WO2020165886A1

WO2020165886A1 - Intelligent travel planning system to maximize travel experience by managing constraints and optimizing redundancy

Info

Publication number: WO2020165886A1
Application number: PCT/IB2020/052574
Authority: WO
Inventors: Purav Shah; Mahesh Gadhvi; Veera Raghavan; Akshay Avasthi
Original assignee: Quaqua Experiences Pvt. Ltd.
Priority date: 2019-02-13
Filing date: 2020-03-20
Publication date: 2020-08-20

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards an intelligent travel planning system to maximize travel experience by managing constraints and optimizing redundancy. The intelligent travel planning system comprising a computing device 108 configured to create one or more travel itineraries by an itinerary planning module 112, the itinerary planning module 112 is configured to align the one or more travel itineraries based on predetermined parameters, and a cloud server 104 is configured to store the one or more travel itineraries and transmit the one or more travel itineraries to a wearable device 102 over a network 106, the itinerary planning module 112 is configured to predict the one or more travel itineraries based on the predetermined parameters in real-time and thereby change the one or more travel itineraries to maximize the user experience.

Description

“INTELLIGENT TRAVEL PLANNING SYSTEM TO MAXIMIZE TRAVEL

EXPERIENCE BY MANAGING CONSTRAINTS AND OPTIMIZING

REDUNDANCY”

TECHNICAL FIELD

[001] The disclosed subject matter relates generally to system for creating personalized travel itineraries. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a computer-implemented methods and intelligent travel planning system to maximize travel experience by managing constraints and optimizing redundancy.

BACKGROUND

[002] Generally, the planning for upcoming travelling trips includes arrangements for hotels, car rentals, maps, air, train and bus travel and area attractions, such as local tours, theater, restaurants, clubs, museums, festivals, parks, entertainment, gardens and any attraction that can be imagined to be of the user interest. End-to-end travelling stage of the users is long and requires an effort to generate a positive experience. Many users are overwhelmed by the choices they have when it comes to research and planning for travelling trips.

[003] Conventionally, the users depend on the travel books, personal travel blogs/vlogs, social media channels, and a combination of online resources and services such as travel guides, crowd-sourced reviews, tourism sites, human intelligence, map services and inspiration options without any prior knowledge about the destinations for a travel itinerary. The persona of the user has different goals and constraints in different travel trips. For example, the user wants to travel a city for a business with constraint of time and want to spend covering famous point of interest during the day time, Later in a year the user wants to travel for a family vacation with constraint of family point of interest, and during the end of the year the user wants to travel with a group of friends to celebrate his business success. Despite thorough planning of the travelling trip, on the ground situation could force people to change 40-60% of the travel itinerary. Hence, people should change the travel itinerary considering on the ground situation. The change in the travel itinerary could arise from external constraints like bad weather, flight delays, local events etc. or from self-constraints like a medical condition, personal preferences etc. The planning and creating the travel itineraries is difficult, time-consuming and confusing for a user because of the above- mentioned challenges.

[004] However, various challenges still exist such as, for example, creating a virtual travel itinerary for the user. Therefore, an intuitive system is needed to create personalized travel itineraries and to manage the travel guide programmatically for the user.

[005] In the light of the aforementioned discussion, there exists a need for a certain system with novel methodologies that would overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages.

SUMMARY

[006] The following presents a simplified summary of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of the reader. This summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure and it does not identify key/critical elements of the invention or delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts disclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[007] An objective of the present disclosure is directed towards creating a virtual reality travel itinerary to the user.

[008] Another objective of the present disclosure is directed towards managing constraints of traveler in every phase of travel, inspiration, research, planning, booking, on travel, and post travel.

[009] Another objective of the present disclosure is directed towards creating personalized virtual reality travel itineraries to maximize the experience of the user in a trip.

[0010] Another objective of the present disclosure is directed towards providing the customized trail based on the user geographical location. [0011] Another objective of the present disclosure is directed towards providing an end-to- end travel phase of travel itineraries.

[0012] According to an exemplary aspect, a system for creating personalized travel itineraries to the users comprising a computing device configured to create one or more travel itineraries by an itinerary planning module.

[0013] According to another exemplary aspect, the itinerary planning module is configured to align the one or more travel itineraries based on predetermined parameters.

