Claims:STATEMENT OF CLAIMS
We claim:
1. A method for identifying a location as a Place of Interest (POI), wherein said method comprises:
detecting, by a POI module in an electronic device, at least one environmental parameter corresponding to a user of said electronic device;
performing, by said POI module, a gesture quantification based on at least one user action and said at least one environmental parameter to identify an user activity on detecting said at least one environmental parameter; and
tagging, by said POI module, a POI type from a plurality of POI types to said location of said electronic device based on said user activity identified at said location using said gesture quantification.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said method comprises:
reporting said POI type along with location coordinates for said location and said user activity to a POI identification server for validating said POI type tagged to said location, wherein validating of said POI type is based on said POI type reported by a plurality of electronic devices from said location; and
displaying to said user a plurality of POIs at plurality of locations, that are validated for a POI type of same category, on receiving a user request for said POI type, wherein said plurality of POIs are accessed from said POI identification server.
3. A POI identification server for identification of a location as a Place of Interest (POI), wherein said POI identification server comprises a POI module, further said POI module is configured to:
receive, from a plurality of electronic devices, a POI type tagged to a location by each of said plurality of electronic devices along with location coordinates for said location and an user activity identified at said location by each of said plurality of electronic devices; and
validate said POI type, for said location, as type-one POI by identifying said location with said type-one POI when a pre-defined POI criteria is satisfied.
4. The POI identification server as claimed in claim 4, wherein said POI module is configured to provide a user of an electronic device among said plurality of electronic devices a plurality of POIs at plurality of locations, that are validated as said type-one POIs, on receiving a user request for said type-one POI.
5. An electronic device for identifying a location as a Place of Interest (POI), wherein said electronic device comprises a POI module configured to:
detect at least one environmental parameter corresponding to a user of said electronic device;
perform a gesture quantification based on at least one user action and said at least one environmental parameter to identify an user activity on detecting said at least one environmental parameter; and
tag a POI type from a plurality of POI types to said location of said electronic device based on said user activity identified at said location using said gesture quantification.
6. The electronic device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said POI module is configured to report said POI type along with location coordinates for said location and said user activity to a POI identification server for validating said POI type tagged to said location, wherein validating of said POI type is based on said POI type reported by a plurality of electronic devices from said location.
7. The electronic device as claimed in claim 6, wherein said POI module is configured to display to said user a plurality of POIs at plurality of locations, that are validated for a POI type of same category, on receiving a user request for said POI type, wherein said plurality of POIs are accessed from said POI identification server.
8. A computing program product comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the processor, the non-transitory computer-readable medium configured to store computer program instructions that when executed by the processor is operable to cause the processor to perform actions comprising:
detecting at least one environmental parameter corresponding to a user of said electronic device;
performing a gesture quantification based on at least one user action and said at least one environmental parameter to identify an user activity on detecting said at least one environmental parameter; and
tagging a POI type from a plurality of POI types to said location of said electronic device based on said user activity identified at said location using said gesture quantification.
, Description:FORM 2
The Patent Act 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patent Rules, 2005

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(SEE SECTION 10 AND RULE 13)

TITLE OF THE INVENTION
“Method and system for identification of a location as a Place of Interest (POI)”

APPLICANTS:

Name Nationality Address
SAMSUNG R&D Institute India - Bangalore Private Limited India # 2870, Orion Building, Bagmane Constellation Business Park, Outer Ring Road, Doddanekundi Circle, Marathahalli Post, Bangalore-560037, India

The following specification particularly describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:-
TECHNICAL FIELD
[001] The embodiments herein generally relate to the field of location identification in a wireless communication network and more particularly to identification of a location as a Place of Interest (POI) based on user data and environmental data.

