Physical Object-based People Matching Method, System, and Device

• US 20150230052A1
• Filed: 04/27/2015
• Published: 08/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Uber Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Manyworlds Incorporated
• Inventors: Flinn, Steven Dennis, Moneypenny, Naomi Felina
• Granted Patent: US 9,906,899 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/17306 Intercommunication techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/335 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/90 Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/04 Inference or reasoning models
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/046 Forward inferencing; Production systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]

Abstract

A physical object-based people matching method, system, and device recommends a first person to a second person based on the geographic proximity of a location associated with the first person to one or more physical objects that are associated with the second person. The geographic proximity may be determined from the use of a location-aware portable device. The recommendation may be further informed by a mobility inference. The first person is enabled to send an expression of interest to the second person in response to the recommendation, and the second person may be enabled to send an expression of interest to the first person in response to receiving the expression of interest. An explanation for the recommendation may be delivered to the first person that references a mobility inference or a computer-implemented map.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

determining a current geographic location of a first person through the first person'"'"'s use of a portable location-aware processor-based device;

accessing a computer-implemented map that comprises geographic location information associated with a plurality of non-human physical objects;

determining from the geographic location information associated with the plurality of non-human physical objects a first non-human physical object of the plurality of non-human physical objects that is proximal to the current geographic location of the first person;

delivering to the first person who is using the portable location-aware processor-based device an automatically generated recommendation, wherein the automatically generated recommendation comprises a reference to the first non-human physical object and wherein the automatically generated recommendation is generated based on an inference of mutual interest that is based, at least in part, on a geographic location associated with the first person and a current geographic location of the first non-human physical object; and

delivering a first expression of interest, in response to the recommendation, from the first person to a processor-based device used by a second person, wherein the second person is associated with the first non-human physical object.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

delivering to the first person who is using the portable location-aware processor-based device the automatically generated recommendation, wherein the automatically generated recommendation comprises the reference to the first non-human physical object and wherein the automatically generated recommendation is generated based on the inference of mutual interest that is based, at least in part, on the geographic location associated with the first person and the current geographic location of the first non-human physical object, wherein the geographic location associated with the first person is the current geographic location of the first person.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

delivering to the first person who is using the portable location-aware processor-based device the automatically generated recommendation, wherein the automatically generated recommendation comprises the reference to the first non-human physical object and wherein the automatically generated recommendation is generated based on the inference of mutual interest that is based, at least in part, on the geographic location associated with the first person and the current geographic location of the first non-human physical object, wherein a reference to the geographic location associated with the first person is explicitly input into the portable location-aware processor-based device by the first person.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

delivering to the first person who is using the portable location-aware processor-based device the automatically generated recommendation, wherein the automatically generated recommendation comprises the reference to the first non-human physical object and wherein the automatically generated recommendation is generated based on the inference of mutual interest, wherein the inference of mutual interest comprises a mobility inference.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

delivering to the first person who is using the portable location-aware processor-based device the automatically generated recommendation, wherein the automatically generated recommendation comprises the reference to the first non-human physical object and wherein the automatically generated recommendation is generated based on the inference of mutual interest, wherein the inference of mutual interest comprises an interest in the first person being proximal to the first non-human physical object.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

delivering a second expression of interest that is from the second person to the first person in response to the first expression of interest.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

delivering to the portable location-aware processor-based device an explanation for the automatically generated recommendation, wherein the explanation comprises a reference to a mobility inference.

8. A system comprising one or more processor-based devices configured to:

determine a geographic location associated with a first person through the first person'"'"'s use of a first processor-based device;

access a computer-implemented map that comprises geographic location information associated with a plurality of non-human physical objects;

determine from the geographic location information associated with the plurality of non-human physical objects a first non-human physical object of the plurality of non-human physical objects that is proximal to the geographic location associated with the first person;

deliver to the first person who is using the first processor-based device an automatically generated recommendation, wherein the automatically generated recommendation comprises a reference to the first non-human physical object and wherein the automatically generated recommendation is generated based on an inference of mutual interest that is based, at least in part, on the geographic location associated with the first person and a current geographic location of the first non-human physical object; and

