System for providing information to users sharing a nomadic experience
The present invention relates to a system for providing information to one or more users sharing a nomadic experience. The system comprises client terminals ( 107 1 - 107 5 ) and a server platform ( 101 ). The server platform ( 101 ) consists of one or more first servers ( 103 ) for maintaining groups of users and one or more second servers ( 102 ) for interactively sharing information within a group of users. The system further comprises communication channels providing connectivity between client terminals ( 107 1 - 107 5 ) and the server platform ( 101 ).
1. A system for supporting groups of users during a nomadic experience, the system comprising:
a first hardware-based server that is operative to maintain association information of each user with at least one respective group, to maintain information regarding a makeup of each group, and to provide aspects of the maintained information when requested or triggered to do so;
a second server that is operative to receive information regarding a current makeup of at least a particular group from the first server, to receive a trigger from a trigger source, to locate information called for by the trigger and provide the located information to at least a first member of the particular group based upon the trigger, to provide group specific information to at least a second member of the particular group based at least upon the current makeup information and to provide information related to a point of interest to at least a third member of the particular group, wherein the first, second and third members may be the same or different members, wherein the second server is operative to receive a trigger from a first member of the particular group requesting information regarding a next place to visit, to locate information called for by the trigger including location information regarding other members of the particular group and provide at least one of the located information to at least the first member of the particular group and a recommendation based on the located information;
an output for transmitting information to an associated client terminal for at least the second server during the nomadic experience; and
an input for receiving information from the associated client terminal for delivery to at least the second server during the nomadic experience.
2. The system of claim 1 comprising:
a third server operative to select and/or filter information communicated to at least one member of at least one group based on a context of the at least one member and to send a trigger to the second server regarding transmission of the selected or filtered information.
3. The system of claim 2 wherein the third server is operative to select and/or filter the information based on the context of the at least one member of at the least one group, wherein the context of the at least one member includes information provided by a source external to the system.
4. The system of claim 2 wherein the third server is operative to send a trigger to the second server and wherein the second server is operative to communicate an alternate point of interest to at least one selected member of at least one selected group based on context information associated with the trigger.
5. The system of claim 2 wherein the third server is operative to notify the first server if one of the at least one member leaves the nomadic experience and the first server is operative to update the information regarding the makeup of at least the particular group of the one of the at least one member.
6. The system of claim 2 wherein the third server is operative to monitor the context of the at least one member.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein the first server is operative to send a trigger to the second server, the trigger indicating a change in the makeup of the particular group and the second server is operative to update a list of users to communicate with when communicating with members of the particular group based on the trigger.
8. A community server, the community server comprising:
a hardware-based server that is operative to maintain association information of each user of a plurality of users of a nomadic experience support system with at least one respective group, to maintain information regarding a makeup of each group of a plurality of groups of users of the nomadic experience support system, and to provide aspects of the maintained information when requested or triggered to do so, and to send a trigger to an associated cultural grid server, the cultural grid server being operative to receive information regarding a current makeup of at least one particular group of users of a nomadic experience support system from a group information source, to receive a trigger from a trigger source, to locate information called for by the trigger and provide the located information to at least a first member of a group of the at least one particular group of users of the nomadic experience support system based upon the trigger, to provide group specific information to at least a second member of the group based at least upon current makeup information of the group and to provide information related to a point of interest to at least a third member of the group based at least on preference information of the group, wherein the first, second and third members may be the same or different members of the group, wherein the cultural grid server is operative to receive the information regarding the current makeup of at least a particular group from the hardware-based server, to receive a trigger from a first member of the particular group requesting information regarding a next place to visit, to locate information called for by the trigger including location information regarding other members of the particular group and provide at least one of the located information to at least the first member of the particular group and a recommendation based on the located information.
9. The community server of claim 8 , wherein the server is operative to determine and to maintain information regarding preferences of at least one member of at least one group of the plurality of groups.
10. The community server of claim 8 , wherein the server is operative to maintain preference information regarding at least one of: favorite subjects, preferred context and current availability of at least one user of the plurality of users.
11. The community server of claim 8 , wherein the server is operative to provide an interface for an operator to provide the association information of the users with the at least one respective group and provide the preference information of the users.
12. A cultural grid server, the culture grid comprising:
a hardware-based server that is operative to receive information regarding a current makeup of at least one particular group of users of a nomadic experience support system from a group information source, to receive a trigger from a trigger source, to locate information called for by the trigger and provide the located information to at least a first member of a group of the at least one particular group of users of the nomadic experience support system based upon the trigger, to provide group specific information to at least a second member of the group based at least upon current makeup information of the group and to provide information related to a point of interest to at least a third member of the group based at least on preference information of the group, wherein the first, second and third members may be the same or different members of the group, wherein the hardware based server is operative to receive the information regarding a current makeup of at least a particular group from an associated first server that is operative to maintain association information of each user with at least one respective group, to maintain information regarding a makeup of each group, and to provide aspects of the maintained information when requested or triggered to do so, and wherein the hardware-based server is operative to receive a trigger from a first member of the particular group requesting information regarding a next place to visit, to locate information called for by the trigger including location information regarding other members of the particular group and provide at least one of the located information to at least the first member of the particular group and a recommendation based on the located information.
13. The cultural grid server of claim 12 wherein the server is operative to locate the information called for by the trigger by at least one of: accessing a local storage of the server, communicating with a context server to determine context information of at least one of at least one member of the group and the group, collecting the information from one or more sources over the Internet and requesting the information from other members of the group.
14. The cultural grid server of claim 12 wherein a community server is operative to determine and to maintain information regarding preferences of at least one member of the group and wherein the cultural grid server is operative to receive preference information of at least the third member maintained by the community server when providing information in relation to a point of interest to at least the third member of the group.
