FR3055993A1 - METHOD FOR MANAGING AND EVALUATING AUTOMATED TRAVELING OF A PERSON IN A PREDETERMINED ENVIRONMENT - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of managing the path of a user in a predetermined region-type environment and evaluating said path according to predetermined criteria stored in a server-type data processing system organizing the path management sessions and provided with counting means , data storage means and delay means of a predetermined duration, said user being provided with a smartphone-type mobile terminal equipped with an identification data reading application of a plurality of terminals placed in said predetermined environment, the mobile terminal and the data processing system being connected via at least one internet-type interconnection network.

Description

® FRENCH REPUBLIC

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY © Publication number: 3,055,993 (to be used only for reproduction orders) © National registration number: 16,58521

COURBEVOIE © Int Cl ⁸ : G 06 F17 / 40 (2017.01), G 06 F 7/04, G 06 Q 10/06

A1 PATENT APPLICATION

©) Date of filing: 13.09.16. © Applicant (s): BLUM AUDIT BROKERAGE ADVICE (© Priority: (BACC LUX) S.A. Public limited company - LU. @ Inventor (s): BLUM SYLVAIN, BLUM SIMON, BLUM JEAN GUY and BLUM MARIE. Date of public availability of the request: 16.03.18 Bulletin 18/11. ©) List of documents cited in the report preliminary research: Refer to end of present booklet (© References to other national documents ® Holder (s): BLUM AUDIT BROKERAGE COUNCIL related: (BACC LUX) S.A. Public limited company. ©) Extension request (s): © Agent (s): CABINET BLEGER-RHEIN-POUPON.

VX) METHOD FOR THE AUTOMATED MANAGEMENT AND EVALUATION OF A PERSON'S JOURNEY IN A PREDETERMINED ENVIRONMENT.

FR 3 055 993 - A1 _ Method for managing a user's journey in a predetermined region-type environment and evaluating said journey according to predetermined criteria stored in a server-type data processing system organizing the management sessions journeys and provided with counting means, data storage means and time delay means of a predetermined duration, said user being provided with a smartphone-type mobile terminal equipped with an application for reading identification data d '' a plurality of terminals placed in said predetermined environment, the mobile terminal and the data processing system being connected via at least one internet type interconnection network.

The present invention relates to a method for managing the journey of a person in a predetermined environment, typically a set of geographic locations in a given region, and for evaluating said journey according to predetermined criteria. It is at the crossroads of fields relating on the one hand to telecommunications interactions between individuals and particular places benefiting from identification systems, and / or geolocalizable, shareable in interconnected networks, and on the other hand to games in which the participants are linked to a centralized management structure which implements the game according to defined defined rules.

In the game to which the invention may apply, the players, users of the installations at the base of the method of the invention, interact with terminals whose location and identification are known to the system, with a view to obtaining results which are then evaluated and quantified in the context of the game. In the following, in order to facilitate the reading and understanding of the description of the problems and the solutions provided by the invention, we will focus more particularly on the example of a game consisting in finding and discovering the places listed as considered to be interesting in a given region, with a view to collecting - by interaction with landmarks scattered throughout the region - points whose collection can give rise to a reward .

The different phases of the game, from the entry which connects the player and the management system of the process which is the subject of the invention until the end of a cycle programmed in said system, at which time the accounts of the results obtained by the player in the context of the game are made, are carried out generally based on telecommunications systems based on networks known per se. It can be either wide area networks of the internet type, or local area networks which are then generally themselves interconnected to the wide area network.

In this context, the management of the evaluation of a journey, of a displacement or of a journey by a player, or user of the method of the invention, is carried out according to predetermined criteria, stored in a system of processing of server-type data organizing journey management sessions in order to evaluate the results according to pre-established and programmed rules. This system, which can be centralized, is moreover provided with counting means, data storage means and time delay means of a predetermined duration, duration which is the effective time allocated to each session.

For the needs and the implementation of the method, the user is provided with a mobile terminal, for example of the smartphone type, equipped with an application for reading identification data from a plurality of terminals placed in the predetermined environment, which constitutes the geographical framework of the game. The terminal can of course also be a tablet, or even a laptop, in the state if WIFI or bluetooth networks are accessible from the terminal, and / or equipped with a device cellular transmitter / receiver which allows operation in almost all cases and in any event in the absence of local networks. The mobile terminal and the data processing system are, as already pointed out, ultimately connected via at least one Internet-type interconnection network.