BACKGROUND
[002] Device technology supported with smart applications, high speed seamless Internet, positioning systems and so on enables a user of an electronic device to access multitude of services based on his location. Location based services are one of the most frequently used services on electronic devices. Based on the user’s current location and plurality of pre-identified locations or places such as restaurants, shopping malls, market places in the these location based services provide user with relevant advertisements, directions to location of interest indicated by the user and so on. Map services provided to the user on the electronic device enable user to know the map of an area of interest that provides details of various locations or places within the area as required. However, to reduce a cluttered view of the map displayed to the user, the map services provide details of various location or places based on user request. The details provided within the map are limited to prior generated information or data for that area, which is maintained in the database at respective servers; for example, Google server for Google maps. Data generated and maintained in the database plays a key role while providing various details of an area map as requested by the user. Details on the map, of an interest to the user may be referred as Places of Interest (POIs). To provide the desired POIs to the user as and when requested, the database at the server needs to be updated continuously as the geography of the areas of interest are bound to change with time. To seamlessly update the database at the servers, currents methods utilize techniques such crowd sourcing detect user activities at a location and then analyze and map them to POI. Currently, information gathering is achieved by registering or updating of information, which needs to be performed manually. Currently, updating of information of user activities at various locations for mapping them to POIs is performed through direct methods such as crowd sourcing or through vendors. For automatic identification of user activity such as jogging, swimming, smoking etc., currently the vendors utilize gesture quantification methods that categorize detected user actions into specific user activity. Further, data collected from plurality of users, the identified user activity and location corresponding to the user activity can be used to correspond it to a particular POI. A gesture quantification engine used by the gesture quantification method analyzes sensor data picked up by sensors on the electronic device and/or supporting wearable devices to quantify the gesture and identify the user activity based on user actions detected. However, reliability of the data gathered for identifying the POI remains a major hurdle as fake actions can miscalculate gestures to wrongly identify the POI. For example, a back and forth hand movement with a side way neck movement may be analyzed by the gesture quantification engine into a swimming activity. However, the gesture performed may be for an exercise activity performed on dry land. Further, for a fully automatic process another hurdle is the huge amount of data that may be received for user activities detected by plurality of electronic devices even the fake actions. This increases computation process required to identify a POI corresponding to particular location based on user activities detected.

OBJECTS
[003] The principal object of the embodiments herein is to provide a method and a system for identifying a location as a Place of Interest (POI) through a gesture quantification of one or more user actions, wherein the gesture quantification is performed on detection of one or more environmental parameters to identify a user activity performed by a user of an electronic device.
[004] Another object of the embodiments herein is to provide a method for tagging a POI type from a plurality of POI types to the location of the electronic device based on the user activity identified at the location using the gesture quantification.
[005] Another object of the embodiments herein is to provide a method for reporting the POI type along with location coordinates for the location and the user activity to a POI identification server for validating the POI type tagged to the location.
[006] Another object of the embodiments herein is to provide a method for validating of the POI type by the POI identification server based on analysis of the POI type reported by a plurality of electronic devices from the location.
[007] Another object of the embodiments herein is to provide a method for displaying to the user a plurality of POIs, validated by the POI identification server, on receiving a user request for a POI type by accessing the plurality of POIs are from the POI identification server.

SUMMARY
[008] In view of the foregoing, an embodiment herein provides a method for identifying a location as a Place of Interest (POI). The method comprises detecting at least one environmental parameter corresponding to a user of the electronic device. Further, the method comprises performing a gesture quantification based on at least one user action and the at least one environmental parameter to identify a user activity on detecting the at least one environmental parameter. Furthermore, the method comprises tagging a POI type from a plurality of POI types to the location of the electronic device based on the user activity identified at the location using the gesture quantification.
[009] Embodiments further disclose a POI identification server for identification of a location as a Place of Interest (POI). The POI identification server comprises a POI module, further the POI module is configured to receive, from a plurality of electronic devices, a POI type tagged to a location by each of the plurality of electronic devices along with location coordinates for the location and a user activity identified at the location by each of the plurality of electronic devices. Further the POI module is configured to validate the POI type, for the location, as type-one POI by identifying the location with the type-one POI when a pre-defined POI criterion is satisfied.
[0010] Embodiments further disclose an electronic device for identifying a location as a Place of Interest (POI). The electronic device comprises a POI module configured to detect at least one environmental parameter corresponding to a user of the electronic device. Further, the POI module is configured to perform a gesture quantification based on at least one user action and the at least one environmental parameter to identify a user activity on detecting the at least one environmental parameter. Further, the POI module is configured to disclose a tag a POI type from a plurality of POI types to the location of the electronic device based on the user activity identified at the location using the gesture quantification.
[0011] Embodiments further disclose a computing program product comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the processor. The non-transitory computer-readable medium is configured to store computer program instructions that when executed by the processor is operable to cause the processor to perform actions comprising detecting at least one environmental parameter corresponding to a user of the electronic device. Further, the actions include performing a gesture quantification based on at least one user action and the at least one environmental parameter to identify a user activity on detecting the at least one environmental parameter. Further, the actions include tagging a POI type from a plurality of POI types to the location of the electronic device based on the user activity identified at the location using the gesture quantification.