[0014] According to another exemplary aspect, the system comprising a cloud server is configured to store the one or more travel itineraries and transmit the one or more travel itineraries to a wearable device over a network.

[0015] According to another exemplary aspect, the itinerary planning module is configured to predict the one or more travel itineraries based on the predetermined parameters in real-time and thereby change the one or more travel itineraries to maximize the user experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting an intelligent travel planning system to maximize travel experience by managing constraints and optimizing redundancy, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting a schematic representation of itinerary planning module 112 shown in FIG. 1, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting an exemplary method for creating the virtual reality travel itineraries to the users, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

[0019] FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting an exemplary method for recommending best travel itineraries to the users, in accordance with one or more embodiments. [0020] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the details of digital processing system in which various aspects of the present disclosure are operative by execution of appropriate software instructions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

[0021] It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The present disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

[0022] The use of “including”,“comprising” or“having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. The terms“a” and“an” herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item. Further, the use of terms“first”,“second”, and“third”, and the like, herein do not denote any order, quantity, or importance, but rather are used to distinguish one element from another.

[0023] Referring to FIG. 1 is a block diagram 100 depicting an example environment in which aspects of the present disclosure can be implemented. Specifically, FIG. 1 depicting a schematic representation of an intelligent travel planning system to maximize travel experience by managing constraints and optimizing redundancy, in accordance with one or more embodiments. The system 100 depicts a wearable device 102, a cloud server 104, a network 106, and a computing device 108. The system 100 provides the experience of the mixed reality and virtual reality experience together or distinct. The system 100 for managing the constraints while experiencing the itinerary, and improvising on itineraries based on‘As- is’ situation and‘to-be’ situation on the ground. The computing device 108 may include an itinerary planning module 112 which is accessed as mobile applications, web applications, software that offers the functionality of accessing mobile applications, and viewing/processing of interactive pages, for example, are implemented in the computing device 108 as will be apparent to one skilled in the relevant arts by reading the disclosure provided herein. The computing device 108 may include, but not limited to, a computer workstation, an interactive kiosk, and a personal mobile computing device such as a digital assistant, a mobile phone, a laptop, and storage devices, backend servers hosting database and other software and the like. The wearable device 102 may be worn by the user to acquire the mixed reality and/or virtual reality experience. The wearable device 102 may include but not limited to, a head-mounted display, a virtual reality headset, and so forth. The user may include but not limited to an individual, a remote user, a person, a group, a tourist, a traveler, a vacationer, influencers, local champions and so forth.

[0024] The itinerary planning module 112 may be configured to analyze the user intent and create a user profile. The computing device 108 may be configured to create travel itineraries by an itinerary planning module 112, the itinerary planning module 112 may be configured to align the travel itineraries based on predetermined parameters and also minimizes the impact of real-time constraints and the created one or more travel itineraries are stored in the cloud server 104. The predetermined parameters may include but not limited to, user intent (for example, market research, user research, user engagement, user performance, user ratings and reviews), user content (for example, user profile and preferences, user past engagements, historical data of users, crowd-sourced content, live camera content, drone shots, weather data and live traffic data), and so forth. The cloud server 104 may be configured to store the travel itineraries and transmit the travel itineraries to the wearable device 102 over the network 106. The itinerary planning module 112 may be configured to predict the travel itineraries based on the predetermined parameters in real-time and thereby change the travel itineraries to maximize the user experience. The user may select the virtual travel itineraries and then the itinerary planning module 112executes the selected virtual reality travel itinerary to the user. The itinerary planning module 112 may also be configured to retrieve the user content stored in the cloud server 104 via the network 106. The cloud server 104 here may be referred to a cloud or a physical server located in a remote location and transmits the personalized travel itineraries to the computing device 108 through the network 106.

[0025] The network 106 may include but not limited to, an Internet of things (IoT network devices), an Ethernet, a wireless local area network (WLAN), or a wide area network (WAN), a Bluetooth low energy network, a ZigBee network, a WIFI communication network e.g., the wireless high speed internet, or a combination of networks, a cellular service such as a 4G (e.g., LTE, mobile WiMAX) or 5G cellular data service, a RFID module, a NFC module, wired cables, such as the world-wide-web based Internet, or other types of networks may include Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) or device addresses (e.g. network-based MAC addresses, or those provided in a proprietary networking protocol, such as Modbus TCP, or by using appropriate data feeds to obtain data from various web services, including retrieving XML data from an HTTP address, then traversing the XML for a particular node) and so forth without limiting the scope of the present disclosure.

