GB2596110A

GB2596110A - Vehicular multimedia platform

Info

Publication number: GB2596110A
Application number: GB2009291.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Lawson-Jones Darren
Original assignee: Shape Information Technology Ltd; Shape Information Tech Ltd
Current assignee: Shape Information Technology Ltd
Priority date: 2020-06-18
Filing date: 2020-06-18
Publication date: 2021-12-22
Also published as: GB202009291D0

Abstract

A vehicular multimedia platform includes a display device for displaying multimedia content to a user within a vehicle. The platform is arranged to receive a browser history characteristic associated with the user and to determine a physical location of the vehicle. The browser history may include one or more cookies and/or a user profile derived from the one or more cookies. A browser application for an external device may monitor the browsing activity of the user, where the external device maybe a portable electronic device such as a mobile phone or tablet. The external device may transmit a user identifier to the vehicular multimedia platform. The platform selects at least one of a plurality of multimedia content files based on the browser history characteristic and the physical location of the vehicle and displays the selected multimedia content file(s) on the display device.

Description

Vehicular Multimedia Platform

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a multimedia platform suitable for use in a vehicle, and in particular to a platform in which multimedia content, e.g. content relevant to a user, is provided on an in-vehicle display in response to external factors.

Background of the Invention

A large number of people every year make use of a taxi or private hire vehicle in order to make a journey. According to the 2019 statistics compiled by the Department of Transport and Transport Scotland, there are over 300,000 licensed private hire vehicles in the United Kingdom alone. In the United States, there are over 230,000 licenses taxicabs, with New York City boasting over 13,000 taxicabs alongside more than 40,000 other for-hire vehicles.

While local definitions are regulations may vary between countries and regions, for ease of reference, the terms 'taxi', 'taxicab', 'minicab', 'for-hire vehicle', and 'private hire vehicle' are used interchangeably herein.

Traditionally, the services these taxis and private hire vehicles has been procured either by hailing the vehicle at the side of the road, or by booking the vehicle in advance via telephone or a website. In recent years in which passengers are ever-more connected, a number of apps have come to the market in which passengers can hail a vehicle using an app, e.g. on their smartphone. These may be apps provided by individual taxicab or minicab companies, by local authorities, or by dedicated ride-hailing and/or ride-sharing companies.

In addition to the revenue these companies make through fares (i.e. what the passenger pays for the journey in the vehicle), an additional source of revenue comes from advertising. Typically, a vehicle may have a number of advertisements displayed on the exterior and/or interior of the vehicle. For example, vinyl decals may be applied to the bodywork of the taxi to advertise third party products and services that pay to have their offering displayed on the taxi as it drives between destinations. Within the taxi, static adverts, such as posters or stickers, may be positioned to advertise products and services to the passenger of the taxi itself.

As well as static adverts provided by posters and decals, more modern approaches may make use of display screens to show advertisements, for example as a series of images that change periodically and/or video advertisements.

The Applicant has appreciated, however, that it would be beneficial to provide a system in which the advertisements shown to the passenger are more relevant to them.

Summary of the Invention

When viewed from a first aspect, the present invention provides a vehicular multimedia platform comprising a display device for displaying multimedia content to a user within a vehicle, the platform being arranged to: receive a browser history characteristic associated with the user; determine a physical location of the vehicle; select at least one of a plurality of multimedia content files based on the browser history characteristic and the physical location of the vehicle; and display the selected multimedia content file(s) on the display device.

This first aspect of the invention extends to a system comprising a vehicular multimedia platform and an electronic device, wherein the vehicular multimedia platform comprises a display device for displaying multimedia content to a user within a vehicle, wherein the system is arranged such that: the electronic device provides a browser history characteristic to the platform, said browser history characteristic being associated with the user; the platform determines a physical location of the vehicle; the platform selects at least one of a plurality of multimedia content files based on the browser history characteristic and the physical location of the vehicle; and the platform displays the selected multimedia content file(s) on the display device 3 -The first aspect of the invention extends to a method of displaying multimedia content on a display device of a vehicle to a user within the vehicle, the method comprising: receiving a browser history characteristic associated with the user; determining a physical location of the vehicle; selecting at least one of a plurality of multimedia content files based on the browser history characteristic and the physical location of the vehicle; and displaying the selected multimedia content file(s) on the display device.

The first aspect of the invention further extends to a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to carry out a method of displaying multimedia content on a display device of a vehicle to a user within the vehicle, the method comprising: receiving a browser history characteristic associated with the user; determining a physical location of the vehicle; selecting at least one of a plurality of multimedia content files based on the browser history characteristic and the physical location of the vehicle; and displaying the selected multimedia content file(s) on the display device.

