System for creating anonymous social gatherings

• US 9,801,020 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2016
• Issued: 10/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gary Fernandes, Jeffrey Scuba
• Original Assignee: Gary Fernandes, Jeffrey Scuba
• Inventors: Scuba, Jeffrey, Fernandes, Gary
• Primary Examiner(s): ALGIBHAH, HAMZA N
• Application Number:
  US15/168,228
• Publication Number:
  US 20160277895A1
• Time in Patent Office: 512 Days
• Field of Search: 709200
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0421 Anonymous communication, i.e. the party's identifiers are hidden from the other party or parties, e.g. using an anonymizer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/64 using geofenced areas
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

A system for creating an anonymous social gathering of 3 or more persons. The system has a server digital device and a client digital device both operatively connected to a distributed network and thus to each other. The client device is configured to display an electronic mapping received from the server digital device through the distributed network and the electronic mapping displays at least one selectable geolocation indicator. Each geolocation indicator represents an indicated location of a gathering of at least two anonymous portable digital devices. The electronic mapping is configured to display indicator identification information on the user device for the momentarily selected indicator.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating social gatherings for a common-interest community of portable device users, the method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device over a wide area network, information associating each of a plurality of portable digital devices to one or more common-interest communities;

storing in a tangible computer-readable storage medium the information associating each of the plurality of portable digital devices to the one or more common-interest communities;

tracking by a computing device through a wide area network, the variable geographic location of selected ones of the plurality of portable digital devices;

determining, by a computing device, that a preselected number of portable digital devices which are each associated to a selected community have entered within a first preselected proximity to each other; and

after the preselected number of portable digital devices which are each associated to the selected community have entered within the first preselected proximity to each other, sending, by a computing device, information configured to create a display of a geographic location for the selectedly proximate digital devices to at least one other portable digital device which is associated with the selected community and which is within a second preselected proximity to the preselected number of portable devices.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the display is selected from the group of displays consisting of a map with geographic icons and a textual list of geographic locations.

3. A method for locating a social gathering of a common-interest community, the method comprising:

.sending, by a first portable digital device, information configured to register the first portable digital device with a service for facilitating social gatherings;

sending, by the first portable digital device, information configured to select one or more communities of interest;

sending, by the first portable digital device, signal usable to determine the geographic location of the first portable digital device; and

receiving, by the first portable digital device, information configured to create a display of a geographic location for a plurality of other portable digital devices,

each of the other plurality of other portable digital devices being associated with at least a one of the selected communities, and

each of the other plurality of other portable digital devices having variable geographic location and having entered into a first selected proximity to each other,

after the plurality of other portable digital devices is within a second selected proximity to the first portable digital device.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the display is selected from the group of displays consisting of a map with geographic icons and a textual list of geographic locations.

5. A system for facilitating social gatherings for a common-interest community of portable device users, the system comprising:

a wide area network;

a network interface;

a tangible computer-accessible storage medium;

a processor coupled to the network interface and the storage medium;

a set of instructions stored in the storage medium, which, when executed by the processor cause the processor to;

receive information associating each of a plurality of portable devices to one or more common-interest communities;

store, in the storage medium, the information associating each of the plurality of portable digital devices to the one or more common-interest communities;

track the variable geographic location of selected ones of the plurality of portable digital devices;

determine that a preselected number of portable digital devices which are each associated to a selected community have entered within a first preselected proximity to each other; and

after the preselected number of portable devices which are each associated to the selected community have entered within the first preselected proximity to each other, send information configured to create a display of a geographic location for the selectedly proximate portable digital devices to at least one other portable digital device which is associated with the selected community and which is within a second preselected proximity to the preselected number of portable digital devices.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the display is selected from the group of displays consisting of a map with geographic icons and a textual list of geographic locations.

7. The system of claim 5 wherein the set of instructions when executed by the processor further cause the processor to send over the wide area network information configured to create a display indicative of rewards, the rewards being determined by a second selected number of portable digital devices selectedly proximate within a geographic location.