[0026] Referring to FIG. 2 is a block diagram 200 depicting a schematic representation of itinerary planning module 112 shown in FIG. 1, in accordance with one or more embodiments. The itinerary planning module 112 includes a bus 201, a data management module 202, a content management module 204, a constraint management module 206, a recommendation module 208, a booking management module 210, an execution module 212 and a central database 214. The bus 201 may include a path that permits communication among the modules of the itinerary planning module 112. The data management module 202 may be configured to define personas of target group and the intent of users. The data management module 202 may be configured to request users to share the travel stories/itineraries. The data management module 202 may also be configured to capture the recommended travel itineraries from the users. The travel itineraries may include but not limited to, persona, intent, duration, budget, origin, destinations, and so forth. The data management module 202 may be configured to update the user profile and preferences, user past engagements, historical data of the users. The data management module 202 may also be configured to understand the user intent and creates the user profile. The content management module 204 may be configured to obtain the user content from the computing device 108 via the network 106. The constraint management module 206 may be configured to define the value of travel itinerary to the selected persona with the defined user intent by considering the data from the users. The constraint management module 206 may be configured to adjust the personalized travel itineraries by applying a theory of constraints technique to manage the constraints arising through multiple factors and to minimize the impact of user constraints on the available virtual reality travel itineraries. The user constraints may include but not limited to, persona, intent, time, budget, bad weather, flight delays, and local events or from self constraints like a medical condition, personal preferences, and so forth. The recommendation module 208 may be configured to provide a rating for the available travel itineraries based on the user profile. The recommendation module 208 may be configured to recommend virtual reality travel itinerary for the destinations which have highest user constraints. The booking management module 210 may be configured to finalize the travel itineraries and automatically book the best value tickets. The booking management module 210 may be configured to manage the booking transactions of the finalized travel itineraries to the user. The booking transactions may include but not limited to, net banking, mobile banking, and so forth. The execution module 212 may be configured to manage the uncertainty in the execution of recommended virtual reality travel itinerary to filter the point of interests by applying the fuzzy logic technique. The execution module 212 may be configured to capture the uncertainty during the execution of recommended virtual reality travel itinerary. The uncertainty may include but not limited to, the weather data, live traffic data, current time, geographical location, and so forth. The computing device 108 and live cameras (not shown) may be configured to capture the uncertainty. The execution module 212 may be configured to predict the number of users on the point of interest. The execution module 212 may also be configured to change the travel itinerary when required to maximize the user experience. The central database 214 may be configured to store the user profile, travel itineraries, booking transactions, user constraints, uncertainty, and so forth.

[0027] Referring to FIG. 3 is a flowchart 300 depicting an exemplary method for creating the virtual reality travel itineraries, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments. As an option, the method 300 is carried out in the context of the details of FIG. 1 , and FIG. 2. Flowever, the method 300 is carried out in any desired environment. Further, the aforementioned definitions are equally applied to the description below.

[0028] The exemplary method 300 commences at step 302, analyzing the user intent and creating the user profile by the data management module. Thereafter, at step 304, recommending the virtual reality travel itineraries by the recommendation module. Thereafter, at step 306, identifying the user intent and applying the theory of constraints technique by the constraint management module to minimize the impact of user constraints on the available virtual reality travel itineraries. Thereafter, at step 308, selecting the appropriate virtual reality travel itinerary by the user and storing the itinerary in the user profile. Thereafter, at step 310, executing the selected virtual reality travel itinerary to the user. Determining whether uncertainty arises during executing the virtual reality travel itinerary, at step 312. If the answer to the step 312 is YES, capturing the uncertainty through the computing devices and drones, at step 314. Thereafter at step 316, managing the uncertainty in the execution of recommended virtual reality travel itinerary by applying the fuzzy logic technique to handle the uncertainty. Thereafter at step 318, adjusting the virtual reality travel itinerary to minimize the impact of uncertainty. If the answer to the step 312 is NO, then the method continues to step 310.

[0029] Referring to FIG. 4 is a flowchart 400 depicting an exemplary method for recommending the best travel itineraries to the users, in accordance with one or more exemplary embodiments. As an option, the method 400 is carried out in the context of the details of FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.3. Flowever, the method 400 is carried out in any desired environment. Further, the aforementioned definitions are equally applied to the description below.