The first aspect of the invention also extends to a computer software product arranged to display multimedia content on a display device of a vehicle to a user within the vehicle, said computer software product being arranged to: receive a browser history characteristic associated with the user; determine a physical location of the vehicle; select at least one of a plurality of multimedia content files based on the browser history characteristic and the physical location of the vehicle; and display the selected multimedia content file(s) on the display device.

Thus it will be appreciated that, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a system in which the browser history of the user and geographic location of the vehicle are used in combination to determine the multimedia content, e.g. an advertisement, that is displayed to the user. The browsing history acquired from the user (e.g. on a separate, external device such as their smartphone, tablet, or computer) is used together with the position of the 4 -vehicle to determine the multimedia content displayed on a separate, independent device (i.e. the display device of the multimedia platform in the vehicle). These two factors are used to select appropriate multimedia content to enhance the user experience for occupants of the vehicle.

Advantageously, embodiments of the present invention provide a system in which multimedia content that is specific to a particular user, i.e. passenger within the vehicle, may be displayed on an ad hoc basis, rather than simply displaying the same content to all passengers, or making potentially crude assumptions, e.g. based on demographic information related to that user such as their age, sex, location, etc. While this is particularly beneficial for displaying advertising content, this may be beneficial for other, less commercial objectives, for example to display important news updates or health and safety messages to particular passengers based on their location. Furthermore, emergency services (such as police, the fire brigade, or the ambulance service) may be able to display important public information to passengers within the vehicle.

This may be particularly applicable to an advertising system for use in taxis, in which a passenger is shown ads based on both the location of the taxi and their own Internet browsing history. For example, a passenger in a taxi driving down a shopping street may be shown advertising content for a nearby shop that the platform knows the user is likely to be interested in from their Internet browsing history and/or previous search queries.

The multimedia content file(s) may comprise images and/or videos. Thus the in-vehicle device changes its display, e.g. loads and displays media content such as an image or video, based on both the geographical position of the vehicle and the browser history characteristic.

In some embodiments, the browser history characteristic may comprise one or more cookies. It will be appreciated that a 'cookie', in the context of Internet browsing history, is generally a text string received from a website that is saved by a web browser, and returned by the browser next time it returns to the originating website. These cookies are used for a number of purposes. So called 'first-party' cookies are communicated between a browser and websites that are being

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browsed, where these are used to store, inter al/a, user preferences, search history, and browsing activity including items stored in a virtual shopping 'basket' or 'cart'. Conversely, 'third-party' cookies are exchanged between the browser and external websites that are displaying adverts on the website being browsed, where these cookies may be used to track which adverts have been displayed to a given user, and are used in 'retargeting' campaigns in which adverts are shown to a user relating to a website they've previously browsed. By way of non-limiting example, this may involve displaying an advert for a previously-browsed clothing company (or a specific item or items from that clothing company) on a subsequently-browsed social media website.

The browser history characteristic may comprise the actual cookies themselves, however these cookies may additionally or alternatively be amalgamated such that the browser history characteristic comprises a user profile derived from said cookies. This user profile may comprise a list of browser preferences specific to the user, for example a list of websites or products that the user is interested in, the types of food or favourite restaurants of the user, any brand loyalty preferences of the user (for example if they favour electronic devices produced by one manufacturer over another). The user profile may include any interests that the user has, such as whether they are into musical theatre, stand-up comedy, buildings of historical interest, museums, art galleries, etc. In some embodiments, the user profile is generated using a machine learning (ML) or artificial intelligence (Al) algorithm. Such an ML-or Al-based algorithm may learn about the user over time and update the user profile accordingly, such that the multimedia content selected is based on learned characteristics of the user. The algorithm may be provided with the cookies as initial data, and may additionally be provided with feedback regarding an user inputs provided by the user in relation to multimedia content selected on the basis of the user profile and vehicle location, e.g. indications that the user liked a particular advert shown or requested a voucher code as a result of being shown a particular advert. Thus the vehicular multimedia platform may learn about which multimedia content is of the greatest interest to a particular user, enhancing future content selection. A suitable ML and/or Al algorithm, known in the art per se, may be selected as appropriate. 6 -

The browser history characteristic may be provided by an external device, for example a portable electronic device, owned by the user. For example, the user's smartphone may provide the browser history characteristic. This may be provided using a built-in or third-party browser application arranged to run on the external device, or it may be a dedicated browser application as outlined in further detail hereinbelow.

In some embodiments, the external device provides the browser history characteristic directly. In some embodiments, the vehicular multimedia platform comprises a receiver module arranged to receive the browser history characteristic from the external device. The receiver module may form part of the display device or may be a separate hardware device. This may be carried out using a wireless communication link between the receiver module and the external device, for example using a wireless communication protocol such as Bluetoothe, Bluetooth Low Energy®, ZigBee®, VVi-Fi®, or any other suitable standard or proprietary wireless communication protocol. Additionally or alternatively, the external device may provide the browser history characteristic using near-field communications (NFC).

