Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
ELECTRONIC DISPLAY SYSTEMS CONNECTED TO VEHICLES
AND VEHICLE-BASED SYSTEMS
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[01] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No.
15/267,771, filed
September 16, 2016 and entitled, "Electronic Display Systems Connected to
Vehicles
and Vehicle-Based Systems." U.S. Patent Application No. 15/267,771 is a
continuation-in-part of and claims priority to co-pending U.S. Patent
Application No.
15/018,101, filed February 8, 2016, and entitled "Electronic Display Systems
Connected to Vehicles and Vehicle-Based systems," which is a divisional of
U.S.
Application No. 14/281,390, now U.S. Patent No. 9,293,042, filed May 19, 2014,
and
entitled "Electronic Display Systems Connected to Vehicles and Vehicle-Based
Systems."
TECHNICAL FIELD
[02] Various aspects of the disclosure relate to determining and displaying
digital content
for electronic display devices based on vehicle data, individual data, driving
data, and
the like. More specifically, aspects of the disclosure relate to systems and
methods
for receiving vehicle characteristics, individual characteristics, and driving
data from
various sources corresponding to current and previous driving trips, user
interests or
habits, and the like, and determining and displaying digital content via
electronic
display devices such as electronic roadside displays or other display devices,
such a
mobile devices.
BACKGROUND
[03] Roadside displays are commonly used as billboard advertisements, traffic
signs,
safety warning signs, and the like. Governmental entities may install street
signs,
speed limit signs, warnings for hazardous road conditions, and directional or
navigational signs. Additionally, advertisers may purchase or lease
roadside
billboards for certain periods of time. Although roadside displays have been
traditionally non-digital (i.e., wooden and metal signs and billboards), more
recent
roadside displays now may be partially or entirely digital, such as
programmable
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speed limit signs, electronic traffic warning signs, and digital billboards.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to customize content displayed to a user
based
on user interests, habits, vehicle data, and the like.
[04] In some arrangements, electronic roadside displays might not be arranged
in a
location desired for display of content. In other examples, the position of
the
electronic roadside display might not be idea for displaying determined
content.
Accordingly, it may be advantageous to dynamically select a channel for
distributing
determined content to a user.
SUMMARY
[05] The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic
understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. The summary is not an
extensive
overview of the disclosure. It is neither intended to identify key or critical
elements
of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of the disclosure. The following
summary
merely presents some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as a
prelude to
the description below.
[06] Aspects of the disclosure relate to methods, computer-readable media, and
apparatuses for determining and displaying digital content via roadside
displays and
other display devices, based on the characteristics of approaching vehicles
and
individuals. In various examples and embodiments, electronic display systems
may
include one or more roadside display devices and/or other digital display
devices, on-
board vehicle devices, intermediary servers, advertising servers, and/or
additional
external data sources configured to operate individually or in combination.
One or
more vehicles or individuals approaching an electronic roadside display device
or
other display device may be identified, for example, using on-board vehicle
devices,
traffic cameras, personal mobile devices, and other devices in an electronic
display
system. Characteristics of the approaching vehicles, individuals associated
with the
approaching vehicles, driving data, driving patterns, and/or other data may be
retrieved and analyzed in order to determine the digital content to be
displayed on the
display devices. In various cases, the determined digital content may
correspond to a
targeted advertisement, vehicle maintenance suggestion, driving safety
warning, or
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other customized message based on the characteristics of the associated
vehicles and
individuals.
[07] Additional aspects of the disclosure relate to retrieving and
analyzing characteristics
from multiple different vehicles and individuals, including aggregating and/or
prioritizing certain characteristics or other data when selecting a targeted
advertisement or message. In some examples, a real-time auction software
application may allow multiple different advertisers to compete for digital
advertising
times based on the identified characteristics of the associated vehicles and
individuals.
Still other aspects of the disclosure relate to interactive systems in which
users may
provide responses to the content displayed via roadside displays and/or other
display
devices, for example, using vehicle-based devices or personal mobile devices.
User
responses to the initial content displayed via display devices may be used to
select
follow-up content, which may be transmitted for displaying to one or more
target
devices.
[08] Additional aspects discussed herein are related to retrieving data
associated with a
user, such as calendar or appointment data, and using that information to
generate or
determine content and also to identify one or more displays on which to
display the
generated content. For instance, if appointment data includes an address of an
appointment, a display located near the address may be selected and the
generated
content may be transmitted to that device and displayed.
[09] Other aspects described herein are directed to arrangements in which
generated
content may be transmitted to a device, such as a mobile device, associated
with a
passenger in a vehicle in order to provide increased safety in transmitting
content to a
user. In some examples, content may be transmitted to and/or displayed on
multiple
devices.
[10] Other features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the
additional
description provided herein.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[11] A more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages
thereof
may be acquired by referring to the following description in consideration of
the
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accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features,
and
wherein:
[12] FIG. 1 illustrates computing systems and a network environment that may
be used to
implement aspects of the disclosure.
[13] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method of displaying
digital content
via roadside displays based on vehicle and individual characteristics and/or
driving
data, according to one or more aspects of the disclosure.
[14] FIGS. 3A-3D are diagrams illustrating various combinations of components
and
configurations in certain examples of electronic display systems, according to
one or
more aspects of the disclosure.
[15] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method of displaying
digital content
via electronic displays based on vehicle and individual characteristics and/or
driving
data, according to one or more aspects of the disclosure.
[16] FIGS. 5A-5B are diagrams illustrating examples of electronic displays of
content
based on vehicle and individual characteristics and/or driving data, according
to one
or more aspects of the disclosure.
[17] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a computing environment including
an
electronic display system and/or intermediary server in communication with a
plurality of data source servers configured to provide data associated with a
vehicle or
individual, according to one or more aspects of the disclosure.
[18] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method of displaying
follow-up
content to a vehicle or individual, based on a received response to initial
digital
content displayed via a display device, according to one or more aspects of
the
disclosure.
[19] FIG. 8 depicts an illustrative electronic display system including a
content
determination and display server according to one or more aspects described
herein.
[20] FIG. 9 illustrates various components and devices of a content
determination and
display system according to one or more aspects described herein.
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[21] FIG. 10 illustrates one example method of determining and displaying
content
according to one or more aspects described herein.
[22] FIG. 11 illustrates another example method of determining and displaying
content
according to one or more aspects described herein.
[23] FIG. 12 illustrates yet another example method of determining and
displaying content
according to one or more aspect described herein.
[24] FIG. 13 is another example method of determining and displaying content
according
to one or more aspects described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[25] In the following description of the various embodiments, reference is
made to the
accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way
of
illustration, various embodiments of the disclosure that may be practiced. It
is to be
understood that other embodiments may be utilized.
[26] As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art upon reading the
following disclosure,
various aspects described herein may be embodied as a method, a computer
system,
or a computer program product. Accordingly, those aspects may take the form of
an
entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment
combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, such aspects may take
the
form of a computer program product stored by one or more computer-readable
storage
media having computer-readable program code, or instructions, embodied in or
on the
storage media. Any suitable computer-readable storage media may be utilized,
including hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage
devices,
and/or any combination thereof In addition, various signals representing data
or
events as described herein may be transferred between a source and a
destination in
the form of electromagnetic waves traveling through signal-conducting media
such as
metal wires, optical fibers, and/or wireless transmission media (e.g., air
and/or space).
[27] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a computing device (or system) 101
in a
computer system 100 that may be used according to one or more illustrative
embodiments of the disclosure. The device 101 may have a processor 103 for
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controlling overall operation of the device 101 and its associated components,
including RAM 105, ROM 107, input/output module 109, and memory 115. The
computing device 101, along with one or more additional devices (e.g.,
terminals 141
and 151, security and integration hardware 160) may correspond to any of
multiple
systems or devices described herein, such as an electronic display systems
(e.g.,
digital billboards, roadside signs, and other outdoor digital displays),
mobile devices,
televisions, set-top boxes, on-board vehicle computing systems, intermediary
server
systems, external data source systems, and the like. These various computing
systems
may be configured individually or in combination, as described herein, for
identifying
vehicles approaching electronic displays or particular locations (e.g.,
residence,
parking lot, work location, etc.), retrieving and/or determining various
vehicle and
individual (e.g., driver or passenger) characteristics of the associated
vehicles, and
determining digital content for the electronic roadside displays and other
display
devices, based on the characteristics of the associated vehicles and
individuals.
[28] Input/Output (I/O) 109 may include a microphone, keypad, touch screen,
and/or stylus
through which a user of the computing device 101 may provide input, and may
also
include one or more of a speaker for providing audio output and a video
display
device for providing textual, audiovisual and/or graphical output. Software
may be
stored within memory 115 and/or storage to provide instructions to processor
103 for
enabling device 101 to perform various actions. For example, memory 115 may
store
software used by the device 101, such as an operating system 117, application
programs 119, and an associated internal database 121. The various hardware
memory units in memory 115 may include volatile and nonvolatile, removable and
non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of
information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program
modules
or other data. Certain devices and systems within electronic display systems
may
have minimum hardware requirements in order to support sufficient storage
capacity,
analysis capacity, network communication, etc. For instance, in some
embodiments,
one or more nonvolatile hardware memory units having a minimum size (e.g., at
least
1 gigabyte (GB), 2 GB, 5 GB, etc.), and/or one or more volatile hardware
memory
units haying a minimum size (e.g., 256 megabytes (MB), 512 MB, 1 GB, etc.) may
be
used in a device 101 (e.g., an electronic display device 101, intermediary
server
device 101, on-board vehicle system 101, etc.), in order to identify vehicles
near or
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on-route to electronic roadside displays or other digital displays, locations
such as
residence, work location or office, parking lot, etc., determine various
characteristic of
the vehicles or passengers, determine digital content for the electronic
roadside
displays and other display devices, determine a length of time for which the
content
will be displayed, etc. Memory 115 also may include one or more physical
persistent
memory devices and/or one or more non-persistent memory devices. Memory 115
may include, but is not limited to, random access memory (RAM) 105, read only
memory (ROM) 107, electronically erasable programmable read only memory
(EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile
disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,
magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium
that
can be used to store the desired information and that can be accessed by
processor
103.
[29] Processor 103 may include a single central processing unit (CPU), which
may be a
single-core or multi-core processor (e.g., dual-core, quad-core, etc.), or may
include
multiple CPUs. Processor(s) 103 may have various bit sizes (e.g., 16-bit, 32-
bit, 64-
bit, 96-bit, 128-bit, etc.) and various processor speeds (ranging from 100MHz
to 5Ghz
or faster). Processor(s) 103 and its associated components may allow the
system 101
to execute a series of computer-readable instructions, for example, to
identify vehicles
at specific locations, retrieve or determine vehicle or passenger
characteristics, and
determine digital content for electronic roadside displays or other display
devices.
[30] The computing device (e.g., an electronic display system, intermediary
server, on-
board vehicle system or mobile device, content determination and display
server, etc.)
may operate in a networked environment 100 supporting connections to one or
more
remote computers, such as terminals 141, 151, and 161. Such terminals may be
personal computers or server 141 (e.g., home computers, laptops, web servers,
database servers), mobile communication devices 151 (e.g., mobile phones,
tablet
computers, etc.), vehicle-based computing systems 161 (e.g., on-board vehicle
systems, telematics devices, mobile phones or other personal mobile devices
within
vehicles), and the like, each of which may include some or all of the elements
described above with respect to the computing device 101. The network
connections
depicted in FIG. 1 include a local area network (LAN) 125 and a wide area
network
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(WAN) 129, and a wireless telecommunications network 133, but may also include
other networks. When used in a LAN networking environment, the computing
device
101 may be connected to the LAN 125 through a network interface or adapter
123.
When used in a WAN networking environment, the device 101 may include a modem
127 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN 129, such as
network 131 (e.g., the Internet). When used in a wireless telecommunications
network 133, the device 101 may include one or more transceivers, digital
signal
processors, and additional circuitry and software for communicating with
wireless
computing devices 151 and 161 (e.g., mobile phones, portable customer
computing
devices, on-board vehicle computing systems, etc.) via one or more network
devices
135 (e.g., base transceiver stations) in the wireless network 133.
[31] Also illustrated in FIG. 1 is a security and integration layer 160,
through which
communications are sent and managed between the device 101 (e.g., an
electronic
display system, an intermediary server, a user computer or mobile computing
device,
a content determination and display server, etc.) and the remote devices (141,
151,
and 161) and remote networks (125, 129, and 133). The security and integration
layer
160 may comprise one or more separate computing devices, such as web servers,
authentication servers, and/or various networking components (e.g.,
firevvalls, routers,
gateways, load balancers, etc.), having some or all of the elements described
above
with respect to the computing device 101. As an example, a security and
integration
layer 160 of a server 101 may comprise a set of web application servers
configured to
use secure protocols and to insulate the device 101 from external devices 141,
151,
and 161. In some cases, the security and integration layer 160 may correspond
to a
set of dedicated hardware and/or software operating at the same physical
location and
under the control of same entities as device 101. For example, layer 160 may
correspond to one or more dedicated web servers and network hardware in a
vehicle
and driver information datacenter or in a cloud infrastructure supporting a
cloud-
based vehicle identification and vehicle and driver data retrieval and
analysis. In
other examples, the security and integration layer 160 may correspond to
separate
hardware and software components which may be operated at a separate physical
location and/or by a separate entity.
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[32] As discussed below, the data transferred to and from various devices in
an electronic
display system 100 may include secure and sensitive data, such as confidential
vehicle
data, insurance data, and personal user data from drivers and passengers.
Therefore, it
may be desirable to protect transmissions of such data by using secure network
protocols and encryption, and also to protect the integrity of the data when
stored on
within an electronic display system, intermediary server, external data source
servers,
user devices, on-board vehicle devices, content determination and display
server, or
other computing devices in the system 100, by using the security and
integration layer
160 to authenticate users and restrict access to unknown or unauthorized
users. In
various implementations, security and integration layer 160 may provide, for
example, a file-based integration scheme or a service-based integration scheme
for
transmitting data between the various devices in an electronic display system
100.
Data may be transmitted through the security and integration layer 160, using
various
network communication protocols. Secure data transmission protocols and/or
encryption may be used in file transfers to protect to integrity of the data,
for example,
File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), and/or
Pretty
Good Privacy (PGP) encryption. In other examples, one or more web services may
be implemented within the various devices 101 in the system 100 and/or the
security
and integration layer 160. The web services may be accessed by authorized
external
devices and users to support input, extraction, and manipulation of the data
(e.g.,
vehicle and passenger data) between the various devices 101 in the system 100.