[0012] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
[0013] The embodiments of this invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, throughout which like reference letters indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following description with reference to the drawings, in which:
[0014] FIG. 1 illustrates a system for identifying a location as a Place of Interest (POI) according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0015] FIG. 2 illustrates a plurality of components of an electronic device, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0016] FIG. 3 illustrates a plurality of components of a POI identification server, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for identifying the location as Place of Interest (POI), according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0018] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for identifying a location as Place of Interest (POI) by validating a POI type tagged to the location at a POI identification server, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0019] FIG. 6 is a use case example explaining identification and validation of a jogging activity at a location, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0020] FIG. 7 is a use case example explaining identification and validation of a smoking activity at a location, according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0021] FIG. 8 is a use case example explaining identification and validation of a rest room activity at a location, according to embodiments as disclosed herein; and
[0022] FIG. 9 illustrates a computing environment implementing the method for identifying the location as the Place of Interest (POI), according to embodiments as disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0023] The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
[0024] The embodiments herein achieve a method and a system for identifying a location as Place of Interest (POI). The POI is a location most users may be interested to know and may use it for a particular activity. Generally well known locations are marked as POIs and maintained in a database at of a POI identification server. The method proposed enables reliably identifying the lesser known POIs that may not be explicitly registered or identified in the database and providing all the POIs (known and lesser known) to a user when requested. To identify the location as the POI, the method includes a multi step approach. The first step includes identifying a user activity of a user of an electronic device at a location. The identification of the user activity is performed using gesture quantification, but only on detection of appropriate environmental parameters that acts as a trigger for performing the gesture quantification. On detection of appropriate environmental parameters, one or more user actions are tracked or monitored to quantify the gesture and identify the user activity. Based on the detected environmental parameter and the user actions a user activity is confirmed and a POI type is tagged to the location. The POI type can be a rest room, a smoking zone, a swimming pool and so on identified based on the user actions and one or more appropriate environmental parameters predefined for identifying a particular user activity.
[0025] The next step includes reporting the POI type tagged to the location along with location coordinates for the location and the user activity identified to the POI identification server. The POI identification server can be configured to validate the POI type tagged to the location based on the POI type reported by a plurality of electronic devices from the location (same location).
[0026] The POI identification server can be configured to repeat the POI type validation process for plurality of POI types at plurality of locations to identify different types of POIs and maintain the information of all POIs of all POI types at the database of the POI identification server. Thus method proposed enables automatic POI identification with minimal user intervention.
[0027] Further, the method allows the POI identification server to provide POIs to the user on receiving a user request for a specific POI type. For example, the category of the POI type requested may be type-one POI that is a jogging track. The request can be a direct request or a request from a third party server.
[0028] In an embodiment, the electronic device is a mobile phone, a tablet, a personal digital assistant, a laptop, a wearable device and any other electronic device with communication and sensor capability.
[0029] Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1 through 9, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the figures, there are shown embodiments.
[0030] FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for identifying a location as a Place of Interest (POI), according to embodiments disclosed herein. In an embodiment, the system 100 includes an electronic device 102a, 102b and 102c respectively present at a location 108 at same or different time instants. Further, the system 100 includes a POI identification server 104. The system also includes a third party server 106 that provides location application services such as map applications service to the electronic devices102a, 102b and 102c respectively. To identify the location 108 as a particular category POI type such as POI 110 (type-one POI), the electronic device 102a can be configured to detect at least one environmental parameter (one or more environmental parameters) corresponding to the user of the electronic device 102a. On detection of appropriate environmental parameters, the electronic device 102a can be configured to perform the gesture quantification based on at least one user action and one or more environmental parameters to identify a user activity. Further, the electronic device 102a can be configured to tag the POI type (POI 110 such as a rest room) to the location 018 from a plurality of POI types (POI 110, POI 120 and so on). Few example POI types can include rest rooms, jogging tracks, smoking zones and so on. The tagging of the POI type is based on gesture quantification that uses the identified user activity in context with the environmental parameters detected. The user actions can be tracked using various sensors on the electronic device, wearable devices or any additional sensors used by the user. However, continuous tracking and analyzing of user action may increase computation, effectively draining the battery. Further, any fake user actions may mislead gesture quantification method to identify the tracked user actions as a particular user activity. Thus, the electronic device 102a can be configured to perform or trigger gesture quantification of one or more user actions only on detection of one or more appropriate environmental parameters predefined for POI identification. Known gesture quantification techniques may be modified to consider the environmental parameters and use them to reliably identify the user activity for tagging a POI type to a location. Further, any new gesture quantification method that may consider the environmental parameters may be used. The appropriate environmental parameters (that may be predefined for each user activity) are used as a trigger event to ensure that the user actions performed by the user are not fake and related to a particular user activity. The environmental parameter such as chemical presence of a particular chemical in the surrounding environment also enables identifying the environment. For example ammonia detection can be associated with a rest room activity or smoke detection can be associated with a smoking activity and so on. An example of gesture quantification of monitored or tracked user action is provided. Whenever, an aqua submergence detector detects presence of water or water body (environmental parameter detected) with forward and backward rhythmic movement of hands, and then the gesture quantification can analyze and quantify the user actions as a swimming activity. Plurality of use case examples of user activity detection and POI identification are described in conjunction with FIG. 6 through FIG. 8.