15. The cultural grid server of claim 12 wherein the server is operative to maintain route information regarding members of the group and to provide directions to a next point of interest to at least one member of the particular group.
16. A context server, the context server comprising:
a hardware-based server that is operative to select and/or filter information communicated to at least one member of a particular group of users of an associated nomadic experience support system, the selection and/or filtering being based on a context of the at least one member and to send a trigger to a second server regarding transmission of the selected or filtered information, wherein the nomadic experience support system includes the context server, an associated community server and an associated cultural grid server, the associated cultural grid server being operative to receive information regarding a current makeup of the particular group of users of the nomadic experience support system from a group information source, to receive a trigger from a trigger source, to locate information called for by the trigger and provide the located information to at least a first member of the particular group of users of the nomadic experience support system based upon the trigger, to provide group specific information to at least a second member of the group based at least upon current makeup information of the group and to provide information related to a point of interest to at least a third member of the group based at least on preference information of the group, wherein the first, second and third members may be the same or different members of the group, and the associated community server being operative to maintain association information of each user of a plurality of users of the nomadic experience support system with at least one respective group, to maintain information regarding a makeup of each group of a plurality of groups of users of the nomadic experience support system, and to provide the maintained information when requested or triggered to do so.
17. The context server of claim 16 wherein the context server is operative to select and/or filter the information based on the context of the at least one member, wherein the context of the at least one member includes information provided by a source external to the context server, community server and cultural grid server.
18. The context server of claim 16 wherein the context server is operative to send a trigger to the second server and wherein the trigger is associated with context information.
19. The context server of claim 16 wherein the context server is operative to notify another element of the nomadic experience support system server if the at least one member leaves the nomadic experience.
20. A client terminal, the client terminal comprising:
a user interface;
an input for receiving information during a nomadic experience from an associated system for supporting particular identified groups of users during nomadic experiences;
an output for transmitting information during the nomadic experience to the system for supporting particular identified groups of users during nomadic experiences;
a processing unit operative to provide information to a user via the user interface, to receive information from the user via the user interface, to transmit information during the nomadic experience to the system for supporting groups of users during nomadic experiences via the output and to receive information during the nomadic experience from the system for supporting particular identified groups of users during nomadic experiences via the input, wherein the associated system for supporting particular identified groups of users during nomadic experiences comprises a first server that is operative to maintain association information of each user with at least one respective group, to maintain information regarding a makeup of each group, and to provide aspects of the maintained information when requested or triggered to do so; and
a second server that is operative to receive information regarding a current makeup of at least a particular group from the first server, to receive a trigger from a trigger source, to locate information called for by the trigger and provide the located information to at least a first member of the particular group based upon the trigger, to provide group specific information to at least a second member of the particular group based at least upon the current makeup information and to provide information related to a point of interest to at least a third member of the particular group, wherein the first, second and third members may be the same or different members.
21. The client terminal of claim 20 wherein the user interface comprises an identification tag reader.
22. The client terminal of claim 20 wherein the processing unit is operative to receive information regarding a recommended next point of interest from the system for supporting particular identified groups of users during nomadic experiences via the input during the nomadic experience and provide a recommend next point of interest to the user via the user interface.
23. The client terminal of claim 20 wherein the processing unit is operative to transmit, during the nomadic experience, both an identification of the client terminal and an identification of a user using the client terminal to the system for supporting particular identified groups of users during nomadic experiences via the output during the nomadic experience.
24. The client terminal of claim 20 wherein the processing unit is operative to transmit, during the nomadic experience, both location information regarding the client terminal and at least one of an identification of the client terminal and an identification of a user using the client terminal to the system for supporting particular identified groups of users during nomadic experiences via the output during the nomadic experience.
25. The client terminal of claim 20 wherein the processing unit is operative to receive at least one of: information regarding a point of interest and a request for advice regarding a next point of interest for another user from the system for supporting particular identified groups of users during nomadic experiences via the input during the nomadic experience.
26. The client terminal of claim 20 wherein the processing unit is operative to transmit, during the nomadic experience, at least one of: a request for location information regarding other members of a particular group of the user and location information regarding the location of the user to the system for supporting particular identified groups of users during nomadic experiences via the output during the nomadic experience.
27. A system for supporting groups of users during a nomadic experience, the system comprising:
a first hardware-based server that is operative to maintain association information of each user with at least one respective group, to maintain information regarding a makeup of each group, and to provide aspects of the maintained information when requested or triggered to do so;
a second server that is operative to receive information regarding a current makeup of at least a particular group from the first server, to receive a trigger from a trigger source, to locate information called for by the trigger and provide the located information to at least a first member of the particular group based upon the trigger, to provide group specific information to at least a second member of the particular group based at least upon the current makeup information and to provide information related to a point of interest to at least a third member of the particular group, wherein the first, second and third members may be the same or different members;
a third server operative to select and/or filter information communicated to at least one member of at least one group based on a context of the at least one member and to send a trigger to the second server regarding transmission of the selected or filtered information;
an output for transmitting information to an associated client terminal for at least the second server during the nomadic experience; and
an input for receiving information from the associated client terminal for delivery to at least the second server during the nomadic experience.
28. The system of claim 27 wherein the third server is operative to send a trigger to the second server and wherein the second server is operative to communicate an alternate point of interest to at least one selected member of at least one selected group based on context information associated with the trigger.
29. The system of claim 27 wherein the first server is operative to send a trigger to the second server, the trigger indicating a change in the makeup of the particular group and the second server is operative to update a list of users to communicate with when communicating with members of the particular group based on the trigger.