SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE AUTOMATED NOTIFICATION OF COMPATIBILITY BETWEEN REAL-TIME NETWORK PARTICIPANTS

• US 20080201425A1
• Filed: 01/29/2008
• Published: 08/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jedi Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Jedi Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Baker, Benjamin D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,885,977 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/204
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/20 of structured data, e.g. relational data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/105 Human resources
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1818 Conference organisation arrangements, e.g. handling schedules, setting up parameters needed by nodes to attend a conference, booking network resources, notifying involved parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/185 with management of multicast group membership
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/02 using automatic reactions or user delegation, e.g. automatic replies or chatbot-generated messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/043 using or handling presence information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99937 Sorting
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

The present invention is a method and system for using predetermined preferences/characteristics to ascertain personal compatibility between network or chat room participants based upon profile information. When the system determines that these preferences are favorable for interpersonal compatibility, the system will automatically notify or page the participants so as to facilitate their introduction. Further functionality, aside from the compatibility based upon profile information, includes e-mail and other electronic notification of personal compatibility as well as geographic compatibility.

Claims

1. A method for the automated display of human participant-specific data to a human participant of a real-time network, comprising the steps of:

(a) collecting human participant specific data for a plurality of network participants, wherein said step of collecting human participant-specific data includes presenting to the human participant at least one on-line survey comprising a plurality of questions and detecting and recording the human participant responses to the questions;

(b) processing the recorded human participant responses to the questions, to identify at least one facet of the human participant'"'"'s personality;

(c) storing, in memory, at least a portion of the human participant specific data collected and the at least one facet of the human participant'"'"'s personality;

(d) processing the stored human participant specific data and the at least one facet, to determine interpersonal compatibility between at least two network participants;

(e) sorting said human participant specific data from a plurality of network participants by interpersonal compatibility; and

(f) automatically displaying at least a portion of the sorted human participant specific data to at least one participant in association with the network.

2. A method for determining the compatibility of at least two participants of a network, and for the automated notification of compatible participants based upon predetermined criteria, comprising the steps of:

(a) collecting human participant-specific data for a plurality of network participants;

(b) storing, in memory, the human participant-specific data collected, including participant-specified preferences;

(c) sorting said human participant-specific data from a plurality of participants by participant-specified preferences;

(d) processing the stored human participant specific data, using at least the compatibility criteria and stored participant-specified preferences, to calculate interpersonal compatibility between at least two network participants;

(e) automatically determining the compatibility of at least two human participants using the calculated interpersonal compatibility;

(f) periodically assessing the availability to communicate between at least two compatible participants; and

(g) automatically notifying compatible participants of their compatibility and availability to communicate.

3. A method for automatically prompting compatible users of a network of their compatibility with at least another user, comprising the steps of:

(a) collecting human participant specific data including human participant specific data and preferences for a plurality of network participants, wherein said step of collecting human participant-specific data further includes presenting to the human participant at least one on-line survey comprising a plurality of questions—

and detecting and recording the human participant responses to the questions;

(b) identifying at least one facet of a human participant'"'"'s personality wherein identifying is accomplished by comparing data collected for said human participant;

(c) storing, in memory, at least a portion of the human participant specific data collected and the at least one facet identified;

(d) automatically determining interpersonal compatibility between at least two network participants wherein determining is accomplished at least in part by comparing the data stored for a human participant including a preference collected and the at least one facet identified for said human participant with the data collected for a plurality of other network participants;

(e) sorting said human participant specific data from a plurality of network participants by interpersonal compatibility; and

(f) automatically prompting the network participants to indicate their interpersonal compatibility.

4. A system for the automated transmission of human participant-specific data to a human participant of a real-time network, comprising:

a computer network for collecting human participant-specific data for a plurality of participants, including at least at least one facet of a participant'"'"'s personality;

a database for storing, in a memory, the human participant-specific data collected via the network; and

a processor, associated with said network and with access to said database, for sorting said human participant-specific data from a plurality of participants using compatibility criteria, including the at least one facet of a participant'"'"'s personality, to calculate interpersonal compatibility between at least two participants, and automatically transmitting at least a portion of the sorted human participant-specific data to at least one participant in association with the network.

5. A system for the automated transmission of human participant-specific data to a human participant of a real-time communication network, comprising:

a real-time computer network for collecting human participant-specific data for a plurality of users;

means for storing, in a memory, the human participant-specific data collected via the real-time communication network; and

a processor, associated with said real-time communication network and with access to said storing means, for sorting said stored human participant-specific data from a plurality of users, wherein sorting includes identifying at least one personality facet of a first participant that is determined to be complimentary to a personality facet of at least a second participant, and automatically transmitting at least a portion of the sorted human participant-specific data to at least one user.

