METHOD FOR ASSISTING THE ORIENTATION OF A MOBILE TERMINAL USER
The invention concerns the field of methods for assisting the orientation of
a mobile terminal user, and mobile terminals intended to implement these methods
for assisting the orientation of a mobile terminal user and the servers intended to
implement these methods for assisting the orientation of a mobile terminal user. One
of the preferred applications is that which assists a mobile terminal user who is lost
to find his way again, in particular if that user is lost in an area having few
landmarks, for example lost in the middle of the trees of a forest, in a landscape
uniformly covered with snow, etc.
According to prior art described in the American patent application
US 2002 / 0173906, for example, it is known to display the position of the user of the
mobile terminal and the direction that he must follow. A drawback of this prior art is
that a simple direction is insufficient information, especially if the locality in which the
user finds himself includes few landmarks: the insufficiency of this information will be
more apparent in the middle of the trees of a close-packed forest than in the streets
of a town.
The invention proposes a method for assisting the orientation of a mobile
terminal user which assists a lost user to find his way again simply and quickly, even
if, on the one hand, the user is lost in a place having relatively few landmarks and
even if, on the other hand, the user has also lost some of his capacity for lucid
thought because of irritation or distress.
According to the invention, there is provided a method for assisting the
orientation of a mobile terminal user, displaying, on the screen of the mobile
terminal, a map of a locality; the position of the mobile terminal on the map; at least
a part of the path to follow to get from the position of the mobile terminal to a
destination designated or validated by the user of the mobile terminal; at least a
part, close to the position of the mobile terminal, of the path actually followed over
time by the mobile terminal; the display of the position of the mobile terminal and
display of the part of the path actually followed being automatically updated over
time.
The invention will be better understood and other features and advantages
will become apparent with the aid of the following description and the appended
drawings, given by way of example, in which:
- figure 1 represents diagrammatically an example of a map of a locality
displayed on the screen of a mobile terminal of a user, highlighting the position of
the mobile terminal, the destination of the user, the path to be followed, and the path
followed, conforming to a preferred embodiment of the orientation assistance
method according to the invention.
Figure 1 represents diagrammatically an example of a map of a place
displaced on the screen of a mobile terminal of a user, highlighting the position of
the mobile terminal, the destination of the user, the path to be followed, and the path
followed, conforming to a preferred embodiment of the orientation assistance
method according to the invention. A map 1 of a locality comprising streets,
footpaths, areas with dwellings and forest areas is displayed on the screen of the
mobile terminal of the user. The mobile terminal is preferably a mobile telephone.
The position 2 represents a past position of the user who was lost in the middle of
the trees of a forest area and who submitted a request to find his way again to the
server via his mobile terminal in order to make his way to a particular exit from the
park, which is the destination 3. The destination 3 may be either chosen by the user,
for example if the user requests a particular exit from the park by clicking on the
map 1 displayed on the screen of his mobile terminal, or validated by the user, for
example if the user requests the exit from the park closest to his position and
accepts by clicking it that proposed to him on the display on the screen of his mobile
terminal. From this position 2, the path to follow is indicated, for example in
segments. Here the path to follow to go from the position 2 to the destination 3
consists of four segments 11 to 14. First of all the segment 11 that consists in
crossing a forest area with no landmarks in a given direction to get to a footpath,
then the segment 12 that follows a path, then the segment 13 that follows another
footpath, and finally the segment 14 that follows yet another footpath leading to the
destination 3. At the outset, when the user is at his initial position 2, for example only
the segments 11 and 12 may be displayed. Then when the user is walking along the
footpath corresponding to the segment 12, for example only the segments 12 and
13 are displayed. More generally, for example only the current segment and the next
segment may be displayed. The destination 3 may be displayed or not especially if it
is sufficiently far from the initial position 2 that it cannot be displayed on the same
map 1 as the initial position 2. Once the user has begun to move, his new position,
the current position 4 is also displayed. The user has not followed the recommended
segment 11, but has actually followed the segment 21 slightly further to the south to
reach a footpath other than that indicated by the path to follow. The user may realize
that by now following the segment 31 he can return simply and quickly to the
recommended segment 12. That segment 31 may also be displayed to him in a
different way. While his current position is automatically updated, for example
periodically with a relatively short period so that the user can easily correct his route,
for example from the initial position 2 to the current position 4, the path to follow is
preferably updated only at the express request of the user. The user attempts to
follow the segment 11 as best he can, but actually follows the segment 21 to arrive
at the position 4. An update to the path to follow, obtained by the user simply
clicking, for example, can then delete the segment 11 and display instead of it the
segment 31. The whole of the path to follow and of the path actually followed are
preferably displayed on the screen of the terminal, provided that they do not
overshoot the map 1. There may be provision, by way of an advantageous option, if
the user is going round in circles and crosses a path he has previously taken, for a
forced updating of the path to follow to be effected so that the screen remains
legible for the user and to prevent the path actually followed resembling a tangled
ball of wool. The simultaneous display of at least a portion of the path to follow and
at least a portion of the path followed in the vicinity of the current position of the user
enables the user simply and effectively to visualize the corrections to be made to his
movement in order to return to the path to follow as soon as possible. This
simultaneous display, which allows direct and differentiated visualization of the path
to follow and the path actually followed, enables a user, even if lost in a place with
no landmarks and/or in a slight panic, to find his way again quickly, whereas the
simple indication of a position and of a direction to follow, necessitating a few
landmarks and/or a few elementary reasoning operations to find his way again, may
in such cases be insufficient or at least less effective and less safe for the user
and/or take the user longer. Moreover, if the server wishes to have the user make a
detour to reach the destination, for example because the path is more practical
along the detour, with the display of the whole of the path to follow or at least a
significant portion of the path to follow, this is immediately clear to the user, whereas
the display of a simple direction that changes over time may give him the impression
of going round in circles or of having no idea where he is going. Comparison of the
length of the path actually followed and the remaining or total length of the path to
follow can also give him an idea of the time it will take him to reach the intended
destination.