The method of the invention is such that it implements, that is to say comprises, the following steps for each session:

Connection of the mobile terminal to the data processing system by means of the interconnection network;

Sending by the mobile terminal of user identification data for the opening of a session;

Sending by the data processing system of an acknowledgment message to the mobile terminal, and initialization at zero of the value contained in the counting means;

Reading by the mobile terminal of the identification data of a first terminal and sending of said identification data to the data processing system;

Triggering the time delay of the predetermined duration, and incrementing the value contained in the counting means;

During the journey, reading by the mobile terminal of the identification data of each terminal visited, and sending of said identification data to the data processing system;

Increment of the value contained in the counting means;

When the countdown of the predetermined duration has expired, the data processing system closes the current session.

As soon as a session managing a route is opened, exchanges between the mobile terminal and the processing system take place, during which the actions of the user in the region, in practice sanctioned by interactions with pre-established milestones are counted or even rewarded after evaluation.

According to the invention, the application equipping mobile terminals can also carry out counting, data storage and timing of a predetermined duration.

Entry into the game first requires an initial registration on a game management site, managed by the generally centralized processing system, then the definition of a route, therefore of a specific region. Initial registration involves:

A connection from a user's terminal to the data processing system by means of the interconnection network;

The sending by said terminal of a registration request; The sending back by the processing system of a message containing user identification data

This identification data may include a serial number allocated by the system, and the request specifies information specific to the user such as an email address for example, as well as traditional civil status indications. The terminal from which the initial registration takes place is not necessarily the mobile terminal, but can be a fixed terminal, for example a computer. The mobile terminal is however preferably identified during this initial registration.

The definition of a route is characterized in the system by a certain number of regional terminals corresponding to places to be visited in this region, for reasons simply of tourist interest or to promote a commercial activity specific to this region. The method therefore comprises, for the opening of a session, the sending by the mobile terminal to the data processing system of a request to open a session containing an identification of the region and the identification of user, data processing system initial registration.

Preferably, according to the method of the invention, the value contained in the counting means is stored in the data storage means after each incrementation. This value must indeed be able to be recovered later in another phase potentially implemented within the framework of the process.

In practice, during this implementation, the final value stored in the data storage means at the end of a session can be recorded in a comparison register present in the data processing system and comprising the other users' final values for the same region.

Said final values of the comparison register are then intended to be processed by means of comparison of the data processing system and classified in ascending / descending order, with a view to assigning a classification to the user, the order of classification obtained being susceptible of data as assigned by the to the user during giving rise to reward, as will be seen in the following with reference to a given example.

According to one possibility, the identification data of each terminal visited, read by the mobile terminal before sending said identification data to the data processing system, are encoded in the form of QR codes or alphanumeric codes.

Alternatively or additionally, the identification data of each terminal visited can consist of its geolocation data, sent by the mobile terminal to the data processing system.

In both cases, the data sent is proof of the user's passage in the area of interest, defined as such in the context of the game, and likely to earn him points as will be seen in the following example. .

The invention will now be described in more detail, with reference to a more detailed and precise example of a procedure which is implemented through the method of the invention, allowing automation of the management of the route traveled by a user. , in this case a participant, and an automation of its evaluation precisely in the context of a game.

This can be a thematic game that can be broken down, for example, into a region or a town to be discovered. The theme of the game is to make people passing through, tourists, travelers, etc. discover tourist and commercial places listed as having value for people foreign to the region. They constitute sites of interest, the visit of which enables the participants to obtain points which are memorized and totaled in an application within the framework of the method of the invention.

In this regard, sites are listed, for example by geolocation points (GPS - longitude and latitude), by QRCode and / or Alphanumeric code.

A regional map of the different points in the game area is distributed digitally with, for example:

- Geographical places, whose historicity is important and which are geolocated: churches, monuments, squares, ruins, parks, forests, historic buildings, museums, statues, etc .;

- Commercial destinations which are also geolocated and in addition equipped with QRCode and / or individual alphanumeric codes. Farmers, wine-growers, traders, producers, craftsmen and traders have the vocation to be partners in the game. In the corresponding sites, the partners offer participants tours of their facilities and they can naturally market their products there. Participants validate their passage through these sites using geolocation coordinates, QRCodes and / or alphanumeric codes after the visit.

- Restaurants, hotels, lodges, tourist offices, tour operators, leisure parks, sports parks are also geolocatable and equipped with QRCode and individual alphanumeric codes which make them eligible for validation of points after a visit, consumption or a stay.

The game therefore consists in finding and discovering the places listed in the fixed regional framework, then in collecting and recording using a specific application located on the mobile terminal and / or on the central system a maximum of tourist points and commercial, in particular referenced by their geolocation coordinates, within a specified period.

The maximum time allowed is established according to the region chosen and can be adjusted according to tourist, seasonal or even technical particularities in certain cases. Each place discovered, that is to say having been the subject of a more or less active passage, gives a certain number of points. According to one possibility, the commercial places visited give more points to the participants. These points are totaled in the centralized processing system and, where appropriate, on the application of the mobile terminal, and define a score at the end of the predetermined duration allocated to the game for the chosen region.

