초록 ▼

Techniques are described for providing location-based information and functionality to people and computing devices in various ways. In at least some situations, the techniques include enabling multiple people in a common geographic area to interact in various ways, such as via devices capable of co

Techniques are described for providing location-based information and functionality to people and computing devices in various ways. In at least some situations, the techniques include enabling multiple people in a common geographic area to interact in various ways, such as via devices capable of communications (e.g., cellular telephones, computing devices with wired and/or wireless communications capabilities, etc.). In addition, the techniques include enabling the creation and maintenance of location-based virtual groups of users (also referred to as “clouds”), such as for users of mobile and/or fixed-location devices. Such clouds may enable various types of interactions between group members, and may be temporary and/or mobile.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A computer-implemented method for providing functionality based on location-based virtual groups of users of mobile devices, the method comprising: creating multiple temporary location-based virtual groups of users of mobile devices, the creating of the multiple temporary loc

What is claimed is: 1. A computer-implemented method for providing functionality based on location-based virtual groups of users of mobile devices, the method comprising: creating multiple temporary location-based virtual groups of users of mobile devices, the creating of the multiple temporary location-based virtual groups being performed by one or more programmed computing systems and including, for each of the virtual groups, receiving information from a user to define the virtual group, the received information including an anchor point with a geographic location around which a geographic area of the virtual group is centered, termination criteria indicating when the temporary virtual group will end, and user interaction rules that specify types of actions that users who are part of the virtual group may take; receiving requests from multiple users to join the virtual group, each of the users having a mobile communication-capable device that provides information regarding a current geographic location of the user; and for each of the received requests from the multiple users, determining whether to admit the user to the virtual group based at least in part on the current geographic location of the user being within the geographic area of the virtual group; and for each of the created virtual groups of users, automatically providing functionality to the users of the virtual group in accordance with the user interaction rules of the virtual group based at least in part on enabling communications between the mobile communication-capable devices of the users of the virtual group, the automatic providing of the functionality to the users of each of the created virtual groups being performed by at least one of the one or more programmed computing systems. 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more programmed computing systems include a central server computing system, and wherein, for each of at least one of the location-based virtual groups, the determining of whether to admit a user to the virtual group is performed automatically by the central server computing system based at least in part on determining whether the user satisfies admission criteria specified for the virtual group. 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more programmed computing systems include a central server computing system, and wherein, for each of at least one of the location-based virtual groups, the determining of whether to admit a user to the virtual group is performed automatically by the central server computing system based at least in part on gathering and aggregating votes from other users who are part of the virtual group regarding whether to admit the user. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein, for each of at least one of the location-based virtual groups, the location-based virtual group is a mobile cloud such that the geographic location of the anchor point of the mobile cloud changes and the geographic area of the mobile cloud changes in response to the changes in the geographic location of the anchor point. 5. The method of claim 4 wherein the anchor point of each of the at least one virtual groups is at least one of one or more people, an entity, and one or more physical objects. 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising, for each of at least one of the temporary location-based virtual groups, automatically determining that the termination criteria for the temporary virtual group is satisfied and in response terminating the temporary virtual group such that at least some functionality for the temporary virtual group is no longer available to the users of the temporary virtual group. 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more programmed computing systems include a central server computing system, and wherein the method further comprises, for each of multiple mobile communication-capable devices and under control of the mobile communication-capable device, receiving instructions from a user of the mobile communication-capable device regarding participation in one or more of the temporary location-based virtual groups, and in response communicating with the central server computing system to effect the participation in the one or more virtual groups. 8. The method of claim 1 further comprising: receiving definition information for an additional location-based virtual group of users that indicates a geographic area of the additional virtual group; selecting multiple additional users to participate in the additional virtual group, each of the additional users having a mobile communication-capable device; and automatically enabling communications between the mobile communication-capable devices of the additional users of the additional virtual group. 9. The method of claim 8 wherein the additional virtual group does not have any specified end time. 10. The method of claim 9 further comprising terminating the additional virtual group in response to instructions received from one or more users who are each one of the multiple additional users participating in the additional virtual group. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the one or more users are a single user that is an administrator user for the additional virtual group. 12. The method of claim 8 wherein the received definition information for the additional virtual group indicates a specified end time, and wherein the method further comprises terminating the additional virtual group in response to the specified end time being reached. 13. The method of claim 8 further comprising, while the multiple additional users are participating in the additional virtual group, modifying the geographic area of the additional virtual group. 