However, such arrangements rely on communication between the user's device and the multimedia platform. In a set of potentially overlapping embodiments, the multimedia platform is arranged to receive the browser history characteristic from an external server arranged to store the browser history characteristic. In some such embodiments, the display screen receives the browser history characteristic from the external server. It will be appreciated that this external server may, at least in some embodiments, form part of the 'vehicular multimedia platform' itself. Communication between the external server, the display device, and/or an external device such as a portable electronic device may be carried out using, at least in some embodiments, a wireless communication link such as a cellular communication link (i.e. a mobile phone network).

This external server may store browser history characteristics associated with a plurality of users. The external server may be arranged to receive a user identifier and to retrieve a stored browser history characteristic associated with the user identifier, wherein said retrieved browser history characteristic is the browser history 7 -characteristic used in the selection of the multimedia content to be displayed on the display device.

This user identifier may be provided by the user directly, for example by entering a username or an email address when entering the vehicle, for example on a touch screen, which may be provided on the display device.

However, in a preferred set of embodiments, the user identifier may be obtained automatically. In some embodiments, the multimedia platform is arranged to determine the user identifier from a identifier transmitted by an external device, for example the user's smartphone. This transmitted identifier may, by way of example only, comprise the device's Bluetoothe name, IP address, a radio frequency identification (RFID) identifier, or a value stored in a passive or active NFC-readable tag.

Additionally or alternatively, however, the multimedia platform may receive a booking request comprising the user identifier. For example, a user may book a taxi using an application running on their device, where the application and/or the booking request is associated with the user. In some such examples, the user may be required to log in to their user account using credentials such as a username and password, such that when the vehicle arrives to pick up the passenger, it is known in advance who the user is, and the browser history characteristic can be acquired accordingly, either in advance, or once the user is picked up by the taxi.

The physical location of the vehicle, and thus the in-vehicle display device, could be estimated, e.g. based on the vehicle's starting position, intended destination position, and the elapsed journey time. However, in some embodiments, the physical location of the vehicle is determine using a positioning module, for example a satellite navigation (or satnav') module. This module may operate in accordance with a navigation global navigational satellite system (GNSS) such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), or BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS).

The browser history characteristic may be acquired from the user's web browsing activity on any suitable web browser. However, the Applicant has appreciated that 8 -it may, in some embodiments, be advantageous to the user with a dedicated browser application for an external device, wherein said browser application monitors a browsing activity of the user and stores said browsing activity as the browser history characteristic. This 'browsing activity may comprise one or more cookies. This dedicated browser application may provide the browser history characteristic to the multimedia platform, for example by transmitting it directly to the display device (or other dedicated in-vehicle hardware) or to a central server that stores the browser history characteristic as outlined hereinabove in relation to a set of embodiments in which such a server is provided.

This is novel and inventive in its own right and thus, when viewed from a second aspect, the present invention provides a method of operating an electronic device, the method comprising: providing a browser application on said electronic device to browse a website; monitoring a browsing activity of a user and storing said browsing activity as a browser history characteristic; and transmitting said browser history characteristic to a remote device arranged to use said browser history characteristic and a physical location of a vehicle to select a multimedia content file to be displayed on a display device in said vehicle.

The second aspect of the invention extends to an electronic device arranged to communicate with an external multimedia content platform, said electronic device being arranged to: provide a browser application on said electronic device to browse a website; monitor a browsing activity of a user and store said browsing activity as a browser history characteristic; and transmit said browser history characteristic to the external multimedia content platform that is arranged to use said browser history characteristic and a physical location of a vehicle to select a multimedia content file to be displayed on a display device in said vehicle.

This second aspect of the invention extends to a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on a processor, cause the 9 -processor to carry out a method of operating an electronic device, the method comprising: providing a browser application on said electronic device to browse a website; monitoring a browsing activity of a user and storing said browsing activity as a browser history characteristic; and transmitting said browser history characteristic to a remote device arranged to use said browser history characteristic and a physical location of a vehicle to select a multimedia content file to be displayed on a display device in said vehicle.

The second aspect of the invention also extends to a computer software product arranged to display multimedia content on a display device of a vehicle to a user within the vehicle, said computer software product being arranged to: provide a browser application on said electronic device to browse a website; monitor a browsing activity of a user and store said browsing activity as a browser history characteristic; and transmit said browser history characteristic to a remote device arranged to use said browser history characteristic and a physical location of a vehicle to select a multimedia content file to be displayed on a display device in said vehicle.

