user interface of the client device, the representation of the credential to perform the action authorized by the credential based at least on (i) granting the permission to the client device to the client device to perform the action authorized by the credential based at least on the determining that the path of movement of the client device within the space satisfies the predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with performing the action, and (ii) granting the second permission to the client device to perform the action authorized by the credential based at least on the estimated physical location of the second client device within the space.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , comprising:
determining a document that the client device is authorized by the credential to provide for output at the user interface of the client device when a path of the client device is determined to satisfy a particular predetermined pattern of movement;
granting permission to the client device to provide the document for output at the user interface of the client device based at least on determining that the path of movement of the client device within the space satisfies the particular predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with providing the document for output at the user interface of the client device; and
based at least on granting the permission to the client device to provide the document for output at the user interface of the client device, transmitting, to the client device, information that enables the application instance operating on the client device to provide the document for output at the user interface of the client device.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , comprising:
determining a notification that the client device is authorized by the credential to provide for output at the user interface of the client device when a path of the client device is determined to satisfy a particular predetermined pattern of movement;
granting permission to the client device to provide the notification for output at the user interface of the client device based at least on determining that the path of movement of the client device within the space satisfies the particular predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with providing the notification for output at the user interface of the client device; and
based at least on granting the permission to the client device to provide the notification for output at the user interface of the client device, transmitting, to the client device, information that enables the application instance operating on the client device to provide the notification for output at the user interface of the client device.
9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , comprising:
determining particular information that the client device is authorized by the credential to provide for output at the user interface of the client device when a path of the client device is determined to satisfy a particular predetermined pattern of movement;
granting permission to the client device to provide the particular information for output at the user interface of the client device based at least on determining that the path of movement of the client device within the space satisfies the particular predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with providing the particular information for output at the user interface of the client device; and
based at least on granting the permission to the client device to provide the particular information for output at the user interface of the client device, transmitting, to the client device, information that enables the application instance operating on the client device to provide the particular information for output at the user interface of the client device.
10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the action authorized by the credential that the application instance operating on the client device is permitted to perform when a path of the client device is determined to satisfy the predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with performing the action authorized by the credential comprises determining a secure location within the space that the credential authorizes a user of the client device to access; and
transmitting, to the client device, information that enables the application instance operating on the client device to provide, for output at the user interface of the client device, the representation of the credential to perform the action authorized by the credential comprises transmitting, to the client device, information that enables the application instance operating on the client device to provide, for output at the user interface of the client device, the representation of the credential to perform operations related to providing the user of the client device with access to the secure location within the space.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , comprising:
identifying an advertisement that the client device is authorized by the credential to provide for output at the user interface of the client device when a path of the client device is determined to satisfy a particular predetermined pattern of movement;
granting permission to the client device to provide the advertisement for output at the user interface of the client device based at least on determining that the path of movement of the client device within the space satisfies the particular predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with providing the advertisement for output at the user interface of the client device; and
based at least on granting the permission to the client device to provide the advertisement for output at the user interface of the client device, transmitting, to the client device, information that enables the application instance operating on the client device to provide the advertisement for output at the user interface of the client device.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , comprising:
receiving, from one or more application instances each operating on a corresponding different client device, information indicating (i) a client identifier associated with the client device, (ii) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within the space, and (iii) a proximity of the client device to the wireless proximity beacon; and
determining, based on the information received from each of the one or more application instances, a number of client devices located in each of one or more regions that are defined within the space.
13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12 , comprising:
determining, based at least on the number of client devices located in each of the one or more regions that are defined within the space, one or more population densities that indicate the number of client devices per unit area for a corresponding one or more of the regions that are defined within the space.
14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , comprising:
determining an estimated physical location of the client device within the space based at least on (i) a physical location within the space that is associated with a proximity beacon associated with a beacon identifier received at a most recent of the multiple times, and (ii) a proximity of the client device to the wireless proximity beacon associated with the beacon identifier received at the most recent of the multiple times;
determining that the application instance operating on the client device is associated with a second application instance operating on a second client device; and
transmitting, to the second client device, information that indicates the estimated physical location of the client device within the space.
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the action authorized by the credential that the application instance operating on the client device is permitted to perform when a path of the client device is determined to satisfy a predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with performing the action authorized by the credential comprises:
identifying one or more candidate actions authorized by the credential that the application instance operating on the client device is permitted to perform when a path of the client device is determined to satisfy a predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with performing the action authorized by the credential;
determining, for each of the one or more candidate actions, a relevance score for the candidate action; and
selecting, as the action, the candidate action having the relevance score that indicates the strongest relevance of the candidate action.
16. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the representation of the credential is one of a textual representation of the credential, a quick response (QR) code, or a barcode.
17. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining the path of movement of the client device within the space based at least on the information received at each of the multiple times indicating (i) the client identifier associated with the client device, (ii) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within the space, and (iii) a proximity of the client device to the wireless proximity beacon comprises:
determining, for each of the multiple times, an estimated physical location of the client device within the space using at least the information received at a particular time of the multiple times indicating, (i) a physical location within the space associated with a wireless proximity beacon, and (ii) a proximity of the client device to the wireless proximity beacon; and
determining the path of movement of the client device within the space based at least on the estimated physical of the client device within the space at each of the multiple times.
18. A system comprising:
one or more processing elements; and
non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processing elements, cause the system to:
receive, from an application instance operating on a client device and at each of multiple times, information indicating (i) a client identifier associated with the client device, (ii) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within a space, and (iii) a proximity of the client device to the wireless proximity beacon;
determine a path of movement of the client device within the space based at least on the information received at each of the multiple times indicating (i) the client identifier associated with the client device, (ii) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within the space, and (iii) a proximity of the client device to the wireless proximity beacon;
determine, based at least on the client identifier associated with the client device, a credential associated with a user of the client device;
determine an action authorized by the credential that the application instance operating on the client device is permitted to perform when a path of the client device is determined to satisfy a predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with performing the action authorized by the credential;
grant permission to the client device to perform the action authorized by the credential based at least on determining that the path of movement of the client device within the space satisfies the predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with performing the action; and
based at least on granting the permission to the client device to perform the action authorized by the credential, transmit, to the client device, information that enables the application instance operating on the client device to provide, for output at a user interface of the client device, a representation of the credential to perform the action authorized by the credential.
19. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from an application instance operating on a client device and at each of multiple times, information indicating (i) a client identifier associated with the client device, (ii) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within a space, and (iii) a proximity of the client device to the wireless proximity beacon;
determining a path of movement of the client device within the space based at least on the information received at each of the multiple times indicating (i) the client identifier associated with the client device, (ii) a beacon identifier associated with a wireless proximity beacon that is associated with a physical location within the space, and (iii) a proximity of the client device to the wireless proximity beacon;
determining, based at least on the client identifier associated with the client device, a credential associated with a user of the client device;
determining an action authorized by the credential that the application instance operating on the client device is permitted to perform when a path of the client device is determined to satisfy a predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with performing the action authorized by the credential;
granting permission to the client device to perform the action authorized by the credential based at least on determining that the path of movement of the client device within the space satisfies the predetermined pattern of movement that is associated with performing the action; and
based at least on granting the permission to the client device to perform the action authorized by the credential, transmitting, to the client device, information that enables the application instance operating on the client device to provide, for output at a user interface of the client device, a representation of the credential to perform the action authorized by the credential.