METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR EVENT ATTENDANCE PROCESSING AND ATTENDEE IDENTIFICATION AND RELATED DEVICES

• US 20090148827A1
• Filed: 12/05/2007
• Published: 06/11/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: At&T Delaware Intellectual Property, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: At&T Delaware Intellectual Property, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Argott, Lauren
• Granted Patent: US 8,874,024 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 434/433
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/02 of the type wherein the student is expected to construct an answer to the question which is presented or wherein the machine gives an answer to the question presented by a student

Abstract

A method of tracking attendance of an event includes detecting a presence of at least one mobile attendee device. The mobile attendee device includes personal identification information stored therein for an attendee associated therewith who is registered for the event. An ad hoc wireless data connection is established with the mobile attendee device responsive to detection thereof. An identification request is transmitted to the mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection, and the personal identification information for the attendee is received from the mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection. The received identification information is displayed on an administrator device. Related systems, devices, and computer program products are also discussed.

Claims

1. A method of tracking attendance of an event, the method comprising:

detecting a presence of at least one mobile attendee device, the mobile attendee device including personal identification information stored therein for an attendee associated therewith who is registered for the event;

establishing an ad hoc wireless data connection with the mobile attendee device responsive to detection thereof;

transmitting an identification request to the mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection;

then receiving the personal identification information for the attendee from the mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection; and

displaying the received identification information on an administrator device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile attendee device comprises one of a plurality of mobile attendee devices associated with respective ones of a plurality of attendees and including respective personal identification information therefor, the method further comprising:

detecting respective presences of the plurality of mobile attendee devices,

establishing respective ad hoc wireless data connections with the plurality of mobile attendee devices responsive to detection thereof,

transmitting the identification request to the plurality of mobile attendee devices via the respective ad hoc wireless connections;

then

receiving the respective personal identification information from the plurality of mobile attendee devices for the attendees associated therewith via the respective ad hoc wireless connections;

generating a visual attendance roster based on the respective personal identification information for the plurality of attendees; and

displaying the visual attendance roster on the administrator device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the visual attendance roster comprises:

determining respective relative spatial relationships between the administrator device and the plurality of mobile attendee devices based on respective signals received therefrom; and

generating the visual roster based on the determined spatial relationships.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the respective spatial relationships comprises:

receiving the respective signals from the plurality of mobile attendee devices identifying respective seating positions currently associated therewith,

wherein the seating positions are associated with known physical locations in a room.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

comparing the received personal identification information with expected identification information for registered attendees of the event; and

determining an absence of a registered attendee and/or a presence of an unregistered attendee based on the comparison.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

transmitting a notification to an electronic device associated with a contact person for the absent registered attendee responsive to determining the absence thereof.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the event comprises a class meeting in a school, and further comprising:

forwarding the received personal identification information for the plurality of attendees from the administrator device to a master administrator device for the school configured to receive information from a plurality of administrator devices.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining, at the master administrator device, a total number of currently present attendees in the school based on the received identification information from the plurality of administrator devices.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein displaying the visual attendance roster comprises:

selectively displaying a subset of the visual attendance roster comprising personal identification information for ones of the plurality of attendees on the administrator device responsive to selection thereof from the displayed visual attendance roster.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein detecting, establishing, transmitting, and receiving are performed at a first time, the method further comprising:

detecting a presence of at least one additional mobile attendee device at a second time after the first time;

establishing a wireless data connection with the at least one additional mobile attendee device responsive to detection thereof;

transmitting a second identification request to the at least one additional mobile attendee device via the wireless data connection;

then receiving personal identification information from the at least one additional mobile attendee device via the wireless data connection; and

determining tardy ones of the plurality of attendees based on the personal identification information received in response to the first identification request and the personal identification information received in response to the second identification request.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the personal identification information comprises:

displaying a name, photographic image, social security number, school year, class schedule, and/or current expected location for the attendee associated with the mobile attendee device.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile attendee device comprises one of a plurality of mobile attendee devices associated with respective ones of a plurality of attendees who are registered for the event, and further comprising:

detecting respective presences of the plurality of mobile attendee devices; and

displaying a listing of the plurality of mobile attendee devices responsive to detection thereof,

wherein establishing the ad hoc wireless data connection comprises selectively establishing the ad hoc wireless data connection with at least one of the plurality of mobile attendee devices responsive to a selection thereof from the displayed listing.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing a current location of the mobile attendee device with an expected location for the attendee associated therewith indicated by the received personal identification information; and

transmitting a warning signal to the mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection when the current location does not match the expected location.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the identification request from the administrator device via the ad hoc wireless data connection; and

transmitting the personal identification information for the attendee to the administrator device via the ad hoc wireless data connection responsive to receiving the identification request.

15. A computer program product for operating a mobile attendee device associated with an attendee registered for an event, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium including computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising:

computer readable program code configured to detect a presence of an administrator device associated with the event;

computer readable program code configured to establish an ad hoc wireless data connection with the administrator device responsive to detection thereof;

computer readable program code configured to receive an identification request from the administrator device via the ad hoc wireless data connection; and

computer readable program code configured to transmit personal identification information for the attendee to the administrator device via the ad hoc wireless data connection responsive to receiving the identification request.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising:

computer readable program code configured to authenticate the detected administrator device prior to establishing the ad hoc wireless data connection therewith.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising:

computer readable program code configured to read a tag associated with a seating position proximate the mobile attendee device; and

computer readable program code configured to transmit a signal to the administrator device via the ad hoc wireless data connection identifying the seating position currently proximate thereto,

wherein the seating position is associated with a known physical location in a room.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising:

computer readable program code configured to receive a warning signal from the administrator device via the ad hoc wireless data connection when a current location of the mobile attendee device does not match an expected location for the attendee associated with the mobile attendee device indicated by the personal identification information transmitted therefrom; and

computer readable program code configured to display a warning message on the mobile attendee device responsive to receiving the warning signal.

19. A system for tracking attendance of an event, comprising:

at least one mobile attendee device including personal identification information stored therein for an attendee associated therewith who is registered for the event; and

an administrator device configured to detect a presence of the at least one mobile attendee device, establish an ad hoc wireless data connection with the at least one mobile attendee device responsive to detection thereof, transmit an identification request to the at least one mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection, receive the personal identification information for the attendee from the at least one mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection, and display the received identification information on the administrator device.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one mobile attendee device comprises a plurality of mobile attendee devices associated with respective ones of a plurality of attendees and including respective personal identification information therefor, and wherein the administrator device is further configured to generate and display a visual attendance roster based on the respective personal identification information for the plurality of attendees.