Web
services built to support an electronic display system may be cross-domain
and/or
cross-platform, and may be built for enterprise use. Such web services may be
developed in accordance with various web service standards, such as the Web
Service
Interoperability (WS-I) guidelines. In some examples, a vehicle or individual
data
analysis web service, a digital content determination or offer web service, or
an
advertiser auction web service may be implemented in the security and
integration
layer 160 using the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security
(TLS)
protocol to provide secure connections between servers 101 and various clients
141,
151, and 161 (e.g., user mobile devices, vehicle-based devices, or other
computing
devices). SSL or TLS may use HTTP or HTTPS to provide authentication and
confidentiality. In other examples, such web services may be implemented using
the
WS-Security standard, which provides for secure SOAP messages using XML
encryption. In still other examples, the security and integration layer 160
may include
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specialized hardware for providing secure web services. For example, secure
network
appliances in the security and integration layer 160 may include built-in
features such
as hardware-accelerated SSL and HTTPS, WS-Security, and firew-alls. Such
specialized hardware may be installed and configured in the security and
integration
layer 160 in front of the web servers, so that any external devices may
communicate
directly with the specialized hardware.
[33] Although not shown in FIG. 1, various elements within memory 115 or other
components in system 100, may include one or more caches, for example, CPU
caches used by the processing unit 103, page caches used by the operating
system
117, disk caches of a hard drive, and/or database caches used to cache content
from
database 121. For embodiments including a CPU cache, the CPU cache may be used
by one or more processors in the processing unit 103 to reduce memory latency
and
access time. In such examples, a processor 103 may retrieve data from or write
data
to the CPU cache rather than reading/writing to memory 115, which may improve
the
speed of these operations. In some examples, a database cache may be created
in
which certain data from a database 121 (e.g., a database of vehicle or
passenger-
related data from various data sources) is cached in a separate smaller
database on an
application server separate from the database server (e.g., at an intermediary
server,
advertising server, electronic roadside display, content determination and
display
server, or other display device). For instance, in a multi-tiered application,
a database
cache on an application server can reduce data retrieval and data manipulation
time by
not needing to communicate over a network with a back-end database server.
These
types of caches and others may be included in various embodiments, and may
provide
potential advantages in certain implementations of electronic display systems,
such as
faster response times and less dependence on network conditions when
transmitting/receiving information to identify vehicles, retrieve vehicle and
individual
data, and determine digital content to display to vehicles, etc.
[34] It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are
illustrative and other
means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used.
The existence of any of various network protocols such as TCP/IP, Ethernet,
FTP,
HTTP and the like, and of various wireless communication technologies such as
GSM. CDMA, WiFi, and WiMAX, is presumed, and the various computing devices
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and electronic display systems components described herein may be configured
to
communicate using any of these network protocols or technologies.
[35] Additionally, one or more application programs 119 may be used by the
various
computing devices 101 within an electronic display system 100 (e.g., vehicle
or
individual data analysis software applications, advertiser auction software
applications, content determination and display software applications, etc.),
including
computer executable instructions for identifying vehicles approaching
electronic
displays, retrieving and/or determining various vehicle and individual
characteristics
of the approaching vehicles, determining and displaying digital content on
electronic
displays based on the characteristics of the approaching vehicles and
individuals.
[36] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method of displaying
digital content
via roadside displays, based on the characteristics of one or more approaching
vehicles and/or associated individuals. The various embodiments and examples
described in connection with FIG. 2 may be implemented using a number of
computing systems, operating individually or in combination, such as
electronic
roadside displays, on-board vehicle systems, intermediary servers, mobile
devices,
and other computing devices. Different examples of components and
configurations
for electronic roadside display systems are shown in FIGS. 3A-3D, described
below.
Each of computing devices and systems in these examples may include some or
all of
hardware, software, and networking components as the illustrative computing
device
101 described in FIG. 1.
[37] In step 201, one or more vehicles are identified as being in the
proximity of one or
more electronic roadside displays. The identification of a vehicle in step 201
may be
based on a determination that the vehicle is currently near or approaching an
electronic roadside display, or that the vehicle is likely to be near the
electronic
roadside display at some future point in time. Accordingly, the identification
of a
vehicle in step 201 may include receiving or determining the current
locations,
speeds, directions of travel, roads and routes being driven, and intended or
anticipated
destinations for a number of vehicles. This data may be analyzed and compared
to the
locations of the electronic roadside displays (e.g., LED billboards and other
electronic
signs) that are controllable by the electronic roadside display system.
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[38] Determinations that a vehicle is near or approaching an electronic
roadside display, or
that it will be near an electronic roadside display in the near future, may be
performed
in various different ways, either by a single computing device or a
combination of
multiple devices in an electronic roadside display system. For example, a
computing
device or system positioned along a roadside may use cameras, motion sensors
and
proximity sensors to detect the approach of a vehicle and retrieve identifying
information for the vehicle and/or passengers. For instance, a roadside motion
detector and camera system located at or near electronic roadside display may
be able
to detect approaching vehicles and receive vehicle-specific identification
information,
such as the vehicle's license plate number and state, VIN, registration tag,
etc.
[39] In other examples, one or more on-board vehicle computing devices, such
as vehicle
console computing systems, vehicle navigation systems, vehicle diagnostic
systems,
vehicle telematics devices, and the personal mobile devices of drivers and
passengers
in the vehicle, may be used to determine vehicle location, speed, direction,
roads/routes being driven, and destination. An on-board vehicle system may be
configured with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) or vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I)
communication capabilities, and may communicate with other vehicles or
roadside
computing devices via digital short-range communication (DRSC) or other
communication protocols to indicate its position, speed, direction, etc. On-
board or
vehicle-based systems may include in-vehicle electronics, plug-in vehicle
electronics
and accessories, and/or after-market devices, such as vehicle navigation
systems,
telematics devices, on-board devices (OBDs), and the like. The smartphones and
other mobile devices of drivers or passengers also may include Global
Positioning
System (GPS) receivers or other location-based services (LBS) capable of
determining vehicle location, speed, and/or direction, etc. Other
wireless
technologies, such as mobile communication networks, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth,
also
may be used to determine vehicle locations, speeds, and directions, etc. In
some
cases, on-board vehicle computing systems may transmit the vehicle's location,
speed, direction, and other data over short distances to nearby electronic
roadside
displays to indicate that the vehicle is approaching the electronic display.
In other
examples, on-board vehicle computing systems may transmit the vehicle's
location,
speed, direction, and other data to intermediary servers and other
communication
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networks that may collect and analyze the information to identify one or more
electronic roadside displays that the vehicle is approaching.
[40] In addition to a vehicle's current location, speed, and direction
data, additional data
from on-board computer systems, driver or passenger mobile devices, or other
data
sources, may be received and analyzed in step 201 to make longer-ranging
predictions
about the future positions of the vehicle. For example, a vehicle navigation
system or
a user's smartphone may contain the current trip destination. Additionally,
vehicle
telematics devices or other systems internal or external to the vehicle may
store
driving pattern data and previous driving trip logs, from which the current
trip
destination may be determined. After determining a likely destination of the
current
driving trip, the destination can be transmitted and analyzed to identify one
or more
electronic roadside displays that the vehicle is likely to encounter during
the driving
trip. For example, if a driver inputs a current destination into a vehicle's
navigation
system (or their smartphone), or if a pattern analysis of the previous driving
trips for
the vehicle and/or driver can be used determine the destination of the current
driving
trip, then the anticipated driving route may be analyzed to identify
electronic display
along the route and the anticipated time that the vehicle will arrive at each
electronic
display.
[41] In step 202, for the vehicles identified in step 201, one or more data
sources may be
accessed to retrieve characteristics of the vehicles (e.g., make, model,
color,
operational data, etc.) and various individuals associated with the vehicles
(e.g.,
drivers, passengers, owners, etc.). As discussed in more detail below, the
vehicle and
individual characteristics retrieved in step 202 may be used in step 204 to
determine
the digital content (e.g., an advertisement or other message) to present to
the vehicle
via the electronic roadside displays.
Therefore, the vehicle and individual
characteristics retrieved in step 202 may include demographic data, financial
data,
insurance data, educational data, family data, personal data, and other types
of
relevant data that may be retrieved from various data sources. Several
examples of
data sources, and the types of data that may be retrieved from the example
data
sources, are described below in connection with FIG. 6.
[42] The vehicle data retrieved in step 202 may be based on vehicle identifier
information
captured by roadside cameras (e.g., a vehicle's license plate data) or
transmitted by an
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on-board vehicle device (e.g., vehicle registration data, VIN, or vehicle
identifier
transmitted during a V2V or V2I communication). Based on the vehicle
identifier
information, one or more data sources may be accessed to retrieve additional
vehicle-
specific data, such as the vehicle's make and model, last recorded mileage,
maintenance history, emissions history, estimated value, registered owners,
and other
insured drivers.
[43] The individual data retrieved in step 202 may correspond to the current
occupants of
the vehicles identified in step 201 (e.g., drivers and passengers), or
individuals
otherwise associated with the vehicles (e.g., vehicle owners, family members,
other
drivers, etc.). In some cases, the relevant individuals may be determined
based on the
retrieved vehicle data. For example, a vehicle identifier (e.g., license
plate, VIN, etc.)
may be used to identify the vehicle's owners, other drivers, and family
members that
may be passengers in the vehicle. In some cases, data identifying the
vehicle's
occupants also may be transmitted by an on-board vehicle device (e.g., vehicle
computer or user's mobile device). For instance, a user may be identified as a
driver
or passenger in a vehicle based on transmissions from the user's smartphone to
another device in an electronic roadside display system. Additionally, certain
vehicle-
based computer systems may include the capabilities to detect the identities
of the
driver and passengers during a driving trip, and may transmit the identities
to another
device in the electronic roadside display system. In each of the above
examples, after
identifying the occupants of the vehicle and/or other individuals associated
with the
vehicle, one or more data sources may be accessed to retrieve demographic
data,
financial data, personal data, and the like, for each of the identified
individuals.
[44] In some cases, additional data from traffic cameras or other roadside
cameras may be
used in combination with the vehicle and individual data retrieved from data
sources.
For example, after accessing an external data source (e.g., an insurance
server or
governmental vehicle registration server) to determine that a vehicle has two
owners,
images from roadside cameras may be analyzed to determine which of the two
owners, if either, is currently driving. Vehicle sensor data transmitted from
an on-
board vehicle device (e.g., internal cabin camera data, driver seat settings,
radio
settings, etc.) also may be used to identify current drivers and passengers.
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[45] In step 203, for the vehicles identified in step 201, additional
vehicle data and/or
driving data may be received from one or more on-board vehicle systems, such
as a
vehicle-based computing device or a portable computing device of a driver or
passenger. For example, certain vehicle-based systems (e.g., vehicle
computers,
diagnostic systems, or telematics devices, etc.) may be configured to detect
and store
vehicle maintenance records, vehicle maintenance plans and schedules, vehicle
diagnostics data, vehicle impacts, safety warnings, and other data generated
by a
vehicle's internal computer systems. After being collected by a vehicle-based
system,
this maintenance and diagnostic data may be transmitted to an electronic
roadside
display system (e.g., via a V2I protocol), an intermediary computer server
(e.g., via a
mobile communication network), or other device in an electronic roadside
display
system.
[46] Additionally, a vehicle-based system or personal mobile computing device
(e.g., a
smartphone or tablet computer of an occupant) may be configured to detect
certain
driving behaviors and driving patterns, such as speeding or excessively slow
driving,
swerving, erratic driving, and moving violations committed by the vehicle.
These
devices also may collect driving pattern data for one or more specifics
vehicle and/or
drivers over multiple driving trips. Driving pattern data may include previous
driving
times, starting points, ending points, and driving routes taken during
previous driving
trips of a vehicle and/or driver. Additional driving pattern data may include
driving
behaviors and driving performance metrics, such as average speeds,
acceleration and
braking patterns, turning and curve handling patterns, turn-signal usage,
radio usage,
and the like. Driving behaviors and patterns from the current trip may be
compared to
driving behaviors and patterns from previous trips to determine if the driver
is driving
hurriedly, cautiously, erratically, or in a high-risk manner compared to the
typical
driving behaviors and patterns of the driver and/or vehicle. After collecting
driving
behaviors and driving pattern data, the on-board vehicle devices may transmit
this
data to an electronic roadside display system (e.g., via a V2I protocol), an
intermediary computer server (e.g., via a mobile communication network), or
other
device in an electronic roadside display system.
[47] In step 204, the vehicle and individual characteristics retrieved from
various data
sources in step 202, and the vehicle and driving data received from various on-
board
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vehicle systems in step 203, may be analyzed to select specific digital
content to
display on an electronic roadside display at a specific time. Selected digital
content
for an electronic roadside display may include, for example, targeted
advertisements,
vehicle maintenance suggestions, driving safety warnings, and notifications
about
upcoming driving conditions. In various examples, the digital content
determined in
step 204 may be based solely on the vehicle and individual characteristics
retrieved
from one or more data sources in step 202, or solely on the vehicle and
driving data
received in step 203, or a combination of both types of data.
[48] A portion of the analysis in step 204 may include determining beginning
and ending
times for specific digital content (e.g., an advertisement or other message)
to be
displayed on an electronic roadside display. If the digital content is
targeted for
individuals within a single vehicle, then the beginning display time and
ending
display time may correspond to the earliest and latest times that content on
the
roadside display will be visible to the vehicle's occupants. These times may
be
calculated based on the relative positions and orientations of the vehicle and
the
electronic roadside display, the speed of the vehicle, the size of the
electronic roadside
display (including font and image size of the specific content to be
displayed), and
measurements of the current outdoor visibility (e.g., based on the current
time of day,
weather conditions, etc.). As discussed above, the vehicle's location,
speed,
orientation, and direction of travel may be determined from various sources,
such as
V2I communications, GPS or LBS data, mobile communication networks, roadside
traffic cameras and on-board vehicle cameras, and the like. Vehicle location,
speed,
and direction data also may be predicted using driving pattern data or
intended
destination data received from on-board vehicle systems or other data sources.
[49] In other examples, digital content might not be targeted for individuals
within a single
vehicle, but instead may be determined based on an analysis of multiple
vehicles and
individuals that will be in the proximity of an electronic roadside display at
or near
the same time. Additionally, a first selected digital content may be replaced
by a
different selected digital content after a first set of targeted vehicles and
individuals
have driven past and are no longer in view of the electronic display, and a
new set of
vehicles and individuals is approaching or in view of the electronic display.
In these
examples, the beginning and ending times for displaying specific digital
content may
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be selected by determining the times that will maximize the potential viewing
time of
targeted individuals to the digital content selected for those individuals.
[50] The digital content selected in step 204 for displaying on an electronic
roadside
display device may include advertisements selected based on analyses of the
data
received in steps 202 and/or 203. For example, targeted advertisements may be
selected based on vehicle and individual characteristics retrieved from
various data
sources in step 202, such as demographic data, family data, financial and past
purchasing data, educational data, insurance data, and the like. For example,
if the
vehicle and individual data retrieved in 202 indicates that the vehicles
approaching a
certain roadside display contain a large proportion of teenage occupants, then
a
targeted advertisement may be selected to appeal to that demographic.