[0031] Once the location is tagged with the POI type ( for example, POI 110), the electronic device 102a can be configured to report the POI type ( POI 110) along with location coordinates for the location 108 and the user activity to the POI identification server 104 for validating the POI type (POI 110) tagged to the location 108. In an embodiment, user may be notified about the sharing of information. In an embodiment, user consent can be preset by the user to reduce number of notifications to the user for every user activity detected. However, the POI identification server 104 does not rely on only one POI type received from one electronic device 102a for the location 110 but can be configured to validate the POI type (POI 110) based on the POI type reported by the plurality of other electronic devices 102b and 102c respectively from the location 110 (same location). The POI identification server 104 can be configured to validate the POI type reported by the electronic device 102a by analyzing information that includes reported POI types, user activities and location coordinates by the electronic devices 102a, 102b and 102c respectively. The POI identification server 104 can be configured to analyze the user activities received by detecting similarity among the user activities from plurality of users at same location 108. Further, the location 108 can be identified as the POI 110 when all the received user activities from the electronic device 102a, 102b, and 102c respectively are similar or satisfy a predefined POI criteria. For example, the predefined POI criteria may state that if number of similar user activities indicating the POI type 110, referred as the type-one POI, reported at the location 108 within a time span of one hour is above 50 then identify the location 108 with a unique POI such as a rest room. Similarly, the POI identification server 104 can be configured to identify other locations for validating POI types. As shown in FIG. 1 location 112 and location 116 are also validated as POI type of category similar to location 108 (POI 110) such as, rest rooms at different locations. Further, locations 114 and location 118 are identified with similar user activity and tagged with a different POI type (POI 120, referred as the type-two POI). For example type-two POI can be a swimming pool. Similarly plurality of locations may be identified as type-three POI, type-four POI and so on which can be, a kids play area, the jogging track, a cycling track and so on. The method proposed enables dynamic and automatic updating of the POI information to the database at the POI identification server.
[0032] Once all the information related to various user activities is analyzed and the POI types are validated, the POI identification server 104 can be configured to provide information of a desired POI type (such as, type-one POI) on receiving the user request. For example, the user request can be through a third party application on the electronic device 102a. The electronic device 102a can be configured forward the request to the third party server 106 which, then forwards the request to the POI identification server 104. In an embodiment, the third party server may access the information before hand and provide the POIs corresponding to the requested POI type to the electronic device 102a on receiving the request. Use case examples for POI identification are explained in conjunction with FIG. 6 through FIG. 8.
[0033] As can be understood by person skilled in the art, the system 100 may include plurality of electronic devices (not shown) and other components that may directly or indirectly communicate with components of the system 100 shown in FIG. 1, and are not included for brevity.
[0034] FIG. 2 illustrates a plurality of components of the electronic device 102a, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. Referring to FIG. 2, the electronic device 102a is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. In an embodiment, the electronic device 102a may include at least one processor 202, an input/output (I/O) interface 204 (herein a configurable user interface), and a memory 206. The at least one processor 202 may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the at least one processor 202 is configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 206.
[0035] The I/O interface 204 may include a variety of software and hardware interfaces, for example, a web interface, a graphical user interface, and the like. The I/O interface 204 may allow the electronic device 102a to communicate with other electronic devices 102 b and 102c respectively, the POI identification server 104, the third party sever 106 and other components of the system 100. The I/O interface 204 may facilitate multiple communications within a wide variety of networks and protocol types, including wired networks, for example, Local Area network (LAN), cable, etc., and wireless networks, such as Wireless LAN, cellular, Device to Device (D2D) communication network, Wi-Fi networks and so on.