The user may simply be shown the multimedia content, e.g. an advertisement, on the display. However, in some embodiments, the multimedia platform may be arranged to receive a user input associated with the selected multimedia content, optionally wherein the multimedia platform is arranged to store said user input. This user input may be provided by interacting with a graphical user interface (GUI) element, optionally wherein the GUI element is displayed on the display device and/or wherein an instruction is sent to display the GUI element on an external device such as the user's smartphone, e.g. on a dedicated browser application where provided. This GUI element may be presented during the multimedia content, or after the multimedia content has concluded. This may take the form of an on-screen button, such as a touchscreen button, which may indicate to the user that they may press the button (or other equivalent GUI element), e.g. to show an interest (or lack of interest) in the product or service being advertised, or to indicate that they wish to learn more about what was shown. Where a GUI element is -10 -displayed on the user's device, this may be done immediately during or after the multimedia content has concluded, or the user may be prompted at a later time.

In some embodiments, a location message associated with the multimedia content may be sent to the user. This location message may comprise data corresponding to geographic coordinates suitable for displaying a point of interest on a map application running on an external device (e.g. a user's smartphone). These location messages may, for example, show a user where they can go to find the advertised product or service. For example, if based on the user's browsing history and location, the user is shown an advertisement for a particular pair of sunglasses and subsequently shown on a map, e.g. on their own device where the sunglasses can be bought. For example, one or more 'pins' may be placed on a map to show the locations associated with the multimedia content.

Optionally, this location message may be sent only in response to the user input associated with the multimedia content. This may be beneficial in arrangements in which the multimedia content comprises an advertisement and the user expresses an interest in the advertisement through the user input.

In some embodiments, the location message may be used by an external device, for example the user's smartphone, to overlay the location in augmented reality (AR). It will be appreciated that AR generally involves enhancing a real-world environment with computer-generated effects. For example, a camera on the external device may be used to display the real-world environment around the external device on its screen, but where the location sent by the multimedia platform is overlaid as a graphic on the display. For example, the logo of a shop or restaurant corresponding to a 'liked' advertisement may be displayed on screen above its real-world location when viewed through the device. Additionally or alternatively, graphics may provide directions to the user on how to get to the location, for example an arrow may be displayed running along the roads or streets, indicating to a user which direction they should travel in order to get to the location.

In some potentially overlapping embodiments, a data message associated with the multimedia content may be sent to an external device, e.g. a smartphone belonging to the user. The data message may be sent automatically, or may be sent in response to a user input. This user input may be the same user input as outlined above with respect to embodiments in which a location message is sent, or it may be a different user input -e.g. a different GUI element, the same GUI element operated in a different manner, or some other form of user input.

The data message may be sent to an external device, e.g. the user's smartphone. It may be sent to a dedicated software application, or it may be sent via another means such as an email or text message. The data message may take the form of a voucher or voucher code that the user may use to obtain a discount on the advertised product or service. Additionally or alternatively, the data message may comprise further details related to the multimedia content, e.g. an advertised product or service. This data message may be sent via a central server, however in some embodiments the data message may be sent to the external device by a transmission module within the vehicle. This transmission module may be an independent hardware unit, however it may form part of the display device. It will be appreciated that, in a set of embodiments, the display device may comprise a transceiver, e.g. a wireless transceiver, that performs both transmission and reception in communication with the external device.

In some embodiments, a plurality of data messages may be sent to the external device. This may, for example, provide the ability for messages to be sent to the user on a subscription service.

In some embodiments, each multimedia content file comprises an audio signature signal unique to said multimedia content file, wherein a user input comprises recording said audio signature signal on an external device. For example, a user may use the external device (e.g. their smartphone) to 'pick up' an audio signature signal embedded within the multimedia content file before it concludes to indicate that they like the advertisement or wish to know more. This may be used as a suitable user input for obtaining a location message and/or a data message in accordance with a subset of the embodiments described hereinabove. The audio signature signal may be audible (i.e. within the range of frequencies that may typically be heard by humans, which is generally between 20 Hz and 20 kHz), however in some embodiments the audio signal is inaudible, i.e. it is outside the human hearing frequency range (generally greater than 20 kHz). For example, the -12 -audio signature signal may be ultrasonic. This audio signature signal may, for example, comprise a series of tones or chirps that may be used to identify which multimedia content file the user was viewing at the time of the user input.

It will appreciated that the optional features described with respect to one aspect of the invention are equally applicable to the other aspects of the invention.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Certain embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a multimedia platform in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a flow chart illustrating operation of the platform of Fig. 1 Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating how multimedia content is selected using the platform of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating how multimedia content is selected using the platform of Fig. 1 in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a user input made using the display device; Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a multimedia platform in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a dedicated browser application running on a smartphone for communication with a multimedia platform in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a user input made using a user's handheld electronic device; Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating an alternative user input made using a user's handheld electronic device; and Fig. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a data message sent to a user's handheld electronic device.

