Method and system for creating an interactive virtual community of famous people

• US 6,408,309 B1
• Filed: 02/23/2000
• Issued: 06/18/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: VS Technologies LLC
• Original Assignee: Dinesh Agarwal
• Inventors: Agarwal, Dinesh
• Primary Examiner(s): Choules, Jack
• Assistant Examiner(s): BLACK, LINH
• Application Number:
  US09/511,069
• Time in Patent Office: 846 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1-10, 707/100-104, 707/500-541, 345/689, 345/700, 345/733-767, 345/520, 345/536-538, 345/1--, 345/961-967
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• 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

A method and system for creating an interactive virtual community of famous people, or those people who wish to attain the status of a famous person, in a field of endeavor, such as arts, accounting, animal rights, business, education, engineering, entertainment, financing, government affairs, human rights, legal, medical, philanthropy, politics, religion, research, science, sports, etc. The virtual community of the present invention is unique in that the members of the virtual community can update, modify or revise their individual profile, and interact with other members of the virtual community, as well as the non-members of the virtual community.

Claims

1. A method of creating an interactive virtual community of people in a field of endeavor, comprising the steps of:

a) selecting a field of endeavor;

b) compiling a list of members in the selected field;

c) selecting a member from the compiled list of members based on a preselected factor;

d) obtaining biographical information about the selected member;

e) processing the biographical information in a preselected format to create a personal profile of the selected member;

f) publishing the profile of the selected member on a machine readable media; and

g) allowing the selected member to interact with the profile.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the step (f) comprises publishing the profile of the selected member on a network of computers.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the step (f) comprises publishing the profile of the selected member on a global computer information network.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the step (g) comprises allowing the selected member to interact with the profile from a remote location to modify, revise, or update the profile.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the step (c) comprises selecting a plurality of members from the compiled list of people based on one or more preselected factors.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein:

the step (e) comprises creating an individual personal profile of each of the selected members.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of:

h) creating a virtual community of people by publishing the profiles of the selected members.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of:

i) allowing the members of the virtual community to interact with their respective profiles from a remote location.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of:

i) allowing the members of the virtual community to interact with each other from a remote location.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of:

i) allowing the members of the virtual community to interact with non-members of the virtual community.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of:

j) allowing the members of the virtual community to interact with their respective profiles to make modifications, or revisions, or updates thereto.

12. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the step (a) comprises selecting a field of endeavor from the group consisting of arts, accounting, animal rights, business, education, engineering, entertainment, finance, government affairs, human rights, legal, medical, philanthropy, politics, religion, research, science, and sports.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein:

the preselected factor is unique to the selected field of endeavor.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the step (c) comprises selecting a member based on a factor selected from the group consisting of financial net worth, gross revenue, number of years in the field of endeavor, number of awards or prizes received, size of private or governmental grant(s), fame, and number of publications.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein:

the step (d) comprises obtaining biographical information by inquiring the selected member about one or more of the following;

a) Moments

i) happiest, saddest, toughest, coolest, worst, best, weakest, successful, unsuccessful, embarrassing, and funniest;

b) Goal

i) past, present, or future;

ii) personal or professional;

c) Outlook for life

i) past, present, or future;

ii) personal or professional;

d) Definition of Success

i) past, present, or future;

ii) personal or professional;

e) Dreams

i) past, present, or future;

ii) personal or professional;

f) Choices of food, items of personal possession, or places of vacation

i) past, present, or future;

g) Interests

i) past, present, or future;

ii) personal or professional;

h) Social activities

i) past, present, or future;

ii) personal or professional;

i) Charitable activities

i) past, present, or future;

ii) personal or professional;

j) Outlook for future, society, humanity, politics, government, religion, elderly, children, peers, animals, outer space, ocean, environment, or the selected field of endeavor.

16. A method of creating an interactive virtual community of people with shared interests in a field of endeavor, comprising the steps of:

a) selecting a field of endeavor from the group consisting of accounting, arts, business, politics, education, engineering, entertainment, medical, legal, philanthropy, science, sports, religion, and government affairs;

b) compiling a list of members in the selected field;

c) selecting a plurality of members from the compiled list based on a preselected factor;

d) obtaining biographical information about the selected members;

e) processing the biographical information in a preselected format to create a personal profile of each of the selected members;

f) publishing the profiles of the selected members on a global network of computers to form a virtual community; and

g) allowing the selected members to revise, modify or update their respective profile from a remote location.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of:

h) allowing the selected members to interact with each other and with non-members of the virtual community.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein:

the preselected factor is unique to the selected field of endeavor and is selected from the group consisting of financial net worth, gross revenue, number of years in the field of endeavor, number of awards or prizes received, size of private or governmental grant(s), fame in the community, and number of publications.

19. A method of creating an interactive profile of a person in a field of endeavor, comprising the steps of:

a) selecting a field of endeavor;

b) compiling a list of members in the selected field;

c) selecting a member from the compiled list based on one or more factors identified by other members in the selected field of endeavor;

d) obtaining biographical information about the selected member;

e) processing the biographical information in a preselected format to create a personal profile of the selected member;

f) publishing the profile of the selected member on a global network of computers; and

g) allowing the selected member to interact with the profile to revise, modify or update the profile from a remote location.

20. A method of creating an interactive profile of a person in a field of endeavor, comprising the steps of:

a) selecting a field of endeavor;

b) compiling a list of members in the selected field;

c) selecting a member from the compiled list based on one or more factors identified by members not in the selected field of endeavor;

d) obtaining biographical information about the selected member;

e) processing the biographical information in a preselected format to create a personal profile of the selected member;

f) publishing the profile of the selected member on a global network of computers; and

g) allowing the selected member to interact with the profile to revise, modify or update the profile from a remote location.