[0036] The memory may include modules 208 and application 214, for example a third party application that accesses the POI information in the POI identification server 104 (maintained in database at the POI identification server) through the third part server 106. The modules 208 include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., which perform particular tasks, functions or implement particular abstract data types. In one implementation, the modules 208 may include a POI module 210. A gesture quantification module 212 within the POI module 210 can be configured to detect at least one environmental parameter (also referred as one or more environmental parameters) corresponding to the user of the electronic device 102a. On detection of appropriate environmental parameters, the gesture quantification module 212 can be configured to perform the gesture quantification based on at least one user action and one or more environmental parameters to identify a user activity. Further, the gesture quantification module 212 can be configured to tag the POI type (POI 110 such as a rest room) from a plurality of POI types (POI 110, POI 120 and so on) to the location 108 of the electronic device 102a. The tagging of the POI type is based on gesture quantification that uses the identified user activity in context with the environmental parameters detected. Once the location is tagged with the POI type (for example, POI 110), the POI module 210 can be configured to report the POI type (POI 110) along with location coordinates for the location 108 and the user activity to the POI identification server 104 for validating the POI type (POI 110) tagged to the location 108. Further, whenever the user intends to access information corresponding to various location identified with an intended POI type such as POI 110 (type-one POI), the POI module 210 can be configured to access information from the POI identification server 104. The plurality of locations that are tagged with the intended POI type are provided to the user if they are validated by the POI identification server 104. The user request can be initiated through the application 214 (for example, the third party application) using the third party request through the third party server 106 or a direct request to the POI identification server 104.
[0037] The modules 208 may include programs or coded instructions that supplement applications and functions of the electronic device 102a. The data 212, amongst other things, serves as a repository for storing data processed, received, and generated by one or more of the modules 208. Further, the names of the other components and modules of the electronic device 102a are illustrative and need not be construed as a limitation.
[0038] FIG. 3 illustrates a plurality of components of a POI identification server 104, according to embodiments as disclosed herein.
[0039] Referring to FIG. 3, the POI identification server 104 is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter. In an embodiment, the POI identification server 104 may include at least one processor 302, an input/output (I/O) interface 304 (herein a configurable user interface), and a memory 306. The at least one processor 302 may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities, the at least one processor 302 is configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 306.
[0040] The I/O interface 304 may include a variety of software and hardware interfaces, for example, a web interface, a graphical user interface, and the like. The I/O interface 304 may allow the POI identification server 104 to communicate with other electronic devices 102a, 102b and so on, the third party sever 106 and other components of the system 100. The I/O interface 304 may facilitate multiple communications within a wide variety of networks and protocol types, including wired networks, for example, Local Area network (LAN), cable, etc., and wireless networks, such as Wireless LAN, cellular, Device to Device (D2D) communication network, Wi-Fi networks and so on.
[0041] The memory may include modules 308. The modules 308 include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., which perform particular tasks, functions or implement particular abstract data types. In one implementation, the modules 308 may include a POI module 310. The POI module 310 can be configured to receive, from a plurality of electronic devices (102a, 102b and 102c respectively), the POI type tagged to the location 110 by each of the plurality of electronic devices 102a, 102b and 102c respectively. Further, the POI module 310 can be configured to receive the location coordinates for the location 110 and the user activity identified at the location 110 by each of the plurality of electronic devices102a, 102b and 102c respectively. On receiving the information, the POI module 310 can be configured to validate the POI type for the location 110 as type-one POI (POI 110). The validation is confirmed by identifying the location with the type-one POI if the pre-defined POI criteria is satisfied. The POI module 310 can be configured to identify other locations for validating POI types. As shown in FIG. 1 location 112 and location 116 is also identified to be tagged as POI type similar to location 108 (POI 110) such as, rest rooms at different locations. Further, locations 114 and location 118 identified with similar user activity and tagged with a different POI type (POI 120, referred as the type-two POI).
[0042] Further, the POI identification server can be configured to provide to the user plurality of POIs on receiving the user request for a specific type POI (type-one POI). Thus locations location 108, 112 and 116 respectively that are validated for type-one POIs are indicated to the user.
[0043] The modules 308 may include programs or coded instructions that supplement applications and functions of the POI identification server 104. The data 312, amongst other things, serves as a repository for storing data processed, received, and generated by one or more of the modules 308. Further, the names of the other components and modules of the POI identification server 104 are illustrative and need not be construed as a limitation.