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the geographic area of the additional virtual group is based on at least one anchor point for the additional virtual group, and wherein the modifying of the geographic area of the additional virtual group is based on changes in a geographic location of the at least one anchor point. 15. The method of claim 14 wherein the at least one anchor point includes multiple business locations, and wherein the changes in the geographic location of the at least one anchor point are based on a modification of which business locations are included in the at least one anchor point. 16. The method of claim 13 wherein the modifying of the geographic area of the additional virtual group is based on instructions received from one or more users who are each one of the multiple additional users participating in the additional virtual group. 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the one or more users are a single user that is an administrator user for the additional virtual group. 18. The method of claim 13 further comprising automatically updating the users who participate in the additional virtual group based on the modified geographic area of the additional virtual group. 19. The method of claim 18 wherein the selecting of the multiple additional users to participate in the additional virtual group is based at least in part on geographic locations of the users being within the geographic area of the additional virtual group, wherein the mobile communication-capable device of each of the multiple additional users provides information regarding the geographic location of the user, and wherein the automatic updating of the users who participate in the additional virtual group includes at least one of selecting one or more new users to participate in the additional virtual group based at least in part on the new users being in the modified geographic area of the additional virtual group and of selecting one or more of the existing multiple additional users to no longer participate in the additional virtual group based at least in part on the selected existing users not being in the modified geographic area of the additional virtual group. 20. The method of claim 8 wherein the selecting of the multiple additional users to participate in the additional virtual group includes automatically determining that the multiple additional users are eligible to participate in the additional virtual group, and taking one or more actions to initiate admission of the multiple additional users to the additional virtual group. 21. The method of claim 8 wherein the selecting of each of the multiple additional users to participate in the additional virtual group is based at least in part on an indicated geographic location of the additional user at a time of the selecting. 22. The method of claim 21 wherein, for at least one of the multiple additional users, the indicated geographic location of the additional user at the time of the selecting is a geographic location specified by the additional user. 23. The method of claim 22 wherein the geographic location specified by each of one or more of the at least one additional users is a geographic location distinct from an actual current geographic location of the additional user. 24. The method of claim 22 wherein the geographic location specified by each of one or more of the at least one additional users is a geographic location at which the additional user expects to be located at a future time. 25. The method of claim 24 wherein, for each of the one or more additional users, the future time is specified by the additional user, and at least one of the selecting of the additional user to participate in the additional virtual group and of the automatic enabling of communications involving the mobile communication-capable device of the additional user are performed in a manner based at least in part on the user-specified future time. 26. The method of claim 8 further comprising, for each of one or more of the multiple additional users, providing information to the mobile communication-capable device of the additional user regarding multiple selected location-based virtual groups that include the additional virtual group and that include at least one of the created temporary location-based virtual groups. 27. The method of claim 26 wherein the information is provided to the mobile communication-capable device of each of the one or more additional users as part of search results in response to a query from the additional user. 28. The method of claim 26 wherein the information is provided to the mobile communication-capable device of each of the one or more additional users as part of a graphical map for display to the additional user on the mobile communication-capable device. 29. The method of claim 28 wherein the map displayed to one of the one or more additional users is part of a graphical user interface provided to the one additional user to enable participation in one or more virtual groups. 30. The method of claim 26 wherein one of the one or more additional users is simultaneously participating in each of the multiple selected location-based virtual groups. 31. The method of claim 26 wherein the multiple selected location-based virtual groups indicated in the information provided to the mobile communication-capable device of one of the one or more additional users are virtual groups whose geographic areas are within a specified distance of an indicated geographic location. 32. The method of claim 26 wherein two or more of the multiple selected location-based virtual groups indicated in the information provided to the mobile communication-capable device of one of the one or more additional users having overlapping associated geographic areas, the overlapping associated geographic areas including at least one common geographic location in an overlap portion of the overlapping associated geographic areas. 33. The method of claim 8 wherein the definition information for the additional virtual group is received from an administrator user for the additional virtual group, and wherein the administrator user represents a commercial entity that provides services to the multiple additional users via the additional virtual group. 34. The method of claim 8 wherein the automatic enabling of the communications between the mobile communication-capable devices of the additional users is performed by at least one of the one or more programmed computing systems, the at least one programmed computing system being provided by a commercial entity that provides services to the multiple additional users via the additional virtual group. 35. The method of claim 8 wherein the additional virtual group is an ad hoc cloud, and wherein the definition information is received based at least in part on information from the mobile communication-capable devices of one or more of the multiple additional users. 36. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more programmed computing systems include one or more central server computing systems distinct from the mobile communication-capable devices of the multiple users. 