Detailed Description

-13 -Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a multimedia platform in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this particular embodiment, the multimedia platform is used to display advertisements within a taxi 2. Operation of this platform may be understood with reference to Fig. 2, which is a flow chart illustrating operation of the platform of Fig. 1. It will be appreciated that these drawings are merely illustrative, and that additional components and/or operational steps may be present in a practical system.

The multimedia platform comprises a display device 4 that is positioned within the back of the taxi 2 so as to be visible to a passenger 6. In this particular embodiment, the passenger 6 has booked a journey with the taxi 2 using their smartphone 8, however this is not essential and a number of other mechanisms for booking the taxi 2 for the passenger 6 may be readily employed -for example the user could have called a taxi company or booked the taxi 2 through a website instead, or the passenger 6 could have simply hailed the taxi 2 at the side of the road.

The passenger 6 generally uses their smartphone 8 to browse the Internet, and so the smartphone 8 contains cookies 9 related the browsing habits of the passenger 6. For example, products that the passenger 6 has been looking at on different shopping websites are stored as cookies on the smartphone 8. These cookies 9 provide a 'browser history characteristic' that can be used when determining which adverts should be shown to the passenger 6 via the display device 4.

The smartphone 8 is in communication with a cloud-based remote server 10 via a wireless communication link 14. This remote server 10a stores a library of browser history characteristics for a number of users in a database 12. This library stores user identifiers (such as a personal name, username, email address, and/or ID key) alongside the corresponding user's browser history characteristic, which may comprise their cookies 9, or data derived from those cookies 9, in a suitable format.

This communication between the smartphone 8 and remote server 10 need not take place while the user 6 is within the taxi 2, as outlined in further detail below.

It is important to note that the user 6 does not need to have their smartphone 8 in their hand or even about their person for the multimedia platform to work, but it is -14 -shown for illustrative purposes only. When the taxi 2 is booked, the user's identity can be taken from the booking and pre-stored browser cookies 9 (or data derived from those cookies 9) can be accessed by the remote server 10, without any communication with the smartphone 8.

The wireless communication link 14 between the smartphone 8 and the remote server 10 may, for example, be a cellular connection or a VVi-FiCi connection as appropriate.

While the smartphone 8 is shown to be in communication with the remote server 10 during the taxi journey in Fig. 1, it will be understood that the communication between the smartphone Band the remote server 10 may be a continual or intermittent connection, e.g. when the passenger 6 is in the taxi 2, and/or the smartphone 8 may communicate with the remote server 10 at other times. For example, the smartphone 8 may send the cookies 9 to the remote server 10 at set times, such as once per day or once per week. However, the smartphone 8 may additionally or alternatively communicate these cookies 9 to the remote server 10 closer to the time of the taxi journey, for example when booking the taxi 2 or when getting into the taxi 2.

The browsing habits of the passenger 6 are not the sole factor used in determining the adverts displayed via the display device 4. The decision 36 made by the remote server 10 also takes location data 11 into account. The physical location of the taxi 2 is also used when determining the multimedia content 15 (i.e. the advertisement) that is displayed. The location of the taxi 2 may be determined by the display device 4 via suitable GNSS receiver within the display device 4, or by some other GNSS hardware, e.g. the vehicle's built-in GNSS receiver or the GNSS receiver of a device such as a smartphone (e.g. the smartphone 8 of the passenger 6) that relays the location data 11 as appropriate.

The display device 4 is also in communication with the remote server 10 via a wireless communication link 16. This wireless communication link 16 may, for example, be a cellular connection to enable continual communication between the display device 4 and the remote server 10.

-15 -The communication links between the smartphone 8, display device 4, and/or the remote server 10 may be direct or indirect as appropriate, and for example there may be one or more intermediaries between these -however, for ease of illustration and reference, direct connections are shown in Fig. 1.

When the passenger 6 makes a journey in the taxi 2, the remote server 10 references the browser history characteristic, in this example the cookies 9, associated with the passenger 6 and the location of the taxi 2 to determine the multimedia content file(s) 15 that should be displayed. The remote server 10 may make use of a planned journey, i.e. prior knowledge of the destination of the passenger 6 and/or the route that the taxi 2 will take.

The remote server 10 then references a further library of multimedia content files stored in a database 13. In this particular embodiment, these multimedia content files correspond to advertisements. The multimedia content files may include video files and/or image files suitable for display on the display device 4. Based upon the browser history characteristic and the location (and/or the planned location) of the taxi 2, the remote server 10 determines which one or more of the multimedia content files should be displayed.

Once the selection of multimedia content has been made, the remote server 10 transmits this selection to the display device 4. This transmission may be a transmission of the multimedia content files themselves (e.g. the video or image content may be streams to the display device 4), or the display device 4 may have the multimedia content files stored locally, where the transmission from the remote server 10 comprises an instruction to play a particular file.