Similarly, if
the retrieved data indicates that the approaching individuals include large
proportions
of individuals from certain economic categories, demographic characteristics
(e.g.,
age ranges, marital statuses, children, etc.), educational or occupational
characteristics, previous purchasing histories, or other characteristics, then
the digital
advertisements selected in step 204 may be targeted to those characteristics.
Vehicle
characteristics also may be used, in addition to or instead of individual
characteristics,
to select targeted advertisements in step 204. For instance, the make, model,
and year
of a vehicle may indicate likely ages, socio-economic characteristics, and
hobbies and
interests of the vehicle's occupants, which may be used to select targeted
advertisements for roadside displays. Additional examples of the types of data
that
may be retrieved from various data sources, and the types of targeted
advertisements
or other targeted messages that may be displayed based on the retrieved data,
are
described below in connection with FIG. 6.
[51] In addition to the vehicle and/or individual characteristics retrieved
in step 202, the
driving routes and intended destinations of the vehicles also may be used to
select a
targeted advertisement for a roadside display in step 204. As discussed above,
anticipated driving route and destination information may be received or
predicted
from various sources, such as vehicle navigation systems, a driver or
passenger's
smartphone, the driver's home and work address data (e.g., retrieved from a
governmental server, insurance server, etc.), or driving patterns and previous
driving
trip logs stored on the vehicle or separate from the vehicle. After analyzing
this data
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to determine or predict a vehicle's anticipated driving route or intended
destination,
targeted advertisements may be selected based on the vehicle and individual
characteristics as well as the anticipated driving route and intended
destination. For
example, if a target product (e.g., camping equipment) is selected based on
the
individual characteristics retrieved for the occupants of an approaching
vehicle, then
the anticipated driving route and destination of the vehicle may be used to
select an
advertisement for a camping equipment store along the anticipated driving
route of
the vehicle.
[52] Certain targeted advertisements determined in step 204 also may be based
on current
trip driving data and/or previous trip driving data received from a vehicle on-
board
computing device or other system. For example, if the current trip data
received from
an on-board computing device (e.g., vehicle-based computer or smartphone)
indicates
that the vehicle is coming from a park, golf course, or other recreational
activity, then
a targeted advertisement may be selected for a restaurant, coffee shop, or
convenience
store, and the advertisement may specifically suggest post-activity food or
refreshments for the occupants in the vehicle. As another example, if the
current trip
data received from an on-board computing device indicates that the vehicle is
on a
long-distance road trip, then this information may be used along with other
determined individual characteristics to suggest a nearby rest stop,
restaurant, or hotel.
[53] In still other examples, vehicle and individual characteristics may be
used in
combination with driving behaviors and patterns to determine targeted offers
to
drivers. For example, an insurance provider may receive and analyze vehicle
and
individual characteristics (e.g., vehicle make and model, mileage, condition,
driver
age, driving record, etc.) for a vehicle approaching a roadside display. Along
with the
vehicle and individual data received from various data sources, the insurance
provider
also may retrieve data from an on-board computing device or other database
corresponding to the vehicle's driving data during the current trip and/or
previous
trips (e.g., safe or high-risk driving behaviors, accidents or near-accidents,
instances
of high-speed skidding or swerving, detections of moving violations, etc.).
Based on
the vehicle and individual characteristics, along with the driving data, the
insurance
company may determine a customized insurance offer for the driver in step 204.
A
customized insurance offer may, for example, identify the specific vehicle or
driver
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by name, and include an insurance rate quote, discount, incentive, or other
terms to
display to the driver via the roadside display (e.g., "Hello [CUSTOMER NAME]!
We at [INSURANCE COMPANY] appreciate your safe and accident-free driving.
Switch today to [INSURANCE COMPANY] and you will receive a [RATE or
DISCOUNT DETAILS], guaranteed!! Visit [WEBSITE] or call [AGENT NAME
AND NUMBER] to redeem this offer!").
[54] In addition to targeted advertisements, other types of digital content
may be
determined in step 204, including notifications, warnings, and other messages
to
drivers relating to vehicle maintenance, driving safety, road conditions, and
the like.
For example, the vehicle diagnostics, sensor data, and maintenance-related
data
retrieved in step 203 may be used to provide maintenance warnings and
suggestions
to drivers via roadside electronic displays. Thus, if a vehicle's internal
sensors detect
that the vehicle is low on fuel, coolant, or wiper fluid, or if the vehicle
needs air in
one of its tires, has a flat tire, is overdue due for an oil change, needs an
alignment, or
has any other maintenance issue detectable by the vehicle's sensors, then an
on-board
computing system may transmit this information to an electronic roadside
display
system, so that an appropriate message, warning, or offer may be determined
for the
vehicle. In such examples, the digital content determined in step 204 may
include an
advertisement for a local gas station, tire shop, auto mechanic, or other
business,
including directions and relevant offers (e.g., "Almost out of gas, take Exit
217," "Oil
changes, $19.99," "Free air with any fill-up," etc.).
[55] Additional messages determined in step 204 may include customized
warnings for
drivers and targeted alerts relating to weather, traffic, road conditions, and
other
potential hazards. For example, if a vehicle-based device or personal mobile
device
has detected erratic driving behaviors by the driver of a vehicle, these
erratic
behaviors may be transmitted to the electronic roadside display system and an
appropriate driving alert or warning message may be determined in step 204.
For
instance, driving speed, curve-handling, lane position, radio usage, signal
usage, time
of day, trip starting point, and other driving trip data may be used to
identify drivers
that may be intoxicated, texting or talking while driving, beginning to fall
asleep
while driving, excessively speeding or racing, or engaging in other high-risk
driving
behaviors. If a determination is made that a driver may be driving in an
impaired
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state or other high-risk manner, then customized content may be determined for
the
driver in step 204, for example, a red flashing alert warning the driver that
their erratic
driving has been detected, a suggestion that the driver pay greater attention,
pull over
to sleep, call a friend or taxi service, etc.
[56] Other possible content determined in step 204 may include messages or
alerts based
on the vehicle-specific and/or driver-specific data received in steps 202 and
203,
along with weather data, traffic data, road condition data, and the like. For
example, a
vehicle's anticipated driving route and intended destination, which may be
received or
determined as discussed above using on-board vehicle systems and other data
sources,
may be used to alert drivers to weather issues, traffic issues, or road
condition issues
that are specific to the driver's anticipated driving route and intended
destination. For
instance, an electronic roadside display may be located on Highway ABC, 1 mile
before the exit for Road XYZ. As a vehicle approaches the electronic roadside
display, the anticipated driving route and intended destination of the vehicle
may be
determined using the vehicle and individual data received in steps 202 and
203.
Based on the anticipated driving route and intended destination of the
vehicle, if the
vehicle is likely to exit Highway ABC and travel west on Road XYZ, then the
traffic,
weather, and road condition alerts for westbound Road XYZ may be displayed on
the
electronic roadside display. Similarly, if the vehicle is likely to exit
Highway ABC
and travel east on Road XYZ, or is likely to continue on Highway ABC, then
different
sets of traffic, weather, and road condition alerts may be displayed on the
electronic
roadside display.
[57] As discussed above, digital content might not be targeted for individuals
within a
single vehicle, but instead may be determined based on an analysis of multiple
vehicles and individuals that are near an electronic roadside display at or
around the
same time. On a road or highway with moderate to heavy traffic, an electronic
roadside display is likely to be visible to several different cars at any
given time. In
such cases, the determination of the digital content for the electronic
roadside display
in step 204 may include collecting and analyzing the various types of data
concurrently for multiple different vehicles and individuals. In some cases,
common
characteristics among the vehicle and individual data received in steps 202
and 203
may be aggregated and compared against other characteristics to determine the
digital
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content in step 204. As an example, a group of five vehicles may be driving
near each
other on the same road, and the vehicles may approach a roadside display at
around
the same time. If the five vehicles contain a combined total of 12 women and 4
men,
then an advertisement targeted for women may be selected, instead of an
advertisement targeted for men, for displaying to this group of vehicles. As
another
example, if a group of approaching cars contains similar numbers of men and
women,
but the vehicle occupants are predominately under 30 years old, then an
advertisement
targeted for a younger demographic may be selected in step 204. Similar
aggregation
techniques may be used for any of the vehicle characteristics or individual
characteristics discussed above, including demographic, educational,
occupational,
economic, and/or personal characteristics associated with vehicles or
individuals.
Such aggregation techniques also may be used on the vehicle data (e.g.,
diagnostic or
maintenance data) or the driving data (e.g., driving speeds, anticipated
driving routes
and destinations, etc.). For instance, if several vehicles in a group of
vehicles
approaching a roadside display are low on gas, or need air in their tires,
then an
advertisement for a nearby gas station with free air may be selected, whereas
if only
one of the vehicles is low on gas and needed air in its tires, then a
different
advertisement may be selected. As other example, if multiple vehicles in an
approaching group of vehicles have approximately the same anticipated driving
route,
then an advertisement may be selected in step 204 for a business located on or
near
that driving route.
[58] When determining digital content for a single approaching vehicle or a
group of
vehicles, certain characteristics may be weighted or prioritized more than
other
characteristics. For example, a group of vehicles approaching an electronic
roadside
display may consist of 75% women, and 40% soccer fans. In this example,
although
the percentage of women in the group of vehicles is higher than the percentage
of
soccer fans, an advertiser may consider the 40% of soccer fans to be a more
important
group characteristic with a higher effective rate of a targeted advertisement.
Thus, in
this example, an advertisement for an upcoming soccer exhibition match at a
local
stadium may be selected for display the group of vehicles, instead of an
advertisement
targeted specifically to women, based on the expected financial return of the
advertisement targeted to soccer fans.
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[59] As the above examples illustrate, certain advertisers may place different
values on
certain vehicle characteristics and individual characteristics. Additionally,
some
advertisers may seek opportunities to advertise to large numbers of people
across
multiple demographic and economic categories, while other advertisers may be
more
interested in advertising to small groups with specific desired sets of
characteristics.
Accordingly, in some embodiments, an electronic roadside display system may
implement a real-time auction in which multiple different advertisers may
compete to
have their advertisements displayed on a roadside display, based on the
characteristic
profile of a set of vehicles approaching a roadside display. A characteristic
profile
may include a comprehensive listing of the characteristics of a set of
individuals in a
group of one or more vehicles. Thus, in step 204, a set of vehicle
characteristics and
individual characteristics may be compiled based on the data received in steps
202
and 203, and the compiled set of characteristics may be provided to one or
more
advertisers who may bid for the right to display a specific advertisement to
the group
of approaching vehicles. In some cases, there may be very little time between
when
the vehicle and individual characteristics for a group of vehicles is
identified, and
when those vehicles are in viewing range of an electronic display. Therefore,
for
some real-time auctions, the bids submitted by advertisers corresponding to
different
characteristic profiles for groups of approaching vehicles may be submitted in
advance and stored at one or more devices within an electronic roadside
display
system. For instance, one advertiser may pre-submit a bid indicating that they
will
pay a specified amount to display an advertisement to any group of vehicles
including
of three or more pickup truck drivers, while another advertiser may pre-submit
a bid
indicating that they will pay a different amount to display an advertisement
to any
group of vehicles including at least five parents of children under the age of
ten. In
this example, when a group of vehicles approaches an electronic display in the
system
includes three pickup truck drivers and five parents of young children, the
real-time
auction software application will execute to select the advertiser that bid
the largest
amount for their desired demographic profile. In some examples, the bids
submitted
by advertisers in such auctions may be per-person bids, such that the amount
of the
bid is determined dynamically based on the number of individuals in the
approaching
group that satisfy certain characteristic criteria (e.g., X dollars per pickup
truck owner,
Y dollars per parent, etc.).
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[60] Similarly, when the digital content determined in step 204 is something
other than an
advertisement, different weights and priorities still may be attached to
different
individual characteristics, as well as to different types of vehicle data and
driving data
received from on-board vehicle systems and other data sources. For example, a
determination based on driving data that a driver may be driving while tired,
distracted, or intoxicated may be prioritized over vehicle diagnostic data
indicated that
the some vehicle or another nearby vehicle is in need of an oil change. Thus,
in this
example, an alert directed to the tired, distracted, or intoxicated driver may
be selected
for displaying on the electronic display, instead of a suggestion for an oil
change or
other advertisement for another driver.
[61] In step 205, the digital content determined in step 204 may be displayed
on the
appropriate electronic roadside display at the appropriate times to be
viewable by the
vehicles and individuals for which the data was received in steps 202 and 203.
In
various other examples discussed herein, the digital content determined may be
displayed on various other devices (e.g., mobile devices, set-top boxes,
televisions,
etc.) in addition to or instead of an electronic roadside display.
[62] Referring now to FIGS. 3A-3D, four diagrams are shown illustrating
various different
components and configurations in certain examples of electronic roadside
display
systems. Each of computing devices and systems shown in FIGS. 3A-3D may
include some or all of hardware, software, and networking components described
in
the illustrative computing device 101 of FIG. 1. Additionally, each of the
computing
devices and systems illustrated in FIG. 3A-3D may perform, individually or in
combination with other system components, the method steps discussed in
connection
FIG. 2, and in other examples and embodiments described herein. Additionally,
although each of the examples in FIGS. 3A-3D shows that digital content may be
displayed on an electronic roadside display, it should be understood that in
other
examples, digital content may be determined similarly and displayed on other
types of
(non-roadside) display devices, such as vehicle-based devices, personal mobile
devices, televisions, home computing devices, and the like, as discussed below
in
FIGS. 4-7.
[63] In FIG. 3A, a diagram is shown of an example electronic roadside display
system
including an electronic display 300a, and one or more roadside or traffic
cameras
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302a. In this example, a control unit (e.g., including processor, memory,
network
interface, etc.) located at or near the electronic display 300a may receive
image and
video data from traffic cameras 302a. The image and video data may be used to
detect vehicles approaching an electronic display 300a, and identify various
features
and characteristics of the approaching vehicles and the occupants within the
vehicles.
For instance, image analysis software at the traffic 302a or electronic
display 300a
may be used to identify the number of passengers, estimate the ages and
genders of
passengers, identify other visible passenger characteristics, identify the
license plate
by state and number, identify bumper stickers on the vehicle, post-factory
vehicle
modifications, and vehicle accessories such as ski or bike racks and luggage
racks.
[64] Instead of using traffic cameras 302a, or in combination with the traffic
cameras,
certain systems similar to those in FIG. 3A may include additional roadside
sensors
such as traffic counters, proximity sensors, and/or wireless transceivers
(e.g.,
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and radio transceivers) that may be used to detect vehicles
approaching the electronic display 300a and determine various vehicle and
individual
characteristics.
[65] In addition to any vehicle and individual characteristics determined
based on the
image and video data from cameras 302a and other sensors, the system in FIG.