6. A system and method for the automated notification of availability between network participants comprising:

collecting human participant specific data for a plurality of network participants wherein said step of collecting human participant-specific data includes presenting to a human participant at least one on-line survey comprising a plurality of questions and detecting and recording the human participant responses to the questions in a database table, and within said table storing at least one record containing information indicative of the human participant responses to the questions;

providing a memory for storing at least a portion of the human-participant data collected;

processing the human-participant data collected for the plurality of participants to determine compatibility between at least two participants, wherein processing the stored human participant-specific data includes retrieving at least one compatibility criteria, wherein the compatibility criteria includes at least one characteristic and a threshold, and applying the compatibility criteria to a plurality of records containing information indicative of the human participant responses in the database to determine the compatibility of the human participants;

permitting a first human participant to select at least one other human participant from a set of participants determined to be compatible;

assessing the availability of the selected at least one other human participant; and

notifying said first human participant of the availability of said at least one other participant.

7. A method for automatically prompting compatible users of a network of their compatibility with at least another user, comprising:

collecting user specific data and preferences for a plurality of network users, including presenting to the users at least one on-line survey comprising a plurality of questions and detecting and recording the users'"'"' responses to the questions;

storing, in memory, at least a portion of the user specific data collected, including creating at least one data table within a database that includes data for a plurality of users, and within said table storing at least one record containing information indicative of the user'"'"'s responses to the questions;

using compatibility criteria that includes at least one characteristic and a threshold, processing the stored user specific data to determine interpersonal compatibility between at least two network users, wherein processing includes applying the compatibility criteria to a plurality of records containing information indicative of the user responses in the data table to determine the interpersonal compatibility of the users;

sorting said user specific data, from a plurality of network users, by interpersonal compatibility; and

automatically prompting at least a portion of network users determined to have interpersonal compatibility and thereby indicating interpersonal compatibility between the users.

8. The method according claim 7, wherein the step of sorting said user specific data from a plurality of users by interpersonal compatibility includes assessing a user'"'"'s availability to communicate with a compatible user.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein sorting said user specific data includes assessing whether the users are available to participate in a chat system operating on the network, and where prompting the compatible users includes sending each of a pair of compatible users logged into the network a message indicating the compatibility.

10. The method according to claim 7, where prompting the compatible users includes sending each of a pair of compatible users a message indicating the compatibility.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the message includes a signal transmitted to a user'"'"'s portable communication device.

12. The method according to claim 7, wherein sorting said user specific data includes assessing whether the users are available to meet, and where prompting the compatible users includes sending each of a pair of compatible users a message indicating the compatibility.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein assessing whether the users are available to meet includes determining the users'"'"' ability to meet at a common location.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the message includes a signal transmitted to a user'"'"'s portable communication device.

15. The method according to claim 7, wherein automatically prompting includes a video transmission.

16. The method according to claim 7, wherein automatically prompting includes a voice transmission.

17. The method according to claim 7, wherein automatically prompting includes transmission of an audio cue.

18. The method according to claim 7, wherein the survey indicates a psychological profile of the user and where determination of interpersonal compatibility is determined, at least in part, as a function of psychological profiles of the users.

19. The method according to claim 7, wherein the user specific data includes a chat time a user is available to chat, and where prompting compatible users further includes prompting a user to indicate when the user will be available to chat.

20. The method according to claim 7, wherein collecting user specific data includes accessing pre-existing data associated with a user, where the pre-existing data is available prior to initiation of collecting data for the user.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the pre-existing data is publicly available.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein the data is exchanged with another database.

23. The method according to claim 7, wherein automatically prompting includes determining if at least one of the network users will be available during a certain time period.

24. The method according to claim 7, wherein user specific data is saved on a disk and includes a user'"'"'s family information and where members of the user'"'"'s family are notified of the time which the user will be online.

25. The method according to claim 7, wherein collecting user specific data includes recording an indication of whether a user will be available during a specific time period.

26. The method according to claim 23, wherein determining if at least one of the users will be available includes retrieving information signifying if a user is currently available via the network, and if not, obtaining information indicating when the network user will be available via the network.

27. The method according to claim 7, wherein processing the stored user specific data includes storing the interpersonal compatibility as a mathematical value, and further including accessing the stored interpersonal compatibility at a subsequent time and notifying the compatible users when they are available via the network.

28. The method according to claim 7, wherein processing the stored user specific data includes storing the interpersonal compatibility as a mathematical value, and further including accessing the stored interpersonal compatibility at a subsequent time and notifying the compatible users when they are within proximity of one another.

29. The method according to claim 7, wherein processing the stored user specific data includes storing the interpersonal compatibility as a mathematical value, and further including accessing the stored interpersonal compatibility at a subsequent time and notifying the compatible users when one of the compatible users is at a pre-designated location.

30. The method according to claim 7, wherein user specific data includes a user'"'"'s family information and where members of the user'"'"'s family are notified when a family member is in proximity.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein the proximity is user specified.