In a preferred embodiment, each updating of the display of the portion of
the path to follow results from an express request from the user of the mobile
terminal. In fact, excessively frequent automatic updating would not enable the user
to realize the relevance of the path actually followed compared to the path to follow;
he would run the risk of following a tortuous path ceaselessly oscillating around the
perpetually updated path to be followed.
In another embodiment, the display of the portion of the path to follow is
updated automatically over time, but less often than the display of the portion of the
path actually followed. The period for updating the path to follow is in this case
advantageously much longer than the period for updating the path actually followed.
This long period should preferably correspond to a significant movement along the
path actually followed displayed on the screen of the terminal. At least a few
millimeters, typically at least 3 or at least 5 or at least 10 millimeters, must in this
advantageous case have been traveled on the screen of the mobile terminal by the
user.
The displayed portion of the path to follow and the displayed portion of the
path actually followed are displayed differently on the user's screen, so that the user
cannot confuse them, preferably even briefly, which could otherwise cause him to
panic. The displayed portion of the path to follow and the displayed portion of the
path actually followed are preferably displayed by means of different colors, for
example the path to follow may be displayed in green whereas the path actually
followed may be displayed in red. The displayed portion of the path to follow and the
displayed portion of the path actually followed may equally be displayed by other
means, for example solid line for the path to follow and dashed line for the path
actually followed, or steady line for the path to follow and blinking line for the path
actually followed.
The map is preferably downloaded from a server to the mobile terminal via
a mobile telecommunication network. Accordingly, in contrast to the GPS, the user
does not need to have the map of the place where he is located stored in his mobile
terminal, which is good because it is difficult for the user to predict in advance where
he is going to get lost, the other alternative for the user being to store all the maps
of all the places that he is likely to go, which quickly becomes costly and tiresome.
Thus his mobile telephone, for example, can fulfill this function without the user
having to burden himself with a GPS device in addition to his mobile telephone. The
updates are preferably supplied to the mobile terminal by a server via a mobile
telecommunication network. In one advantageous embodiment, the mobile
telecommunication network is the GPRS. In another advantageous embodiment, the
mobile telecommunication network is the UMTS. The chosen network preferably
allows accurate location, to avoid the user going the wrong way. If the accuracy is
insufficient, the user may take the wrong street in a town or the wrong path in a
forest, which is irritating.

CLAIMS
1. Method for assisting the orientation of a mobile terminal user, displaying, on the
screen of the mobile terminal:
-a map (1) of a locality;
- the position (2, 4) of the mobile terminal on the map;
- at least a part of the path (11 to 14) to follow to get from the position (2) of
the mobile terminal to a destination (3) designated or validated by the user of
the mobile terminal;
- at least a part (21), close to the position (4) of the mobile terminal, of the
path actually followed over time by the mobile terminal;
the display of the position (4) of the mobile terminal and the display of the part
(21) of the path actually followed being automatically updated over time.
2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that each update of the display of
the part of the path to follow results from an express request from the user of
the mobile terminal.
3. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the display of the part of the
path to follow is updated automatically over time but less often than the display
of the part of the path actually followed.
4. Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the
displayed part of the path to follow and the displayed part of the path actually
followed are displayed in different colors.
5. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the
map is downloaded from a server to the mobile terminal via a mobile
telecommunication network.
6. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the
updates are supplied to the mobile terminal by a server via a mobile
telecommunication network.
7. Method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the mobile
telecommunication network is the GPRS.
8. Method according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the mobile
telecommunication network is the UMTS.
9. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the
destination is also displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal.
10. Mobile terminal according to any one of the preceding claims adapted to
implement the method for assisting the orientation of a mobile terminal user.
11. Server according to any one of claims 1 to 9 adapted to implement the method
for assisting the orientation of a mobile terminal user.