37. The method of claim 36 further comprising, for each of the mobile communication-capable devices of the multiple users and under control of that mobile communication-capable device, receiving instructions from the user of the mobile communication-capable device regarding participation in one or more of the crated multiple temporary location-based virtual groups, and in response communicating with the one or more central server computing systems to effect the participation. 38. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more programmed computing systems include one or more of the mobile communication-capable devices of the multiple users. 39. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose stored contents include instructions that when executed configure a computing system to provide functionality based on location-based virtual groups of users of mobile devices, by performing a method comprising: creating multiple temporary location-based virtual groups of users of mobile devices, the creating of the multiple temporary location-based virtual groups being performed by the configured computing system and including, for each of the virtual groups, receiving information from a user to define the virtual group, the received information including an anchor point with a geographic location around which a geographic area of the virtual group is centered, termination criteria indicating when the temporary virtual group will end, and user interaction rules that specify types of actions that users who are part of the virtual group may take; receiving requests from multiple users to join the virtual group, each of the users having a mobile communication-capable device that provides information regarding a current geographic location of the user; and for each of the received requests from the multiple users, determining whether to admit the user to the virtual group based at least in part on the current geographic location of the user being within the geographic area of the virtual group; and for each of the created virtual groups of users, automatically providing functionality to the users of the virtual group in accordance with the user interaction rules of the virtual group based at least in part on enabling communications between the mobile communication-capable devices of the users of the virtual group, the automatic providing of the functionality to the users of each of the created virtual groups being performed by the configured computing system. 40. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 39 wherein the configured computing system includes a central server computing system, and wherein, for each of at least one of the location-based virtual groups, the determining of whether to admit a user to the virtual group is performed automatically by the central server computing system based at least in part on determining whether the user satisfies admission criteria specified for the virtual group. 41. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 39 wherein the configured computing system includes a central server computing system, and wherein, for each of at least one of the location-based virtual groups, the determining of whether to admit a user to the virtual group is performed automatically by the, central server computing system based at least in part on gathering and aggregating votes from other users who are part of the virtual group regarding whether to admit the user. 42. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 39 wherein, for each of at least one of the location-based virtual groups, the location-based virtual group is a mobile cloud such that the geographic location of the anchor point of the mobile cloud changes and the geographic area of the mobile cloud changes in response to the changes in the geographic location of the anchor point. 43. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 42 wherein the anchor point of each of the at least one virtual groups is at least one of one or more people, an entity, and one or more physical objects. 44. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 39 wherein the method further comprises, for each of at least one of the temporary location-based virtual groups, automatically determining that the termination criteria for the temporary virtual group is satisfied and in response terminating the temporary virtual group such that at least some functionality for the temporary virtual group is no longer available to the users of the temporary virtual group. 45. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 39 wherein the configured computing system includes a central server computing system, and wherein the method further comprises, for each of multiple mobile communication-capable devices and under control of the mobile communication-capable device, receiving instructions from a user of the mobile communication-capable device regarding participation in one or more of the temporary location-based virtual groups, and in response communicating with the central server computing system to effect the participation in the one or more virtual groups. 46. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 39 wherein the method further comprises: receiving definition information for an additional location-based virtual group of users that indicates a geographic area of the additional virtual group; selecting multiple additional users to participate in the additional virtual group, each of the additional users having a mobile communication-capable device; and automatically enabling communications between the mobile communication-capable devices of the additional users of the additional virtual group. 47. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein the additional virtual group does not have any specified end time. 48. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 47 wherein the method further comprises terminating the additional virtual group in response to instructions received from one or more users who are each one of the multiple additional users participating in the additional virtual group. 49. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein the method further comprises, while the multiple additional users are participating in the additional virtual group, modifying the geographic area of the additional virtual group. 50. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 49 wherein the geographic area of the additional virtual group is based on at least one anchor point for the additional virtual group, wherein the at least one anchor point includes multiple business locations, and wherein the modifying of the geographic area of the additional virtual group is based on a modification of which business locations are included in the at least one anchor point. 51. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 49 wherein the modifying of the geographic area of the additional virtual group is based on instructions received from one or more users who are each one of the multiple additional users participating in the additional virtual group. 52. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein the selecting of each of the multiple additional users to participate in the additional virtual group is based at least in part on an indicated geographic location of the additional user at a time of the selecting. 53. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 52 wherein, for at least one of the multiple additional users, the indicated geographic location of the additional user at the time of the selecting is a geographic location specified by the additional user, and wherein the geographic location specified by each of one or more of the at least one additional users is a geographic location distinct from an actual current geographic location of the additional user. 54. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 52 wherein, for at least one of the multiple additional users, the indicated geographic location of the additional user at the time of the selecting is a geographic location specified by the additional user, and wherein the geographic location specified by each of one or more of the at least one additional users is a geographic location at which the additional user expects to be located at a future time. 55. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein the method further comprises, for each of one or more of the multiple additional users, providing information to the mobile communication-capable device of the additional user regarding multiple selected location-based virtual groups that include the additional virtual group and that include at least one of the created temporary location-based virtual groups. 56. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 55 wherein one of the one or more additional users is simultaneously participating in each of the multiple selected location-based virtual groups. 57. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 55 wherein the multiple selected location-based virtual groups indicated in the information provided to the mobile communication-capable device of one of the one or more additional users are virtual groups whose geographic areas are within a specified distance of an indicated geographic location. 58. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 55 wherein two or more of the multiple selected location-based virtual groups indicated in the information provided to the mobile communication-capable device of one of the one or more additional users having overlapping associated geographic areas, the overlapping associated geographic areas including at least one common geographic location in an overlap portion of the overlapping associated geographic areas. 59. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein the definition information for the additional virtual group is received from an administrator user for the additional virtual group, and wherein the administrator user represents a commercial entity that provides services to the multiple additional users via the additional virtual group. 60. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein the automatic enabling of the communications between the mobile communication-capable devices of the additional users is performed by the configured computing system, the configured computing system being provided by a commercial entity that provides services to the multiple additional users via the additional virtual group. 61. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein the additional virtual group is an ad hoc cloud, and wherein the definition information is received based at least in part on information from the mobile communication-capable devices of one or more of the multiple additional users. 62. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 39 wherein the configured computing system is a central server computing system distinct from the mobile communication-capable devices of the multiple users. 63. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 39 wherein the configured computing system is one of the mobile communication-capable devices of the multiple users. 64. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 39 wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of the configured computing system. 65. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 39 wherein the instructions included in the contents are software instructions that when executed program the computing system to perform the method. 66. A system configured to provide functionality based on location-based virtual groups of users of mobile devices, comprising: one or more processors; and one or more components that are configured to, when executed by the one or more processors: create multiple temporary location-based virtual groups of users of mobile devices, the creating of the multiple temporary location-based virtual groups including, for each of the virtual groups, receiving information from a user to define the virtual group, the received information including an anchor point with a geographic location around which a geographic area of the virtual group is centered, termination criteria indicating when the temporary virtual group will end, and user interaction rules that specify types of actions that users who are part of the virtual group may take; receiving requests from multiple users to join the virtual group, each of the users having a mobile communication-capable device that provides information regarding a current geographic location of the user; and for each of the received requests from the multiple users, determining whether to admit the user to the virtual group based at least in part on the current geographic location of the user being within the geographic area of the virtual group; and for each of the created virtual groups of users, automatically provide functionality to the users of the virtual group in accordance with the user interaction rules of the virtual group based at least in part on enabling communications between the mobile communication-capable devices of the users of the virtual group. 67. The system of claim 66 wherein the system includes a central server computing system, and wherein, for each of at least one of the location-based virtual groups, the determining of whether to admit a user to the virtual group is performed automatically by the central server computing system based at least in part on determining whether the user satisfies admission criteria specified for the virtual group. 68. The system of claim 66 wherein the system includes a central server computing system, and wherein, for each of at least one of the location-based virtual groups, the determining of whether to admit a user to the virtual group is performed automatically by the central server computing system based at least in part on gathering and aggregating votes from other users who are part of the virtual group regarding whether to admit the user. 69. The system of claim 66 wherein, for each of at least one of the location-based virtual groups, the location-based virtual group is a mobile cloud such that the geographic location of the anchor point of the mobile cloud changes and the geographic area of the mobile cloud changes in response to the changes in the geographic location of the anchor point. 70. The system of claim 69 wherein the anchor point of each of the at least one virtual groups is at least one of one or more people, an entity, and one or more physical objects. 71. The system of claim 66 wherein the one or more components are further configured to, for each of at least one of the temporary location-based virtual groups, automatically determine that the termination criteria for the temporary virtual group is satisfied, and in response terminate the temporary virtual group such that at least some functionality for the temporary virtual group is no longer available to the users of the temporary virtual group. 72. The system of claim 66 wherein the system includes a central server computing system, and wherein the one or more components are further configured to, for each of multiple mobile communication-capable devices and under control of the mobile communication-capable device, receive instructions from a user of the mobile communication-capable device regarding participation in one or more of the temporary location-based virtual groups, and in response communicate with the central server computing system to effect the participation in the one or more virtual groups. 73. The system of claim 66 wherein one or more components are further configured to: receive definition information for an additional location-based virtual group of users that indicates a geographic area of the additional virtual group; select multiple additional users to participate in the additional virtual group, each of the additional users having a mobile communication-capable device; and automatically enable communications between the mobile communication-capable devices of the additional users of the additional virtual group. 74. The system of claim 73 wherein the additional virtual group does not have any specified end time. 75. The system of claim 74 wherein the one or more components are further configured to terminate the additional virtual group in response to instructions received from one or more users who are each one of the multiple additional users participating in the additional virtual group. 76. The system of claim 73 wherein the one or more components are further configured to, while the multiple additional users are participating in the additional virtual group, modify the geographic area of the additional virtual group. 77. The system of claim 76 wherein the geographic area of the additional virtual group is based on at least one anchor point for the additional virtual group, wherein the at least one anchor point includes multiple business locations, and wherein the modifying of the geographic area of the additional virtual group is based on a modification of which business locations are included in the at least one anchor point. 78. The system of claim 76 wherein the modifying of the geographic area of the additional virtual group is based on instructions received from one or more users who are each one of the multiple additional users participating in the additional virtual group. 79. The system of claim 73 wherein the selecting of each of the multiple additional users to participate in the additional virtual group is based at least in part on an indicated geographic location of the additional user at a time of the selecting. 80. The system of claim 79 wherein, for at least one of the multiple additional users, the indicated geographic location of the additional user at the time of the selecting is a geographic location specified by the additional user, and wherein the geographic location specified by each of one or more of the at least one additional users is a geographic location distinct from an actual current geographic location of the additional user. 81. The system of claim 79 wherein, for at least one of the multiple additional users, the indicated geographic location of the additional user at the time of the selecting is a geographic location specified by the additional user, and wherein the geographic location specified by each of one or more of the at least one additional users is a geographic location at which the additional user expects to be located at a future time. 82. The system of claim 73 wherein the one or more components are further configured to, for each of one or more of the multiple additional users, provide information to the mobile communication-capable device of the additional user regarding multiple selected location-based virtual groups that include the additional virtual group and that include at least one of the created temporary location-based virtual groups. 83. The system of claim 82 wherein one of the one or more additional users is simultaneously participating in each of the multiple selected location-based virtual groups. 84. The system of claim 82 wherein the multiple selected location-based virtual groups indicated in the information provided to the mobile communication-capable device of one of the one or more additional users are virtual groups whose geographic areas are within a specified distance of an indicated geographic location. 85. The system of claim 82 wherein two or more of the multiple selected location-based virtual groups indicated in the information provided to the mobile communication-capable device of one of the one or more additional users having overlapping associated geographic areas, the overlapping associated geographic areas including at least one common geographic location in an overlap portion of the overlapping associated geographic areas. 86. The system of claim 73 wherein the definition information for the additional virtual group is received from an administrator user for the additional virtual group, and wherein the administrator user represents a commercial entity that provides services to the multiple additional users via the additional virtual group. 87. The system of claim 73 wherein the system comprises one or more computing systems that each include at least one of the one or more processors, and wherein the automatic enabling of the communications between the mobile communication-capable devices of the additional users is performed by at least one of the one or more computing systems, the at least one computing system being provided by a commercial entity that provides services to the multiple additional users via the additional virtual group. 88. The system of claim 73 wherein the additional virtual group is an ad hoc cloud, and wherein the definition information is received based at least in part on information from the mobile communication-capable devices of one or more of the multiple additional users. 89. The system of claim 66 wherein the system includes one or more central server computing system distinct from the mobile communication-capable devices of the multiple users. 90. The system of claim 66 wherein the system includes one or more of the mobile communication-capable devices of the multiple users. 91. The system of claim 66 wherein the one or more components each includes software instructions for execution by at least one of the one or more processors. 92. The system of claim 66 wherein the one or more components consist of a means for creating the multiple temporary location-based virtual groups of users of mobile devices and for automatically providing functionality to the users of each of the created virtual groups based at least in part on enabling communications between the mobile communication-capable devices of the users of the virtual group.