3A
may include a local database to store and track additional characteristics and
driving
data. For example, a local data storage at the electronic display 300a may
store data
for passing vehicles, such as vehicle identifying information (e.g., license
plate state
and number), the time the date the vehicle passed the electronic display 300a,
the
vehicle's speed, acceleration, steering, and lane positioning, the number of
passengers
in the vehicle, etc. Each time a vehicle is detected approaching the
electronic display
300a, the vehicle's identifying information may be identified and used to
retrieve data
from the local data storage relating to the vehicle's previous trips. The
vehicle and
driving data from the current trip may be compared to the vehicle's previous
driving
trips to determine additional information, for example, if the vehicle is
speeding or
driving erratically compared to its past trips, if the vehicle is driving the
route at an
unusual time or day compared to its past trips, if a different driver or
different
passengers are in the vehicle compared to its past trips, if the vehicle has
new body
damage since its past trip, etc.
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[66] After identifying one or more approaching vehicles, determining vehicle
characteristics, individual characteristics, driving data, etc., as described
above, a
control unit at the electronic display 300a may determine digital content to
display to
the approaching vehicles on the electronic display 300a. As discussed above in
step
204, the digital content may correspond to a targeted advertisement or other
message
based on the identified vehicle characteristics, individual characteristics,
driving data,
and the like, of the approaching cars.
[67] Thus, in the example electronic roadside display system shown in FIG. 3A,
the
electronic display device 300a and/or other roadside devices may include
processing
units, memory units, and various other hardware and software components. Thus,
the
various steps discussed above in FIG. 2, such as identifying approaching
vehicles,
determining vehicle characteristics, individual characteristics, driving data,
and the
like, and determining and displaying digital content based on the
characteristics of the
approaching vehicles, along with the other examples and embodiments discussed
herein, may be performed by an electronic display device 300a. In such
systems, the
electronic display 300a or other roadside devices may perform all functions of
the
system, without coordinating or communicating with any other devices, such as
on-
board vehicle devices or any other external servers.
[68] Referring now to FIG. 3B, a diagram is shown of another example
electronic roadside
display system including an electronic display 300b, and one or more on-board
vehicle computing devices 310b-312b. In this example, the on-board vehicle
computing devices 310b-312b may include vehicle-based systems (e.g., vehicle
computers, navigation systems, telematics devices, etc.) or personal mobile
devices of
the vehicles' occupants (e.g., smartphones, tablet computers, etc.). These
devices
may be configured (e.g., via mobile software applications) to establish
wireless
communication sessions with electronic displays 300b positioned along roads
and
highways, which may be configured with antenna 305b to receive transmissions
from
nearby vehicles 310b-312b. Depending on the types of the on-board vehicle
computing devices 310b-312b, various different protocols and techniques may be
used for the wireless communication sessions, including V2V and V2I
communications, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and various other mobile communications
networks.
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[69] The example system shown in FIG. 3B may perform similar functions to
those
discussed above for the system FIG. 3A, in that both example systems may be
configured to identify approaching vehicles, determine vehicle
characteristics,
individual characteristics, driving data, and the like, and determine and
display digital
content based on the characteristics of the approaching vehicles. However, in
some
cases, the on-board vehicle devices 310b-312b used in FIG. 3B may be
configured to
identify and transmit additional information that cannot be determined by the
cameras
310a or other roadside sensors, such as the identities of the vehicle driver
and
passengers, specific driving data, anticipated destinations, driving patterns,
and the
like. On-board vehicle devices 310b-312b also may be configured to transmit
data
further in advance than data can be detected by traffic cameras 310a. This
additional
data from on-board vehicle devices 310b-312b, and the earlier availability of
data
from multiple vehicles, may allow the system of FIG. 3B to perform more
detailed
and robust determinations of the digital content for the electronic display
300b using
the techniques discussed above in step 204.
[70] In some cases, location, speed, and direction data from the on-board
vehicle devices
310b-312b may be used to determine when the content on the electronic display
300b
will be visible to the occupants of the different vehicles, allowing for more
precise
calculations for the beginning and ending times for displaying certain digital
content.
Additionally, the location, speed, and direction data may be used to identify
vehicles
that are traveling in the opposite direction (e.g., vehicle 312b), or
traveling on a
different nearby road (e.g., a highway frontage road) so that the electronic
display
300b will not be visible to those vehicles, and data from those vehicles may
be
excluded from the selection of digital content.
[71] In the example electronic roadside display system shown in FIG. 3B, the
electronic
display device 300b and/or on-board vehicle devices 310b-312b may include
processing units, memory units, and various other hardware and software
components
configured to perform the functionality of the system. For example, any of the
individual devices in FIG. 3B, or a combination these devices, may perform the
steps
discussed above in FIG. 2, including identifying approaching vehicles,
determining
vehicle characteristics, individual characteristics, driving data, and the
like, and
determining and displaying digital content based on the characteristics of the
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approaching vehicles. Thus, the electronic display 300b and/or on-board
vehicle
systems 310b-312b may perform all functions of the system without coordinating
or
communicating with any other devices, such as other external servers or data
sources.
In some cases, the analyses of vehicle characteristics, individual
characteristics,
driving data, etc., and the determination of the digital content to display on
the
electronic display 300b, may be performed entirely by an individual on-board
vehicle
device 310b, after which the determined content may be transmitted to the
electronic
display 300b.
[72] Referring now to FIG. 3C, a diagram is shown of another example
electronic roadside
display system including an electronic display 300c, an intermediary server
320c, and
one or more on-board vehicle computing devices 310c-311c. In this example, the
on-
board vehicle computing devices 310c and 311c (e.g., vehicle-based systems or
personal mobile devices) may wirelessly transmit vehicle identifier
information (e.g.,
a license plate number, VIN, user name or mobile number, or other identifiers)
to the
intermediary server 320c, along with the vehicle's position, speed, and/or
direction
data. Depending on the types of the on-board vehicle computing devices 310c
and
311c, various different protocols and techniques may be used for the wireless
communication to the intermediary server 320c, including V2V and V2I
communications, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and various other mobile communications
networks. The intermediary server 320c may receive such transmissions from a
plurality of vehicles, and may use the vehicle identifier information and
location data
to track the vehicles and to determine beginning and ending times for when
vehicles
310c and 311c will be in viewing range of an electronic display 300c.
[73] The intermediary server 320c may also receive various types of data
(e.g., vehicle
characteristics, individual characteristics, driving data, etc.) from the on-
board vehicle
devices 310c-311c, as described above in FIG. 2. In some cases, the
intermediary
server 320c also may use the vehicle identifier information to retrieve
additional data
from other data sources, such as a local data storage or remote data sources
(e.g., data
sources 320d). In some examples, the intermediary server also may receive
instructions from one or more other devices, such as advertising server 340c.
As
discussed below in more detail, an advertising servers 340c may receive a
characteristic profile of one or more approaching vehicles or individuals, and
may
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instruct the intermediary server 320c (or may directly instruct the roadside
display
300c) to display a particular advertisement or message. For instance, multiple
advertising servers 340c may be connected to intermediary server 320c and/or
roadside display 300c, and may perform real-time bidding based on the
approaching
vehicles and individuals. In certain embodiments, the intermediary servers may
themselves be advertising servers 340c, or may be integrated with advertising
servers
340c. Similar implementations and processes for intermediary servers and
advertising
servers may be used even when the digital advertisements or messages are not
displayed on roadside displays, but instead on other types of digital displays
(e.g.,
addressable computers and televisions, on-board vehicle devices, smartphones
and
other personal mobile devices, etc.), discussed below in FIG. 4.
[74] After receiving the various vehicle and individual data from the on-board
vehicle
devices 310c-311c and/or other data sources, the intermediary server 320c may
analyze the data and determine digital content for the electronic display
300c. Thus,
in some examples, the intermediary server 320c in FIG. 3C may individually
perform
all of the steps discussed above in FIG. 2, by receiving data from on-board
vehicle
devices 310c-311c and determining digital content to transmit to electronic
display
300c. In other examples, the intermediary server 320c may perform the various
steps
in combination with the on-board vehicle devices 310c-311c and/or one or more
additional devices.
[75] In some cases, an intermediary server 320c need not be tied to one
specific electronic
roadside display, but may be configured to receive data from many different on-
board
vehicle devices 310c, and determine digital content for many different
electronic
displays 300c. Additionally, for an intermediary server 320c connected to
multiple
different electronic displays 300c, the intermediary server 320c may be
capable of
using the different electronic displays in sequence to present certain users
with multi-
part targeted advertisements or other messages. For instance, intermediary
server
320c may place a first portion of a multi-part advertisement on a first
electronic
display 300c as a targeted vehicle is driving past the first display. Later in
the driving
trip, when the vehicle approaches a second electronic display 300c also
controlled by
the intermediary server 320c, the intermediary server 320c may detect the
approach of
the vehicle and select the next portion of the multi-part advertisement to
display via
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the second electronic display 300c. Using similar techniques, an intermediary
server
320c may implement interactive targeted advertisements and messages, described
in
more detail below in FIG. 7.
[76] Referring now to FIG. 3D, a diagram is shown of another example
electronic roadside
display system including an electronic display 300d, an intermediary server
320d, an
advertising server 340d, one or more on-board vehicle computing devices 310d-
311d,
and a plurality of data sources 330d. As discussed above in FIG. 3B, the
electronic
display 300d in this example may be configured with an antenna 305d to receive
wireless transmissions from nearby vehicles 311d. Such transmissions may be
sent
by the on-board vehicle devices (e.g., vehicle-based computers, telematics
devices,
navigation systems, smartphones, etc.) using various different protocols and
techniques, such as V2V and V2I communications, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and various
other mobile communications networks. In this example, other on-board vehicle
devices 310d may be configured to transmit data to an intermediary server 320d
(e.g.,
via a mobile application of a smartphone or vehicle-based device), rather than
transmitting data to the electronic display 300d. The intermediary server 320d
may
perform similar functions to those of intermediary server 320c in FIG. 3C.
Thus, in
this example, the determination of the digital content to display on the
electronic
display 300d may be performed at the electronic display 300d, the intermediary
server
320d, or a combination of these devices and/or other system (e.g., on-board
vehicle
devices 310d-311d).
[77] As shown in FIG. 3D, both electronic displays 300d positioned along
roadsides, and
intermediary servers 320d elsewhere, may communicated with various data
sources to
receive vehicle and individual characteristics, driving data and patterns,
etc. For
example, in some cases an on-board vehicle system 310d or 311d may be
configured
to transmit vehicle or user identification information (e.g., license plate
number, VIN,
registration number, insurance policy number, name and license number of
vehicle
owner, owner insurance account number, name and license number of driver,
driver
insurance account number, etc.), but might not transmit much (if any)
additional
vehicle characteristics, individual characteristics, driving data, etc. In
such cases, an
electronic display 300d or intermediary 320d may receive the vehicle and user
identification information, and use this information to receive vehicle and
individual
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characteristics, driving data, driving patterns, and various other types of
data from
data sources 330d. The data retrieved from data sources 330d may include
demographic data, financial data, insurance data, educational data, family
data,
personal data, driving data, etc. Examples of data sources and types of data
that may
be retrieved from data sources are described below in reference to FIG. 6.
[78] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method of displaying
digital content
via electronic displays, based on vehicle and individual characteristics
and/or driving
data. The various embodiments and examples described in connection with FIG. 4
may be implemented using a number of computing systems, operating individually
or
in combination, such as various electronic displays, on-board vehicle systems,
intermediary servers and other computing devices. Each of computing devices
and
systems in these examples may include some or all of hardware, software, and
networking components as the illustrative computing device 101 described in
FIG. 1.
[79] Like the examples discussed above regarding FIG. 2, FIG. 4 relates to
determining
content that may be displayed to specific vehicles and/or individuals, based
on vehicle
data, individual data, driving data, and the like. However, while FIG. 2
describes
examples in which the determined content is displayed via roadside displays,
the
examples in FIG. 4 include determining content that may be displayed on other
(e.g.,
non-roadside) types of electronic displays. That is, the examples described
below in
FIG. 4 need not involve a roadside display and need not be performed while a
vehicle
is driving, but instead may involve one or more other types of display devices
(e.g.,
home computers television receivers and set-top boxes, personal mobile
devices,
vehicle-based display devices), and may be performed before, during, or after
a
driving trip. For example, a targeted advertisement, vehicle maintenance
message,
driving safety message, or other digital content may be determined and
displayed via
a vehicle-based display, smartphone or other personal mobile device, home
computer,
television, or any other digital display. Thus, while there may be
similarities with the
steps of FIG. 2, differences may exist in the determinations and analyses
described in
FIG. 4, including the selection of a display device type (e.g., vehicle-based
display,
personal mobile device, home computer, television, etc.) the timing for
displaying the
digital content (e.g., before, during, or after a driving trip), the
mechanisms for
receiving user feedback in response to the displayed digital content, etc.
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[80] In steps 401-403, data relating to one or more vehicles and/or
individuals may be
received from various sources, including roadside display systems (step 401),
data
sources (step 402), and vehicle on-board systems (step 403). In steps 404-406,
the
data received in steps 401-403 may be analyzed to determine digital content to
display
(step 404), determine target devices on which to display the digital content
(step 405),
and then display the digital content on the target devices (step 406). As
indicated in
FIG. 4, each of steps 401-403 may be optional. Thus, in various different
examples,
digital content may be determined in step 404 based only data received from
roadside
display systems (step 401), based only on data received from data sources
(step 402),
based only on data vehicle on-board systems (step 403), or based on any
combination
of data received in steps 401-403.
[81] In step 401, data may be received from one or more electronic roadside
display
systems (e.g., 300a-300d) relating to the vehicles or individuals near the
electronic
roadside displays. The data received in step 401 may be similar or identical
to the
data received in step 201, discussed above. For example, a computing device or
system positioned along a roadside may use cameras, motion sensors and
proximity
sensors to detect the approach of a vehicle and retrieve identifying
information for the
vehicle and/or passengers. For instance, a roadside motion detector and camera
system located near electronic roadside display may detect approaching
vehicles and
receive vehicle-specific identification information, such as the vehicle's
license plate
number and state, VIN, registration tag, etc. In addition to identifying a
vehicle
and/or individuals in a vehicle, roadside display systems may determine the
current
locations, speeds, directions of travel, roads and routes being driven, etc.
As
discussed above in step 201, electronic roadside display systems also may
receive
data from nearby vehicle-based systems and mobile computing devices of vehicle
drivers or passengers. The data may relate to the vehicle, the vehicle's
occupants, the
vehicle's driving data, etc.
[82] After collecting various vehicle information, individual information,
and/or driving
data in step 401, an electronic roadside display system may transmit this
data, for
example, to an intermediary server, advertising server, home computing device,
personal mobile device, content determination and display server, or vehicle-
based
device. Electronic roadside display systems may also transmit time and
location data
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in step 401, to allow the receiving devices to determine when and where
certain
vehicles and individuals were detected by the roadside display systems.