32. The method according to claim 7, wherein user specific data includes a user'"'"'s family information and where members of the user'"'"'s family indicate they will be at a particular time.

33. The method according to claim 7, wherein collecting user specific data includes accessing pre-existing data associated with a user, where the pre-existing data includes threads of the users'"'"' conversations.

34. A method for determining compatibility of at least two participants of a network based upon predetermined criteria and notifying the compatible participants, comprising:

collecting human participant-specific data for a plurality of the participants;

storing, in memory, the human participant-specific data collected, including participant-specified preferences;

sorting said human participant-specific data from a plurality of participants by participant-specified preferences;

processing the stored human participant specific data, using at least the compatibility criteria and stored participant-specified preferences, to calculate interpersonal compatibility between at least two participants;

automatically determining the compatibility of at least two participants using the calculated interpersonal compatibility, including assessing whether the participants are available to meet in person, wherein the step of assessing whether the participants are available to meet in person includes monitoring the positions of the participants to determine whether the positions are in proximity to one another; and

notifying compatible participants of their compatibility, including sending each compatible participant a message.

35. The method according claim 34, wherein the step of sorting said human participant specific data from a plurality of users by interpersonal compatibility includes assessing a participant'"'"'s availability to communicate with a compatible participant.

36. The method according to claim 34, wherein sorting said human participant specific data includes assessing whether the participants are available to participate in a chat system operating on the network, and where notifying the compatible participants includes sending each of a pair of compatible participants logged into the network a message indicating the compatibility.

37. The method according to claim 34, where notifying the compatible participants includes sending each of a pair of compatible participants a message indicating the compatibility.

38. The method according to claim 37, wherein the message includes a signal transmitted to a portable communication device.

39. The method according to claim 34, wherein sorting said human participant specific data includes assessing whether the participants are available to meet, and where notifying the compatible participants includes sending each of a pair of compatible participants logged into the network a message indicating the compatibility.

40. The method according to claim 39, wherein assessing whether the participants are available to meet includes determining the participants'"'"' ability to meet at a common location.

41. The method according to claim 39, wherein the message includes a signal transmitted to a participant'"'"'s portable communication device.

42. The method according to claim 34, wherein notifying compatible participants includes a video transmission.

43. The method according to claim 34, wherein notifying compatible participants includes a voice transmission.

44. The method according to claim 34, wherein notifying compatible participants includes transmission of an audio cue.

45. The method according to claim 34, wherein the survey indicates a psychological profile of the participant and where determination of interpersonal compatibility is determined, at least in part, as a function of psychological profiles of the participants.

46. The method according to claim 34, wherein the human participant specific data includes a chat time a participant is available to chat, and where notifying compatible participants further includes prompting a human participant to indicate when the human participant will be available to chat.

47. The method according to claim 34, wherein collecting human participant specific data includes accessing pre-existing data associated with a participant, where the pre-existing data is available prior to initiation of collecting data for the participant.

48. The method according to claim 47, wherein the pre-existing data is publicly available.

49. The method according to claim 48, wherein the data is exchanged with another database.

50. The method according to claim 34, wherein notifying compatible participants includes determining if at least one of the network participants will be available during a certain time period.

51. The method according to claim 34, wherein human participant specific data is saved on a disk and includes a participant'"'"'s family information and where members of the participant'"'"'s family are notified of the time which the human participant will be online.

52. The method according to claim 34, wherein collecting human participant specific data includes recording an indication of whether a human participant will be available during a specific time period.

53. The method according to claim 50, wherein determining if at least one of the participants will be available includes retrieving information signifying if a participant is currently available via the network, and if not, obtaining information indicating when the network participant will be available via the network.

54. The method according to claim 34, wherein processing the stored participant specific data includes storing the interpersonal compatibility as a mathematical value, and further including accessing the stored interpersonal compatibility at a subsequent time and notifying the compatible participants when they are available via the network.

55. The method according to claim 34, wherein processing the stored participant specific data includes storing the interpersonal compatibility as a mathematical value, and further including accessing the stored interpersonal compatibility at a subsequent time and notifying the compatible participants when they are within proximity of one another.

56. The method according to claim 34, wherein processing the stored participant specific data includes storing the interpersonal compatibility as a mathematical value, and further including accessing the stored interpersonal compatibility at a subsequent time and notifying the compatible participants when one of the compatible participants is at a pre-designated location.

57. The method according to claim 34, wherein human participant specific data includes a participant'"'"'s family information and where members of the participant'"'"'s family are notified when a family member is in proximity.

58. The method according to claim 57, wherein the proximity is human participant specified.

59. The method according to claim 34, wherein human participant specific data includes a participant'"'"'s family information and where members of the participant'"'"'s family indicate they will be at a particular time.

60. The method according to claim 34, wherein collecting human participant specific data includes accessing pre-existing data associated with a participant, where the pre-existing data includes threads of the participants'"'"' conversations.