Near-field communication enabled wearable apparel garment and method to capture geospatial and socially relevant data of a wearer of the wearable apparel garment and/or a user of a reader device associated therewith

• US 8,660,897 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2011
• Issued: 02/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Raj Abhyanker
• Original Assignee: Raj V. Abhyanker
• Inventors: Abhyanker, Raj Vasant
• Primary Examiner(s): Weiss, John G
• Assistant Examiner(s): NETZLOFF, ERIC R
• Application Number:
  US13/272,245
• Publication Number:
  US 20130073375A1
• Time in Patent Office: 866 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14
• US Class Current: 705/14.64
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer

Abstract

A method includes providing, through a server device, a number of wearable apparel garments to an entity and monitoring readings of near-field communication tags associated with the number of wearable apparel garments procured from the entity through a number of reader devices of a corresponding number of another human mammals. The method also includes transmitting a profile information of the human mammal wearing the wearable apparel garment to the reader device of the another human mammal and/or a geospatial information of the reader device to the server device configured to collect information from the number of reader devices. Further, the method includes obtaining, through the server device and/or another server device, information related to market intelligence based on the transmitted profile information and/or the geospatial information.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing, through a server device, a plurality of wearable apparel garments to an entity, each wearable apparel garment of the plurality of wearable apparel garments including;

a textile region configured to cover an epidermis region of a human mammal;

a near-field communication tag, coated with a water-resistant material that is configured to protect a memory region, coupled to the textile region of the wearable apparel garment at an externally visible area thereof;

a message communication area adjacent to the near-field communication tag, coated with a water-resistant material to protect against water and corrosive washing, configured to direct a responsive action of another human mammal in establishing a communication link between a reader device of the another human mammal and the near-field communication tag;

monitoring readings of the near-field communication tags associated with the plurality of wearable apparel garments procured from the entity through a plurality of reader devices of a corresponding plurality of another human mammals;

transmitting, through the communication link, at least one of a profile information of the human mammal wearing the wearable apparel garment to the reader device of the another human mammal to enable a communication link between the human mammal and other human mammals;

generating a set of statistics associated with a count of a number of reads of the near field communication tag of the human mammal and the other human mammals;

providing a recognition to the human mammal based on the set of statistics;

placing any user that reads the near-field communication tags into a chance based drawing associated with the recognition;

creating a social connection between the human mammal and the other human mammal in a social community such that the human mammal and the other human mammal establish a social connection between each other in the online social community based on a time-stamped physical meeting event based on the reading of a particular near-field communication tag on a wearable apparel garment;

capturing a geospatial information of both the human mammal and the other human mammal based on a present geospatial location of the wearable apparel garment through a mobile device of the other human mammal presently reading the near-field communication tag on the wearable apparel garment to a central server to establish the social connection;

wherein said geospatial information of the reader device to the central server configured to collect information from the plurality of reader devices when the near-field communication tag is read by the another human mammal identifies a path of the human mammal through a set of points defining the movement of the human mammal as defined through various locations of the wearable apparel garment to identify a set of potential customers associated with a product offered by a creator of the message communication area adjacent to the near-field communication tag;

incentivizing the human mammal wearing the near-field communication tag coupled to the textile region of the wearable apparel of the human mammal when the near-field communication tag is read by the reader device of the another mammal, wherein an incentive delivered to the human mammal is distinct and separate from any incentives provided to the reader device upon tagging the near-field communication tag of the human mammal by the another human mammal, wherein the human mammal registers a unique identifier of the wearable apparel is registered on the server device; and

obtaining, through at least one of the server device and another server device, information related to market intelligence based on the transmitted at least one of the profile information of the human mammal based on a set of permissions provided by the other human mammal through the mobile device that grants a permission to transmit the geospatial information to the central server;

allowing for tagged wearable apparel garments to be resold by third party retailers for a reduced price or given away for free;

optionally providing, through a web-store of the at least one of the server device and the another server device, at least a portion of the plurality of wearable apparel garments for at least one of;

a reduced price compared to a retail price thereof and free of cost to those who read a near-field communication tag to socially propagate wearing of the wearable apparel garments;

describing, through the message communication area, an incentive to the another human mammal when the another human mammal establishes the communication link with the near-field communication tag;

delivering the incentive to the reader device of the another human mammal through a browser that activates a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) page whose identity is revealed through the communication link with the near-field communication tag;

providing, to the human mammal possessing the wearable apparel garment, a capability to program the near-field communication tag associated therewith; and

providing, to a transferor of the wearable apparel garment, a capability to simultaneously program the near-field communication tag along with other near-field communication tags of the plurality of wearable apparel garments through a tag definition website,

wherein near-field communication tags may be write-once tags, so that new custom URLs programmed to direct any read of the near-field communication tags to a website that automatically generates a set of markup language pages that correspond to each unique identifier of each near-field communication tag on the wearable apparel garment,

wherein the another server device is associated with the entity and the method further comprises providing, through the server device, a subscription service to the entity associated with access to the information related to market intelligence,

wherein the communication link is configured to open a browser on the reader device on which the profile information associated with the human mammal is displayed,

wherein the incentive is at least one of a coupon having a monetary value associated therewith and an entry into a drawing of chance having a prize associated therewith, and

wherein the communication link is configured to enable opening of at least one of a personal webpage, a dating profile, a social networking profile and a business networking profile associated with the human mammal on the reader device of the another human mammal based on a URL information stored in the near-field communication tag being transmitted to the reader device,

wherein the wearable apparel garment is at least one of a shirt, a jacket, a hat and a glove,

the externally visible area of the textile region is a shoulder area of the shirt,

wherein the near-field communication tag is coated with a water-resistant material that is configured to protect a memory region and a communication area associated therewith from water and corrosive washing while permitting the reading thereof through the reader device,

wherein the near-field communication tag is one of sewn onto the externally visible area of the textile region and removably attached thereto,

wherein the reader device of the another human mammal is a near-field communication enabled mobile phone,

wherein the reader device includes an appropriate tag reader to read the near-field communication tag, and

wherein the near-field communication tag is a passive tag configured to be powered by the reading thereof by the reader device.