[0044] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for identifying the location as Place of Interest (POI), according to embodiments as disclosed herein. At step 402, the method 400 includes allowing the POI module 110 to detect at least one environmental parameter corresponding to the user of the electronic device 102a. The environmental parameters, for example, include sweat, increased body temperature, increased heart rate and can be a trigger event for identifying any heavy physical activity using gesture quantification. The environmental parameter such as aqua submergence along with increased heart rate can be a trigger event for the identifying swimming activity using gesture quantification. The environmental parameter such as chemical presence of a particular chemical in the surrounding environment, for example ammonia, is a trigger event for identifying a rest room activity using gesture quantification.
[0045] At step 404, the method 400 includes allowing the POI module 110 to perform the gesture quantification based on one or more user actions and one or more environmental parameters on detection of one or more environmental parameters. The gesture quantification provides identification of the user activity corresponding to the user actions. At step 406, the method 400 includes allowing the POI module 210 to tag the POI type ( POI 110, type-one POI) from the plurality of POI types to the location 108 of the electronic device 102a based on the user activity identified at the location 108 using the gesture quantification.Known gesture quantification techniques may modified to consider the environmental parameters and used to reliably identify the user activity for tagging a POI type to a location
[0046] At step 406, the method 400 includes allowing the POI module 110 to report the POI type ( POI 110) along with location coordinates for the location 108 and the user activity to the POI identification server 104 for validating the POI type tagged to the location 108 At step 408, whenever the user intends to access the POI information for a particular POI type such as type-one POI, the POI module 210 can be configured to display the plurality of POIs at plurality of locations that are validated for a POI type of same category ( type one POI). The plurality of POIs can be accessed from the POI identification server 104. The POI identification server maintains the POI information in the database at the POI identification server 104. For example, the user may request information of smoking zones in the area of interest identified by the user on a map application on electronic device 102a.The user request can be initiated through the application 214 (for example, the third party map application) using the third party request through the third party server 106.
[0047] In an embodiment, the user may initiate a direct request to the POI identification server 104.
[0048] A specific use case example explains how the method proposed enhances the user experience. For example, whenever the user is travelling, the user may not be familiar with all POIs on the way. In such scenario, if the user intends to use a rest room, existing map applications on his/her electronic device can provide only prior registered rest rooms. Further, people around may hardly have any knowledge of such places on the route. Thus, it may be difficult to locate the rest room at earliest and with ease. Moreover, the user may have to search for POIs such as restaurants and actually check out for rest room availability. However, the method proposed enables the third party application server 106 associated with the map application (application 214) to query the POI identification server 104 directly for rest rooms in vicinity along the travel route (POIs with same type in the area of interest) on request from the user. The POI identification server 104 that is already updated with lesser known rest rooms (that are identified based on user activity identification and validation at those locations as explained in system 100 of FIG. 1) along with known rest room locations maintained in the third party servers 104 data base can be provided to the user. Other use case examples explaining identification, validation of a user activity for identifying a location as POI and then providing the user intended POIs to the user are explained in conjunction with FIG. 6 through FIG. 8.
[0049] The various actions in method 400 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG. 4 may be omitted.
[0050] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for identifying a location as Place of Interest (POI) by validating the POI type tagged to the location at the POI identification server 104, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. At step 502, the method 500 includes allowing the POI module 310 to receive, from a plurality of electronic devices, a POI type tagged to a location by each of the plurality of electronic devices along with location coordinates for the location and a user activity identified at the location by each of the plurality of electronic devices.
[0051] At step 504, the method 500 includes allowing the POI module 310 to validate the POI type as a ‘type-one’ POI by identifying the location with the type-one POI when a pre-defined POI criteria is satisfied. Further, locations 114 and location 118 identified with similar user activity (different from user activity reported for location 108) and tagged with a different POI type (POI 120, referred as the type-two POI). For example type-two POI can be a swimming pool. Similarly plurality of locations may be identified as type-three POI, type-four POI and so on which can be, a kids play area, the jogging track, a cycling track and so on.
[0052] Once the data for plurality of POIs is updated by the POI identification server, then at step 506, the method 500 includes allowing the POI module 310 to provide to the user, plurality of POIs validated as the type-one POIs (at location 108, 112 and 116 respectively), on receiving the user request for a specific type POI (the type-one POI). Similarly, the method 500 allows the POI module 310 to identify other locations for validating POI types. As shown in FIG. 1 location 112 and location 116 are also tagged as POI type similar to location 108 (POI 110) such as, rest rooms at different locations. The method proposed enables dynamic and automatic updating of the POI information to the database at the POI identification server.