[83] In step 402, vehicle data, individual data, and/or driving data may be
received from
one or more data sources. Several examples of data sources, and the types of
data that
may be retrieved from the example data sources, are described below in
connection
with FIG. 6. The data received in step 402 may be similar or identical to the
data
received in step 202, discussed above. However, the data retrieved from data
sources
in step 402 need not correspond to the detection of a vehicle or individual
approaching a roadside display, as in step 202. For example, one or more data
sources may be accessed in step 402 to retrieve demographic data, financial
data,
insurance data, educational data, family data, personal data, and other types
of
relevant data relating to vehicles and/or individuals associated with vehicles
(e.g.,
drivers, owners, etc.), regardless of whether those vehicles are currently
being driven.
The data sources may be accessed in various examples by intermediary servers,
advertising servers, home computing devices, personal mobile devices, or
vehicle-
based devices, content determination and display servers, etc., to retrieve
vehicle
information, individual information, and/or driving data in step 402.
[84] In step 403, vehicle data, individual data, and/or driving data may be
received from
one or more on-board vehicle systems, such as vehicle-based devices (vehicle
computers, telematics devices, navigation devices, plug-in devices,
aftermarket
devices, etc.) and mobile phones or other personal mobile devices within
vehicles.
The data received in step 403 may be similar or identical to the data received
in step
203, discussed above. However, the data retrieved from vehicle-based devices
and/or
mobile computing devices in step 403 need not correspond to vehicles or
individuals
currently driving or approaching roadside displays. Instead, the vehicle data,
individual data, and/or driving data received in step 403 may be transmitted
at times
and places not corresponding to driving trips. For example, vehicle and
driving data
may be transmitted in step 403 before or after driving trips, according to a
predetermined schedule (e.g., hourly, daily, weekly, etc.) or when a vehicle-
based or
mobile device returns home and syncs with a master device, etc.
[85] In step 404, one or more computing devices in an electronic display
system may
determine digital content to display to the vehicles and/or individuals based
on the
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data received in steps 401-403. Step 404 may be performed by, for example, an
intermediary server, content determination and display server, advertising
server,
home computing device, personal mobile device, home television system (e.g.,
set-top
box or television content provider), or the like. The determination of digital
content
for specific vehicles and/or individuals in step 404 may be similar or
identical to the
determination of digital content in step 202, discussed above. For example, a
targeted
advertisement, vehicle maintenance warning, driving safety message, or other
digital
content may be selected for one or more vehicles and/or individuals based on
the
analysis of the data received in steps 401-403. However, in step 404, the
determined
digital content might not be selected for display via a roadside display
system as in
FIG. 2, but instead may be selected for display via one or more personal
mobile
devices (e.g., smartphones or tablet computers), vehicle-based devices, home
computers or televisions, etc. Additionally, the digital content in step 204
may be
selected for presenting to a user during a driving trip, whereas the digital
content
selected in step 404 may be presented via the various devices before, during,
and/or
after driving trips.
[86] In step 405, the electronic display system may identify one or more
target devices on
which to display the digital content determined for the vehicle and/or
individual in
step 404. For example, after analyzing the various data received in steps 401-
403,
and determining the digital content in step 404, an intermediary server,
advertising
server, or other computing device may retrieve a previously stored list of
display
devices associated with the vehicle(s) and/or individual(s) and select one or
more of
the display devices on which to display the content. In some cases, an on-
board
vehicle device (e.g., vehicle-based display or personal mobile device) may be
selected
in step 404. In other cases, another computing device or online account may be
selected in step 404. For example, an individual's physical address and/or
television
broadcast account information may be retrieved (e.g., from a vehicle
registration
database or other data source 300b) and used to insert a customized television
commercial into the individual's television broadcast stream. In other
examples, an
individual's email address may be retrieved (e.g., from the individual's
mobile device
or a data source 300d) and used to transmit an email including the determined
content
to the user's home computer, work computer, or mobile device, etc. In still
other
examples, various user account information (e.g., financial accounts,
insurance
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accounts, social networking accounts, etc.) may be retrieved from different
data
sources 300d to allow the determined content to be presented as online
advertising/content during a subsequent login by the user to the corresponding
websites (e.g., financial institution websites, insurance websites, social
networking
websites, etc.).
[87] In addition to the determination of the target device(s), step 405 may
include the
determination of target times at which the determined digital content should
be
presented on the target devices. For example, if determined digital content
for a user
is to be displayed via the user's vehicle dashboard display, then the target
time for the
content may be during a current driving trip, or the next driving trip taken
by the user,
etc. If the determined digital content is a customized television commercial
for a user,
then the target time for presenting the commercial may be during a time when
the user
is likely (or certain) to be watching television. On the other hand, if
determined
digital content for a user is to be transmitted to the user's personal mobile
device (e.g.,
via SMS or MMS), automated telephone message, email, etc., then the content
may be
sent anytime.
[88] Although the determination of the digital content in step 404 and the
determination of
the target devices (and target times) in step 405 are shown as different steps
in FIG. 4,
it should be understood that these steps may be combined in some
implementations.
For example, certain content may be better suited to certain display types,
display
sizes, display characteristics, and interactive features of display devices.
An
advertiser may desire certain targeted advertisements to be display on larger
displays
(e.g., televisions) and/or displays with certain characteristics or
capabilities (e.g.,
high-definition displays, 3-D displays, etc.), while other targeted
advertisements may
be suitable for smaller and/or text-only displays such as some vehicle-based
devices
or mobile phones. Other targeted advertisements may be designed for display on
interactive display devices (e.g., home computers, laptops, smartphones, etc.)
that
may allow the user to respond and make an immediate purchase, etc. Still other
targeted advertisements or other non-advertising content (e.g., vehicle
maintenance or
driving safety warnings, traffic or weather alerts, etc.) may be time
sensitive, and thus
the selection of the target devices in step 705 may be based on the current
location
and/or nearest display screens to targeted users or vehicles.
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[89] In step 406, the digital content determined in step 404 may be displayed
on the target
devices (and target times) determined in step 405. Thus, step 406 may be
similar or
identical to step 205. However, as discussed above, the target devices
determined in
step 405 need not be roadside display systems as described in FIG. 2. Rather,
in step
406, the digital content may be displayed one or more various computing
devices
(e.g., vehicle-based displays, smartphone or tablet computer displays,
televisions,
home computers, etc.), and may be displayed at different suitable times (e.g.,
before,
during, or after driving trips).
[90] Referring now to FIGS. 5A and 5B, two example electronic displays are
shown
displaying content based on specific vehicle characteristics, specific
individual
characteristics, and/or specific driving data. The content displayed in these
examples,
and the display devices 500a and 500b on which the content is displayed, may
be
determined using the various techniques discussed above in FIG. 4.
[91] For example, FIG. 5A shows a targeted advertisement for a supermarket
displayed on
a mobile device 500a. In this example, the targeted advertisement has been
transmitted to the mobile device 500a and may be displayed to the user, either
just
before a driving trip or during a driving trip. Mobile device 500a may be, for
example, the smartphone of a driver or passenger in a vehicle. The advertising
content, in this case, an advertisement/coupon for milk at ABC Supermarket,
was
determined as described above in steps 401-404. For example, an advertising
server,
intermediary server, or the smartphone 500a itself, may have received and
analyzed
various vehicle data, individual data relating to the driver or passengers,
and/or
driving data, before selecting the ABC Supermarket advertisement as the
content and
the smartphone 500a as the target device. The data received and analyzed in
this case
may include, for instance, the current location of the smartphone 500a (e.g.,
in a
moving vehicle at a current driving location), the intended destination or
anticipated
driving route of the vehicle carrying the smartphone, the purchasing history
and
preferences of the smartphone owner and/or vehicle occupants, the current time
(e.g.,
to determine if the store is open), the average speed and other driving data
for the
current driving trip (e.g., to determine if the driver is in a hurry), and
various other
data received from roadside display systems (in step 401), vehicle/individual
data
sources (in step 402), and/or on-board vehicle devices (in step 403).
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[92] FIG. 5B shows a driving safety announcement on a non-mobile display
device 500b,
for example, a desktop computer monitor or television. Thus, unlike the
example of
FIG. 5A, the determined content in FIG. 5B might not be shown during a driving
trip
or on a mobile device. Instead, the driving safety announcement in FIG. 5B may
be
shown to a targeted user, via television screen 500b, monitor 500b, or other
display
500b, during non-driving times such as before or after driving trips. In this
case, the
driving safety announcement is a warning about the dangers of texting while
driving.
However, the particular safety announcement displayed in FIG. 5B may be
customized in multiple ways for one or more specific individuals. For
instance, the
data received from various sources in steps 401-403 may be analyzed to
determine
that a user recently drove home from work along Route XYZ, and sent three text
messages during the driving trip. This data may be retrieved from the various
data
sources described above in steps 401-403, including roadside systems (e.g., to
identify
the vehicle and driver, routes driven, driving speed, passengers in the car,
etc.), on-
board vehicle devices such as the driver's mobile phone (e.g., to confirm the
timing of
the text messages sent), and various external data sources (e.g., the driver's
phone
records, the driver's accident history, previous driving pattern data,
statistics of traffic
fatalities along the driver's route, etc.). The data received in steps 401-403
may be
analyzed to determine an appropriate customized driving safety message for the
driver
based on his driving behaviors, and to determine the appropriate target times
and
devices on which to display the safety message. In this case, the customized
safety
message may be presented shortly after the driving trip along Route XYZ, in
order to
increase the chances that the message will attract the driver's attention.
[93] Referring now to FIG. 6 a diagram is shown illustrating a first device
600 in an
electronic display system, such as an electronic display system, intermediary
server,
content determination and display server, or advertising server in
communication with
a plurality of data source servers 610-617. As
discussed herein, in certain
embodiments, various data sources may be accessed to retrieve vehicle data,
individual data, driving data, and the like, corresponding to the vehicles and
individuals approaching certain roadside displays and other display devices.
Data
source servers may be operated by one of the same entities controlling an
electronic
display system, or by third-party entities (e.g., insurance companies,
financial
institutions, governmental entities, corporate entities, etc.) that permit
information
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queries based on vehicle data or individual data. As shown in FIG. 6, one or
more
devices 600 (e.g., a roadside display device, intermediary server, content
determination and display server, advertising server, etc.) in an electronic
display
system may use vehicle-identifying information (e.g., license plate number and
state,
VIN, vehicle registration information, insurance policy data, etc.) and/or
individual-
identifying information (e.g., name, license number, social security number,
mobile
device number, etc.) in order to retrieve additional vehicle or individual
characteristics, such as demographic data, financial data, insurance data,
educational
data, family data, personal data, driving data, purchase data, browsing
history data,
calendar data, appointment data, etc. The data retrieved from such data
sources may
be used to determine what digital content will be displayed to approaching
vehicles
and individuals, as well as what the device on which the content may be
displayed.
[94] Several examples of potential data sources 610-617 are discussed below.
However, it
should be understood that different combinations of data sources may be used
in
different electronic display systems. Additionally, the set of data sources
queried may
vary from vehicle-to-vehicle and individual-to-individual during operation of
an
electronic display system, for example, based on the type of identifying
information
available to begin a query (e.g., license plate number, vehicle make and
model, driver
name, physical characteristics of occupants, etc.), the access credentials of
the
querying devices within the electronic display system, the current
availability,
responsiveness, and latency of the data source servers, and the like.
[95] Governmental server 610 may include one or more servers and other
computing
devices from various governmental entities. For example, data source 610 may
represent federal, state, and local government servers operated by agencies
such as a
_______________ state depai intent of motor vehicles, a property records
office, a tax records office, a
census office, or a law enforcement agency. In some cases, a device 600 (or
other
device described herein) within an electronic display system may establish a
network
connection with a governmental data source 610 and transmit a request with
identifying information of a vehicle or individual, to receive back
governmental
information regarding the vehicle or individual. Thus, the device 600 may use
governmental data sources 610 to retrieve vehicle registration records, stolen
vehicle
records, driving records, criminal history records, income and tax records,
census
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data, and other governmental data relating to one or more vehicles or
individuals
approaching an electronic display within the system. The vehicle and
individual
information retrieved from a governmental data source 610 may be used, for
example,
in step 204 to determine targeted advertisements based on demographic and
financial
data, driving safety reminders, and the like, via the electronic displays.
[96] Insurance company server 611 may include servers and other computing
devices
associated with insurance companies and other associated institutions. Device
600 (or
other device described herein) within an electronic display system may
establish a
network connection with an insurance server 611 to request and retrieve
information
relating to vehicles or individuals approaching a roadside display or other
display
device within the system. For example, a query to retrieve existing or
previous
insurance policies of the customers issued by the insurance company, coverage
limits,
previous accidents or other incidents relating to the vehicles or drivers,
claims filed by
or against the vehicle or driver, and the like. The vehicle and individual
information
retrieved from an insurance company data source 611 may be used, for example,
in
step 204 to determine an insurance advertisement or offer for a driver, other
targeted
advertisements, driving safety reminders, and the like, via the electronic
roadside
displays other display devices.
[97] Private business server 612 may include servers and other computing
devices
associated with various types of private enterprises and organizations. Device
600 (or
other device described herein) within an electronic display system may
establish a
network connection with a private business data source 612 to request and
retrieve
information relating to vehicles and individuals that are approaching roadside
displays
or other display devices, such as products and services purchased, times and
dates of
purchases, amounts spent, and the like. Data received from private business
data
sources 612 may be used to determine financial profile data, purchase habits,
hobbies,
travel, and lifestyle data which may be used in determining targeted
advertisements
for individuals via the electronic roadside displays or other display devices
in the
system.
[98] Social networking server 613 may include servers and other computing
devices
associated with various online social network websites. Device 600 (or other
device
described herein) within an electronic display system may establish a network
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connection to a social networking data source 613 to request and retrieve
information
relating to an individual approaching a roadside display or other display
devices (e.g.,
vehicle driver or passenger) or an associated individual (e.g., vehicle owner
or other
authorized drivers). The data retrieved may include social networking profile
information, friends or contacts, associated hobbies, activities, events,
clubs, or other
organizations, and the like. Such data from social networking data sources 613
may
be used to determine targeted advertisements and other messages for
individuals via
the electronic roadside displays or other display devices in the system.
[99] Driving data and/or driving pattern servers 614 may include servers and
other
computing devices configured to collect and store driving data corresponding
to
vehicles and individuals. In some cases, data sources 614 may be on-board
vehicle
computing devices (e.g., 310a-310c, 311a-311b, etc.), such as vehicle-based
computers, telematics and navigation devices, smartphones of drivers or
passengers,
etc. Such devices may be configured to collect and store driving trips logs,
driving
statistics, vehicle operational data, accident records, etc., and may be
queried by
device 600 (or other device described herein) to retrieve such data. Data
sources 614
also may include servers or devices separate from the vehicles or individuals,
such as
traffic servers, insurance servers, or governmental servers which may collect
and store
driving data or driving patterns for specified vehicles or individuals. The
data
retrieved from driving data and driving pattern data sources 614 may be used
to
determine targeted advertisements (e.g., based on anticipated driving route
and
intended destinations), or provide driving safety alerts and other messages
for
individuals via the electronic roadside displays or other display devices in
the system.