An example of this is illustrated in Fig. 3, which provides a schematic diagram of a taxi 2 navigating the streets in a section of a fictional city, where the diagram provides a simplified top-down view of a map. At the moment in time shown in Fig. 3, the taxi 2 is driving north (N) along a particular street 18.

In this example, a number of advertisers have provided advertising content to be rolled out via the multimedia platform. In particular, the database 13 holds -16 -advertisements (i.e. multimedia content files) for a clothes shop 20, an electronics shop 22, a theatre 24, and a kitchenware shop 26.

When the passenger 6 booked the taxi 2, the remote server 6 acquired the browser history characteristic associated with the passenger 6 as outlined above. The remote server 10 determines from the cookies 9 that the passenger 6 has been looking at a particular brand of trainers, a new video game console, and tickets to a particular musical theatre show when recently browsing the Internet.

In this example, the remote server 10 looks at the available advertising content 33 and determines which selection should be shown based on the cookies 9 and location data 11. When making the decision 36, the remote server 10 reviews the advertising content 33 for locations within a particular search radius 28 of the taxi 2, and determines that the clothes shop 20, electronics shop 22, and kitchenware shop 26 are within the search radius of the current position of the taxi 2. By combining the data relating to the position of the taxi 2 with the browser history characteristic (i.e. the data relating to the browser cookies 9) belonging to the passenger 6, the remote server 10 makes a decision 36 in which it determines that the multimedia content files 15 corresponding to adverts for the clothes shop 20 (which sells the trainers) and the electronics shop 22 (which sells the video game console) should be displayed on the display device 4, and communicates this to the display device 4.

Conversely, the remote server 10 determines that the kitchenware shop 26 is of less interest to this particular passenger 6 and so does not display that particular advertisement on this journey, so as to make best use of the passenger's journey time.

The remote server 10 also determines that while the theatre 24 may be of interest to the user, it is outside the search radius 28. In this example, the taxi 2 is close to its destination 30, which is too far from the theatre 24 and thus the system prioritises the multimedia content 15 for the clothes shop 20 and electronics shop 22. However, if the journey were longer such that the taxi 2 would get closer to ( or pass) the theatre 24, this might also have its advertisement shown on the display device 4.

-17 -An alternative arrangement is shown in Fig. 4, where elements having like reference numerals indicate like elements to those described above with respect to Fig. 3. In this arrangement, rather than using a search radius centred on the taxi 2, each of the clothes shop 20, electronics shop 22, theatre 24, and kitchenware shop 26 have a respective proximity radius 28a-d. These proximity radii 28a-d are not necessarily the same, e.g. the proximity radius 28b associated with the electronics shop 22 is larger than the others, while the proximity radius 28c associated with the kitchenware shop 26 is smaller than the others.

Based on the proximity radii 28a-d that the taxi 2 is within, appropriate advertisements will be shown. In this example, the taxi 2 is only within the proximity radii 28a, 28b associated with the clothes shop 20 and electronics shop 22 respectively.

While these proximity radii 28a-d are shown as circles in the present embodiment, it will be appreciated that other regular or irregular shapes may be used to create a geo-fence around the various advertisers, i.e. the clothes shop 20, electronics shop 22, theatre 24, and kitchenware shop 26.

As a result, the remote server 10 looks at the available advertising content 33 and determines which selection should be shown based on the cookies 9 and location data 11. When making the decision 36, the remote server 10 reviews the advertising content 33 for locations the proximity radii 28a-d of which currently contain the taxi 2. The remote server 10 determines that the taxi 2 is within the proximity radii 20, 22 of the clothes shop 20 and electronics shop 22. By combining the data relating to the position of the taxi 2 with the browser history characteristic (i.e. the data relating to the browser cookies 9) belonging to the passenger 6, the remote server 10 makes a decision 36 in which it determines that the multimedia content files 15 corresponding to adverts for the clothes shop 20 (which sells the trainers) and the electronics shop 22 (which sells the video game console) should be displayed on the display device 4, and communicates this to the display device 4.

-18 -When the multimedia content 15 is shown on the display device 4, the passenger 6 can provide a user input to an interface 17 to indicate that they liked the advertisement, are interested in learning more, and/or that they would like to receive a special offer voucher or coupon. One example of this is shown in Fig. 5, which is a schematic diagram illustrating such a user input. In this example, the interface 17 is provided on a touchscreen on the display device 4, where the user 6 can tap a touchscreen button 19 to indicate that they like the multimedia content 15 (e.g. the advertisement) displayed on the display device 4.