deliver a first expression of interest in response to the recommendation from the first person to a second processor-based device used by a second person, wherein the second person is associated with the first non-human physical object.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising the one or more processor-based devices configured to:

deliver to the first person who is using the first processor-based device the automatically generated recommendation, wherein the automatically generated recommendation comprises the reference to the first non-human physical object and wherein the automatically generated recommendation is generated based on the inference of mutual interest that is based, at least in part, on the geographic location associated with the first person and the current geographic location of the first non-human physical object, wherein the geographic location associated with the first person is an automatically determined current geographic location of the first person.

10. The system of claim 8, further comprising the one or more processor-based devices configured to:

deliver to the first person who is using the first processor-based device the automatically generated recommendation, wherein the automatically generated recommendation comprises the reference to the first non-human physical object and wherein the automatically generated recommendation is generated based on the inference of mutual interest, wherein the inference of mutual interest comprises a mobility inference.

11. The system of claim 8, further comprising the one or more processor-based devices configured to:

deliver to the first person who is using the first processor-based device the automatically generated recommendation, wherein the automatically generated recommendation comprises the reference to the first non-human physical object and wherein the automatically generated recommendation is generated based on the inference of mutual interest, wherein the inference of mutual interest comprises an interest in the first person being proximal to the first non-human physical object.

12. The system of claim 8, further comprising the one or more processor-based devices configured to:

deliver the first expression of interest in response to the recommendation from the first person to the processor-based device used by the second person, wherein the second person is associated with the first non-human physical object, wherein the association with first non-human physical object is a proximity association between the second person and the first non-human physical object.

13. The system of claim 8, further comprising the one or more processor-based devices configured to:

deliver a second expression of interest that is from the second person to the first person in response to the first expression of interest.

14. The system of claim 8, further comprising the one or more processor-based devices configured to:

deliver to the first processor-based device an explanation for the automatically generated recommendation, wherein the explanation comprises a representation of the computer-implemented map.

15. A portable processor-based device comprising:

geographic location monitoring hardware; and

one or more processors configured to;

access geographic location information that is provided by the geographic location monitoring hardware;

determine a current geographic location of a first person who is a user of the portable processor-based device from the geographic location information;

provide the current geographic location of the first person to a proximity-determining function that uses a computer-implemented map to determine one or more non-human physical objects that are proximal to the current geographic location of the first person;

deliver to the first person an automatically generated recommendation, wherein the automatically generated recommendation comprises a reference to at least one of the one or more non-human physical objects and wherein the automatically generated recommendation is generated based on an inference of mutual interest that is based, at least in part, on a geographic location associated with the first person and a current geographic location of the one or more non-human physical objects; and

send a first expression of interest in response to the recommendation from the first person to a processor-based device used by a second person, wherein the second person is associated with the at least one of the one or more non-human physical objects.

16. The portable processor-based device of claim 15, wherein the geographic location monitoring hardware comprises:

a global positioning system receiver.

17. The portable processor-based device of claim 15 further comprising the one or more processors configured to:

deliver to the first person the automatically generated recommendation, wherein the automatically generated recommendation comprises the reference to the at least one of the one or more non-human physical objects and wherein the automatically generated recommendation is generated based on the inference of mutual interest that is based, at least in part, on the geographic location associated with the first person and the current geographic location of the one or more non-human physical objects, wherein the geographic location associated with the first person is the current geographic location of the first person.

18. The portable processor-based device of claim 15 further comprising the one or more processors configured to:

receive a second expression of interest for delivery to the first person that is in response to the first expression of interest from the second person.

19. The portable processor-based device of claim 15 further comprising the one or more processors configured to:

deliver an explanation for the automatically generated recommendation to the first person, wherein the explanation comprises a reference to a mobility inference.

20. The portable processor-based device of claim 15 further comprising the one or more processors configured to:

deliver an explanation for the automatically generated recommendation to the first person, wherein the explanation comprises a representation of the computer-implemented map.