Personal index of items in physical proximity to a user

US7540419B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• International Business Machines Corporation · US

Inventors

• Einat Amitay · Shimshit, IL
• Aya Soffer · Haifa, IL

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 30, 2003
• Grant date: Jun 2, 2009
• Expiry date: Sep 17, 2024

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06Q30/02
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A dynamic index may list physical items in the changing vicinity of a user or a generator of the index. The vicinity may be within the same space as the user or the generator, such as a store, a library, a shelf, an aisle, within a given radius, a street, a city, a campus, a building, an area and a park. The index may store information about the physical items near the user or generator, such as content found on tags associated with the physical items. The content might be a description of the physical items and their locations. The present invention also includes a system and method to generate such a dynamic index.