[100] Driving conditions data sources 615, which may include traffic servers,
weather
servers, road condition servers, and other computing devices, may be
configured to
store and provide driving condition data associated with specific locations
and driving
routes. For example, various driving conditions data sources 615 may include
servers
storing traffic data, weather data, road condition data, data relating to
other road
hazards and/or other driving conditions. Such driving condition data may be
stored
based on location (e.g., address or GPS coordinates), or street name and/or
cross
street, or based on point-to-point driving routes. Additional driving
conditions data
sources 615 may include data sources storing records of accidents and/or
insurance
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claims filed, and other data sources 615 may store records regarding driving
routes,
such as driving times for specific stretches of roads and/or specific driving
routes,
including driving time data for different months, days, and times of the day,
and data
for different weather conditions, road conditions, and traffic conditions,
etc. A device
600 (or other device described herein) in an electronic display system may
establish a
network connection with a driving condition data source 615 to request and
retrieve
information relating to the current or upcoming driving routes,
characteristics of the
intended destinations and driving routes associated with the vehicle or
individual
(e.g., frequently driven roads and routes, and corresponding days and times
the
customer drives, etc.). Such data may be retrieved from driving conditions
data
sources 615 in order to determine traffic alerts, weather alerts, road
construction
alerts, suggested alternative routes to a vehicle's intended destination, and
the like, via
the electronic roadside displays or other display devices in the system.
[101] Appointment data sources 616 may include calendar data servers, time and
date
servers, location servers, and the like and may be configured to store and
provide
appointment information associated with a user. For example, various
appointment
data sources 616 may include servers storing particular appointment
information for a
user, time and date information, provider information, other party
information, and
the like. Such information may be stored based on time and date of
appointment,
location of appointment (e.g., address, GPS coordinates, cross streets, etc.),
etc. A
device 600 (or other device described herein) in an electronic display system
may
establish a network connection with an appointment data source 616 to request
and
retrieve information relating to one or more upcoming appointments associated
with
the vehicle or individual. Such data may be retrieved from appointment data
sources
616 to determine content to display to a user, determine a device or type of
device on
which to display content, determine a time at which to display content on a
particular
device, and the like.
[102] Browsing history data sources 617 may include internet purchase servers,
website
servers, and the like, and may be configured to store and provide information
associated with a browsing and/or internet purchase history of a user. For
example,
various browsing history sources 617 may include servers storing particular
websites
visited, items viewed, items purchased, length of time a website was viewed,
length of
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time a product or service was viewed, and the like. Such information may be
stored
based on type of website, type of product or service viewed or purchase, and
the like.
A device 600 (or other device described herein) in an electronic display
system may
establish a network connection with a browsing history data source 617 to
request and
retrieve information relating to intern& browsing history, purchase history,
and the
like, of an individual. Such data may be used to determine content to display
to a
user, type of device on which to display content, and the like.
[103] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an example method of receiving a
response to
content displayed via an electronic display device, and determining and
displaying
follow-up content based on the response. The various embodiments and examples
described in connection with FIG. 7 may be implemented using a number of
computing systems (e.g., any of FIGS. 3A-3D of FIGS. 5A-5B), operating
individually or in combination, such as electronic roadside displays, on-board
vehicle
systems, intermediary servers and other computing devices. Each of computing
devices and systems in these examples may include some or all of hardware,
software,
and networking components as the illustrative computing device 101 described
in
FIG. 1.
[104] In step 701, digital content is determined for an electronic roadside
display (e.g.,
300a, 300b, etc.) based on the characteristics of one or more vehicles or
individuals
approaching the electronic roadside display. Thus, step 701 may be similar or
identical to steps 204 and/or 404, discussed above. In various examples, the
content
determined step 701 may correspond to targeted advertisements, vehicle
maintenance
suggestions, driving safety warnings, and notifications about upcoming driving
conditions. Additionally, as discussed above, the determination in step 701
may be
performed by any of several different system components, such as an electronic
roadside display, a vehicle-based computing system, a user's smartphone or
other
mobile device, an intermediary server, or any combination of these devices.
[105] In step 702, the digital content determined in step 701 may be displayed
on one or
more appropriate electronic roadside displays within the system, at the
appropriate
times to be viewable by the vehicles and individuals whose characteristics
were
received and analyzed in step 701. Thus, step 702 may be similar or identical
to step
205 and/or 406, discussed above. Additionally, although the initial digital
content in
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this example is displayed via an electronic roadside display, it should be
understood
that the in other examples the initial content may be display via non-roadside
digital
displays, such as televisions, home computing devices, vehicle-based devices,
personal mobile devices, and the like.
[106] In step 703, a response may be received via an on-board computing device
(e.g.,
310b-312b, etc.), to the content displayed via an electronic roadside display
in step
702. In some cases, in order to receive a response in step 703, a user
interface may be
rendered on one or more on-board vehicle devices concurrently with the digital
content being displayed on the electronic roadside display in step 702. In
such cases,
a vehicle driver or passenger, in response to viewing the content on the
electronic
roadside display, may respond via the user interface rendered on the on-board
vehicle
computing device. The on-board vehicle computing device may correspond to a
vehicle-based computer (e.g., vehicle computer or diagnostic system,
telematics
device, navigation system, etc.), or to a user's mobile device (e.g., a
smartphone or
portable computer of a driver or passenger). The on-board vehicle device may
receive
a signal, and/or user interface content, from an electronic roadside display
(e.g., 300a,
300b, etc.) or an intermediary server (e.g., 320c, 320d, etc.) at or near the
same time
that the determined content is displayed on the roadside display.
[107] When electronic roadside display systems support user responses and
interactivity
between roadside displays and on-board vehicle devices, such systems may be
used to
present questions or product offers to vehicle occupants using the roadside
displays,
and then receive answers from users via their on-board vehicle devices. For
example,
a roadside displays may display present a targeted advertisement for Product
ABC
along with a question for users (e.g., "Would you like to receive more
information
about Product ABC?"), or to inquire about the vehicle's destination and offer
information or assistance (e.g., "Are you going to the XYZ Shopping Mall? If
so,
would you like a parking recommendation based on the current parking garage
availability?). In these examples, the user interface displayed on the on-
board vehicle
system may be a generic user interface that is not specific to the content
displayed on
the roadside display (e.g., a simple "Yes" or "No" screen to allow the user to
respond
to the question). In other examples, an electronic roadside display,
intermediary
server, or other device in the system may transmit a customized response user
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interface to one or more on-board vehicle devices when the targeted
advertisement or
other message is displayed on the roadside display. Customized response user
interfaces may allow users to provide specific responses to questions or other
content
on an electronic roadside display (e.g., "How much are you currently paying
for car
insurance? Enter your current rate now to receive a quote." or "Are you
looking for
nearby store or restaurant? Speak the name now to get directions."). As these
examples illustrate, responses may be received by the on-board vehicle device
via
spoken voice input from the driver or a passenger, via typed or touch screen
input into
a vehicle-based system or an occupant's mobile device, or other input
technique. In
still other examples, a driver's response might not be received via an on-
board vehicle
device, but rather may be received based on the route the driver takes after
passing the
roadside display (e.g., "Take Exit 8 to receive additional information about
local
hotels with vacancies tonight."). In this example, the system displaying the
digital
content may presume an affirmative response by the driver if the vehicle
follows a
route suggested by the initial digital content.
[108] In step 704, if a user response is received via an on-board vehicle
device (703:Yes),
then follow-up digital content may be determined for the user that responded,
based
on the user's response and/or the characteristics of the user's vehicle or the
occupants
in the user's vehicle. In some cases, a specific user response is required in
order for
follow-up content to be determined in step 704. For example, if the initial
digital
content displayed on a roadside display asks the user if they would like to
receive
additional information relating to a product or server, then only users
answering
"Yes" will receive follow-up information. In this example, the follow-up
information
determined in step 704 may include additional details and/or contact
information
relating to the product or service displayed in step 702. As another example,
if the
initial digital content displayed on a roadside display asks the user if they
need
directions or a suggested route to a destination, then the follow-up
information
determined in step 704 may include the directions and suggested driving route
based
on the current day and time, current weather and traffic conditions, other
warnings or
alerts, etc. Additionally, if the initial digital content displayed on a
roadside display
asks the user for information about a current product or service of the user
(e.g., the
user's mobile provider and current contact term, the user's insurance company
and
current rates, etc.), then the follow-up information determined in step 704
may
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include an offer or other incentive for the user to switch products or
services, in which
the offer or incentive is based on the information that the user input in step
703.
[109] Additionally, the follow-up content determined in step 704 may be
further based on
the vehicle and individual characteristics associated with an on-board vehicle
device
from which the response was received. For example, if a group of ten vehicles
is
identified as approaching the same electronic roadside display, then the
initial content
determined for the display in step 701 may be based on characteristics of some
or all
of the ten vehicles and/or their occupants (e.g., using aggregation techniques
or
prioritizing different characteristics, as discussed above in step 204).
However, if
only one or a few of the ten vehicles responds to the initial content in step
703, then
the follow-up content determined in step 704 may be based on the
characteristics
associated with the responding vehicles and/or individuals, while excluding
the
vehicles and/or individuals that did not respond to the initial content.
[110] In step 705, one or more target devices are determined on which to
display the follow-
up digital content determined in step 704. In some cases, a second roadside
display
may be selected in step 705 to display the follow-up content. For example, if
two
electronic roadside displays are positioned a mile apart on the same road or
highway,
then the initial digital content may be displayed on the first roadside
display, and after
responses are received from one or more on-board vehicle devices, the
determined
follow-up content may be displayed on the second roadside display. In other
examples, the driving routes and intended destinations may be determined for
any
vehicles responding to the initial digital content in step 703, and a second
roadside
display may be selected along a vehicle's anticipated driving route.
Therefore, when
two vehicles respond to the same digital content on the same roadside display,
the
follow-up content may be sent to the two vehicles using different roadside
displays
based on the different anticipated driving routes and destinations of the two
vehicles.
[111] Additionally, in some cases, the follow-up content determined in step
704 may be
transmitted to another computing device associated with a responding user,
rather
than to an electronic roadside display. For example, the follow-up content
determined
in step 704 (e.g., additional product information, directions to an intended
destination,
etc.) may be transmitted back to the on-board vehicle device that received the
user's
response in step 703. Thus, when a user responds via a vehicle-based computing
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system, the follow-up content may be transmitted by an electronic roadside
display,
intermediary server, or other communications network device, to the same
vehicle-
based computing system. Similarly, users responding to the initial content
using their
mobile devices may receive the follow-up content via their mobile devices.
[112] In still other cases, the follow-up content determined in step 704 may
be transmitted
to another computing device or account associated with the responding user.
For
example, a user responding to an electronic roadside advertisement via a
vehicle-
based system (e.g., vehicle console computer, navigation or telematics device,
etc.)
may receive the determined follow-up data transmitted to their personal mobile
device
(e.g., smartphone or other personal portable device). In this example, the
follow-up
data may be transmitted by text message, a short-message-service (SMS)
message, or
via a mobile software application on the user's mobile device. The follow-up
content
also may be sent via email, for example, after retrieving an email address for
the
user(s) responding to the content in step 703 from one or more external data
sources.
In such cases, an initial determination may be performed to identify which
individual(s) within the vehicle provided the response to the electronic
roadside
display in step 703. Such determinations may be performed by requiring to user
to
self-identify during the response, by using voice recognition techniques
identify
spoken responses, among other techniques.
Alternatively, when the specific
individual(s) responding via a vehicle-based device cannot be determined, the
follow-
up content may be sent by default to the vehicle driver, vehicle owner, or to
each of
vehicle's occupants.
[113] In step 706, after determining the follow-up digital content to transmit
to user(s)
responding to the initial roadside display content, and identifying the target
device(s)
on which the follow-up content should be provided to the user(s), the follow-
up
content may be transmitted to and/or displayed on the identified target
devices.
[114] FIG. 8 depicts an environment 800 including illustrative devices and
components for
determining content for display, determining a device or location for display,
and the
like, according to one or more aspects described herein. For
instance, the
environment 800 includes a content determination and display server 810, which
may
include one or more processors 811, memory 812, and communication interface
820.
The content determination and display server 810 may be similar to various
other
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computing devices described herein (e.g., device 600, device 101, etc.). A
data bus
may interconnect processor(s) 811, memory 812, and communication interface
820.
Communication interface 820 may be a network interface configured to support
communication between content determination and display server 810 and one or
more networks (e.g., network 830). One or more computing or other devices,
servers,
etc. 802, 804, 840, 850, 860 may be in communication with the content
determination
and display server 810 (e.g., via network 830). Memory 812 may include one or
more
program modules having instructions that when executed by processor(s) 811
cause
the content determination and display server 810 to perform one or more
functions
described herein, and/or one or more databases 819 that may store and/or
otherwise
maintain information which may be used by such program modules and/or
processor(s) 811. In some instances, the one or more program modules and/or
databases may be stored by and/or maintained in different memory units of
content
determination and display server 810 and/or by different computer systems or
devices
that may form and/or otherwise make up the content determination and display
server
810. In some arrangements, different features or processes performed may be
performed by different sets of instructions, such that the processor may
execute each
desired set of instructions to perform different functions described herein.
[115] As discussed above, memory 812 may include one or more program modules
including hardware and/or software configured to perform various functions
within
the content determination and display server 810. For instance, memory 812 may
include data control/analysis module 813. The data control/analysis module 813
may
receive data from one or more sources (e.g., raw sensor signals or data,
metadata, geo-
tagged location data, global positioning system data, user data, vehicle data,
and the
like) and may process the data. The processed data may be used by the data
control/analysis module 813, as well as other modules, to determine content
for
display, determine a display location, determine a length of time of display
of content,
a start time and stop time of content display, and the like, as will be
discussed more
fully herein.
[116] The data control/analysis module 813 may receive data from one or more
other
servers 802, 804. Other servers 802, 804 may include data related to a user
(e.g., a
user of a vehicle, a device, etc.) as well as other publicly available data.
In some
examples, the other servers 802, 804 may be servers similar to those discussed
with
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respect to FIG. 6. Data (either raw data or processed data) may be received
from one
or more other servers 802, 804 and may be processed by the data
control/analysis
module 813.
[117] Data may also be received from one or more mobile computing devices 850.
As will
be discussed more fully herein, data related to location information (e.g.,
from geo-
tagged location data, from metadata, from GPS data, etc.) may be received from
the
mobile computing device 850 and used to determine a current location of a
user, as
well as other characteristics or features of a user. Additionally or
alternatively, other
sensor data may be received from one or more sensors within the mobile
computing
device 850 (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, etc.) and may be processed by
the data
control/analysis module 813.
[118] In still other examples, data related to user behaviors, habits,
upcoming events,
navigation routes, and the like, may be received. For instance, data may be
received
from one or more calendar applications on the mobile computing device 850.
This
information may be processed by the data control/analysis module 813 to
identify one
or more future destinations or locations of a user.