[0030] The exemplary method 400 commences at step 402, creating the user profile by analyzing the intent of the user. Thereafter at step 404, recommending the virtual reality travel itineraries to the user. Thereafter at step 406, measuring the past recommendation response to recommend the virtual reality travel itineraries. Thereafter at step 408, recalibrating the ranking of the recommended virtual reality travel itineraries. Thereafter at step 410, identifying the user constraints and applying the theory of constraints technique to minimize the impact of user constraints on the available virtual reality travel itineraries. Thereafter at step 412, applying the fuzzy logic technique to handle the uncertainty. Thereafter, at step 414, recommending the best virtual reality travel itineraries to the user.

[0031] Referring to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a block diagram 500 illustrating the details of a digital processing system 500 in which various aspects of the present disclosure are operative by execution of appropriate software instructions. The Digital processing system 500 may correspond to the computing devices 108 (or any other system in which the various features disclosed above can be implemented).

[0032] Digital processing system 500 may contain one or more processors such as a central processing unit (CPU) 510, random access memory (RAM) 520, secondary memory 527, graphics controller 560, display unit 570, network interface 580, and input interface 590. All the components except display unit 570 may communicate with each other over communication path 550, which may contain several buses as is well known in the relevant arts. The components of Figure 8 are described below in further detail.

[0033] CPU 510 may execute instructions stored in RAM 520 to provide several features of the present disclosure. CPU 510 may contain multiple processing units, with each processing unit potentially being designed for a specific task. Alternatively, CPU 510 may contain only a single general-purpose processing unit.

[0034] RAM 520 may receive instructions from secondary memory 530 using communication path 550. RAM 520 is shown currently containing software instructions, such as those used in threads and stacks, constituting shared environment 525 and/or user programs 526. Shared environment 525 includes operating systems, device drivers, virtual machines, etc., which provide a (common) run time environment for execution of user programs 526.

[0035] Graphics controller 560 generates display signals (e.g., in RGB format) to display unit 570 based on data/instructions received from CPU 510. Display unit 570 contains a display screen to display the images defined by the display signals. Input interface 590 may correspond to a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., touch-pad, mouse) and may be used to provide inputs. Network interface 580 provides connectivity to a network (e.g., using Internet Protocol), and may be used to communicate with other systems (such as those shown in Figure 1) connected to the network 106.

[0036] Secondary memory 530 may contain hard drive 535, flash memory 536, and removable storage drive 537. Secondary memory 530 may store the data software instructions (e.g., for performing the actions noted above with respect to the Figures), which enable digital processing system 500 to provide several features in accordance with the present disclosure.

[0037] Some or all of the data and instructions may be provided on removable storage unit 540, and the data and instructions may be read and provided by removable storage drive 537 to CPU 510. Floppy drive, magnetic tape drive, CD-ROM drive, DVD Drive, Flash memory, removable memory chip (PCMCIA Card, EEPROM) are examples of such removable storage drive 537.

[0038] Removable storage unit 540 may be implemented using medium and storage format compatible with removable storage drive 537 such that removable storage drive 537 can read the data and instructions. Thus, removable storage unit 540 includes a computer readable (storage) medium having stored therein computer software and/or data. However, the computer (or machine, in general) readable medium can be in other forms (e.g., non removable, random access, etc.).

[0039] In this document, the term "computer program product" is used to generally refer to removable storage unit 540 or hard disk installed in hard drive 535. These computer program products are means for providing software to digital processing system 500. CPU 510 may retrieve the software instructions, and execute the instructions to provide various features of the present disclosure described above.

[0040] The term“storage media/medium” as used herein refers to any non-transitory media that store data and/or instructions that cause a machine to operate in a specific fashion. Such storage media may comprise non-volatile media and/or volatile media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical disks, magnetic disks, or solid-state drives, such as storage memory 530. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as RAM 520. Common forms of storage media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, solid-state drive, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic data storage medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical data storage medium, any physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, NVRAM, any other memory chip or cartridge.

[0041] Storage media is distinct from but may be used in conjunction with transmission media. Transmission media participates in transferring information between storage media. For example, transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus (communication path) 550. Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications. [0042] Reference throughout this specification to“one embodiment”,“an embodiment”, or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in one embodiment”,“in an embodiment” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

[0043] Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics of the disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the above description, numerous specific details are provided such as examples of programming, software modules, user selections, network transactions, database queries, database structures, hardware modules, hardware circuits, hardware chips, etc., to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the disclosure.