A monthly ranking can be communicated to participants, and the best scores are rewarded. The number of participants is free and unlimited. Each participant registers beforehand, individually or in a team on a game site managed by the data processing system on which the process of the invention is based. Each participant can register several times at different, non-overlapping periods.

Initially, the applicant participant registers on the website dedicated to the game via an internet application. He discloses his identity, gives his email address, possibly provides all the information relating to the team, the possible dates of visits, the regions that will be visited. The site then assigns a serial number to the participants.

With this serial number, the participant can connect his mobile terminal to the processing system hosting the site and view all the points listed on a map. By zooming on the map, it visualizes the points of interest, in the sense of the game, located in the chosen region and, in situation, nearby.

As soon as the participant arrives at a first geolocation point, he validates the point by interconnection with the central data processing system, validation which starts the timer, a sort of countdown to the session thus opened. The geolocated place, thus validated, gives a point to the user. Other points obtained by sending geolocation coordinates and / or validated by other means of identification (QRcodes, alphanumeric codes) then generate other points which accumulate to form the score.

If the point of interest is commercial, the producer, craftsman or trader offers a visit to his site / installation and presents his range of products to the participants, obviously without any obligation to purchase. Restaurants, hotels, lodges, tourist offices, tour operators, leisure parks, sports parks, to the extent that they are equipped with QRCode and / or personalized alphanumeric codes, validate the visit by acquiring this data and subsequent dispatch to the data processing system. In principle, these visits give participants more points.

As already mentioned, the participant has a time capital defined according to the geographical area to be discovered, for example 24 hours, which is decremented from the first validation or capture of point (s). After the time limit, the countdown stops at ZERO. Beyond this time limit, it is no longer possible to capture or validate other points. The final score is saved, and it is final, no possibility of restarting the session being provided.

The participant can be alone or accompanied. There is, however, only one mobile terminal that is registered, therefore authorized to capture geolocation points, QRCodes and alphanumeric codes. A change of terminal is possible. At a predetermined periodicity by the system, for example each month, a reward is allocated to the participant who obtained the highest score in the region of application of the sessions. These results are communicated on the site managed by the data processing system implementing the method of the invention.

Claims (9)

1. Method for managing the journey of a user in a predetermined region-type environment and for evaluating said journey according to predetermined criteria stored in a server-type data processing system organizing the path management sessions and provided with means counting, data storage means and time delay means of a predetermined duration, said user being provided with a mobile terminal of smartphone type equipped with an application for reading identification data from a plurality of terminals placed in said predetermined environment, the mobile terminal and the data processing system being connected via at least one internet type interconnection network, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: Connection of the mobile terminal to the data processing system by means of the interconnection network; Sending by the mobile terminal of user identification data for the opening of a session; Sending by the data processing system of an acknowledgment message to the mobile terminal, and initialization at zero of the value contained in the counting means; reading by the mobile terminal of the identification data of a first terminal and sending of said identification data to the data processing system; Triggering the time delay of the predetermined duration, and incrementing the value contained in the counting means; During the journey, reading by the mobile terminal of the identification data of each terminal visited, and sending of said identification data to the data processing system; Increment of the value contained in the counting means; When the countdown of the predetermined duration has expired, the data processing system closes the current session. 2. Method for managing the journey of a person in a predetermined environment according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the application equipping the mobile terminals performs counting, data storage and timing of a predetermined duration. 3. Method for managing the journey of a person in a predetermined environment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it includes an initial registration involving: A connection from a user's terminal to the data processing system by means of the interconnection network; The sending by said terminal of a registration request; The sending back by the processing system of a message containing user identification data. 4. Method for managing the journey of a person in a predetermined environment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises, for the opening of a session, the sending by the mobile terminal to the system of processing of a request for opening a session containing an identification of the region and the identification data of the user. 5. Method for managing the journey of a person in one according to any one of characterized in that the value contained in the counting means is stored in the data storage means after each incrementation. 6. A method of managing the journey of a person in a predetermined environment according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the final value stored in the data storage means at the end of a session is recorded in a register of comparison present in the predetermined environment system previous claims, data processing and comprising the final values of other users for the same region. 7. A method of managing the journey of a person in a predetermined environment according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the final values of the comparison register are processed by comparison means of the data processing system and classified in ascending order / decreasing. 8. Method for managing the journey of a person in a predetermined environment according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the identification data of each terminal visited, read by the mobile terminal before sending said identification data to the data processing system, are stored in the form of QR codes or alphanumeric codes. 9. A method for managing the journey of a person in a predetermined environment according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the identification data of each terminal visited consists of its geolocation data, sent by the mobile terminal to data processing system.