[119] The data control/analysis module 813 may receive data from one or more
other
computing devices 850. For instance, the data control analysis module 813 may
receive data from one or more other mobile devices, devices associated with
individuals other than a user (e.g., family, friends, etc.), and the like. In
some
examples, the other computing devices 850 may include infrastructure along one
or
more travel routes that may collect information related to weather, traffic,
and the
like. This information may be transmitted to the content determination and
display
server 810.
[120] The data control/analysis module 813 may also receive data from one or
more
vehicles 860, as discussed more fully herein. For instance, sensor data,
driving
behavior data, location data, and the like, may be received from a vehicle 860
associated with a user, from other vehicles, etc.
[121] In some examples, the data control/analysis module 813 may control an
amount or
type of data received from one or more other devices for processing. For
instance, the
data control/analysis module 813 may determine one or more future locations of
a
user and may limit the data received from one or more devices to only data
related to
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areas between the current location of a user and the determined location
(e.g., receive
only traffic data related to the areas between the current location and the
future
location, receive only weather data for that area, etc.). Accordingly, the
server may
reduce an amount of data to be processed by receiving (or requesting) the data
related
to a particular area or from particular sensors or devices rather than all
data collected
by one or more devices.
[122] The memory 812 may further include a content determination module 814.
The
content determination module 814 may receive processed data from the data
control/analysis module 813 and may determine one or more types or pieces of
content for display or distribution to a user. For instance, based on received
calendar
data and associated location data, the server 810 may determine a particular
type of
errand a user is performing. The content determination module 814 may then
select
content for display or distribution to the user based on the determined type
of errand.
[123] Additionally or alternatively, data received by the server 810 may
include information
related to user purchase habits and the like. Accordingly, the content
determination
module 814 may select one or more types or pieces of content related to
products,
services, or the like, purchased by or researched by the user.
[124] Various other methods of determining content as discussed herein may be
used as
well.
[125] The memory 812 may further include a location determination module 815.
The
location determination module 815 may receive location information from one or
more devices (either via data control analysis module 813 or directly) to
determine a
location of a user (either based on mobile device 850 location, vehicle 860
location, or
the like). The location information may be used to determine one or more
devices to
display content or to which content may be distributed, as will be discussed
more
fully herein.
[126] Content determination and display server 810 may further include a
content display
time determination module 816. The content display time determination module
816
may determine a length of time content will be displayed on a particular
device for a
user. Similar to various other arrangements discussed herein related to
determining
start time and stop time for content display, the content display time
determination
module 816 may determine, based on location of the user, speed at which the
user is
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travelling (e.g., based on designated speed limit on a road, vehicle
operational data
related to speed of a vehicle, etc.), type of road on which a display device
is arranged
or on which the user is travelling, current traffic data for the road or area,
and the like,
an amount of time for which the determined content should be displayed. The
length
of time the content is displayed may include providing the determined content
for a
longer or shorter period of time than previously determined (e.g., by content
determination module 814). For instance, in determining the content for
display or
distribution, the content display module 814 may also determine a length of
time of
display or an amount of content for display that will consume a particular
amount of
time. The content display time determination module 816 may modify the
initially
determined length of time (either shorten or lengthen) and, in some examples,
may
communicate with content determination module 814 to modify the determined
content for display, select additional content, etc.
[127] Server 810 may further include display device determination module 817.
The
display device determination module 817 may determine one or more devices on
which to display the determined content, or to which the determined content
should be
distributed. For instance, if, based on processed data, it is determined that
a user has
an appointment at address B and has just passed address or location A, the
display
device determination module 817 may identify one or more devices (e.g.,
roadside
electronic display devices) having a location between address B and address or
location A on which to display the content. Additionally or alternatively, the
display
device determination module 817 may identify one or more mobile devices, such
as
mobile device 850, to which to distribute the determined content and may
identify a
time at which to distribute the content (e.g., based on arrival at location A,
a location
at which the driver may be stopped due to traffic, or the like).
[128] The content determination and display server 810 may further include one
or more
databases 819 storing information about one or more users (e.g., contact
information,
insurance information, demographic information, and the like) as well as one
or more
vehicle associated with the user (e.g., make, model, year, etc.). This
information may
also be used in one or more determinations discussed herein.
[129] FIG. 9 is a diagram of an illustrative content determination and display
system 900
that may be similar to or include one or more components or perform one or
more
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functions similar to electronic display systems described herein. The content
determination and display system 900 includes a vehicle 960, a mobile device
950, a
content determination and display server 910, and additional related
components.
Each component shown in FIG. 9 may be implemented in hardware, software, or a
combination of the two. Additionally, each component of the content
determination
and display system 900 may include a computing device (or system) having some
or
all of the structural components described herein for computing device 101 in
FIG. 1.
The content determination and display system 900 may also include or be in
communication with one or more servers, devices, and the like, shown and
described
with respect to FIG. 8
[130] One or more components shown in FIG. 9, such as the vehicle 960 and the
user
personal mobile device 950 may communicate with each other via wireless
networks
or wired connections (e.g., for devices physically docked in vehicles), and
each may
communicate with one or more additional vehicles, additional mobile computing
devices, and/or external computer servers 910, over one or more communication
networks 930.
[131] As discussed herein, the components of content determination and display
system
900, operating individually or using communication and collaborative
interaction,
may perform such features and functions such as determining a location of a
vehicle,
determining content for display based on received data, determining a
projected or
future location of a user, identifying a device on which to display content or
to which
content will be distributed, and the like.
[132] Content determination and display system 900 may include one or more
mobile
computing devices 950. Mobile device 950 may be, for example, smartphones or
other mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablet computers,
laptop
computers, wearable devices such as smart watches and fitness monitors, and
the like.
User personal mobile device 950 may include some or all of the elements
described
herein with respect to the computing device 101 in FIG. 1.
[133] The mobile computing device 950 may include a network interface 951,
which may
include various network interface hardware (e.g., adapters, modems, wireless
transceivers, etc.) and software components to enable mobile device 950 to
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communicate with content determination and display server 910, vehicle 960,
and
various other external computing devices. One or more specialized software
applications, such as content applications 952 may be stored in the memory of
the
mobile device 950. The content application(s) 952 may be received via network
interface 951 from the content determination and display server 910, vehicle
960, or
other application providers (e.g., public or private application stores).
Certain content
applications 952 might not include user interface screens while other
applications 952
may include user interface screens that support user interaction. Such
applications
952 and may be configured to run as user-initiated applications or as
background
applications. The memory of mobile device 950 also may include databases
configured to receive and store sensor data received from mobile device
sensors,
usage data, location data received from GPS device, user data, browser data,
purchase
data, and the like. Although aspects of the content software application(s)
952 are
described as executing on mobile device 950, in various other implementations,
some
or all of the functionality described herein may be implemented by device
usage and
evaluation server 910.
[134] As discussed herein, mobile device 950 may include various components
configured
to generate and/or receive data associated the mobile device 950. For example,
using
data from sensors 953 (e.g., 1-axis, 2-axis, or 3-axis accelerometers,
compasses,
speedometers, vibration sensors, gyroscopic sensors, etc.) and/or GPS
receivers or
other location-based services (LBS) 954, an application 952 (or other device
or
module, e.g., content determination and display server 910) may determine
movement
of the mobile device 950 (e.g., in a vehicle, with a user who is walking, with
a user
who is running, etc.). The sensors 953 and/or GPS receiver or LBS component
954 of
a mobile device 950 may also be used to determine driving speeds, routes,
navigation
routes, etc.
[135] Mobile device 950 may further include a database 955. The database 955
may
include data retrieved from one or more applications executing on the mobile
device
950. For instance, the database 955 may store data associated with one or more
calendar appointments, or other information that may be used to determine a
future
location of the user. In some examples, data may be retrieved from database
955 by
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the mobile device 955 and processed while in other examples the data may be
transmitted to content determination and display server 910 for processing.
[136] The mobile device 950 may be configured to establish communication with
content
determination and display server 910 via one or more wireless networks (e.g.,
network 930). Additionally or alternatively, the mobile device, when carried
in a
vehicle, may be used (e.g., sensors 953 in mobile device may be used) to
detect
performance and/or operational characteristics of the vehicle 960, similar to
the one or
more sensors arranged in the vehicle 960.
[137] Content determination and display system 900 may further include a
vehicle 960.
Vehicle 960 may be, for example, automobiles, motorcycles, scooters, buses,
recreational vehicles, boats, or any other vehicles for which driving
behaviors may be
analyzed. Vehicle 960 may include vehicle operation sensors 961 capable of
detecting and recording various conditions at the vehicle and operational
parameters
of the vehicle. For example, sensors 961 may detect and store data
corresponding to
the vehicle's location (e.g., GPS coordinates), time, travel time, speed and
direction,
rates of acceleration or braking, gas mileage, and specific instances of
sudden
acceleration, braking, swerving, and distance traveled. Sensors 961 also may
detect
and store data received from the vehicle's 960 internal systems, such as
impact to the
body of the vehicle, air bag deployment, headlights usage, brake light
operation, door
opening and closing, door locking and unlocking, cruise control usage, hazard
lights
usage, windshield wiper usage, horn usage, turn signal usage, seat belt usage,
phone
and radio usage within the vehicle, autonomous driving system usage,
maintenance
performed on the vehicle, and other data collected by the vehicle's computer
systems,
including the vehicle on-board computing device (OBD).
[138] Additional sensors 961 may detect and store the external driving
conditions, for
example, external temperature, rain, snow, light levels, and sun position for
driver
visibility. For example, external cameras and proximity sensors 261 may detect
other
nearby vehicles, vehicle spacing, traffic levels, road conditions, traffic
obstructions,
animals, cyclists, pedestrians, and other conditions that may relate to
vehicle accidents
and accident characteristics. Sensors 961 also may detect and store data
relating to
moving violations and the observance of traffic signals and signs by the
vehicle 960.
Additional sensors 961 may detect and store data relating to the maintenance
of the
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vehicle 960, such as the engine status, oil level, engine coolant temperature,
odometer
reading, the level of fuel in the fuel tank, engine revolutions per minute
(RPMs),
software upgrades, and/or tire pressure.
[139] Vehicles sensors 961 also may include cameras and/or proximity sensors
capable of
recording conditions inside or outside of the vehicle 960. For example,
internal
cameras may detect conditions such as the identity of the driver (e.g., using
facial
recognition software), the number of the occupants, the types of occupants
(e.g.
adults, children, teenagers, pets, etc.), and the seating/positioning of the
occupants in
the vehicles. Internal cameras also may detect potential sources of driver
distraction
within the vehicle, such as pets, phone usage, and unsecured objects in the
vehicle.
Sensors 961 also may be configured to collect data identifying a current
driver from
among a number of different possible drivers, for example, based on driver's
seat and
mirror positioning, driving times and routes, radio usage, etc. Sensors 961
also may
be configured to collect data relating to a driver's movements or the
condition of a
driver. For example, vehicle 960 may include sensors that monitor a driver's
movements, such as the driver's eye position and/or head position, etc.
Additional
sensors 961 may collect data regarding the physical or mental state of the
driver, such
as fatigue or intoxication. The condition of the driver may be determined
through the
movements of the driver or through other sensors, for example, sensors that
detect the
content of alcohol in the air or blood alcohol content of the driver, such as
a
breathalyzer.
[140] Certain vehicle sensors 961 also may collect information regarding the
vehicle's
location, current and past driving routes, in order to classify the type of
trip (e.g. work
or school commute, shopping or recreational trip, unknown new route, etc.). In
certain embodiments, sensors and/or cameras 961 may determine when and how
often
the vehicle 960 stays in a single lane or stray into other lanes. A Global
Positioning
System (GPS), locational sensors positioned inside the vehicle 960, and/or
locational
sensors or devices external to the vehicle 960 may be used to determine the
route, lane
position, road-type (e.g. highway, entrance/exit ramp, residential area, etc.)
and other
vehicle position/location data which may be used to analyze accidents and
accident
characteristics.
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[141] The data collected by vehicle sensors 961 may be stored and analyzed
within the
respective vehicle 960, for example, in vehicle data analysis device 964,
which may
be integrated into or installed at the vehicle 960. In other cases, the data
collected by
vehicle sensors 961 may be transmitted to one or more external devices for
analysis,
such as a mobile device 950 or content determination and display server 910.
Additionally, as shown in FIG. 9, sensor data from one vehicle 960 may be
transmitted via a short-range communication system 962 to other nearby
vehicles,
devices, infrastructure, and the like, and vice versa. The sensor data also
may be
transmitted from vehicles 960 via a telematics device 963 or other network
interface(s) to one or more remote computing devices, such as one or more
mobile
devices 950, content determination and display server 910, and/or other
external
servers.
[142] As discussed herein, short-range communication systems 962 may be
vehicle-based
data transmission systems configured to transmit various (e.g., driving data,
vehicle
data, insurance data, driver and passenger data, etc.) to other nearby
vehicles, and to
receive corresponding data from other nearby vehicles. In some examples,
communication systems 962 may use the dedicated short-range communications
(DSRC) protocols and standards to perform wireless communications between
vehicles. In the United States, 75 MHz in the 5.850-5.925 GHz band have been
allocated for DSRC systems and applications, and various other DSRC
allocations
have been defined in other countries and jurisdictions. However, short-range
communication systems 962 need not use DSRC, and may be implemented using
other short-range wireless protocols in other examples, such as WLAN
communication protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.11), Bluetooth (e.g., IEEE 802.15.1),
or one
or more of the Communication Access for Land Mobiles (CALM) wireless
communication protocols and air interfaces. The
vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)
transmissions between the short-range communication systems 962 may be sent
via
DSRC, Bluetooth, satellite, GSM infrared, IEEE 802.11, WiMAX, RFID, and/or any
suitable wireless communication media, standards, and protocols. In certain
systems,
short-range communication systems 962 may include specialized hardware
installed
in vehicle 960 (e.g., transceivers, antennas, etc.), while in other examples
the
communication systems 962 may be implemented using existing vehicle hardware
components (e.g., radio and satellite equipment, navigation computers) or may
be
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implemented by software running on the mobile device 950 of drivers and/or
passengers within the vehicle 960.
[143] V2V communications also may include vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I)
communications, such as transmissions from vehicles to non-vehicle receiving
devices, for example, toll booths, rail road crossings, and road-side traffic
monitoring
devices. Certain V2V communication systems may periodically broadcast data
from
a vehicle 960 to any other vehicle, or other infrastructure device capable of
receiving
the communication, within the range of the vehicle's transmission
capabilities. The
range of V2V communications and V2I communications may depend on the wireless
communication standards and protocols used, the transmission / reception
hardware
(e.g., transceivers, power sources, antennas), and other factors. Short-range
V2V (and
V2I) communications may range from just a few feet to many miles, and
different
types of vehicle data and characteristics or behaviors may be determined
depending
on the range of the V2V communications.