As outlined above, the interface 17 may be provided on the display device 4 and/or the smartphone 8, where in order to register the user input, the passenger 6 may tap a button, e.g. a touchscreen button 19, provided on the display device 4, or via a suitable touchscreen button shown on their smartphone 8 as appropriate. User inputs made using the user's smartphone 8 are described below with reference to Figs. Sand 9. Where the user input is provided via the smartphone 8, this may be communicated to the multimedia platform immediately, e.g. via a communication link between the smartphone 8 and the remote server 10, or it may be communicated later. In order to 'marry up' the user input to the correct advertisement, a timestamp could be used, providing the platform knows the times at which the different multimedia content was shown during the journey. However, the multimedia content 15 may contain an audio component 'signature', which can be audible or inaudible to humans (e.g. ultrasonic), that can be picked up by the microphone of the smartphone 8 and used to unambiguously determine which multimedia content 15 was playing at the time of the user input.

The information 32 regarding adverts 'liked' by the user may be fed back to the remote server 10. Corresponding data 34 is stored in the advertisements database 13, though it will be appreciated that a separate database could be provided for this purpose. This information 32 regarding liked adverts may also be used alongside the cookies 9 and location data 11 in the decision 36 as to which advertisements are shown to the passenger 6. The interface 17 also sends information 38 regarding the liked advertisements to the user device, i.e. smartphone 8, e.g. so that the passenger 6 can remind themselves of the advertisements they liked at a later time.

-19 -Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a multimedia platform in accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention. Many of the entities and components shown in Fig. 6 correspond in form and function to those described hereinabove in relation to the multimedia platform of Fig. 1, where elements having like reference numerals appended with a prime symbol (I) correspond to elements having the same reference numeral without the prime symbol in Fig. 1.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 6, the user's smartphone 8' transmits the browser history characteristic (i.e. the browser cookies or data derived from the browser cookies) to the display device 4' rather than to the remote server 10'. The smartphone 8' and display device 4' communicate over a short-range wireless communication link 40, e.g. a Bluetoothe, Bluetooth Low Energy®, Wi-Fie, or ZigBee® communication link.

The display device 4' communicates the received browser history characteristic and the location data to the remote server 10' via their shared wireless communication link 16'. The remote server 10' may then determine the multimedia content 15' to be displayed on the screen of the display device 4' as outlined above with respect to Figs. 1 to 3.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a dedicated web browser application 100 running on a smartphone 102 for communication with a multimedia platform 104 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

When the user of the smartphone 102 uses the web browser application 100 to look at websites on the Internet, the browser application 100 stores cookies locally in a database 106, e.g. on a storage device such as a solid state drive (SSD) or hard drive disk (HDD) of the smartphone 102. In this example, the user has been browsing an online shop, and cookies are stored in relation to the items 108 browsed by the user (a handbag, at-shirt, and a pair of jeans), and items that the user has added to their shopping cart or basket 110.

The browser application 100 communicates with the multimedia platform over a wireless communications link 112, e.g. a cellular communications link to a remote server or a short-range communications link to an in-vehicle display device such as -20 -those described above with respect to Figs. 1 and 3 respectively. The web browser transfers the cookies stored in the database 106 to the multimedia platform over the wireless communications link 112. This transfer may occur at regular intervals or on-demand from the multimedia platform 104.

Referring to Fig. 8, when multimedia content is shown on the in-vehicle display device 4, 4', the user may be provided with a GUI element -in this case a touch screen button 114-is shown within an application (e.g. the web browser application 100 or another application) that allows them to provide a user input by tapping the button with their finger 116 to indicate that they like the content, i.e. advertisement, that is being shown on the in-vehicle display device 4, 4'.

An alternative user input is shown in Fig. 9, in which elements having like reference numerals appended with a prime symbol (') correspond to elements having the same reference numeral without the prime symbol in Fig. 8. In this arrangement, an audio signature 119 is played through a loudspeaker 118 of the multimedia platform 104', which is picked up by a microphone 120 of the smartphone 102'. When the user taps the button 114', the audio signature 119 is used to unambiguously determine which multimedia content was playing on the multimedia platform 104' at the time that the user indicated that they liked what they were being shown.

Data messages 122, such as messages that include voucher codes or promotional material, may also be transferred to the smartphone 102 by the multimedia platform via the wireless communications link 112, as shown in Fig. 10. These data messages 122 may be supplied directly to the browser application 100, or could be transmitted to a separate application such as an application dedicated to receiving such data messages 122, or an existing application such as an email application.

In this example, during a taxi journey, the multimedia platform selects to show an advert for a handbag that the user had previously looked at while browsing the Internet, e.g. via the browser application 100 on the smartphone 102. The user has indicated via a user input (see above) that they liked the advert and wish to receive a discount code. This discount code has been transmitted to the user's smartphone -21 -as a data message 122, which in this example is displayed on the screen of the smartphone 102.

