Methods, systems, and computer program products for event attendance processing and attendee identification and related devices

• US 8,874,024 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2007
• Issued: 10/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: At&T Delaware Intellectual Property, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Argott, Lauren
• Primary Examiner(s): Yao, Sam
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bullington, Robert P
• Application Number:
  US11/950,868
• Publication Number:
  US 20090148827A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,519 Days
• Field of Search: 434/351
• US Class Current: 434/351
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/02 of the type wherein the student is expected to construct an answer to the question which is presented or wherein the machine gives an answer to the question presented by a student

Abstract

A method of tracking attendance of an event includes detecting a presence of at least one mobile attendee device. The mobile attendee device includes personal identification information stored therein for an attendee associated therewith who is registered for the event. An ad hoc wireless data connection is established with the mobile attendee device responsive to detection thereof. An identification request is transmitted to the mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection, and the personal identification information for the attendee is received from the mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection. The received identification information is displayed on an administrator device. Related systems, devices, and computer program products are also discussed.

Claims

1. A method of tracking attendance of an event, the method comprising:

detecting a presence of a mobile attendee device, the mobile attendee device including personal identification information stored therein for an attendee associated-with the mobile attendee device who is registered for the event;

establishing an ad hoc wireless data connection with the mobile attendee device responsive to detecting the presence;

transmitting an identification request to the mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection;

receiving the personal identification information for the attendee from the mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection;

displaying the personal identification information on an administrator device;

comparing a current location of the mobile attendee device with an expected location for the attendee indicated by the personal identification information; and

transmitting a warning signal to the mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection when the current location does not match the expected location, wherein the warning signal causes the mobile attendee device to display a warning message on a display thereof.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile attendee device comprises one of a plurality of mobile attendee devices associated with respective ones of a plurality of attendees and including respective personal identification information, the method further comprising:

detecting respective presences of the plurality of mobile attendee devices,

establishing respective ad hoc wireless data connections with the plurality of mobile attendee devices responsive to detecting the respective presences;

transmitting the identification request to the plurality of mobile attendee devices via the respective ad hoc wireless connections;

then

receiving the respective personal identification information from the plurality of mobile attendee devices for the ones of the plurality of attendees via the respective ad hoc wireless connections;

generating a visual attendance roster based on the respective personal identification information for the plurality of attendees; and

displaying the visual attendance roster on the administrator device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein generating the visual attendance roster comprises:

determining respective relative spatial relationships between the administrator device and the plurality of mobile attendee devices based on respective signals received from the plurality of mobile attendee devices; and

generating the visual roster based on the respective spatial relationships.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the respective spatial relationships comprises:

receiving the respective signals from the plurality of mobile attendee devices identifying respective seating positions currently associated with the plurality of mobile attendee devices,

wherein the respective seating positions are associated with respective known physical locations in a room.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

comparing the received personal identification information with expected identification information for registered attendees of the event; and

determining an absence of a registered attendee based on the comparing.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

transmitting a notification to an electronic device associated with a contact person for the registered attendee responsive to determining the absence.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the event comprises a class meeting in a school, and further comprising:

forwarding the personal identification information for the plurality of attendees from the administrator device to a master administrator device for the school, wherein the master administrator device is to receive information from a plurality of administrator devices.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining, at the master administrator device, a total number of currently present attendees in the school based on the personal identification information from the plurality of administrator devices.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein displaying the visual attendance roster comprises:

selectively displaying a subset of the visual attendance roster comprising personal identification information for ones of the plurality of attendees on the administrator device responsive to selection of the ones of the plurality of attendees from the displayed visual attendance roster.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the identification request comprises a first identification request, wherein detecting, establishing, transmitting, and receiving are performed at a first time, the method further comprising:

detecting a presence of an additional mobile attendee device at a second time after the first time;

establishing a wireless data connection with the additional mobile attendee device responsive to detecting the presence of the additional mobile attendee device;

transmitting a second identification request to the additional mobile attendee device via the wireless data connection;

then

receiving personal identification information from the additional mobile attendee device via the wireless data connection; and

determining tardy ones of the plurality of attendees based on the personal identification information received in response to the first identification request and the personal identification information received in response to the second identification request.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile attendee device comprises one of a plurality of mobile attendee devices associated with respective ones of a plurality of attendees who are registered for the event, and further comprising:

detecting respective presences of the plurality of mobile attendee devices; and

displaying a listing of the plurality of mobile attendee devices responsive to detecting the respective presences,

wherein establishing the ad hoc wireless data connection comprises selectively establishing the ad hoc wireless data connection with one of the plurality of mobile attendee devices responsive to a selection the one of the plurality of mobile attendee devices from the displayed listing.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the identification request from the administrator device via the ad hoc wireless data connection; and

transmitting the personal identification information for the attendee to the administrator device via the ad hoc wireless data connection responsive to receiving the identification request.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the event comprises attendance of a school, and further comprising:

determining that the attendee associated with the mobile attendee device is leaving the event based on the personal identification information stored in the mobile attendee device;

automatically initiating deletion of the personal identification information from the mobile attendee device responsive to determining that the attendee is leaving the event.

13. A computer program product for operating a mobile attendee device associated with an attendee registered for an event, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium including computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising:

computer readable program code to detect a presence of an administrator device associated with the event;

computer readable program code to establish an ad hoc wireless data connection with the administrator device;

computer readable program code to receive an identification request from the administrator device via the ad hoc wireless data connection;

computer readable program code to transmit personal identification information for the attendee to the administrator device via the ad hoc wireless data connection responsive to receiving the identification request, wherein the personal identification information is displayed on the administrator device;

computer readable program code to receive a warning signal from the administrator device via the ad hoc wireless data connection when a current location of the mobile attendee device does not match an expected location for the attendee associated with the mobile attendee device indicated by the personal identification information; and

computer readable program code configured to display a warning message on the mobile attendee device responsive to receiving the warning signal.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising:

computer readable program code to authenticate the administrator device prior to establishing the ad hoc wireless data connection.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, further comprising:

computer readable program code to read a tag associated with a seating position proximate the mobile attendee device; and

computer readable program code to transmit a signal to the administrator device via the ad hoc wireless data connection identifying the seating position,

wherein the seating position is associated with a known physical location in a room.

16. A system for tracking attendance of an event, comprising:

a mobile attendee device including personal identification information stored therein for an attendee associated with the mobile attendee device who is registered for the event; and

an administrator device to detect a presence of the mobile attendee device, establish an ad hoc wireless data connection with the mobile attendee device responsive to detection of the presence, transmit an identification request to the mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection, receive the personal identification information for the attendee from the mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection, display the personal identification information on the administrator device, compare a current location of the mobile attendee device with an expected location for the attendee indicated by the personal identification information, and transmit a warning signal to the mobile attendee device via the ad hoc wireless data connection when the current location does not match the expected location, wherein the warning signal causes the mobile attendee device to display a warning message on a display thereof.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the mobile attendee device comprises one of a plurality of mobile attendee devices associated with respective ones of a plurality of attendees and including respective personal identification information, and wherein the administrator device is further configured to generate and display a visual attendance roster based on the respective personal identification information for the plurality of attendees.