[144] When vehicle performance or operational data, or any other data is
transmitted by
vehicle 960, the transmission may depend on the protocols and standards used
for the
V2V and V2I communication, the range of communications, and other factors. In
certain examples, vehicle 960 may periodically broadcast corresponding sets of
similar vehicle data, such as the vehicle's location (which may include an
absolute
location in GPS coordinates or other coordinate systems, and/or a relative
location
with respect to another vehicle or a fixed point), speed, and direction of
travel. In
certain examples, the nodes in a V2V communication system (e.g., vehicles and
other
reception devices) may use internal clocks with synchronized time signals, and
may
send transmission times within V2V communications, so that the receiver may
calculate its distance from the transmitting node based on the difference
between the
transmission time and the reception time. The state or usage of the vehicle's
960
controls and instruments may also be transmitted, for example, whether the
vehicle is
accelerating, braking, turning, and by how much, and/or which of the vehicle's
instruments are currently activated by the driver (e.g., head lights, turn
signals, hazard
lights, cruise control, 4-wheel drive, traction control, etc.). Vehicle
warnings such as
detection by the vehicle's 960 internal systems that the vehicle is skidding,
that an
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impact has occurred, or that the vehicle's airbags have been deployed, also
may be
transmitted in V2V communications.
[145] As shown in FIG. 9, vehicle 960 may use telematics devices 963 to
transmit data to
and receive data from content determination and display server 910, and/or
mobile
devices 950. Telematics devices 963 may be computing devices containing many
or
all of the hardware/software components as the computing device 101 depicted
in
FIG. 1. In some cases, telematics devices 963 may receive vehicle sensor data,
operation data, and driving data from vehicle sensors 961, and may transmit
the data
to one or more external computer systems (e.g., content determination and
display
server 910, or the like) over a wireless transmission network 930. The
telematics
devices 963 also may store the type of their respective vehicle 960, for
example, the
make, model, trim (or sub-model), year, and/or engine specifications, as well
as other
information such as vehicle owner or driver information, insurance
information,
warranty information, and financing information for the vehicle 960.
[146] In the example shown in FIG. 9, telematics devices 963 may receive data
from vehicle
sensors 961, and may transmit the data to a mobile device 950 or content
determination and display server 910. However, in other examples, one or more
of
the vehicle sensors 961 or other vehicle-based systems may be configured to
receive
and transmit data directly from or to other servers 910 or mobile device 950
without
using a telematics device. For instance, telematics devices 963 may be
configured to
receive and transmit data from certain vehicle sensors 961 or systems, while
other
sensors or systems may be configured to directly receive and/or transmit data
to
server 910 or mobile device 950 without using the telematics device 963. Thus,
telematics devices 963 may be optional in certain embodiments.
[147] The system 900 also may include one or more external servers, such as
content
determination and display server 910, which may contain some or all of the
hardware/software components as the computing device 101 depicted in FIG. 1.
Content determination and display server 910 may communicate with vehicle 960
and
mobile devices 950 via one or more communication networks 930.
[148] The content determination and display server 910 may include some or all
of the
components and/or functionality described with respect to FIG. 8. The server
910
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may include one or more databases 912 configured to store data associated with
a
user, vehicle, or the like. Further, the server 910 may include content
determination
and display module 911 which may provide some or all of the operations and/or
functionality described with respect to FIG. 8.
[149] FIG. 10 illustrates one example method of determining content and
displaying content
on a device according to one or more aspects described herein. In step 1000, a
location of a vehicle may be determined. The location of the vehicle may be
determined using one or more of the methods described herein. Additionally or
alternatively, the location of the vehicle may be determined via GPS or other
data. In
some examples, the location of the vehicle may be determined via V2V or V2I
communications as the vehicle approaches another vehicle, device,
infrastructure, etc.
[150] In step 1002, a determination is made as to whether the determined
vehicle location is
within a predefined proximity of a first location. In some examples, the first
location
may be an electronic roadside display or other device configured to display
content, as
described herein. In other examples, the first location may be a location at
which it is
determined that display of content would be considered safe (e.g., a red
light, heavy
traffic area in which traffic is stopped, etc.). If, in step 1002, the vehicle
is not within
the predefined proximity of the first location, the process may return to step
1002 to
determine the current location of the vehicle and again determine whether the
current
location is within the predefined proximity.
[151] If, in step 1002, the vehicle is within the predefined proximity of the
first location, a
vehicle identifier (e.g., license plate number, VIN, etc.) may be retrieved in
step 1004.
For instance, a vehicle identifier may be captured by one or more cameras or
other
image capturing devices along a route on which the vehicle is travelling. In
other
examples, metadata from the location information received from the vehicle may
be
used to identify the vehicle (e.g., may be used as input in a look-up table to
identify a
VIN or the like).
[152] In step 1006, a user associated with the vehicle may be determined or
identified. In
some examples, the vehicle identifier may be used as an input in a database
query to
retrieve a name or other identifier of a user associated with the vehicle. In
other
examples, driving behaviors (e.g., based on sensor data retrieved from one or
more
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sensors within the vehicle, mobile device, or the like) may be used to
identify a user.
For instance, the driving behaviors may be compared against previously stored
driving behaviors or patterns to identify a user associated with the
behaviors.
[153] In step 1008, user information may be retrieved. Similar to the
arrangements
described with respect to FIG. 6, the user information may be retrieved from
one or
more data source servers and may include purchase data, personal data,
appointment
or other calendar data, browsing history, credit information, and the like. In
step
1010, first content may be determined based, at least in part, on the
retrieved user
information and may be displayed on a first device. The first content may be
tailored
to the identified user or interests of the identified user (e.g., based on the
retrieved
user information). In some examples, the first device may be an electronic
roadside
display at the first location. In other examples, the first device may be a
mobile
device of the user.
[154] In step 1012, a response to the displayed content may be requested from
the user. For
instance, the displayed content may request that the user acknowledge the
content
(e.g., via his or her mobile device, on-board vehicle computing device, or the
like). In
step 1014, a determination is made as to whether a response is received from
the user
within a predefined time limit (e.g., within 15 seconds of displaying the
content,
within one minute of displaying the content, etc). If so, second content may
be
determined and displayed on the first device in step 1020. The second content
may
include additional content or follow-up content from the first content. In
other
examples, the second content may include information instructing the user on
one or
more ways to obtain additional information if desired.
[155] If, in step 1014, a response is not received within the predefined time
limit, a second
device may be identified in step 1016. The second device may be a mobile
device of
the user (e.g., determined from the user identifying information or other user
information). For instance, if the first device is an electronic roadside
display, the
identified second device may be a mobile device of the user. In another
example, if
the first device is a mobile device of a user (e.g., a smartphone) the
identified second
device may be another mobile device of the user (e.g., a tablet). In still
another
example, if the first device is a mobile device of the user, the second device
may be
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an electronic roadside display. In some arrangements, the second device may be
a
television, set-top box or other device associated with the user.
[156] In step 1018, the first content may be transmitted to the second device
and the system
(e.g., the content determination and display server 110) may cause the content
to be
displayed on the second device.
[157] FIG. 11 illustrates another example method of determining and displaying
content
according to one or more aspects described herein. In step 1100, a vehicle may
be
identified. Similar to other example arrangements discussed herein, the
vehicle may
be identified via a camera capturing an image of a license plate, via V2V or
V2I
communications, via a sensor detecting the vehicle along a route, or the like.
In step
1102, a location of the vehicle may be determined. For instance, GPS or other
location data from the vehicle may be received. In another example in which
the
vehicle is identified via a proximity sensor on a device or infrastructure,
the location
of the vehicle may be determined based on proximity to the sensor location.
[158] In step 1104, a user associated with the vehicle may be determined or
identified. For
instance, vehicle identification information may be used as an input in a
database
query to identify the user associated with the vehicle. In step 1106, the user
identifier
may be used as an input in a query to obtain additional information about the
user.
For instance, as discussed with respect to FIG. 6, information about the user,
as well
as other information, may be retrieved from one or more data source servers.
In some
examples, the retrieved information may include appointment or calendar
information
for the user. Based on the retrieved information, content for display may be
determined and/or generated in step 1108.
[159] In step 1110, a future or second location of a user may be predicted.
For instance, the
retrieved appointment and/or calendar information may be used to determine a
second
location and approximate time the user will be at the second location (e.g.,
doctor's
appointment at 2:00 p.m., oil change appointment at 11:00 a.m., etc.). In step
1112, a
device within a predefined proximity of the second location may be identified
(e.g., an
electronic roadside display, mobile display, mobile device, etc.). For
instance, the
content determination and display server 110 may identify an electronic
roadside
display within a predefined proximity of the second location (e.g., one block,
1000
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feet, etc.). In step 1114, the determined content may be transmitted to the
identified
device and, in step 1116, the determined content may be displayed on the
device at
the approximate time at which it is expected the user will be at the second
location.
[160] FIG. 12 illustrates yet another method of determining and displaying
content
according to one or more aspects described herein. In step 1200, a vehicle may
be
identified. Similar to other example arrangements discussed herein, the
vehicle may
be identified via a camera capturing an image of a license plate, via V2V or
V2I
communications, via a sensor detecting the vehicle along a route, or the like.
In step
1202, a location of the vehicle may be determined. For instance, GPS or other
location data from the vehicle may be received. In another example in which
the
vehicle is identified via a proximity sensor on a device or infrastructure,
the location
of the vehicle may be determined based on proximity to the sensor location.
[161] In step 1204, a user associated with the vehicle may be determined or
identified. For
instance, vehicle identification information may be used as an input in a
database
query to identify the user associated with the vehicle. In step 1206, the user
identifier
may be used as an input in a query to obtain additional information about the
user.
For instance, as discussed with respect to FIG. 6, information about the user,
as well
as other information, may be retrieved from one or more data source servers.
In some
examples, the retrieved information may include appointment or calendar
information
for the user. Based on the retrieved information, content for display may be
determined and/or generated in step 1208.
[162] In step 1210, a second user associated with the first user may be
identified. For
instance, the system may detect a presence of a second mobile device within a
vehicle. In some examples, the second mobile device may be registered with the
system (e.g., may be a device of a family member of the user or driver of the
vehicle).
In other examples, the system may retrieve user information that includes
identification of a second mobile device, such as that of a spouse, child,
close friend,
or the like. This information may be pre-stored by the user.
[163] In step 1212, a mobile device associated with the second user may be
identified. For
instance, a mobile device number or identifier may be retrieved or determined.
In
step 1214, the determined content may be transmitted to the mobile device of
the
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second user and, in step 1216, the content determination and display server
810 may
cause the content to be displayed on the mobile device of the second user.
Accordingly, if the user is driving, the determined content may be transmitted
to
another user within the vehicle (e.g., a mobile device of a spouse, child,
etc.) who can
then convey the content to the user without the user reading the content
directly.
[164] FIG. 13 illustrates still another example method of determining and
displaying content
according to one or more aspects described herein. In step 1300, a vehicle may
be
identified. Similar to other example arrangements discussed herein, the
vehicle may
be identified via a camera capturing an image of a license plate, via V2V or
V2I
communications, via a sensor detecting the vehicle along a route, or the like.
In step
1302, a location of the vehicle may be determined. For instance, GPS or other
location data from the vehicle may be received. In another example in which
the
vehicle is identified via a proximity sensor on a device or infrastructure,
the location
of the vehicle may be determined based on proximity to the sensor location.
[165] In step 1304, a user associated with the vehicle may be determined or
identified. For
instance, vehicle identification information may be used as an input in a
database
query to identify the user associated with the vehicle. In step 1306, the user
identifier
may be used as an input in a query to obtain additional information about the
user.
For instance, as discussed with respect to FIG. 6, information about the user,
as well
as other information, may be retrieved from one or more data source servers.
In some
examples, the retrieved information may include appointment or calendar
information
for the user. Based on the retrieved information, content for display may be
determined and/or generated in step 1308. In some example, determining or
generating the content for display may include determining a length of time
for which
the content will be displayed on the device (e.g., 15 seconds, 30 seconds, one
minute,
etc.).
[166] In step 1310, a speed of the vehicle may be determined. The speed may be
determined from one or more sensors within the vehicle, from known speed limit
data
associated with the route or roadway along which the vehicle is travelling,
current
traffic conditions, and the like. Based on the determined speed of the
vehicle, a length
of time for which content will be displayed may be modified in step 1312. For
instance, if it is determined that traffic volume is heavy and the vehicle is
travelling
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below the posted speed limit, the length of time for which the content is
displayed
may be increased to provide additional information or viewing time for the
user.
[167] In step 1314, a device on which the content will be displayed may be
identified. In
some examples, the identified device may be an electronic roadside display at
or near
the identified location of the vehicle. In other examples, the identified
device may be
an electronic roadside display along a predicted route of the vehicle (e.g.,
based on
navigation information, or the like). In still other examples, the identified
device may
be a mobile device of the user.
[168] In step 1316, the content may be transmitted to the identified device
and the content
determination and display server may cause the content to be displayed on the
identified device.
[169] As discussed herein, various examples of generating or determining
content and
displaying content are provided. One or more aspects of the arrangements
described
herein with respect to the content determination and display server or system
may be
used in combination with any of the electronic display systems described
herein, or
may be used alone without departing from the invention.
[170] As described herein, the content determination and display arrangements
discussed
permit use of enriched data to determine content and/or identify a device for
display,
time for display, length of display of content, and the like. For instance,
data
associated with a user may be retrieved from various sources (e.g., publicly
available
information, purchase history, calendar or appointment information, etc.) to
generate
customized content to display to a user, as well as, in at least some
examples, to
identify a device or location of a device at which to display the content.
[171] In some examples, as discussed herein, vehicle data, such as a sensor
data, may be
used to modify content or length of display of content. For instance, the
system may
receive speed data associated with a vehicle and, based on the speed of the
vehicle
may generate content having a longer or shorter display time (e.g., short
content when
speed is higher, longer content when speeds are slower, etc.) or may modify a
display
time of generated content. In other arrangements, traffic volume, speed limits
for the
road, etc. may be retrieved from one or more data sources and may be used to
generate a length of time of display or modify the content or length of time
of display.
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[172] Further, aspects described herein provide additional safety measures
when displaying
content by identifying a passenger in a vehicle and transmitting content to a
mobile
device of the passenger, rather than the driver, in order to safely transmit
content to
the driver. Additionally or alternatively, content may be displayed while a
vehicle is
stopped, when a user has arrived at a destination, or on one more devices not
associated with the vehicle (e.g., television, set-top box, mobile device, and
the like).
[173] The arrangements discussed herein provide for dynamic selection of a
channel for
distribution of content or display of content to a user based on user
information,
external factors, and the like. These arrangements aid in providing customized
content to users in accessible locations, via convenient devices and at
convenient
times.
[174] While the aspects described herein have been discussed with respect to
specific
examples including various modes of carrying out aspects of the disclosure,
those
skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous variations and
permutations
of the above described systems and techniques that fall within the spirit and
scope of
the invention.
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