It will be appreciated that the features described in relation to each of these specifically described embodiments may readily combine in any suitable combination and/or permutation. For example, the user input and data message features described in relation to Figs. 7 to 10 may apply to any of the multimedia platform systems shown and described with respect to Figs. 1 to 6.

Thus it will be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention provide an in-vehicle multimedia a content platform in which content files may be selected based on a user's browser history and the location of the vehicle. This may be of particular benefit in an advertising context, where advertisements may be shown to a user based on their preferences and the goods and services available in their surrounding area while on a taxi journey.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the embodiments described in detail are not limiting on the scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.

Claims

-22 -Claims 1. A vehicular multimedia platform comprising a display device for displaying multimedia content to a user within a vehicle, the platform being arranged to: receive a browser history characteristic associated with the user; determine a physical location of the vehicle; select at least one of a plurality of multimedia content files based on the browser history characteristic and the physical location of the vehicle; and display the selected multimedia content file(s) on the display device.
2. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in claim 1, wherein the browser history characteristic comprises one or more cookies and/or a user profile derived from said one or more cookies.
3. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the browser history characteristic is provided by an external device, optionally wherein the external device comprises a portable electronic device.
4. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising a receiver module arranged to receive the browser history characteristic from the external device, optionally wherein the display device comprises the receiver module.
5. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in any preceding claim, arranged to receive the browser history characteristic from an external server arranged to store the browser history characteristic.
6. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in claim 5, wherein the external server is arranged to receive a user identifier and to retrieve a stored browser history characteristic associated with the user identifier, wherein said retrieved browser history characteristic is the browser history characteristic used in the selection of the multimedia content to be displayed on the display device.
7. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in claim 6, arranged to determine the user identifier from a identifier transmitted by an external device.
-23 - 8. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in claim 6 or 7, arranged to receive a booking request comprising the user identifier.
9. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a positioning module arranged to determine the physical location of the vehicle.
10. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a browser application for an external device, wherein said browser application monitors a browsing activity of the user and stores said browsing activity as the browser history characteristic.
11. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the multimedia content file(s) comprise images and/or videos.
12. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in any preceding claim, arranged to receive a user input associated with the selected multimedia content, optionally wherein the multimedia platform is arranged to store said user input.
13. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in claim 12, wherein the user input is provided by interacting with a graphical user interface (GUI) element, optionally wherein the GUI element is displayed on the display device and/or wherein an instruction is sent to display the GUI element on an external device.
14. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in any preceding claim, arranged to transmit a location message associated with the multimedia content to an external device, optionally wherein the location message is sent in response to a user input on the display screen and/or on an external device.
15. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in any preceding claim, arranged to transmit a data message associated with the multimedia content to an external device.
-24 - 16. The vehicular multimedia platform as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein each multimedia content file comprises an audio signature signal unique to said multimedia content file, wherein a user input comprises recording said audio signature signal on an external device.
17. A method of displaying multimedia content on a display device of a vehicle to a user within the vehicle, the method comprising: receiving a browser history characteristic associated with the user; determining a physical location of the vehicle; selecting at least one of a plurality of multimedia content files based on the browser history characteristic and the physical location of the vehicle; and displaying the selected multimedia content file(s) on the display device.
18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to carry out a method of displaying multimedia content on a display device of a vehicle to a user within the vehicle, the method comprising: receiving a browser history characteristic associated with the user; determining a physical location of the vehicle; selecting at least one of a plurality of multimedia content files based on the browser history characteristic and the physical location of the vehicle; and displaying the selected multimedia content file(s) on the display device.
19. A method of operating an electronic device, the method comprising: providing a browser application on said electronic device to browse a website; monitoring a browsing activity of a user and storing said browsing activity as a browser history characteristic; and transmitting said browser history characteristic to a remote device arranged to use said browser history characteristic and a physical location of a vehicle to select a multimedia content file to be displayed on a display device in said vehicle.
20. An electronic device arranged to communicate with an external multimedia content platform, said electronic device being arranged to: provide a browser application on said electronic device to browse a website; -25 -monitor a browsing activity of a user and store said browsing activity as a browser history characteristic; and transmit said browser history characteristic to the external multimedia content platform that is arranged to use said browser history characteristic and a physical location of a vehicle to select a multimedia content file to be displayed on a display device in said vehicle.
21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on a processor, cause the processor to carry out a method of operating an electronic device, the method comprising: providing a browser application on said electronic device to browse a website; monitoring a browsing activity of a user and storing said browsing activity as a browser history characteristic; and transmitting said browser history characteristic to a remote device arranged to use said browser history characteristic and a physical location of a vehicle to select a multimedia content file to be displayed on a display device in said vehicle.