[0053] The various actions in method 500 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG. 5 may be omitted. The FIG. 6 is a use case example explaining identification and validation of a jogging activity at a location, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. The steps, used by the method proposed, for identifying the user activity (jogging activity) and tagging the POI type (jogging track) by gesture quantification are provided with help of the example. A speedometer sensor detects brisk running speed and a heat sensor detects elevated body temperature and hear-rate sensor detects elevated heart beat rate that are appropriate environmental parameters (602) to trigger gesture quantification. Further, user actions (604) such as forward/backward movements of runner’s (user’s) hands in alternate manner in combination with forward/backward movements of runner’s legs in alternative manner are tracked in context with the brisk running speed, the elevated body temperature and the elevated heart beat rate. Thus the gesture quantification is performed based on user actions, and appropriate environmental parameters detected to reliably identify the users activity as jogging activity (606). Further, the identified POI type is reported to the POI identification server. Further, at the POI identification server validation (608) of the POI type for the location is performed based on the received POI type, the corresponding user activity and POI type for the location received from other electronic devices from same location. On validation, the location is identified as the jogging track and this information is maintained in the data base at the POI identification server. Further, on the user request (610) for particular POI type (jogging tracks in the area of interest) through third party map application (612) all POIs matching the user request (610) are accessed from the POI identification server through the third party server. Thus all jogging tracks (614) in the area of interest are displayed on the map application 612.
[0054] FIG. 7 is a use case example explaining identification and validation of a smoking activity at a location, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. The steps, used by the method proposed, for identifying the user activity (smoking activity) and tagging the POI type (smoking zone) by gesture quantification are provided with help of the example. Elevated smoke level detection by a smoking sensor is appropriate environmental parameters (702) to trigger gesture quantification. Further, user actions (704) such as unique gesture of lighting the cigarettes using both hands and the lighter in combination with repeated semi-circular motion of hand from mouth to waist are tracked in context with the elevated smoke level. Thus the gesture quantification is performed based on user actions, and appropriate environmental parameters detected to reliably identify the users activity as smoking activity (706) and the location is tagged as a specific POI type referred as smoking zone. Further, the identified POI type is reported to the POI identification server. Further, at the POI identification server validation (708) of the POI type for the location is performed based on the received POI type, the corresponding user activity and POI type for the location received from other electronic devices from same location. On validation, the location is identified as the smoking zone and this information is maintained in the data base at the POI identification server. Further, on the user request (710) for particular POI type (smoking zones in the area of interest) through third party map application (712) all POIs matching the user request (610) are accessed from the POI identification server through the third party server. Thus all smoking zones (714) in the area of interest are displayed on the map application 712.
[0055] FIG. 8 is a use case example explaining identification and validation of a rest room activity at a location n, according to embodiments as disclosed herein. The steps, used by the method proposed, for identifying the user activity (rest room activity) and tagging the POI type (rest room) by gesture quantification are provided with help of the example. Elevated ammonia level/odor detection in the urinals or restrooms is appropriate environmental parameters (802) to trigger gesture quantification. Further, user actions (804) such as unique downward/upward movements of user’s hands in specific manner immediately followed by hand wash gesture are tracked in context with the elevated ammonia level/odor. Thus the gesture quantification is performed based on user actions, and appropriate environmental parameters detected to reliably identify the users activity as rest room activity (806) and the location is tagged as a specific POI type referred as rest room. Further, the identified POI type is reported to the POI identification server. Further, at the POI identification server validation (808) of the POI type for the location is performed based on the received POI type, the corresponding user activity and POI type for the location received from other electronic devices from same location. On validation, the location is identified as the rest room and this information is maintained in the data base at the POI identification server. Further, on the user request (810) for particular POI type (rest rooms in the area of interest) through third party map application (812) all POIs matching the user request (810) are accessed from the POI identification server through the third party server. Thus all rest rooms (814) in the area of interest are displayed on the map application 812.
[0056] FIG. 9 illustrates a computing environment implementing the method for identifying the location as the Place of Interest (POI), according to embodiments as disclosed herein;
[0057] As depicted, the computing environment 902 comprises at least one processing unit 904 that is equipped with a control unit 906 and an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) 908, a memory 910, a storage unit 912, plurality of networking devices 914 and a plurality Input output (I/O) devices 916. The processing unit 904 is responsible for processing the instructions of the algorithm. The processing unit 904 receives commands from the control unit 906 in order to perform its processing. Further, any logical and arithmetic operations involved in the execution of the instructions are computed with the help of the ALU 908.