[0044] Although the present disclosure has been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments and illustrations thereof, other embodiments and modifications to preferred embodiments may be possible that are within the principles and spirit of the invention. The above descriptions and figures are therefore to be regarded as illustrative and not restrictive.

[0045] Thus the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims and includes both combinations and sub-combinations of the various features described hereinabove as well as variations and modifications thereof, which would occur to persons skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description.

Claims

CLAIMS We Claim:

1. An intelligent travel planning system to maximize travel experience by managing constraints and optimizing redundancy, comprising: a computing device 108 is configured to create one or more travel itineraries by an itinerary planning module 112, whereby the itinerary planning module 112 is configured to align the one or more travel itineraries based on predetermined parameters; and a cloud server 104 is configured to store the one or more travel itineraries and transmit the one or more travel itineraries to a wearable device 102 over a network 106, the itinerary planning module 112 is configured to predict the one or more travel itineraries based on the predetermined parameters in real-time and thereby change the one or more travel itineraries to maximize the user experience.

2. The intelligent travel planning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the itinerary planning module 112 comprises a data management module 202 configured to understand the intent of the user and create the user profile.

3. The intelligent travel planning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the itinerary planning module 112 comprises a content management module 204 configured to obtain the user content from the computing device 108 via the network 106.

4. The intelligent travel planning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the itinerary planning module 112 comprises a constraint management module 206 configured to apply a theory of constraints technique based on the user constraints to refine the recommendation of travel itineraries.

5. The intelligent travel planning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the itinerary planning module 112 comprises a recommendation module 208 configured to recommend a virtual reality travel itinerary for the destinations which have highest user constraints.

6. The intelligent travel planning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the itinerary planning module 112 comprises a booking management module 210 configured to finalize the travel itineraries and automatically book the best value tickets.

7. The intelligent travel planning system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the booking management module 210 is also configured to manage the booking transactions of the finalized travel itineraries of the user.

8. The intelligent travel planning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the itinerary planning module 112 comprises an execution module 212 configured to manage the uncertainty in the execution of recommended virtual reality travel itinerary by applying a fuzzy logic technique.

9. The intelligent travel planning system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the execution module 212 is further configured to capture the uncertainty during the execution of recommended virtual reality travel itinerary.

10. The intelligent travel planning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the itinerary planning module 112 comprises a central database 214 configured to store the user profile, travel itineraries, booking transactions, user constraints, and uncertainty.

11. A method for maximi e travel experience by managing constraints and optimizing redundancy, comprising: analyzing a user intent and creating a user profile by an itinerary planning module 112; identifying real-time constraints and creating one or more travel itineraries by an itinerary planning module 112, whereby the itinerary planning module 112 is configured to align the created one or more travel itineraries and also minimizes the impact of real-time constraints and the created one or more travel itineraries are stored in a cloud server 104; predicting the one or more travel itineraries based on predetermined parameters in real-time and thereby changing the one or more travel itineraries to maximize the user experience by the itinerary planning module 112; selecting one or more virtual reality travel itineraries by a user; and executing the selected one or more virtual reality travel itineraries to the user.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the one or more travel itineraries are transmitted to a wearable device 102 from the cloud server 104 over a network 106.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the itinerary planning module 112 measures the past recommendation response to recommend the virtual reality travel itineraries to the user.

14. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the itinerary planning module 112 recalibrates the ranking of the recommended virtual reality travel itineraries.

15. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the itinerary planning module 112 applies a fuzzy logic technique to handle the uncertainty.

16. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer-readable program code embodied therein to be executed by one or more processors, the program code including instructions to: analyze a user intent and creating a user profile by an itinerary planning module 112; identify real-time constraints and create one or more travel itineraries by an itinerary planning module 112, whereby the itinerary planning module 112 is configured to align the created one or more travel itineraries and also minimizes the impact of real-time constraints and the created one or more travel itineraries are stored in a cloud server 104; predict the one or more travel itineraries based on predetermined parameters in real-time and thereby change the one or more travel itineraries to maximize the user experience by the itinerary planning module 112; select the created one or more virtual reality travel itineraries by a user; and execute the selected virtual reality travel itinerary to the user.