Social media giant Facebook is going places where no one else has gone. It has patented a new technology that can predict where you are going next. The technology — titled “Offline Trajectories” — will work by using your previous data, as well as other people’s, to guess your next location.
Determining your current location the technology will compute for the probability where you’ll be visiting next. It’s not just one’s location, but Facebook will also use other’s location data to predict your history.
The patent application titled “Location Prediction Using Wireless Signals on Online Social Networks” describes how tracking the strength of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, and near-field communication (NFC) signals could be used to estimate your current location, in order to anticipate where you will go next.
This information is used as an alternative to GPS because, as the patent describes, it may provide a more precise geographic location. The technology will continuously learn your site and keep its history to provide for more accurate future predictions.
A Facebook spokesperson said in a statement: “We often seek patents for the technology we never implement, and patent applications — such as this one — should not be taken as an indication of future plans.”
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