Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that relates to an augmented reality application and interface that could benefit services like Uber or Didi Chuxing facilitate in identifying an arriving vehicle and/or a passenger in a crowded area.   

Mobile apps are helpful for requesting a car to provide transportation. But, high usage of such mobile apps can cause confusion in an urban environment where there are many cars and where other people may also be waiting on a car. It is a common mistake for a passenger to get into a wrong car. Similar problems can also occur with other modes of transportation. For example, it may be difficult for a person to identify the correct bus at a bus terminal, particularly in a foreign country that uses a different language.

Similarly, the driver of a vehicle can have difficulty in identifying a potential passenger or a specific stopping point to pick up the passenger. A pin or dot identifying a GPS coordinate may not provide sufficient accuracy in a crowded environment.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide devices that can assist in identifying the correct vehicle that a passenger is waiting to enter.

Apple's invention addressing this issue pertains to an augmented reality interface for facilitating identification of an arriving vehicle and/or a passenger that improve upon some or all of the above-described deficiencies.

Apple's patent FIG. 6 below shows a block diagram depicting an augmented reality system for facilitating identification of a passenger.

Apple's patent FIG. 2 below shows a block diagram depicting an augmented reality system for facilitating identification of an arriving vehicle.

Embodiments of the present invention provide for an augmented reality interface that facilitates identification of a vehicle or a passenger. The augmented reality interface may be implemented in association with a transportation requesting service or application from Uber or Didi Chuxing that Apple invested in.

For example, the augmented reality interface may be used by the driver of a hired vehicle to identify the passenger that hired the vehicle from a crowd.

Similarly, the augmented reality interface may be used by a passenger requesting a hired vehicle to identify the hired vehicle from a line of vehicles outside a sporting event. The identification of the hired vehicle and the passenger may be made by enhancing images captured by the camera of a mobile device to include an indicator or identifier.

Embodiments of the present invention provide for a number of advantages. Oftentimes, a large number of users may request transportation at the same time and at the same place, such as at an office during rush hour or at a venue when an event concludes. Thus, multiple users awaiting transportation may be at approximately the same address or location.

In one example, these users may only provide the address of their location, which may be insufficient for a driver to identify the particular passenger that hired him.

Alternatively or additionally, these users may allow the GPS of their mobile device to communicate their location, either directly or indirectly, to the driver. Although potentially more accurate than an address, GPS coordinates may have some degree of error that fails to account for or detect small variances between the locations of different users (e.g., 40 feet north of a building entrance versus 10 feet west of the building entrance). Thus, the requesting passenger may not be at the exact location identified by the GPS.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, visual information about the requesting passenger may be collected that define characteristics of the passenger. Thus, when approaching a location, a driver may scan the location with the camera of his mobile device to generate image data, allowing the mobile device to identify the characteristics of the passenger, and thus identify the passenger, within the image data.

In some embodiments, the characteristics of the passenger may be unique, such that multiple passengers are not identified (e.g., using a pink hat, white T-shirt, jeans, and white tennis shoes, as opposed to only using a white T-shirt).

Similarly, a large number of hired vehicles may be located at the same place at the same time, such as outside a hotel, at an airport, or at a venue when an event concludes.

In some embodiments, when approaching a location to meet a hired vehicle, a passenger may scan the location with the camera of her mobile device to generate image data, allowing the mobile device to identify characteristics of the hired vehicle, and thus identify the hired vehicle, within the image data. The characteristics of the hired vehicle may be unique, such that multiple vehicles are not identified (e.g., using a license plate number and vehicle make and model, as opposed to only using a vehicle color).

According to some embodiments of the present invention, a set of characteristics of the hired vehicle may be collected. Thus, when approaching a location, a passenger may scan the location with the camera of his mobile device to generate image data, allowing the mobile device to identify the characteristics of the hired vehicle, and thus the hired vehicle, within the image data.

In some embodiments, the characteristics of the hired vehicle may be unique, such that multiple hired vehicles are not identified (e.g., using a black Toyota Corolla with license plate 12345678, as opposed to only using a Toyota Corolla).

Apple's patent FIG. 4 below shows a graphical user interface on the display of a mobile device depicting instructions to activate an augmented reality mode;  FIG. 5A shows a graphical user interface on the display of a mobile device depicting identification of an arriving vehicle using augmented reality according to some embodiments of the present invention; FIG. 5B shows a graphical user interface on the display of a mobile device depicting identification of an arriving vehicle using augmented reality according to some embodiments of the present invention.

Apple's patent FIG. 8 above shows a graphical user interface on the display of a mobile device depicting identification of a passenger using augmented reality.

Other Applications

Apple notes that although described with respect to identification of a driver and passenger in conjunction with transportation request applications, some embodiments of the invention may be implemented in other contexts as well.

Some embodiments may be used to identify a public transportation vehicle (e.g., a bus, a train, a subway, a light rail, etc.). For example, some embodiments of the invention may be used to identify a bus for a passenger to board at a bus stop. Frequently, bus stops use multiple buses to service a single bus stop positioned along multiple different routes. Thus, it may be difficult for a passenger to remember which bus to board and to identify the bus to board. According to some embodiments, a passenger may enter a bus number or route using a keyboard, touch screen display, microphone, or other input device, into a transportation identification application (which may be separate from or combined with the transportation request application and/or a map application). In some embodiments, a passenger may purchase a bus fare using his mobile device, and the bus number or route may be automatically populated into the transportation identification application. In some embodiments, a passenger may enter a destination into a map application and the map application may identify a public transportation mode and route. The public transportation mode and route (including, e.g., a bus number, train number, etc.) may be automatically populated into the transportation identification application.

In some embodiments, when a bus approaches the bus stop, the passenger may point the camera of the mobile device at the bus to capture image data including the bus. The mobile device may search the image data for the bus number or route. If the bus number or route is present on the bus, the mobile device may display an indicator showing the correct bus to the passenger.

Apple's patent application was originally filed back in Q3 2017. Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time.