Automated social routing

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for providing automated social routing. In general, a starting point and a stopping point are obtained from a requesting user. A desired number of recommended routes from the starting point to the stopping point are then programmatically generated for the requesting user by dynamically selecting physical waypoints for the recommended routes based on one or more routing factors including one or more social routing factors.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of operation of a computing device, comprising:
 obtaining a starting point and a stopping point; and   generating one or more recommended routes from the starting point to the stopping point such that, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes, one or more physical waypoints are selected for the recommended route based on one or more routing factors including one or more social routing factors.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the one or more social routing factors include an aggregate profile routing factor such that, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes, the one or more physical waypoints for the recommended route are selected based on historical aggregate profile data for the one or more physical waypoints. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes, the historical aggregate profile data for the one or more physical waypoints selected for the recommended route comprises data indicative of aggregate interests of users historically located at the one or more physical waypoints. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the one or more social routing factors include an aggregate profile routing factor such that, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes, the one or more physical waypoints for the recommended route are selected based on aggregate profile data for crowds of users currently located at the one or more physical waypoints. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes, the aggregate profile data for the crowds of users currently located at the one or more physical waypoints selected for the recommended route comprises data indicative of aggregate interests of the users in the crowds currently located at the one or more physical waypoints. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the one or more recommended routes are generated for a requesting user, and the one or more social routing factors include an implicit rating factor such that, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes, the one or more physical waypoints for the recommended route are selected based on implicit ratings for the one or more physical waypoints obtained based on degrees to which other users in a social network of the requesting user have previously visited the one or more physical waypoints. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the one or more recommended routes are generated for a requesting user, and the one or more social routing factors include an explicit rating factor such that, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes, the one or more physical waypoints for the recommended route are selected based on explicit ratings for the one or more physical waypoints made by other users. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the other users are other users for which explicit ratings for the one or more physical locations are known. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the other users are other users in a social network of the requesting user for which explicit ratings for the one or more physical locations are known. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the other users are other users that are like the requesting user and for which explicit ratings for the one or more physical locations are known. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the other users that are like the requesting user are other users having user profiles that match a user profile of the requesting user at least to a predefined threshold degree. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising obtaining one or more abstract waypoints to be used for generating the one or more recommended routes from the starting point to the stopping point, wherein generating the one or more recommended routes comprises generating the one or more recommended routes from the starting point to the stopping point such that, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes, the one or more physical waypoints are selected based on the one or more abstract waypoints and the one or more routing factors. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the one or more abstract waypoints comprise a plurality of abstract waypoints, and generating the one or more recommended routes from the starting point to the stopping point comprises, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes:
 generating a random ordering of the plurality of abstract waypoints for the recommended route, the random ordering defining an order in which the plurality of abstract waypoints are to occur in recommended route; 
 selecting a physical waypoint for each of at least a subset of the plurality of abstract waypoints in the random ordering of the plurality of abstract waypoints for the recommended route based on the routing factors; and 
 generating the recommended route from the starting point to the stopping point through the physical waypoints. 
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the one or more abstract waypoints comprises a plurality of abstract waypoints, and generating the one or more recommended routes from the starting point to the stopping point comprises, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes:
 generating a random ordering of the plurality of abstract waypoints for the recommended route, the random ordering defining an order in which the plurality of abstract waypoints are to occur in recommended route; 
 initializing the recommended route to an optimal base route from the starting point to the stopping point; 
 for each abstract waypoint in the random ordering of the plurality of abstract waypoints for the recommended route:
 identifying a plurality of potential physical waypoints for the abstract waypoint that are within a predefined divergence distance from the recommended route; 
 scoring each of the plurality of physical waypoints based on the routing factors to provide scores for the plurality of potential physical waypoints; 
 selecting a physical waypoint for the abstract waypoint in the recommended route from the plurality of physical waypoints based on the scores of the plurality of physical waypoints; and 
 updating the recommended route to include the physical waypoint selected for the abstract waypoint. 
 
 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein scoring each of the plurality of potential physical waypoints comprises, for each potential physical waypoint of the plurality of potential physical waypoints, scoring the potential physical waypoint based on scores obtained for the one or more routing factors and weightings assigned to the one or more routing factors by a requesting user for which the one or more recommended routes are generated. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14  wherein selecting the physical waypoint for the abstract waypoint in the recommended route comprises selecting a highest scored potential waypoint from the plurality of potential physical waypoints as the physical waypoint. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the one or more abstract waypoints comprises a plurality of abstract waypoints, and generating the one or more recommended routes from the starting point to the stopping point comprises, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes:
 iteratively selecting one of the plurality of abstract waypoints and a physical waypoint for the one of the plurality of abstract waypoints based on the routing factors until physical waypoints have been selected for at least a subset of the plurality of abstract waypoints; and 
 generating the recommended route from the starting point to the stopping point through the physical waypoints selected for the at least a subset of the plurality of abstract waypoints. 
 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12  wherein the one or more abstract waypoints comprises a plurality of abstract waypoints, and generating the one or more recommended routes from the starting point to the stopping point comprises, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes:
 initializing the recommended route to an optimal base route from the starting point to the stopping point; 
 marking each of the plurality of abstract waypoints as incomplete; 
 identifying potential physical waypoints for abstract waypoints in the plurality of abstract waypoints marked as incomplete that are within a predefined divergence distance from the recommended route; 
 scoring the potential physical waypoints identified for the abstract waypoints marked as incomplete based on the routing factors to provides scores for the potential physical waypoints; 
 identifying a select abstract waypoint from the abstract waypoints marked as incomplete based on the scores of ones of the potential physical waypoints identified for the select abstract waypoint; 
 selecting a physical waypoint for the recommended route from the ones of the potential physical waypoints identified for the select abstract waypoint based on the scores of the ones of the potential physical waypoints identified for the select abstract waypoint; 
 updating the recommended route to include the physical waypoint; 
 marking the select abstract waypoint as complete; and 
 repeating the steps of identifying potential physical waypoints, scoring the potential physical waypoints, combining the scores, identifying a select abstract waypoint, selecting a physical waypoint, updating the recommended route, and marking the select abstract waypoint as complete for the abstract waypoints that remain marked as incomplete. 
 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein scoring the potential physical waypoints comprises, for each potential physical waypoint of the potential physical waypoints, scoring the potential physical waypoint based on scores obtained for the one or more routing factors and weightings assigned to the one or more routing factors by a requesting user for which the one or more recommended routes are generated. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the one or more routing factors further comprise at least one additional routing factor. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the computing device is a server. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the computing device is a user device. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the user device is a device selected from a group consisting of: a mobile device, a personal navigation device, and a personal computer. 
     
     
         24 . A computing device comprising:
 a communication interface; and   a controller associated with the communication interface and adapted to:   obtain a starting point and a stopping point; and   generate one or more recommended routes from the starting point to the stopping point such that, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes, one or more physical waypoints are selected for the recommended route based on one or more routing factors including one or more social routing factors.   
     
     
         25 . A computer readable medium storing software for instructing a controller of a computing device to:
 obtain a starting point and a stopping point; and   generate one or more recommended routes from the starting point to the stopping point such that, for each recommended route of the one or more recommended routes, one or more physical waypoints are selected for the recommended route based on one or more routing factors including one or more social routing factors.