Method and apparatus for facilitating personal attention via wireless networks

• US 20030043042A1
• Filed: 11/13/2001
• Published: 03/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Tabula RASA Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Tabula RASA Incorporated
• Inventors: Kramer, Rebecca, James, Mark, Visuri, Pertti, Franklin, Martin, Zeps, Rob, Moores, John Jr., Kremer, Kurt, Asaria, Nashina, Makie, Todd, Cokeley, Bryan
• Application Number:
  US09/993,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20030043042A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/573.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/554 involving event detection and direct action
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 11/00 Arrangements, systems or apparatus for checking, e.g. the occurrence of a condition, not provided for elsewhere
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2011/04 related to queuing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/27 with central registration

Abstract

A method and system for identifying individuals, accessing and updating background information regarding such individuals and directing appropriate personal interaction with the individuals. Presence of the individual may be detected by recognition of a biometric feature or by use of an automatically readable tag, such as an RFID tag. Information regarding the individual, such as a unique code corresponding to that individual, may be communicated to a computer system that has a database in connection with which the code is used as a key to retrieve relevant background information, which is then communicated over a wireless link to a portable display device. The system may also automatically capture an image of an individual being identified and may then transmit that image over a wireless link to the portable display device. Various systems may employ multiple RFID scanners, facial recognition, various image capture devices, and multiple portable display devices, such as PDA'"'"'s.

Claims

1. A method comprising the steps of:

detecting the presence of an individual by reading an encoded tag associated with that individual;

automatically responding to the detection of said individual by transmitting information regarding that individual over a wireless link to a portable display device; and

displaying a selected portion of said information on a display portion of said display device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said encoded tag comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said step of detecting is performed by an RFID scanner.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein said selected portion of said information is displayed on said display portion in response to a selection operation performed on said device by a second individual.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of automatically responding is performed by apparatus including a programmed digital computer.

6. The method of claim 1 further including the step of automatically responding to detection of said individual by capturing an image of said individual and transmitting said image over a wireless link for display on a portable display device.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said step of automatically responding to the detection of said individual comprises the steps of:

transmitting a signal over a wireless link to a device adapted to capture said image; and

causing said device to capture said image in response to said signal.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein a programmed digital computer is programmed to execute the step of automatically transmitting said signal over a wireless link to a device adapted to capture said image.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein a digital computer is further operative to incorporate said image into said information transmitted to said device.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein said digital computer is further operative to incorporate said image into said information transmitted to said device.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said portable display device comprises a personal digital assistant (PDA).

12. The method of claim 6 wherein said portable display device comprises a personal digital assistant (PDA).

13. The method of claim 1 wherein said portable display device includes a computer and a display controlled by said computer.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein said encoded tag comprises a Bar Code.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein said encoded tag comprises a magnetic strip.

16. The method of claim 1 further including the step of automatically responding to detection of said individual by transmitting a video of said individual to said portable display device.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein said encoded tag includes an encoded identifier uniquely associated with said individual.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein said encoded tag further includes encoded information concerning said individual in addition to said identifier.

19. The method of claim 6 wherein said encoded tag includes an identifier uniquely associated with said individual.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein said encoded tag further includes information concerning said individual in addition to said identifier.

21. The method of claim 6 wherein images of a plurality of different individuals are successively captured in response to reading of a succession of encoded tags, each tag associated with a respective one of said individuals, each tag including an encoded identifier uniquely identifying a respective individual.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein each successive image comprises at least a portion of a record stored in a database and wherein each said identifier comprises an index to a respective record stored in said data base.

23. The method of claim 22 further including the step of causing said portable display device to query the database for information contained therein regarding a selected individual.

24. The method of claim 22 further including the step of causing the portable display device to update the database as directed by the user of the portable display device.

25. The method of claim 22 further including the step of causing the portable display device to transmit a message to the database.

26. The method of claim 22 wherein import and export capabilities are provided for interacting with said database.

27. The method of claim 22 wherein the capability is provided to update and/or add information to the database.

28. The method of claim 21 further including the step of causing a list of all individuals whose tags have been identified to be transmitted to the portable display device.

29. The method of claim 21 further including the step of providing an indication to said portable display device that an interaction has occurred with a selected individual identified by one of said tags.

30. The method of claim 22 wherein said portable display device is responsive to a voice message to encode said message and transmit it for storage in said database.

31. The method of claim 16 wherein said video is transmitted by a streaming video transmission.

32. The method of claim 25 wherein said message includes an e-mail intended for subsequent delivery.

33. The method of claim 21 wherein there is a plurality of portable display devices and further including the step of transmitting information regarding respective groups of said individuals to a different respective portable device.

79. The method of claim 1, wherein said RFID identification tag comprises an integrally formed battery.

80. The method of claim 79 wherein said battery is a micro-miniature thin film battery.

82. The method of claim 79 wherein said RFID identification tag comprises a battery rechargeable in response to energy received by an antenna, the antenna forming part of said tag.

84. The method of claim 79 wherein said battery is a micro-miniature thin film battery.

34. A method comprising the steps of:

storing information regarding an individual in a database;

detecting the presence of said individual by reading an encoded tag associated with that individual;

automatically responding to the detection of said individual by automatically transmitting information regarding that individual from said database to a portable display device; and

displaying a selected portion of said information to a second individual on a display portion of said portable display device.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein said encoded tag comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein said step of detecting is performed by a RFID scanner.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein the step of automatically responding is performed by apparatus including a programmed digital computer.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein said step of transmitting comprises transmitting said information over a wireless link.

39. The method of claim 38 further including the step of automatically responding to detection of said individual by capturing an image of the individual.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein said step of capturing an image comprises the steps of:

transmitting a signal over a wireless link to a device adapted to capture said image; and

causing said device to capture said image in response to said signal.

54. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said memory comprises a database.

41. A method comprising the steps of:

detecting the presence of an individual by reading an encoded tag associated with that individual;

automatically responding to detection of said individual by automatically capturing an image of said individual and automatically transmitting information regarding that individual over a wireless link to a display device, said information including said image.

46. A method comprising the steps of:

providing a plurality of guests at an event with a radio frequency identification (RFID) card, each card being encoded with a different identification code, each code uniquely identifying one of said guests;

each code further comprising a code for use in accessing a database entry containing information regarding said individual;

automatically responding to detection of said RFID card to capture an image of said individual; and

automatically transferring said image to a portable display device carried by a host at said event.

42. The method of claim 47 wherein said encoded tag comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.

43. The method of claim 47 wherein said step of detecting is performed by an RFID scanner.

44. The method of claim 47 wherein the step of automatically responding is performed by apparatus including a programmed digital computer.

45. The method of claim 47 wherein said step of automatically capturing an image comprises the steps of:

transmitting a signal over a wireless link to a device adapted to capture said image; and

causing said device to capture said image in response to said signal.

47. The method of claim 46 further including the step of automatically causing said image to be included in the database entry containing information regarding that individual.

48. A system comprising:

a machine readable information bearing medium, said medium carrying information about at least one individual;

a machine disposed to read said information from said medium and including means for converting said information into a signal carrying said information for transmission over a selected communication medium; and

a digital computer adapted to receive said information, said digital computer being programmed to perform the step of responding to receipt of said information to transmit a record pertaining to said individual over a communication link to a portable apparatus.

49. The system of claim 48 further including a device adapted to capture an image of said individual and to transmit said image over a wireless link to said second digital computer.

50. The system of claim 49 wherein said second digital computer is further programmed to respond to receipt of said information to trigger said device to capture an image of said individual.

51. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein said information comprises an identification number uniquely identifying said individual.

52. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein said information-bearing medium comprises a RFID tag and said machine comprises a RFID scanner.

53. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein said record is stored in a memory associated with said computer.

55. The apparatus of claim 48 wherein said communication link is a wireless link.

83. The method of claim 52 wherein said RFID identification tag comprises an integrally formed battery.

56. A system comprising:

a machine readable information bearing medium, said medium carrying information about at least one individual;

a machine disposed to read said information from said medium and including means for converting said information into a signal carrying said information for transmission over a selected communication medium;

a portable apparatus including a first digital computer adapted to transmit and receive data via a communication link; and

a second digital computer adapted to receive said information and to communicate with said portable apparatus, said second digital computer being programmed to perform the step of responding to receipt of said information to transmit a record pertaining to said individual over said communication link to said portable apparatus.

57. The apparatus comprising:

a database; and

a plurality of entries in said database, each including an image captured by an image capture device and a unique code associated with said image, said code having been derived from an RFID tag.

58. The apparatus of claim 57 wherein said code comprises an index or an address.

59. The apparatus of claim 57 wherein said image comprises a digital representation of a photograph.

60. A method comprising the steps of:

detecting the presence of each of a plurality of different individuals by reading an encoded tag associated with each individual;

automatically responding to the detection of said individuals by automatically transmitting information regarding a first individual over a wireless link to a portable display device in the possession of a first person and by automatically transmitting information regarding a second individual over a wireless link to a portable display device in possession of a second person;

61. The method of claim 60 further comprising the step of displaying a selected portion of said information on a display portion of said display device.

62. The method of claim 60 wherein said encoded tag comprises a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.

63. A method comprising the steps of:

detecting the presence of an individual;

automatically responding to the detection of said individual by transmitting information regarding that individual over a wireless link to a portable display device; and

displaying a selected portion of said information on a display portion of said display device.

64. The method of claim 63 wherein said step of detecting comprises reading a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag.

65. The method of claim 63 wherein said step of detecting comprises detecting a biometric feature of the individual.

66. The method of claim 65 wherein said step of detecting comprises facial recognition.

67. The method of claim 66 wherein the step of detecting comprises recognition of said individual by a human observer and wherein said step of automatically responding is manually initialed by said observer.

68. The method of claim 63 further including the step of automatically responding to detection of said individual by capturing an image of said individual and transmitting said image over a wireless link for display on a portable display device.

69. The method of claim 68 wherein said step of automatically responding to the detection of said individual comprises the steps of:

transmitting a signal over a wireless link to a device adapted to capture said image; and

causing said device to capture said image in response to said signal.

70. The method of claim 69 wherein a programmed digital computer is programmed to execute the step of automatically transmitting said signal over a wireless link to a device adapted to capture said image.

71. The method of claim 69 wherein images of a plurality of different individuals are successively captured in response to reading of a succession of encoded tags, each tag associated with a respective one of said individuals, each tag including an encoded identifier uniquely identifying a respective individual.

72. The method of claim 71 wherein each successive image comprises at least a portion of a record stored in a database and wherein each said identifier comprises an index to a respective record stored in said data base.

73. The method of claim 72 further including the step of causing the portable display device to update the database as directed by the user of the portable display device.

74. The method of claim 71 further including the step of providing an indication to said portable display device that an interaction has occurred with a selected individual identified by one of said tags.

75. The method of claim 64 wherein said RFID identification tag comprises an integrally formed battery.

76. The method of claim 75 wherein said battery is a micro-miniature thin film battery.

77. The method of claim 75 wherein said battery is rechargeable.

78. The method of claim 77 wherein said battery is rechargeable in response to energy received by an antenna, the antenna forming part of said tag.

81. The method of claim 75 wherein said battery is rechargeable.

85. The method of claim 75 wherein said battery is rechargeable.

86. The method of claim 77 wherein said battery is rechargeable in response to energy received by an antenna, the antenna forming part of said tag.