[0058] The overall computing environment 902 can be composed of multiple homogeneous and/or heterogeneous cores, multiple CPUs of different kinds, special media and other accelerators. The processing unit 904 is responsible for processing the instructions of the algorithm. Further, the plurality of processing units 904 may be located on a single chip or over multiple chips.
[0059] The algorithm comprising of instructions and codes required for the implementation are stored in either the memory unit 910 or the storage 912 or both. At the time of execution, the instructions may be fetched from the corresponding memory 910 and/or storage 912, and executed by the processing unit 904. In case of any hardware implementations various networking devices 914 or external I/O devices 916 may be connected to the computing environment to support the implementation through the networking unit and the I/O device unit.
[0060] The embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented through at least one software program running on at least one hardware device and performing network management functions to control the network elements. The elements shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 9 include blocks which can be at least one of a hardware device, or a combination of hardware device and software module.
[0061] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein.

STATEMENT OF CLAIMS
We claim:
1. A method for identifying a location as a Place of Interest (POI), wherein said method comprises:
detecting, by a POI module in an electronic device, at least one environmental parameter corresponding to a user of said electronic device;
performing, by said POI module, a gesture quantification based on at least one user action and said at least one environmental parameter to identify an user activity on detecting said at least one environmental parameter; and
tagging, by said POI module, a POI type from a plurality of POI types to said location of said electronic device based on said user activity identified at said location using said gesture quantification.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said method comprises:
reporting said POI type along with location coordinates for said location and said user activity to a POI identification server for validating said POI type tagged to said location, wherein validating of said POI type is based on said POI type reported by a plurality of electronic devices from said location; and
displaying to said user a plurality of POIs at plurality of locations, that are validated for a POI type of same category, on receiving a user request for said POI type, wherein said plurality of POIs are accessed from said POI identification server.
3. A POI identification server for identification of a location as a Place of Interest (POI), wherein said POI identification server comprises a POI module, further said POI module is configured to:
receive, from a plurality of electronic devices, a POI type tagged to a location by each of said plurality of electronic devices along with location coordinates for said location and an user activity identified at said location by each of said plurality of electronic devices; and
validate said POI type, for said location, as type-one POI by identifying said location with said type-one POI when a pre-defined POI criteria is satisfied.
4. The POI identification server as claimed in claim 4, wherein said POI module is configured to provide a user of an electronic device among said plurality of electronic devices a plurality of POIs at plurality of locations, that are validated as said type-one POIs, on receiving a user request for said type-one POI.
5. An electronic device for identifying a location as a Place of Interest (POI), wherein said electronic device comprises a POI module configured to:
detect at least one environmental parameter corresponding to a user of said electronic device;
perform a gesture quantification based on at least one user action and said at least one environmental parameter to identify an user activity on detecting said at least one environmental parameter; and
tag a POI type from a plurality of POI types to said location of said electronic device based on said user activity identified at said location using said gesture quantification.
6. The electronic device as claimed in claim 5, wherein said POI module is configured to report said POI type along with location coordinates for said location and said user activity to a POI identification server for validating said POI type tagged to said location, wherein validating of said POI type is based on said POI type reported by a plurality of electronic devices from said location.
7. The electronic device as claimed in claim 6, wherein said POI module is configured to display to said user a plurality of POIs at plurality of locations, that are validated for a POI type of same category, on receiving a user request for said POI type, wherein said plurality of POIs are accessed from said POI identification server.
8. A computing program product comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the processor, the non-transitory computer-readable medium configured to store computer program instructions that when executed by the processor is operable to cause the processor to perform actions comprising:
detecting at least one environmental parameter corresponding to a user of said electronic device;
performing a gesture quantification based on at least one user action and said at least one environmental parameter to identify an user activity on detecting said at least one environmental parameter; and
tagging a POI type from a plurality of POI types to said location of said electronic device based on said user activity identified at said location using said gesture quantification.

Dated this 4th January 2016

Signatures:
Name of the Signatory: Dr. Kalyan Chakravarthy
ABSTRACT
A method and a system for identifying a location as a Place of Interest (POI) are disclosed. The method includes detecting at least one environmental parameter corresponding to a user of the electronic device and perform a gesture quantification based on at least one user action and the at least one environmental parameter to identify a user activity on detecting the at least one environmental parameter. Further, the method includes tagging a POI type from a plurality of POI types to the location of the electronic device based on the user activity identified at the location using the gesture quantification.

FIG. 1