System and method for locating and notifying a user of a person, place or thing having attributes matching the user's stated preferences
DCFirst Claim
1. A method of notifying a user using a device about people, places and things having attributes that match explicit preferences of the user and are within a desired proximity to a location associated with the user, the method comprising the steps of:
- creating a user preference profile, wherein the user preference profile is created by the user;
storing the user preference profile;
creating a profile of at least one of the people, places and things;
storing the at least one of the people, places and things profile;
determining the location of the user;
comparing the user preference profile and the at least one of the people, places and things profile to determine if the at least one of the people, places and things has attributes that match the preferences of the user, wherein the step of comparing the user preference profile with the at least one of the people, places and things profile comprises the step of determining whether the at least one of the people, places and things is within a distance that is specified by the user in the user preference profile; and
notifying the user of all of the at least one of the people, places and things that match the user'"'"'s explicit preferences and are within the desired proximity to the user'"'"'s location.
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Abstract
A location-based and preference-based system and method for matching the profiles of the attributes and/or characteristics of persons, places and/or things with the expressed preferences of mobile users such as travelers, to alert and direct such users to any places having attributes matching the user'"'"'s express preferences. In particular, the system comprises a mobile device such as a GPS-capable PDA that stores the user'"'"'s preferences and communicates with a server that contains or accesses the profiles of the persons, places or things to compare the profiles and preferences. Comparison of the user'"'"'s preferences with the various profiles allows the user only to be informed of those persons, places and/or things that it is likely to be interested in. The system and method thus provides for a mobile real-time point of interest exchange network.
585 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of notifying a user using a device about people, places and things having attributes that match explicit preferences of the user and are within a desired proximity to a location associated with the user, the method comprising the steps of:
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creating a user preference profile, wherein the user preference profile is created by the user; storing the user preference profile; creating a profile of at least one of the people, places and things; storing the at least one of the people, places and things profile; determining the location of the user; comparing the user preference profile and the at least one of the people, places and things profile to determine if the at least one of the people, places and things has attributes that match the preferences of the user, wherein the step of comparing the user preference profile with the at least one of the people, places and things profile comprises the step of determining whether the at least one of the people, places and things is within a distance that is specified by the user in the user preference profile; and notifying the user of all of the at least one of the people, places and things that match the user'"'"'s explicit preferences and are within the desired proximity to the user'"'"'s location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 25)
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15. A method of notifying a user using a stand-alone device about people, places and things having attributes that match explicit preferences of the user and are within a desired proximity to the user'"'"'s location, the method comprising the steps of:
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creating a user preference profile, wherein the user preference profile is created by the user; storing the user preference profile; creating a profile of at least one of the people, places and things; storing the at least one of the people, places and things profile; determining the location of the user; comparing the user preference profile and the at least one of the people, places and things profile to determine if the at least one of the people, places and things has attributes that match the preferences of the user, wherein the step of comparing the user preference profile with the at least one of the people, places and things profile comprises the step of determining whether the at least one of the people, places and things is within a distance that is specified by the user in the user preference profile; notifying the user of the at least one of the people, places and things that match the user'"'"'s explicit preferences and are within the desired proximity to the user'"'"'s location; and downloading the profiles of the at least one of the people, places and things.
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16. A location-based and preference-based matching system for notifying a user about people, places and things having attributes that match preferences of the user and are within a desired proximity to a location associated with the user, the system comprising:
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a device comprising output means; input means for the user to input the user preferences; means for determining the location of the user; input means for creating a profile for the people, place and things; storage means for storing the user preferences; storage means for storing the profiles of the people, places and things; means for comparing the user preferences and the attribute profiles of the people, places and things to determine whether there are any matches that are within the desired proximity to the location of the user; and means for displaying information about all of the matches, if any, on the output means. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification