U.S. patent application number 15/290639 was filed with the patent office on 2017-11-09 for situational awareness system.
This patent application is currently assigned to 1Q LLC. The applicant listed for this patent is Ryan Cino, Keith Rinzler, Brian Scully. Invention is credited to Ryan Cino, Keith Rinzler, Brian Scully.
Application Number | 20170323209 15/290639 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 60242572 |
Filed Date | 2017-11-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170323209 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Rinzler; Keith ; et
al. |
November 9, 2017 |
Situational Awareness System
Abstract
A situational awareness system providing geographic, personal
characteristic and subject matter of interest awareness using
information obtained from location reporting mobile devices. The
system displays personal characteristic information for target
member segments defined with a great deal of specificity, which may
be followed by online queries to the target member segment. Member
participation in online queries may require interested members to
"opt-in" to limit query distribution to members that have indicated
an interest in responding to online queries on the particular
subject matter of interest. This increases the efficiency and
effectiveness of the online queries, while reducing the cost and
imposition on members who are not be interested in participating.
Obtaining geographic, personal characteristic and subject matter of
interest awareness can be a free component provided as a benefit to
registered members and customers, configured to occur prior to the
payment screen required for online query distribution.
Inventors: |
Rinzler; Keith; (Sandy
Springs, GA) ; Cino; Ryan; (Decatur, GA) ;
Scully; Brian; (Marietta, GA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Rinzler; Keith
Cino; Ryan
Scully; Brian |
Sandy Springs
Decatur
Marietta |
GA
GA
GA |
US
US
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
1Q LLC
Sandy Springs
GA
|
Family ID: |
60242572 |
Appl. No.: |
15/290639 |
Filed: |
October 11, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
62332993 |
May 6, 2016 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0201 20130101;
H04L 63/102 20130101; H04L 63/0861 20130101; G06N 5/04 20130101;
G06N 7/005 20130101; G06Q 30/0277 20130101; G06F 16/951 20190101;
H04L 63/083 20130101; H04L 63/101 20130101; G06Q 20/29 20130101;
G06Q 30/0256 20130101; H04W 12/0804 20190101; H04W 4/029 20180201;
H04L 63/107 20130101; H04W 4/02 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06N 5/04 20060101
G06N005/04; G06F 17/30 20060101 G06F017/30; G06N 7/00 20060101
G06N007/00; G06Q 30/02 20120101 G06Q030/02 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: defining, by a network device comprising a
processor, target segment criteria comprising: receiving, by the
network device, geographic data related to a geographic area of
interest, receiving, by the network device, personal characteristic
data related to a personal identity attribute data of interest, and
receiving, by the network device, subject matter data related to a
subject matter of interest; accessing, by the network device,
stored personal identity attribute data related to members of an
online response system comprising personal identity attribute data
associated with the members of the online response system;
identifying, by the network device, a target member segment among
the members of the online response system by comparing the
geographic data, the personal characteristic data, and the subject
matter data to the personal identity attribute data; displaying, by
the network device, data representing the target member segment by
depicting the data on a graphical representation of the geographic
area of interest, wherein the data representing the target member
segment comprises a prompt to send text data to the target member
segment.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the stored personal identity
attribute data comprises online social media data created by the
members of the online response system.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: defining the target
member segment based on traveler tracking parameters; transmitting
an online message comprising traveler awareness data to the target
member segment.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the
network device, an online query through a menu-driven graphical
user interface; receiving, by the network device, query parameters
through the menu-driven graphical user interface; transmitting, by
the network device, the online query to the target member segment;
receiving, by the network device, query responses from the target
member segment in accordance with the query parameters; and
displaying, by the network device, data representing the query
responses.
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: defining, by the
network device, an authorized member segment by receiving opt-in
responses from a subset of the members comprising the target member
segment indicating agreement to participate in the online query
concerning the subject matter of interest; transmitting, by the
network device, the online query to the authorized member segment;
receiving, by the network device, query responses from the
authorized member segment in accordance with the query
parameters.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein receiving opt-in responses
comprises transmitting an opt-in text message to the target member
segment and receiving text messages comprising the opt-in
responses.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein displaying the data representing
the responses further comprises displaying data representing
responses on the graphical representation of the geographic area of
interest.
8. The method of claim 4, further comprising: calculating, by the
network device, compensation data associated with compensation to a
customer based on a number of the query responses received; and
sending, by the network device, electronic compensation to each
member of the target member segment that submitted the query
responses that was accepted in accordance with a query
parameter.
9. The method of claim 4, wherein the geographic data comprises a
radius about a selected location, a political subdivision, or a
type of establishment.
10. The method of claim 4, wherein displaying data representing the
query responses comprises computing and displaying a male-to-female
ratio of the members that submitted the query responses.
11. A computer readable storage medium storing non-transitory
computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computer
system comprising a processor, cause the system to perform
operations, comprising: defining target segment criteria
comprising: receiving geographic data related to a geographic area
of interest, receiving personal data related to personal identity
attribute data of interest, and receiving subject matter data
related to a subject matter of interest; accessing stored personal
identity attribute data related to members of an online response
system comprising personal identity attribute data associated with
the members of the online response system; identifying a target
member segment among the members of the online response system by
comparing the geographic data, the personal data, and the subject
matter data to the personal identity attribute data; displaying
data representing the target member segment by depicting the data
on a graphical representation of the geographic area of interest,
wherein the data representing the target member segment comprises a
prompt to send text data to the target member segment.
12. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, further
comprising: receiving an online query through a menu-driven
graphical user interface; receiving query parameters through the
menu-driven graphical user interface; transmitting the query
question to the target member segment; receiving query responses
from the target member segment in accordance with the query
parameters; and displaying data representing the query
responses.
13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12, further
comprising: defining an authorized member segment by receiving
opt-in responses from a subset of the members comprising the target
member segment indicating agreement to participate in the online
query concerning the subject matter of interest; transmitting the
online query to the authorized member segment; and receiving query
responses from the authorized member segment in accordance with the
query parameters.
14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, further
comprising: generating compensation data associated with
compensation charged to customers based on a number of query
responses received; and initiating an electronic payment to each
member of the target member segment that submitted a query response
that was accepted in accordance with query parameters.
15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein: the
geographic data comprises a radius about a selected location, a
political subdivision, or a type of establishment; and the data
representing the query responses comprises a male-to-female ratio
for the members that submitted query responses.
16. A system comprising: means for defining a target segment
criteria comprising: means for receiving geographic data related to
a geographic area of interest, means for receiving personal data
related to personal identity attribute data of interest, and means
for receiving subject matter data related to a subject matter of
interest; means for accessing stored personal identity attribute
data related to members of an online response system comprising
personal identity attribute data associated with the members of the
online response system; means for identifying a target member
segment among the members of the online response system by
comparing the geographic data, the personal data, and the subject
matter data to the personal identity attribute data; means for
displaying data representing the target member segment by depicting
the data on a graphical representation of the geographic area of
interest, wherein the data representing the target member segment
comprises a prompt to send text data to the target member
segment.
17. The system of claim 16, further comprising: means for receiving
an online query through a menu-driven graphical user interface;
means for receiving query parameters through the menu-driven
graphical user interface; means for transmitting the query question
to the target member segment; means for receiving query responses
from the target member segment in accordance with the query
parameters; and means for displaying data representing the query
responses.
18. The system of claim 17, further comprising: means for defining
an authorized member segment by receiving opt-in responses from a
subset of the members comprising the target member segment
indicating agreement to participate in the online query concerning
the subject matter of interest; means for transmitting the online
query to the authorized member segment; and means for receiving
query responses from the authorized member segment in accordance
with the query parameters.
19. The system of claim 16, further comprising: means for
generating compensation data associated with compensation charged
to customers based on a number of query responses received; and
means for initiating an electronic payment to each member of the
target member segment that submitted a query response that was
accepted in accordance with query parameters.
20. The system of claim 19, wherein: the geographic data comprises
a radius about a selected location, a political subdivision, or a
type of establishment; and the data representing the query
responses comprises a male-to-female ratio for the members that
submitted query responses.
Description
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claim priority to U.S. Provisional
Application Ser. No. 62/332,993 entitled "Situational Awareness
System" filed May 6, 2016, which is incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates to situational awareness
systems using location reporting mobile communication devices such
as smartphones and, more particularly, to a situational awareness
system that provides geographic, personal characteristic and
subject matter of interest awareness using information obtained
from the location reporting mobile communication devices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Direct marketing is a $150+ billion industry, while market
research and polling account for another $40+ billion each year.
Increasing use of online commerce and social media creates new
opportunities and presents new challenges for direct marketing and
market research. Cost effective direct marketing and market
research requires effective and efficient techniques for
identifying the most appropriate target audience for each
particular direct communication project and ensuring that the
direct communication recipients actually read the polling or
marketing information delivered to them. Properly identifying and
motivating the target audience is often more important, and
expensive, than locating raw address data to work with. While
social media has experienced tremendous growth and contains a
wealth of information concerning potential target audiences, direct
marketing systems have not been developed to leverage this resource
to advance market research and polling objectives.
[0004] Effective advertising and market research continue to be the
keystones of a successful business. Despite continuing efforts to
utilize online resources effectively, prior approaches to online
market research and polling have been highly inaccurate with
cost-prohibitive technical barriers preventing more accurate
results. In addition, prior attempts to incorporate online
resources into advertising have experienced very poor click-through
and response rates. Existing technology for incorporating social
media into market research and polling remains cumbersome and
inaccurate. As a result, the current lack of affordable and
effective direct marketing and research platforms presents a major
barrier to entry for many companies, especially small and
medium-sized businesses, which cannot afford to expend the vast
sums necessary to reach their target audiences.
[0005] More generally, there is a further need for situational
awareness of the personal data makeup and subject matter of
interest of people located in different geographic areas. This
would allow very specific targeting and assessment of the size of
targeted market segments before going to the expense of conducting
promotional and market research activities. This type of
situational awareness system would present useful information for a
wide range of purposes other than advertising and market research
activities.
[0006] There is, therefore, a continuing need for improved
situational awareness systems and, more specifically, a situational
awareness system to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of
market research and polling systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The present disclosure meets the needs described above in a
situational awareness system that provides geographic, personal
characteristic and subject matter of interest awareness using
information obtained from location reporting mobile devices. A
customer or member specifies geographic, personal characteristic,
and subject matter of interest criteria with a great deal of
specificity to identify members meeting the specified criteria. The
system displays personal characteristic information for the target
member segment, which may be followed by online queries to the
target member segment. For example, a target member segment may be
based on traveler tracking parameters, and an online message
containing traveler awareness data may be transmitted to the target
member segment. Member participation in online queries may require
interested members to "opt-in" to limit query distribution to
members that have indicated an interest in responding to online
queries on the particular subject matter of interest. This greatly
increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the online queries,
while reducing the cost and imposition effect on members who are
not interested in participating. Obtaining geographic, personal
characteristic and subject matter of interest awareness can be a
free component provided as a benefit to registered members and
customers, configured to occur prior to the payment screen required
for online query distribution.
[0008] In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the
present disclosure provides an improved situational awareness
system. The specific systems and techniques for accomplishing the
advantages described above will become apparent from the following
detailed description of the embodiments and the appended drawings
and claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a conceptual illustration of a situational
awareness system.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a logic flow diagram for provisioning the
situational awareness system.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a logic flow diagram for operating the situational
awareness system.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a conceptual illustration of a menu-driven
graphical user interface panel for defining a geographical area of
interest in the situational awareness system.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a conceptual illustration of a menu-driven
graphical user interface panel for defining personal identity
attribute data of interest in the situational awareness system.
[0014] FIG. 6 is a conceptual illustration of a menu-driven
graphical user interface panel for defining a subject matter area
of interest in the situational awareness system.
[0015] FIG. 7 is a conceptual illustration of a menu-driven
graphical user interface panel for defining an online query in the
situational awareness system.
[0016] FIG. 8 is a conceptual illustration of a menu-driven
graphical user interface panel for opt-in participation in online
queries in the situational interest awareness system.
[0017] FIG. 9 is a conceptual illustration of graphical
presentation of online query results in the situational awareness
system.
[0018] FIG. 10 is a conceptual illustration of an alternate
graphical presentation of online query results in the situational
awareness system.
[0019] FIG. 11 is a logic flow diagram for prompting a member to
update their member profile based on monitored location data to
participate in situational awareness services and increase their
online query priority.
[0020] FIG. 12 is a conceptual illustration of a menu-driven
graphical user interface panel for prompting a member to update
their member profile based on monitored location data to increase
their online query priority.
[0021] FIG. 13 is a logic flow diagram for creating and using an
aggregate location-aware member profile database to provide
geographic, personal data and subject matter of interest
awareness.
[0022] FIG. 14 is a conceptual illustration of a system for
providing security when providing access to member profile
data.
[0023] FIG. 15 is a logic flow diagram for providing security when
deciding whether to including a member's profile data in
situational awareness information provided in response to a
situational awareness request.
[0024] FIG. 16 is a logic flow diagram for utilizing the
situational awareness system as an airline traveler tracking
system.
[0025] FIG. 17 is a conceptual illustration of a traveler
information user interface screen in the airline traveler tracking
system.
[0026] FIG. 18 is a conceptual illustration of a tracked party
information user interface screen in the airline traveler tracking
system.
[0027] FIG. 19 is a conceptual illustration of a user interface
screen for a traveler awareness and communication feature of the
situational awareness system.
[0028] FIG. 20 is a logic flow diagram for the traveler awareness
and communication feature of the situational awareness system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS
[0029] The present disclosure expands upon the market research and
polling system described in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No.
61/604,988 and U.S. application Ser. Nos. 13/781,744 and
14/285,803, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application
Ser. No. 61/604,988 entitled "Systems and Methods for Collecting
Marketing and Polling Data," filed Feb. 29, 2012. These
applications are incorporated by reference. U.S. application Ser.
No. 13/781,744 describes a permission-based membership market
research and polling system referred to as the "instant response
system" that provides per-response compensation to members that
provide responses to online queries, which are typically
transmitted through text messages to members' smartphones. U.S.
application Ser. No. 14/285,803 is directed to aspects of the user
interface for the instant response system. The subject matter of
these applications will only be summarized briefly to set the stage
for the present disclosure, which builds on the foundation provided
by the prior applications.
[0030] The Instant Response System
[0031] The instant response system is a compensation driven,
permission based marketing and polling system that utilizes
per-response member query compensation, social media interfacing,
and dynamic polling to produce desired personal data results with
the minimum number of member requests. An illustrative example of
the technology is referred to as the "1Q.RTM. instant response
system" or more briefly as the "1Q system." While the 1Q system may
be used for a wide range of objectives, such as direct marketing,
market research surveys, polling, focus groups, and any other
marketing or research objective relying on bulk responses to direct
member communications, the description of the system refers to
online queries (also referred to as surveys or polls) as an
illustrative application of the technology. It will be appreciated
that the 1Q system can be readily adapted to other direct response
objectives by changing the content of the member
communications.
[0032] The 1Q instant response system is permission based through a
membership system in which members agree to participate by
providing short turn-around anonymous responses to online queries
in exchange for per-response compensation. Customers utilize the
instant response system to conduct online queries of the members in
exchange for a per-response compensation. The provider of the
instant response system ("1Q system operator") earns the difference
between the compensation received from the customer and the
payments made to the member as compensation for operating the
instant response system. For example, the customers may pay two
dollars for each response received, while the members may be paid
one dollar for each response provided. While other types of fees
and payments may be utilized, the per-response compensation model
is easy to understand and has been found to be highly effective in
motivating participation by both members and customers on a basis
that is transparent and easily measured and tracked by all
involved.
[0033] Members of the instant response system provide permission to
access their profile data (also referred to as personal identity
attribute data), which may include real-time location data, through
access to their social media profiles. Alternatively, member
profile data may be stored in an instant response profile
maintained by an app loaded onto their smartphones (e.g., the "1Q
App"). Members are encouraged to provide access to their profile
data, and increase the detail of the personal data and subject
matter of interest included in their profiles, in exchange for
earning compensation by participating in online queries. The
situational awareness system may affirmatively prompt members to
increase the detail in their data profiles, participate in online
queries, and provide location data in order to improve their query
priority and thus increase their ability to earn compensation by
answering queries. Members may retain their compensation or
designate a charity to receive the compensation earned by
responding to online queries.
[0034] In order to participate in the compensation system, each
member enters into a marketing participation agreement and provides
the 1Q system operator with personal data information about the
member, such as age, address, education, family, income, purchasing
preferences, and so forth. The member is encouraged to provide
greater levels of personal data and subject matter of interest data
to increase the likelihood they will be selected to participate in
online queries. While membership questionnaires may run the range
from basic to highly involved, the 1Q system may only request a
bare minimum of information, such as the member's name and phone
number, along with authorization to obtain additional member
profile information from their social media resources, such as
Facebook.RTM.. Members may also authorize 1Q to access and utilize
information about the member from public resources, such as
Equifax.RTM.. Members are encouraged to enter advanced personal
data information into their social media resources and may, for
example, create a "1Q" section specifically designed to contain
member supplied information intending that information to be used
by 1Q to determine their suitability and desire to be included in
online queries relating to different areas of potential
inquiry.
[0035] Advanced personal data and subject matter of interest
profile data may include information such as professional
information, areas of professional interest, areas of recreational
interest, areas of expertise, hobbies, family information,
political affiliations, associations, automobiles, vacation
locations, preferred reading materials, major products or services
recently purchased, major products or services they intend to
purchase in the near future, health information, etc. While 1Q will
keep all of the member's profile information and online query
responses strictly confidential unless the member specifically
authorizes disclosure, all of this personal data information as
well as their prior online query response history can be used to
anonymously target the member for online query participation.
Members are therefore motivated to provide higher levels of
personal data and subject matter of interest information to
increase the likelihood that they will be selected to receive
online queries based on the profile data provided. The personal
data and subject matter of interest data is contained in a member
profile stored as part of the instant response system, where it can
be used to target the member as an online query recipient. In this
manner, the instant response system accumulates a great deal of
personal data information about its members while simultaneously
obtaining authorization to use this information for online queries,
targeted promotions and market research purposes.
[0036] Members are also encouraged to allow the 1Q system operators
to automatically post whenever the member receives compensation
from 1Q on their social media resource. Although the fact of
compensation is considered to be an effective posting, additional
compensation related information may be automatically posted if
desired, such as the amount of compensation, the number of online
queries, the duration of membership, and so forth. Members may also
authorize advanced features such as "friend tracking" and "location
tracking" so that the number of friends on their site and their
geographical location may be used as online query selection
criteria. The member may also authorize an online query
compensation "hot link" to the instant response system where the
amount of online query compensation paid to the member is
continually updated by the instant response system. Posting the
fact of the member's participation in the 1Q system and member's
online query compensation on social media provides effective
advertising for the 1Q system provider motivating others to join as
members. These and other social media factors can be tracked and
used as ranking parameters to increase the member's priority as a
potential online query recipient, thereby increasing the member's
income potential through online query participation.
[0037] The 1Q system utilizes a dynamic polling algorithm that
allows the 1Q online query results to satisfy online query
constraints and very closely match target personal data defined by
an online query request with a minimal number of online query
responses. The online query constraints and target personal data
provided by the customers as part of the online query request are
typically obtained from actual personal data resources. The 1Q
dynamic polling algorithm allows the online query to "hone in" on
the desired personal data results with a minimal number of online
query requests by submitting the requests to members forming the
target audience in a priority order, computing the residual target
personal data as online query results roll in, and continually
adjusting the target audience to match the residual target personal
data as the online query progresses. This allows the 1Q system to
iteratively narrow the target audience to those members having the
increasingly precise personal data needed to meet the target
personal data as the online query progresses toward completion.
[0038] While dynamically converging on the target personal datas as
described above, the 1Q system ranks the members in a priority
order for inclusion in the online query using a number of weighting
factors that take a number of factors into consideration in the
weighting process. The weighting factors include a number of
"system factors" that are considered beneficial to the 1Q system
operator by encouraging membership growth and participation, along
with a number of "customer factors" that are considered beneficial
to completion of the online query with a minimum of requests by
closely matching the target audience to the residual target
personal data. The weighting is progressively shifted from system
factors to customer factors as the online query progresses to meet
both sets of objectives while fulfilling the online query request
with a minimum number of online query requests.
[0039] The 1Q system may produce categorized online queries with
multivariate relationships. Every poll specifies a number of
personal data categories with defined criteria. To provide a simple
example, a particular online query may specify age, geographic
region, and ethnic race as personal data categories, with each
category defining four criteria. A poll without multivariate
relationships requires only that the overall online query results
meet these personal data criteria. Multivariate relationships, on
the other hand, specify the personal data results for the criteria
within each category. Expanding the preceding example into a
multivariate example, each "age" category has its own personal data
complex of geography and race factors, each "geography" category
has its own personal data complex of age and race factors, and each
"rage" category has its own personal data complex of age and race
factors.
[0040] Conducting a poll to closely match target personal datas
with multivariate relationships is extremely challenging because
the interrelating criteria result in a giant jigsaw puzzle
requiring, for example, 5000 online queries to obtain the "right"
1000 responses that match the multivariate relationships of the
target personal data. There are no polling systems currently
available that are designed to produce poll results that closely
match target personal data with multivariate relationships. To meet
this challenge, the 1Q system includes a dynamic polling algorithm
that matches target personal data with multivariate relationships
within a defined margin of error, or presents the best available
results, though the dynamic polling procedure. For example, the 1Q
system may alert the customer, and provide the best available
response, when the member database is simply not large enough to
precisely match the multivariate personal data makeup of a national
poll for a country of interest within the desired margin of error.
In addition, the 1Q system may alert the customer, and provide the
best available response, when an attempt to converge on a specific
multivariate personal data makeup, within a specific margin of
error, reaches a specified maximum online query time or number or
responses.
[0041] Use of the 1Q system by poll designers and poll respondents
is facilitated and encouraged by a user-friendly, menu-driven user
interface system typically accessed with a conventional browser
over an Internet connection. Thus any user with a browser and an
Internet connection may participate as poll designers and/or poll
respondents, although prior registration is typically required at
least for poll respondents. A specific example of the user
interface technology is further described below with reference to
the appended figures, in which an online query (also referred to as
a poll) is described as an illustrative example of the technology.
Direct response sales, focus groups, political polls, and other
direct response objectives may also be accomplished as a matter of
design choice.
[0042] The Situational Awareness System
[0043] One of the unique aspects of the 1Q instant response system
is the ability of members and customers to learn "situational
awareness" information about other members around them without
knowing specifically who those people are. Customers utilize a
menu-driven system to gain situational awareness by identifying
target member segments and receiving situational awareness
information about the target member segments. Target member
segments are defined by specifying one or more of a geographical
area of interest, a personal data profile of interest, and a
subject matter area of interest. The system identifies members
corresponding to the target member segments and displays
situational awareness data, such as personal data statistics for
the target member segment, to the customer. The situational
awareness data is typically displayed on a graphical representation
of the geographic area of interest, typically superimposed on an
underlying map. The customer may then create and broadcast
promotional offers or online queries to the target member segment
in accordance with selected query parameters. Customers typically
pay for the promotional offers and online queries, and members
receive compensation for answering the queries, on a per-response
basis. Providing the customer with situational awareness
information prior to issuing a query allows the customer to assess
the size of a very tightly defined target member audience and set
query parameters prior to issuing any promotional offers or online
queries.
[0044] Customers utilize member profile data to identify and
qualify members for participation in promotional offers and online
queries based on one or more of real-time location, personal data,
and subject matter of interest data for the members obtained from
their member data profiles, which may be continually updated social
media profiles. Customers are encouraged to conduct market research
through the situational awareness system to obtain online query
results through highly targeted member audiences at greatly reduced
costs compared to conventional market research techniques. Fully
menu-driven member enrollment, customer enrollment, target member
segment definition, online query implementation, result reporting,
and automatic payment features allow the member and customer base
of the situational awareness system to grow autonomously (and
potentially virally) without interaction by a human administrator
on a member-by-member, customer-by-customer, or query-by-query
basis.
[0045] Ongoing successful deployment of the situational awareness
system results in a large and constantly growing membership base
that provides permission-based, real-time access to member profile
data including geographic, personal data, and subject matter of
interest data for a large database of participating members.
Members who are interested in earning compensation through the
situational awareness system have a financial incentive to activate
location tracking and provide highly detailed profile data that
customers can use to direct highly targeted online queries and
promotions to members with very specific personal data and subject
matter areas of interest. These members have a similar financial
incentive to provide location awareness, typically through online
access to their social medial location feature, in order to receive
geographically targeted online queries. For example, members at a
sporting event can provide their real-time location data to the
situational awareness system, and potentially indicate their team
preference in their social media profile, in order to receive
online queries and promotional offers directed specifically to fans
of said team at the sporting event. Since the audience is highly
targeted, sponsors can be expected to be able to afford more
lucrative promotions. Online queries about the desire for future
tickets, booster events, and fan clubs can then be directed to a
highly qualified specific target member segment. Promotional offers
can likewise be directed to the target member segment, such as
discounts for future ticket sales, season ticket discounts, team
clothing offers, post-game dining coupons, and so forth.
[0046] The instant response system working with member devices
providing geographic location data can be used to provide
situational awareness concerning members in a particular geographic
area of interest regardless of whether the system is also used to
send online queries or promotions to such members. Moreover, once a
rich database of situational awareness system members has been
developed, the membership can be utilized as a representative
sample of the public at large. This provides opportunities for
customers to glean generally applicable geographic, personal data
and subject matter of interest awareness from the data provided by
those members that have authorized access to their profiles.
Situational awareness may therefore be highly useful regardless of
whether promotions or online queries are also transmitted. For
example, a member looking for a sports bar can quickly find out if
the patrons in a particular establishment are predominantly fans of
one team or another. As another example, a member looking for
nightclub can quickly glean an indication of the age profile and
male-to-female ratio for patrons in a particular establishment.
Similarly, a customer interested in conducting a direct-mail
campaign can quickly identify zip codes with desired personal data
characteristics. The situational awareness system may also be used
to revolutionize political polling, improve television ratings,
provide similar ratings for online entertainment resources, track
medical patients, track and locate lost children or members of
other groups, communicate with product purchasers, facilitate
meet-up groups, track and communicate with members of specific
groups. and so forth. Online queries and other types of
location-based services, such as promotions, chat, meet-up and so
forth can then be leveraged from the geographic, personal data and
subject matter of interest awareness provided by the situational
awareness system.
[0047] Geographic, personal data and subject matter of interest
awareness is accomplished using geo-location technology, where a
customer or member can set a geographic boundary to identify all
members of the situational awareness system within a certain
geographical area, such as a radius of 1000 feet of where they are
standing. Other types of geographic areas of interest may be a
selected political subdivision (e.g., state, city, county, zip
code) or a selected type of establishment (e.g., a stadium,
restaurant, office building, etc.). These geographic definitions
can also be combined to define compound geographic areas of
interest, such as members on "golf courses in the state of
Tennessee"; members in "national parks in the state of Maine";
members in "night clubs in Chicago" and so forth. The requester may
also specify personal data criteria, such as gender, age category,
education level, employment status, income level, etc. Subject
matter of interest information may include detailed social media
criteria, such as sports team preference, hobbies, age of children,
type of automobile, and the like. This combination of geographic,
personal data, and subject matter of interest criteria allows a
target member segment to be defined and fine-tuned with a great
deal of specificity.
[0048] A requester may also specify a particular subject matter of
interest for online queries, such as political election subject
matters, health and fitness subject matters, and so forth. Member
participation in online queries may require interested members to
"opt-in" to limit query distribution to members that are (a)
qualified based on geographic and personal data criteria, (b) have
indicated an interest in responding to online queries on the
particular subject matter of interest in exchange for the
designated compensation, and (c) meet certain security criteria.
This greatly increases the efficiency and effectiveness, while
reducing the cost and imposition of unwanted online communications
on members who are not interested in participating.
[0049] Obtaining geographic, personal data and subject matter of
interest awareness can be a free component provided as a benefit to
registered members and customers, configured to occur prior to the
payment screen required for online query or promotion distribution.
This allows a customer or member to be charged if they send a
message to the target member segment, which can be further limited
to an opt-in member segment meeting certain criteria who have also
authorized (opted-in) online queries on the specific subject matter
of interest. As the situational awareness system grows to the point
where the membership becomes generally ubiquitous and
representative of the population in general, situational awareness
becomes a truly revolutionary form of social networking offering
the capability to know detailed information about the people who
surround you, without knowing who, specifically, they are.
[0050] The opportunities for this type of situational awareness
system are extensive and far reaching, ranging from individuals
trying to find recreational venues, to companies trying to find
potential customers, and political parties trying to identify
potential voters to provide just a few illustrative categories of
applicability. As a specific example, a patron in a sports bar can
find out how many Buffalo Bills fans there are within 50 feet of
where he is standing. A speaker at a conference could find out what
percentage of his audience has household incomes above $250,000.
Before leaving home, someone can find out the approximate
male/female ratio at two different nightclubs they are considering
visiting. Where there might be data missing or the sample set may
not be large enough, location based services can be used to fill in
the gaps. For instance, although everyone on a golf course may not
be a 1Q member, if they are on the golf course, it is a good bet
that they are a golfer. Furthermore, a historical database member
location and other profile data that have visited a particular
nightclub over a previous period of time can also be used or
searched to help determine a personal data where live data may not
be conclusive. Therefore, an indication that there is a mobile
device in a specific area (e.g., on a golf course) can further
provide data about a specific personal data. Furthermore, there
could be 1Q members who are currently on a golf course but who have
not self-identified as golfers or their social media profiles do
not identify them as golfers. In this scenario, the aforementioned
1Q members could be listed as a golfer or labeled with a high
probability of being a golfer when an online query comes in for all
persons who are golfers and who are actually on/near the golf
course. Therefore, as the database of available member profiles
grows, so does the ability to learn various information about a
geographically defined populous.
[0051] Additionally, a member could set their smartphone to vibrate
or other type of notification any time they are within a specific
distance of any segmented group. For example, a member could set
his phone to notify him when he is within a certain range or number
of people who work for the same company, belong to the same meet-up
group, have children in the same school class or play on the same
sports team, have a common medical condition, have read "Fifty
Shades of Gray," or have any other personal data or subject matter
of interest criteria reflected in the profile data of members of
the system. As a security measure, requesters may only be provided
with situational awareness data for groups in which they are
enrolled. As another feature, the data query radius can be static
or dynamic. A static query can say, please tell me how many persons
are "Fifty Shades of Gray" fans within a 10-mile radius. A "reverse
query" feature may also be configured to return an answer to a
query such as "find the radius of the closest 100 Denver Bronco
fans."
[0052] In another embodiment, the payment and incentive can be more
granular. For instance, a first 1Q member who walks into a building
can send an online query to determine "who are the active stock
market investors in this building." A second 1Q member who is an
active stock market investor currently located in that particular
building receives a ping that says "there is a request for active
stock market investors, would you like to opt-in to receive online
queries directed to active stock market investors, yes or no?" If
the second 1Q member answers "yes," then his or her social media
profile or direct contact information may be presented to the first
1Q member along with an option to pay to send a specific online
query or other inquiry (e.g., promotional offer, invitation for a
consultation) to the second 1Q member. The first and second 1Q
members may also be prompted to activate a "chat" session to
communicate directly with each other.
[0053] In another embodiment, a ping could only be sent to 1Q
members when a mutually beneficial relationship exists. For
instance, if a first 1Q member is a lawyer and is looking for an
investor, and a second 1Q member is an investor and is looking for
a lawyer and they are within a predefined geographic radius of each
other, then they both will receive a ping simultaneously to perform
an ad hoc consultation for each other. In this scenario, both 1Q
members may have to pay compensation to actually receive the
profile information of the actual individual who they are
requesting to meet. However, other payment options and scenarios
can be available to facilitate the transaction.
[0054] In yet another embodiment, the 1Q system can help people to
self-identify where they have not done so previously. For instance,
a 1Q member may send out a poll wanting to know "who are the males
between the ages 25-27 that like dogs within a 5-mile radius." The
1Q system then determines which other 1Q members meet that
criteria. However, if a lower than expected number or no results
are returned at all, yet there are definitely males between the
ages of 25-27 within the 5-mile radius who have not self-identified
as dog lovers, it may be possible to send the identified males a
follow-up question to solicit the needed info. In this particular
scenario, the follow-up question to males between the ages of 25-27
within a 5-mile radius would say, "do you like dogs?" Based on
their responses, the 1Q system has helped some of the males to
self-identify so that the 1Q member requesting the data will have a
good sample set. The 1Q system may also prompt those who
self-identify as dog-lovers to include this information in their
profile data. If the 1Q system enters this data into the member's
profile or otherwise receives an indication that the member has
updated their profile, the 1Q system may increase the member's
online query priority to increase the likelihood that the member
will receive online queries and promotions. The increase in online
query priority may apply to the member generally or specifically
for online queries and promotions related to dogs.
[0055] The situational awareness system can also assist in building
subject matter of interest profiles for members using location
tracking information. Members who participate in the system
activate location tracking on their mobile devices and provide the
system with real-time access to the location tracking data. The
situational awareness system analyzes a member's location tracking
data, detects potential subject matters of interest for the member
based on the location tracking data, and then prompts the member to
update their profile data to include the detected potential subject
matters of interest. If the member adds a suggested subject matter
to their profile, the situational awareness system includes the
member in situational awareness information provided to requesters
seeking information concerning members interested in the added
subject matter. The situational awareness system may also direct
online queries to the member relating to the added subject matter
and increase the member's priority for participating in online
queries. The member has a financial incentive to authorize location
tracking and add subject matters of interest to their profile in
order to increase their ability to earn compensation by
participating in compensation-based online queries.
[0056] It should be noted that along with the ability to determine
specific sets of persons based on their location, personal data and
subject matter of interest information, there will inherently arise
a need for security governing the use and inclusion of such
information in situational awareness information provided to
third-party requesters. To minimize nefarious activity, certain
parameters or restrictions can be placed on how and what type of
information is obtained. For instance, a mother may want to know
how many children between the ages of 9-12 are on the playground so
that she can decide to take her 10-year-old child there if the age
personal data aligns with the age of her child. However, a
pedophile may want to use the same information for nefarious
reasons. There are several ways to address the above situations. To
combat the potential problem, the 1Q system aligns certain data
points to mitigate nefarious activity. For instance, if the request
for the number of 9-12 year olds comes from a person outside of a
specific age bracket, then the request can be denied. In this
instance, the request will be denied because the mother is not
within the age bracket of 9-12. However, if the request came from
her child or the child's mobile device, the request would be
granted because he is of the personal data for which information is
being requested. The child's age could possibly be confirmed via
biometric data associated with his mobile device. An additional
layer of security can utilize biometric data. For instance, in the
above-noted example the 10-year-old is able to determine a specific
personal data related to children who are between the ages of 9-12
because he is of that personal data, therefore biometric
information can be used to confirm that the 10-year-old is actually
of the personal data which he is querying. The biometric data can
comprise fingerprints, retina scans, digital photographs, etc. The
situational awareness system compares biometric data received from
situational awareness requesters to verified biometric data stored
by the system to prevent unauthorized access to situational
awareness information.
[0057] In another embodiment, the information might be restricted
altogether, meaning that it would never be appropriate to provide
data on anyone below the age of 15. Alternatively, external data
can be used to reconcile the information to determine if providing
the information is appropriate. For instance, a pedophile has to
register with the local government agency under a disclosure law.
This information would then be sent to 1Q or pulled from external
sources (e.g., public offender database, social media) so that
personal data information of anyone under the age of 21 is never
presented to a registered pedophile.
[0058] In another embodiment, the 1Q system can leverage maximum
and minimum data for security measures. For instance, a 1Q user in
a room with only 3 other 1Q users can check the 1Q system to
determine how many people within 10 feet of him are Republicans.
Because the 1Q system can set a mandatory minimum for certain
sensitive data points, the query may come back as null or not
enough persons. The minimum may require that there be at least 10
people present for this type of data to be divulged. However, there
could also be an end-around where the 3 other 1Q users have
indicated that they do not care if anyone specifically knows they
are Republicans. Therefore, if all 3 users or some subset of the
users have waived their right to this security measure, then the
info can be presented to the 1Q user who has requested it.
Additionally, a 1Q member may be super secretive about their party
affiliation and feels that even with the 10-person minimum, there
are still too few people in the room for him to feel comfortable
and he would like the minimum to be no less than 15. In this
scenario, the 1Q member can have the opportunity to store this type
of data as a part of his profile, so that if the situation ever
arises, instead of the system defaulting to the 10-person minimum,
the system will go to a 15-person minimum, thereby facilitating a
higher level of protection. The system can have the ability to
accept the highest level of protection requested by any user in a
group of users, extrapolate any outliers, or average the requested
protection levels. In the case of an average, the system can
indicate such to the persons with a security protection level
higher than that of the average so that he/she will know that the
defaulted security level is less than what he/she anticipated.
[0059] Additionally, the system can suggest polling parameters in
response to an indication that certain information is restricted
due to security reasons. For example, if a member requests to know
all of the persons within a 10-foot radius that are Democrats and
there are only three 1Q members in the room and there is a security
minimum of 10, then the 1Q system might suggest that the requestor
expand his search area to a 30-foot area where the system has
already determined that there are at least 10 Democrats within the
30-foot range.
[0060] A member can also choose to go into stealth mode by limiting
the information that is available about them based on a specific
geographic location, time of day, etc. For instance, a member's
profile can list that she is a Falcons fan, but because she works
for a company that does a lot business with the Dallas Cowboys she
can go into stealth mode from the hours of 9 am-5 pm when she is on
business travel in Dallas. Therefore, when she is in the presence
of the Dallas Cowboys, they cannot poll 1Q to determine or verify
that she is indeed a Falcons fan. The security features may include
requiring a security identifier, such as a password or a bio
identifier, as a condition to providing situational awareness
information. The system may also restrict situational awareness
information to data pertaining to members that have created a
permission setting or responded to an "opt-in" prompt authorizing
data from their profile to be included in the situational awareness
information. Situational awareness information may also be denied
to requesters identified as public offenders in a public offender
database. Situational awareness information may also be restricted
by access rules specified in a security rule base. For example,
requesters enrolled in a particular university may only be allowed
to obtain situational awareness information about other students
enrolled in the university. Many different types of groups may be
reflected in enrollment databases used to control situational
awareness information, such as corporate employees, church groups,
meet-up groups, and the like. As another example, the system may
also impose security access rules based on the age of the requester
and the age of a personal data profile of interest identified in
the situational awareness request. Individual members may define,
activate and deactivated security rules and permission settings on
an as-needed basis giving each member the ability to control the
use of their profile data in situational awareness information
provided to third-party requesters.
[0061] One particular illustrative example of the situational
awareness system, including an optional polling feature, is
described below with reference to the appended figures. It should
be understood that this particular example, and the user interface
screens, are simplified for the purpose of illustrating the
principles of the disclosure. Many other details, features and
options will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the
principles of the disclosure are appreciated.
[0062] FIG. 1 is a conceptual illustration of a situational
awareness system 10, which may be deployed as a set of features of
the previously described instant response system. The system allows
a requesting device 11, typically associated with a customer or
member of the instant response system, to submit a "situational
awareness request" and in response receive "situational awareness
information" about other members within a target member segment
defined by the situational awareness request. The situational
awareness request includes one or more of geographical, personal
data, and subject matter awareness information defining the target
member segment. The situational awareness information includes data
representing the members corresponding to the request referred to
as the "target member segment." The data representing the target
member segment, such as personal data statistics, may be presented
to the requester on a geographic representation of the geographic
area of interest defined by the request. The situational awareness
information is typically provided anonymously by providing personal
data statistics of the target member segment without divulging the
identities of the individual members of the target member segment.
The identities of specific members, the ability to send online
requests to specific members, and/or the ability to communicate
directly with specific members may be granted with the "opt-in"
consent of the specific members of the target member segment.
[0063] To illustrate one specific example, a situational awareness
request submitted by the requesting device 11 to a situational
awareness server 12 identifies a geographic area of interest 13
defined as a radius around the current location of the requesting
device. Each member profile participating in the situational
awareness system is represented by the mobile devices shown within
the area of interest 13. To participate in the situational
awareness system, these devices are activated to provide location
data to the situational awareness server 12. Each member device is
associated with a member profile that includes personal data and
subject matter of interest data for the corresponding member. The
geographic location, personal data and subject matter of interest
member profile data is stored in the member's social media data or
in an instant response app running on the member's device, which is
usually a smartphone. In addition to the geographic data defining
the geographical area of interest, the situational awareness
request submitted by the requesting device 11 includes personal
data defining a personal data profile of interest and subject
matter of interest data defining a subject matter of interest. The
target member segment corresponding to these criteria is identified
by comparing the member profile data for all of the participating
members within the area of interest 13 to the personal data profile
of interest and the subject matter of interest included in the
situational awareness request.
[0064] The member devices 14a-n with member profile data 15a-n
corresponding to the situational awareness request form the target
member segment corresponding to the situational awareness request.
The situational awareness server 12 presents the requesting device
11 with situational awareness information, which typically includes
personal data statistics representing the member profile data 15a-n
of the target member segment on a graphical representation of the
geographic area of interest 13 shown on a map encompassing the
geographic area of interest. While this area is shown as a circle
on a blank field to avoid cluttering the display, the situational
awareness results may be superimposed on an underlying map. The
geographic area of interest 13 may also correspond to a political
subdivision, such as a country, region, state, county, city, zip
code and the like. The geographic area of interest 13 may also
correspond to one or more establishments, such as a stadium, office
building, golf course, and so forth. These criteria may so be
combined, for example to specify all golf courses in a particular
state, or all office buildings in a particular zip code, and so
forth.
[0065] Providing on-demand situational awareness including
statistical personal data representing anonymous target member
segments as described above is an important advantage in its own
right. As the member database expands to the point where it fairly
represents the population in general, a great deal of information
can be instantly gleaned based on various target member segments
that any member or customer can define on the fly using only their
mobile device. For example, a requester may instantly determine the
male-to-female ratio, age, ethnic, educational, professional, and
sports fan makeup of the patrons in a particular establishment
before setting foot in the premises. As another example, the
requester may instantly determine similar information for an
apartment complex, office building or college campus. Providing an
assessment of personal data and subject matter of interest
statistics for the general population in a particular geographic
area based on the situational awareness information for system
members in that particular area can be a very effective tool for an
advertiser. Than information can be effectively used, for example,
when purchasing print, direct mail, radio, television, online or
other types of communications directed to the general population in
that geographic area. For example, an analysis indicating that 60%
of the system members in a particular geographic area meet a
particular personal data or subject matter of interest criteria
(e.g., income level) may be considered to be a good indication that
a similar proportion of the general population in the geographic
area meet that criteria.
[0066] Once a target member segment has been identified, the
situational awareness system provides a range of additional
functionality, typically on an opt-in basis for members of the
target member segment that agree to participate. For example, the
requester may send an online request, promotional offers, chat
requests, personal meetings, and other communications based on or
requesting access to the identities of members of the target member
segment that have opted-in for this service. A range of security
features may be implemented to protect the target member segment
from harassment and nefarious activity, such as checking
information about the request and the requester against an access
rule base to determine whether to permit or reject a particular
request.
[0067] Members may be also invited to update their member data
profiles based on an analysis of their location data as a way to
increase their visibility to online query submitters. This can
increase the member's online query priority and ability to earn
income by responding to online queries, and also avail the member
to targeted online communications while they are present in
specific venues. Members may also be prompted to activate location
reporting or permission to receive online queries based on their
location to enable them to participate in online queries,
promotions or other programs. For example, a member with location
reporting turned on may receive a prompt to receive grocery
shopping related online queries and promotions while they are
present in a grocery store. As another example, a member may
receive a prompt to participate in online queries and promotions
when they are present within a stadium so that they can participate
in online programs relating to the event taking place at the
stadium. Similarly, a member may receive a prompt to participate in
golf related online queries and promotions when they are present on
a golf course. As another example, a member may receive a prompt to
participate in tourism related online queries and promotions when
they are away from their home city or present at a tourist
attraction. Shortly after touching down at a ski resort, for
example, a member may be prompted to authorize ski related online
queries and promotions, such as coupons for lift tickets, equipment
rentals and restaurants in the resort area.
[0068] The situational awareness server 12 provides the central
processor of the system, while each member and customer only needs
a mobile device, such as a smartphone, to participate. Each member
and customer device typically utilizes an app (e.g., the 1Q app)
downloaded onto the device, although member devices may be
configured to participate using only a standard browser, text
functionality, and access to the member's social media profile.
Member devices expose profile data, which includes geo-location
data to participate in location-based situational awareness
services, on a permission basis. The member's profile data may be
stored in a social media profile or the instant response app, which
is specially configured to store detailed personal data and subject
matter of interest data to enhance the member's ability to
participate in the instant response system. The situational
awareness system 12 provides a wealth of functionality that members
and customers can access on a menu-driven, self-service basis
including, but not limited to, members and customer enrolment,
situational awareness, online query submission, statistical and
display analysis of online query results, members and customer
instant compensation, dashboard graphical display with map
overlays, report generation, member profile data collection and
analysis, location tracking, member communication for opt-in
situational awareness and online query participation, member
profile development, opt-in chat and other types of direct contact,
and a range of security features. It should be appreciated that the
situational awareness system is an extraordinarily powerful
platform with an enormous range of potential features and
applications. This disclosure only describes a small selection of
those potential features and applications to demonstrate the
principles of the disclosure.
[0069] FIG. 2 is a logic flow diagram 20 for provisioning a
situational awareness system for identifying target member segments
based on geographic, personal data and subject matter of interest
data. Once the situational awareness system is configured as
described in FIG. 2, it will be ready to run for member and
customer services as described with reference to FIG. 3. Although a
computing system could provision the system, the configuring entity
will be referred to as the "enrollment system" for descriptive
convenience.
[0070] In step 21, the enrolment system obtains situational
awareness system members to create a large database of system
members. Members typically enter into pay-per-response agreements
where they agree to respond to online queries in exchange for a
per-response payment for each response accepted by the situational
awareness system (e.g., $1 per response). The member earns cash by
responding to online queries in exchange for allowing the
situational awareness system to access their member data profiles,
which is referred to as compensation-based and permission-based
member participation. Members create detailed personal data
profiles (e.g., gender, age, race, domicile location, job location,
education level, employment type, income level, family information,
political preference, political party registration, religion, etc.)
and detailed subject matter profiles indicating subject matter
areas of interest (e.g., college sports affiliation, professional
sports team affiliation, hobbies, type of residence, type of
automobile, preferred shopping venues, preferred entertainment,
etc.). Members are encouraged to provide highly detailed profile
data and respond frequently and promptly to online queries in order
to increase their query priority, which takes these factors into
account when prioritizing members for inclusion in online queries.
This financial incentive is highly effective in building a large
database of members who are eager to participate. The member
profile data is typically stored in a social media or situational
awareness system data profile created with a special purpose app
(e.g. 1Q app) downloaded onto the member's mobile device.
[0071] In order to participate in location-based situational
awareness services, the member can also activate location tracking,
provide the situational awareness system with access to the
member's location data, and authorize use of the member's location
data. The authorization may include one or more of (a) receiving
geographic, personal data and subject matter of interest awareness
information, (b) receiving location-based online queries, (c)
receiving location-based online promotions, (d) participating in
location-based online meet-ups, and (e) allowing their location
data to be anonymously used in the situational awareness system
aggregate member database. Members are incentivized to participate
in location-based services in order to increase their potential
earnings and to gain the benefit of being able to utilize the
geographic, personal data and subject matter of interest awareness
services themselves. Many members are expected to find the ability
to receive situational awareness information by itself to be
sufficient motivation to grant access to their location data even
if they are not interested in participating in other location-based
services.
[0072] In step 22, the enrolment system obtains situational
awareness customers to create a large database of system customers.
Customers enter into pay-per-response agreements where they agree
to pay a per-response fee to create and submit online queries that
they submit through the situational awareness system (e.g., $2 per
response). Customers receive access to the situational awareness
menu-driven system for creating online queries and defining target
member segments (e.g., geographic area of interest, personal data
profile of interest, and subject matter area of interest).
Customers are then able obtain to geographic, personal data and
subject matter of interest awareness and use this information to
send location-based online queries to target member segments that
they identify themselves as they use the situational awareness
system.
[0073] Steps 23 through 25 describe the process for allowing
enrolled customers to define target member segments and submit
online queries. In step 23, the enrolment system provides the
enrolled customers and members with access to a menu-driven system
for defining target member segments for situational awareness
requests, which includes defining one or more of a geographic areas
of interest, a personal data profile of interest, and a subject
matter area of interest. Illustrative and simplified examples of
menu-driven interfaces for these purposes are shown in FIG. 4
(define a geographic area of interest), FIG. 5 (define a personal
data profile of interest), and FIG. 6 (define a subject matter area
of interest). In step 24, the enrolment system provides enrolled
customers with access to a menu-driven system for creating online
queries and query parameters. An illustrative and simplified
example of this menu-driven interface is shown FIG. 7 (define
online query and query parameters). In step 25, the enrolment
system provides enrolled members with an opt-in panel for
authorizing participation in the location-based services. An
illustrative and simplified example of this menu-driven interface
designed to illustrate the principles of this aspect of the
embodiment of the disclosure is shown FIG. 8.
[0074] In step 26, the enrolment system provides enrolled customers
with access to a "results dashboard" that allows customers to view
online query results in a wide range of useful ways. Illustrative
and simplified examples of results display screens are shown FIGS.
9 and 10. In step 27, the enrolment system provides enrolled
customers with access to a "report generator" that allows customers
to create and download reports describing online queries at their
own discretion. In step 28, the enrolment system implements the
financial arrangements suitable for automatically paying members
(e.g., one dollar per response) and charging customers (e.g., two
dollars per response) on a per-response basis to enable customer
and member-driven operation of the situational awareness system
without the involvement of a system administrator on a
query-by-query basis. This typically involves setting up a credit
card, Paypal.RTM. or electronic transfer to a bank account to
charge customers, and a Paypal or electronic transfer to a bank
account to pay members. The compensation preferably works
automatically so that human intervention is not required for each
customer charge and member payment transaction.
[0075] Once the situational awareness system has been configured as
described above with reference to FIG. 2, the system may be
operated by members and customers without human intervention except
when needed for customer and member support on a case-by-case
basis. FIG. 3 is a logic flow diagram 30 for operating the
situational awareness system including geographic, personal data
and subject matter of interest awareness. In step 31-33, a
requesting customer provides the situational awareness system with
a situational awareness request defining a target member criteria
for identifying a target member segment corresponding to those
criteria. In this example, in step 31, the system receives a
geographic definition identifying a geographic area of interest. In
step 32, the system receives a personal data definition identifying
a personal data profile of interest. And in step 33, the system
receives a subject matter of interest definition identifying a
subject matter of interest. In step 34A, the system obtains access
to member profile data, which may include prompting members to turn
on location reporting in order to participate in the situational
awareness system. In step 35, the system compares the target
segment criteria to the member profiles of the participating
members within the geographic area of interest to identify the
target member segment. The system then displays data representing
the target member segment for review by the requester. For example,
the system may display dots or shades of color representing the
general locations or density of the member devices in the target
member segment together with personal data statistics of the target
member segment on a graphic representation of the geographic area
of interest overlaid on a map encompassing the geographic area of
interest. The requester may be able to zoom-in to obtain more
precise location information only for individual members that have
activated a permission setting or provided opt-in permission
authorizing their location data to be disclosed in this manner.
[0076] If the requesting customer wants to go beyond situational
awareness and contact members of the target member system, in step
36 the system broadcasts an opt-in inquiry to the target member
segment prompting the members to participate in online queries.
This may include encouraging members of the target member system to
participate by identifying the subject matter of interest,
indicating whether promotions will be offered, identifying the
requester (if authorized by the requester), reminding the members
that they can earn compensation by opting-in and responding to
online queries, and so forth. In step 34A, the system receives
op-in authorizations and in step 37 the system displays data
representing the opt-in member segment to the requester. At this
point, the requester may be prompted to change the target member
criteria if deemed advantageous to garner a larger opt-in member
segment. For example, the requester may be prompted to enlarge the
geographic area of interest or broaden the personal data profile of
interest or the subject matter of interest if the size of the
opt-in member segment is below a certain threshold.
[0077] Once an acceptable opt-in member segment has been
identified, in step 38 the system receives an online query and
query parameters. In step 39, the system implements the online
query in accordance with the query parameters and displays the
results. In general, this includes transmitting the online query to
the opt-in member segment, receiving responses, displaying the
query results, compiling a report containing a statistical analysis
of query, charging the requesting customer, and paying those
members that submitted accepted responses. The query may be
implemented in the manner described in U.S. application Ser. No.
13/781,744 with the results displayed in the manner described in
U.S. application Ser. No. 14/285,803, which are incorporated by
reference. Security measures may also be applied as described with
reference to FIGS. 14-15.
[0078] FIG. 4 is a conceptual illustration of a menu-driven
graphical user interface panel 40 for geographical definition in
the situational awareness system. The panel 40 allows the user to
select three types of geographic areas, which may be joined with
Boolean operators. The first selection section 41 allows the user
to select a radius around a particular location in selected units,
such as feet or miles. The user can select the current location of
the device being used to enter the request provided that the
requesting device has location reporting turned on. The user can
also enter any other location recognized by the system, such as an
address or longitude and latitude definition. The second selection
item 42 allows the user to select a political subdivision, such as
a country, state, city, county or zip code. The third selection
section 43 allows the user to select a type of establishment, such
as golf courses, stadiums, office buildings, and so forth. The
geographical selections may be joined by Boolean operators to
define composite definitions of geographical areas of interest,
such as all stadiums in the state of Georgia, all golf courses in
Fulton County, or all restaurants within five miles of the
requester's current location.
[0079] FIG. 5 is a conceptual illustration of a menu-driven
graphical user interface panel 50 for personal data definition in
the situational awareness system. The system benefits from
prompting users to enter detailed personal data that customers can
then use to hone in on specific target member segments. This
particular example allows members to enter detailed personal data
including sex, age, race, marital status, education, occupation,
income, political party preference, and religious affiliation.
Additional personal data detail can be specified and added in
response to prompts posed by customers that want to identify
members meeting specific personal data criteria. For example, a
specific customer may want to identify members who are cancer
survivors to participate in an online query in exchange for certain
compensation. The system may broadcast a query to the membership
asking members who meet the criteria to self-identify in exchange
for the ability to participate in queries directed to cancer
survivors in exchange for the offered compensation. The category
"cancer survivor" would then be added to the profiles of members
who opt-in to the category. The member's participation would
typically be provided on an anonymous basis unless they opt-in for
individual contact at some point further in the process. Many
different target member segments can be identified in this manner,
such as members with school age children, members who are
registered to vote in primaries, or any other qualities of
interest. As another example, special purpose groups and enrolment
lists may be defined on an as-needed basis. For example, a school
class may create a special purpose group and enrolment list for
tracking and communicating with students on a field trip. A family
may create a special purpose group and enrolment list for tracking
and communicating with family members on a vacation. A company may
create a special purpose group and enrolment list for tracking and
communicating with employees and contractors working on a job site.
A medical testing lab may create a special purpose group and
enrolment list for patients participating in a drug trial. A
political action group may create a special purpose group and
enrolment list for supporters participating in a political
campaign, a government agency may create a special purpose group
and enrolment list for persons participating in a program managed
by the agency, and so forth.
[0080] FIG. 6 is a conceptual illustration of a menu-driven
graphical user interface panel 60 for subject matter of interest
definition in the situational awareness system. All of the prompts
described in this disclosure are designed to be sent by text
message, but may also be sent by email or any other suitable
medium. This particular example prompts members to enter subject
matter of interest data in several categories, including preference
indications for college, sports, sports team, automobile, hobby,
and several keywords. Many different target member segments can be
identified in this manner, such as members that like to go to
movies, members that ride bicycles frequently, members that own
particular types of cars, members that own their own homes, members
who have consumed certain products, and so forth. Again, additional
subject matter of interest details can be specified and added in
response to prompts posed by customers that want to identify
members with specific interests.
[0081] FIG. 7 is a conceptual illustration of a menu-driven
graphical user interface panel 70 for online query definition in
the situational awareness system. This particular example includes
a question definition section 71 where the requester enters a
question up to a predefined number of characters. The requester
also enters up to five multiple-choice answers, each up to a
predefined number of characters. A query parameter section 72
allows the requester to enter a minimum number of responses, a
maximum number of responses, and a maximum query duration period.
The system displays the maximum query cost, typically based on the
maximum number of responses entered for the query and the
requesting customer's per-response cost. Once the requester is
satisfied with the query definition and parameters, they select
"submit" to launch the query,
[0082] FIG. 8 is a conceptual illustration of a menu-driven
graphical user interface panel 80 for opt-in participation in
online queries in the situational interest awareness system. The
interface pane; 80 may be used to prompt a member identified as
part of a target member segment to "opt-in" to participate in
online-queries and to set parameters for participating in online
queries generally. Selection item 81 allows the member to opt-in
for a particular online query on an identified subject matter of
interest. Section item 82 allows the member to opt-in generally for
all queries that they qualify for without having to opt-in on a
query-by-query basis. Section item 83 allows the member to enter a
"stealth mode" disabling online queries. Selection item 84 allows
the member to authorize disclosure of their basic personal data
(e.g., gender, age and race) in connection with authorized online
queries. Selection item 85 allows the member to authorize
disclosure of their detailed personal data in connection with
authorized online queries (e.g., education level, profession,
income level, political affiliation). Selection item 86 allows the
member to authorize disclosure of personal data and subject matter
of interest data in their social media profile in connection with
authorized online queries. Selection item 87 allows the member to
authorize promotional offers directed to a target member segment
that includes the member. In this example, the member is prompted
to separately authorize promotions by text message, email and
telephone contact. Selection item 88 allows the member to authorize
personal chat requests directed to a target member segment that
includes the member. Selection item 87 allows the member to
authorize personal contact requests directed to a target member
segment that includes the member.
[0083] FIG. 9 is a conceptual illustration of graphical
presentation 90 of online query results in the situational
awareness system. Display panel 91 shows personal data for the
target market segment. In this example, the personal data includes
the target market segment size, the age distribution, the
male-to-female ratio, and the percentage of the target market
segment that has authorized promotional offers. Basic personal data
may be provided without charge while higher levels of personal data
could be provided for compensation. The personal data allows the
requester to immediately ascertain the size and personal data
makeup of the target market segment corresponding to the parameters
specified by the requester before taking additional steps, such as
sending an online query or promotional offers to the target market
segment, which typically incurs compensation. Knowing the size and
personal data makeup of the target market segment helps the
requester frame appropriate query parameters before sending out
queries. Display panel 92 shows a representation of the target
market segment on a graphic representation of the geographical area
of interest, in this example the United States. The members of the
target market segment may be illustrated by pins (as in this
example), dots, color shades, or any other suitable representation
of response density. Additional display panels 93 show graphical
representations of various personal data statistics of the target
market segments. FIG. 10 is a conceptual illustration 100 of an
alternate graphical presentation of online query results in the
situational awareness system. In the example, the same statistics
shown in the form of pie charts in FIG. 9 are displayed as
histograms in FIG. 10.
[0084] Additional illustrative examples of graphical user interface
formats and features that can be used to display situational
awareness information are shown and described in U.S. application
Ser. No. 14/285,803, which is incorporated by reference. The
graphical user interface system presents real-time progress
information and online query results in concise at-a-glance
formats. The user interface makes the system intuitively easy for
non-trained personnel to use, both as poll designers and as poll
respondents. The at-a-glance user interface screens allow system
participants to easily enroll as pay-per-response members and
customers. Simple and intuitive user interfaces allow participants
to easily and quickly answer multiple-choice online queries on
their smartphones and other common user communication devices. The
at-a-glance user interface screens for online query designers allow
the designers to easily define online queries, monitor results in
real-time, and view the results on geographic and personal data
bases. Taken together, the highly intuitive, easy-to-use, and
easy-to-understand customer and member user interface screens
enable broad enrollment and participation by a much wider audience
that conventional market polling and research systems.
[0085] FIG. 11 is a logic flow diagram 110 for prompting a member
to update their member profile based on monitored location data to
participate in situational awareness services and increase their
online query priority. Obtaining location data about a member's
mobile device allows the member to be included in situational
awareness data provided to customers and other members. In step
111, the situational awareness system prompts the member to
activate location reporting on the member's mobile device and
authorize the situational awareness system to monitor and use the
member's location data. In step 112, the situational awareness
system collects location data from the member's mobile device or
social media profile. In step 113, the situational awareness system
analyzes the member's location data to identify potential subject
matters of interest. In step 114, the situational awareness system
prompts the member to update their member profile data to include
one or more potential subject matters of interest suggested by the
system. In step 115, the situational awareness system receives an
indication that the member's profile has been updated to include a
subject matter of interest suggested by the system. This may
involve the system or the member updating the member's profile data
so long at the system becomes aware of the profile update.
[0086] In step 116, the situational awareness system may prompt the
member to authorize the member's location and/or profile data to be
included in situational awareness information related to the added
subject matter of interest. This authorization generally
acknowledges that the member understands that one or more of their
location, personal data, and subject matter of interest data from
their online profile will be anonymously provided to situational
awareness requesters as part of statistics representing target
member segments. In step 117, the situational awareness system
receives a situational awareness request from a third-party
requester (i.e., a member or customer other than the member)
related to the added subject matter of interest. In step 118, the
system includes data pertaining to the member in situational
awareness information provided to the requester.
[0087] In step 119, the situational awareness system prompts the
member to authorize online queries and promotions related to the
added subject matter of interest based the analysis of their
location data. For example, if the member is found to be frequently
present on golf courses, they may be prompted to add "golf" as an
area of interest in their member profile data, authorize online
queries related to golf, and authorize promotions related to golf.
Similarly, a member found to be frequently present in a particular
XYZ grocery store may be prompted to add "XYZ grocery shopper" as
an area of interest in their member profile data, authorize online
queries related to shopping at the XYZ grocery store, and authorize
promotions related to shopping at the XYZ grocery store. Another
user found to be frequently present in at football games may be
prompted to add "football fan" as an area of interest in their
member profile data, authorize online queries related to football,
and authorize promotions related to football. As another option,
this may include providing the member with a link to "click
through" to an online destination specified by the requester.
[0088] In step 121, the situational awareness system receives
updated authorizations from the member. In step 122, the
situational awareness system updates the member's profile data to
reflect the updated authorizations, which typically includes
subject matter of interest data identified from analyzing the
member's location data, online query authorizations related to
those subject matters of interest, and promotions related to those
subject matters of interest. Online queries are typically sent to
the member's mobile device by text message, while the user may be
able to select different modes of communication for promotions,
such as text message, email and telephone contact. In step 123, the
situational awareness system increases the member's online query
priority to reflect that member's expressed interest in
participating in online queries relating to the added subject
matter of interest. In step 124, the situational awareness system
transmits online queries to the member based on the increased query
priority, which increases the member's ability to earn compensation
by participating in online queries. This improves the efficiency of
subsequent online queries by directing queries to those members
that have indicated an interest in participating.
[0089] As another option, in step 125, the situational awareness
system may receive a request for the member's direct contact
information from the requester of the situational awareness
information. In step 126, the situational awareness system prompts
the member to authorize delivery of the member's direct contact
information to the requester of the situational awareness
information. In step 127, the situational awareness system receives
the authorization of the member to deliver the member's direct
contact information to the requester of the situational awareness
information. In step 128, the situational awareness system delivers
the member's direct contact information to the requester of the
situational awareness information, such as the member's email
address, social media address, or mobile telephone number. This can
be particularly useful when requester's objective is to identify
members to participate in a telephone interview or other type of
direct communication.
[0090] FIG. 12 is a conceptual illustration of a menu-driven
graphical user interface panel 120 for prompting a member to update
their member profile based on monitored location data to increase
their online query priority. This allows the member to update their
data profile based on an analysis of their location data performed
by the situational awareness system. In this particular example,
the prompt begins with an informational message, "greetings valued
instant response system member. We have noticed that you like to
earn income by responding to online queries and have location
services turned on to enhance your query priority. Thank you for
being such a great member! Did you know that you can increase your
query priority and earning potential even more by updating your
instant response profile to indicate your areas of interest? it is
easy, just click here [link] to go to your profile." The
illustrative prompt continues, "we have made updating your profile
even easier! We noticed from your location data that you often go
to movie theaters. Let us know if you would like to automatically
update your instant response profile as show below:". The prompt
then provides selection items allowing the member to "update
profile to show that I am a movie buff"; "please send me movie
related promotions"; and/or "please include my profile data in the
anonymous instant response database."
[0091] FIG. 13 is a logic flow diagram 130 for creating and using
an aggregate location-aware member profile database to provide
geographic, personal data and subject matter of interest awareness.
In some cases, a requester may be interested in obtaining
situational awareness information based on an approximation of the
total population in an area. To meet this need, the situational
awareness system utilizes a combination of real-time data, stored
historical data, and general personal data statistics. In step 131,
the situational awareness system collects location monitoring data
from a wide range of member profiles. In step 132, the situational
awareness system combines location monitoring data with member
profile data to create location-aware member profile data. In step
133, the situational awareness system aggregates the location-aware
member profile data from a large number of members into a
location-aware member profile database, and may scale or otherwise
adjust the data to considered representative of the general
population. In step 134, the situational awareness system receives
a situational awareness request, such as a target member segment
request specifying one or more of a geographical area of interest,
a personal data profile of interest, and a subject matter area of
interest. In step 135, the situational awareness system obtains
real-time situational awareness data for the target member segment
from member mobile devices that actually correspond to the
situational awareness request. In step 136, the situational
awareness system displays data representing the target member
segment based on the real-time situational awareness data. In step
137, the situational awareness system compares the situational
awareness request to the location-aware member profile database to
identify corresponding members based on the recorded historical
data in the database. In step 138, the situational awareness system
displays data representing the target member segment based on the
recorded historical data in the location-aware member profile
database, which may be adjusted to be considered representative of
the general population. In step 139, the situational awareness
system displays a combination of the real-time data and the
recorded historical data for the target member segment
corresponding to the situational awareness request, which may be
considered representative of the general population in the
geographic area of interest identified in the situational awareness
request.
[0092] FIG. 14 is a conceptual illustration of a system 140 for
providing security when providing access to member profile data. A
requesting device 141, such as a smartphone, may have to provide a
geo-access password to submit an acceptable request. For an
increased level of security, the requesting device 141 may include
a biometric reader 142, such as a fingerprint reader, retina
scanner or digital camera, to ensure that the device is being used
by a registered member. The requesting device 141 places a
situational awareness request to a situational awareness server
143, which responds with situational awareness information provided
that applicable security conditions are met. One security
conditions may be that a biometric identifier from the biometric
reader corresponds to a stored biometric identifier for the
requester (e.g., member or customer) associated with the mobile
device making the request. The situational awareness server 143 may
communicate with member devices corresponding to the situational
awareness request, also referred to as the target member segment,
as a condition to including a member in the situational awareness
information provided to the requester. For a representative member,
this typically involves checking the settings for the member in a
member profile database 145 to determine whether the member has a
setting pre-authorizing the member to be included in the type of
situational awareness information requested. For more sophisticated
participation rules, rules contained in a security rule base 146
may be applied to the member's profile data to determine whether
the member should be included in the situational awareness
information. For example, age limits may be applied, security rules
may exclude certain requesters from receiving information about
certain types of members, and special-purpose rules may be defined
to limit situational awareness information to particular groups
defined on an as-needed basis. The security clearance process may
further include checking the requester against a public offender
database 147 and other data systems 148. For example, the data
system may be a university enrollment database, where registered
students, but not other types of requesters may be permitted to
obtain situational awareness information about other university
students. This may be a desired feature allowing any type of group
to limit information to other group members, such as meet-up
groups, church groups, corporate employees, families and the like.
As another example, the other date systems 148 may include flight
tracking systems operated by airports and airlines allowing the
situational awareness system to provide airline traveler tracking,
as described with reference to FIGS. 16-18.
[0093] Opt-in participation is another example security feature. If
participation is not pre-authorized, the situational awareness
server 143 may send an opt-in request to the member prompting the
member to opt-in to the specific request. The member will be
included in the situational awareness information returned to the
requester only if the member returns an opt-in response authorizing
participation. Sophisticated security rules may be developed and
stored in the security rule base 146 covering a wide range of
security access rules and situational awareness distribution groups
developed by and for members.
[0094] To provide an illustrative example of the type of security
procedures that may be implemented, FIG. 15 is a logic flow diagram
150 for providing security when deciding whether to including a
member's profile data in situational awareness information provided
in response to a situational awareness request. In step 151, the
situational awareness system receives a request for situational
awareness information. In step 152, the situational awareness
system may receive a geo-access password or biometric identifier to
the identity of the requester as a condition to providing
situational awareness information to the requester. In step 153,
the situational awareness system may receive data from a public
offender database to ensure that the requester is not a registered
offender as a condition to providing situational awareness
information to the requester. The situational awareness system may
also receive data from another data system, such as an enrollment
database, to ensure that the requester is part of a particular
group (e.g., college student body, corporate employee, etc.) as a
condition to providing situational awareness information to the
requester. In step 154, the situational awareness system receives
real-time location data from mobile communication devices
associated with system members. Alternatively, one or more of the
mobile communication devices may report the location data to an
associated social media file, and the situational awareness system
may receive the real-time location data from the social media file.
In step 155, the situational awareness system may apply one or more
access rules from the security rule base 146 to the requester's
data profile, the member's data profile, the data received from
external data files (e.g., public offender database, enrollment
database, etc.), or a combination of these resources as a condition
to providing situational awareness information to the requester. In
step 156A, the situational awareness system may exclude member data
for members who have activated "stealth mode" to opt-out of
situational aware participation. In step 156B, the situational
awareness system may prompt the requester to modify the request,
for example when the size of the target member segment is null or
too low. The user may then alter geographic, personal data or
subject matter of interest restrictions in an effort to obtain a
larger target member segment.
[0095] In step 157, if the requester is permitted to receive any
situational awareness data, the situational awareness system
provides the permitted data in the manner previously described. In
step 158, the situational awareness system may receive a requesting
to send the target member segment an online query or promotional
offer. In step 159, the situational awareness system may apply
another selection of security measures to decide whether to
authorize the online query or promotional offer. For example, the
situational awareness system may check the member profile data for
settings pre-authorizing this type of communication, and may also
send opt-in requests to members to prompt the members of the target
member segment to authorize the online query or promotional offer.
In step 160, if the requester is permitted to send the online query
or promotional offer to an authorized member segment, the
situational awareness system sends the online query or promotional
offer in the manner previously described.
[0096] FIG. 16 is a logic flow diagram 160 for utilizing the
situational awareness system 140 as an airline traveler tracking
system. While many other options and features may be included in
this application, the following disclosure describes the basic
features of the airline traveler tracking system. Referring to FIG.
16 in combination with FIG. 14 showing the system components, in
step 161 the situational awareness server 113 prompts a traveler to
authorizing flight tracking, activate location tracking, and
provide flight itinerary information. To enable flight tracking,
location tracking must typically be activated on the mobile device
of the person to be tracked. Flight tracking may be turned on
manually or automatically upon activation of flight tracking.
Flight tracking may be enabled on a "pull model" basis by a
traveler who wants to authorize another person to track their
airline travel, or on a "push" basis in response to a tracking
request by the other party. In either case, the expressed
permission of the person to be tracked is typically required unless
prior tracking authorization has been provided, for example through
parental controls or standing instructions.
[0097] In step 162, the situational awareness server 113 receives
flight tracking authorization and information used to track the
traveler and the traveler's flight. This may be accomplished, for
example, by receiving this information through the traveler
information user interface screen 170 shown in FIG. 17. In step
163, the situational awareness server 113 tracks the location of
the tracked traveler and monitors the departure information of the
traveler's flight, for example by consulting other data systems 148
shown in FIG. 14 containing airline schedule and departure
information. In step 164, the situational awareness server 113 may
provide the tracking party with ongoing tracking information, for
example through the user interface shown in FIG. 18. In step 164A,
if the monitored location of the traveler and the flight departure
information indicate that the traveler was not in the location of
the plane at the time of departure, the situational awareness
server 113 provides the tracking party with notification that the
tracked party missed the flight. The missed flight determination
many be confirmed by the tracked party's location continuing to
available after flight departure, which typically requires the
traveler's phone to be turned off. A properly boarded and departed
flight will create a recognizable pattern that should be followed
whenever a passenger has boarded a departed flight. Basing the
missed flight determination on actual monitored location data and
flight departure information, as opposed to scheduled flight
information, provides an accurate assessment of missed flights. In
the unusual event that the party boards the flight without their
mobile device, the missed flight notification will effectively mean
that the traveler's mobile device was lost or stolen prior to
departure providing a basis for promptly attempting to recover the
mobile device.
[0098] If the monitored data indicates that the traveler boarded a
flight that departed, in step 165 the situational awareness server
113 provides the monitoring party notification that the flight
departed with the monitored traveler onboard. In step 166, the
situational awareness server 113 monitors the flight arrival
information. In step 166A, if the situational awareness server 113
determines that the fight has been diverted or delayed, it provides
the monitoring party notification that the flight has been diverted
or delayed. In step 167, if the situational awareness server 113
determines that the tracked flight has arrived with the tracked
passenger onboard, it provides a flight arrival notification to the
tracking party. In step 168, the situational awareness server 113
tracks the location of the tracked passenger at the destination
airport, which may aid in passenger pickup. Of course, the arrival
and location of the passenger would be tracked at an alternate
airport if the flight happened to be diverted from its original
destination.
[0099] FIG. 17 is a conceptual illustration of a traveler
information user interface screen 170 in the airline traveler
tracking system. This user interface screen includes a selection
item (e.g., check box) where the party to be tracked authorizes
location tracking and agrees to the terms of the service. The user
may also select an item to read the terms, if desired. The user
interface screen 170 also includes a number of selection fields
(e.g., semi-structured text input fields) where the party to be
tracked enters information for the scheduled flight departure,
connections and arrival. Other selection items and fields may be
provided as a matter of design choice, such as items and fields for
activating notifications, authorizing standing instructions for
tracking parties, authorizing tracking parties for specific
flights, enabling or disabling post-arrival tracking, providing
messages such as pick up instructions to tracking parties,
automatically closing flight plans, and so forth.
[0100] FIG. 18 is a conceptual illustration of a tracked party
information user interface screen 180 in the airline traveler
tracking system. This user interface screen includes fields
identifying the tracked party, traveler's flight, status,
destination, and the tracked party's current location. A map may
also be displayed, such as a map of the travel route or airport
displaying a marker showing the current location of the passenger
or the passenger's flight. Other items or fields may be provided as
a matter of design choice, such as the ability to pull up a picture
of the tracked passenger, which may be helpful for drivers or other
receiving parties meeting persons they have not met before. For
military applications, for example, the selection items may be
provided for accessing the traveling party's orders, security
clearance information, access rights to equipment and facilities,
briefing materials, and so forth.
[0101] FIG. 19 is a conceptual illustration of a user interface
screen 190 for a traveler awareness and communication feature of
the situational awareness system 10. The traveler awareness and
communication feature differs from the flight tracking feature
descried with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18 in that the traveler
awareness and communication feature does not require specific
flight information provided by specific traveling parties to
specific tracking parties prior to tracked flights. Instead, the
traveler awareness and communication feature allows a customer to
define, track, and direct communications to classes of members who
meet specified tracking parameters. While the tracked members will
have to authorize tracking generally and may be required to
authorize traveler awareness tracking to participate in the
program, they will not be required to provide specific flight
information to specific tracking parties. This allows product and
service providers generally to send messages to classes of
travelers meeting the specified characteristic. These messages may
include, for example, security advisories, travel advisories,
weather advisories, promotional offers, information about local
attractions, currency exchange, hotels, restaurants, travel agents,
and so forth. The traveler awareness and communication feature is
thus designed to allow a wide range of product and service
providers to reach out to defined classes of travelers as they
arrive at their destinations. The app running on the member device
may permit each member to allow or deny these messages on a
case-by-case and provider-by-provider basis. Certain types of
messages, such as security, travel and weather advisories may be
mandatory or require the member to specifically "opt out" to
disable. Other types of messages, such as promotional messages, may
require the member to "opt in" prior to receiving these types of
messages.
[0102] The user interface 190 provides an example of the type of
interface that requesting parties interested in reaching out to
travelers may use to identify and send communications to classes of
travelers meeting certain characteristics. In this example, the
upper portion of the user interface 190 allows the requesting party
to enter an arrival airport and arrival time window along with an
optional departure airport and departure time window. The user may
also add additional arrival airports and arrival time windows, and
additional departure airports and departure time windows, as
desired. Upon selection of a "run search" command, the situational
awareness server 12 will identify participating members that meet
the defined criteria. In particular, the situational awareness
server 12 may identify corresponding members by analyzing the
location tracking information of participating members and flight
information available online to identify those member devices with
location patterns consistent with flying on the identified flights.
For example, a member traveling from Tampa to Atlanta as
illustrated in FIG. 19 can be expected to be located at the Atlanta
Airport during the arrival window and at the Tampa Airport during
the departure window, and will also have their user device turned
off during the associated flight. The situational awareness server
12 may confirm and adjust these parameters based on actual flight
information to take account of flight delays, rerouting and so
forth.
[0103] The lower portion of the user interface 190 allows the
requesting customer to enter a message to be delivered to travelers
meeting the criteria specified in the upper portion of the user
interface. The message is usually delivered by text message, which
may be the default setting, although each member may have the
ability to set the delivery mode generally of for traveler
awareness messages specifically. To accommodate messages that may
be sent out on a pay-per-message basis, the lower portion of the
user interface 190 also allows the requesting party (in this case a
customer of the situational awareness system) to set parameters
limiting message distribution. In the example, the requesting party
may set a maximum number of messages, an expiration time, and/or a
target demographic profile for message recipients. Selecting the
"target demographic profile" option may activate another user
interface or download a file that allows the requesting party to
precisely define the demographic characteristics of message
recipients. This feature may utilize demographic information
specified by the user as well as information obtained from other
sources. For example, messages may only be directed to persons who
have stayed at a particular hotel, visited a particular casino,
attended a particular sporting event, or belong to a particular
club or group. This type of group might include, for example,
members of hotel loyalty programs, graduates of a particular
university, members of a particular fan club, season ticket
holders, persons meeting the characteristics of a convention or
other event scheduled in the local area, business travelers,
tourist travelers, previous customers of a particular business, and
so forth. These are only a few examples of a wide range of criteria
that customers may define for pay-per-message access using this
feature.
[0104] Members who receive responses may take a variety of actions
in response to the received messages. Some messages may be passive,
such as advertisements, while others may have active components.
For example, online queries may accept responses in exchange for
per-response compensation. Messages may also include hotlinks to
web pages, downloadable files, phone numbers, and other resources.
Messages may also prompt the receiving party to send or authorize
the situational awareness system to send personal contact
information, for example by sending a text or email opening a
communication with the sender or another entity identified in a
message. These are only a few examples of a wide range of response
actions that customers may take in response to messages received
through the traveler awareness and communication feature of the
situational awareness system.
[0105] FIG. 20 is a logic flow diagram 200 for the traveler
awareness and communication feature of the situational awareness
system. In step 201, the situational awareness server 12 receives a
definition of target audience. For example, the target audience may
be defined using the upper portion of the user interface 190 shown
in FIG. 19. Step 201 is followed by step 202, in which the
situational awareness server 12 identifies the target audience.
This involves analyzing member location data and online flight
information to identify participating member that meet the
specified criteria. Step 202 is followed by step 203, in which the
situational awareness server 12 displays target audience
parameters. For example, selection of the "view results" item in
the user interface 190 shown in FIG. 19 activates and displays the
target audience parameters to assist the user in entering the
information. The target audience parameters typically indicate the
size and may indicate demographic information about the target
audience to help the requesting party decide whether to proceed
with sending message to the target audience. At this point, the
requesting party may refine the definition of the target audience,
and review the results, until they have defined a target audience
suitable for the message that they intend to send. This may be an
iterative process. It should also be appreciated that providing
this level of situational awareness about travelers is a valuable
service regardless of whether the requesting party actually sends
out a message.
[0106] Step 203 is followed by step 204, in which the situational
awareness server 12 receives a definition of an online post, such
as a query or advertisement, to be sent to the target audience. For
example, the online post may be defined using the lower portion of
the user interface 190 shown in FIG. 19. Step 204 is followed by
step 205, in which the situational awareness server 12 may receive
online post parameters to control the distribution of the online
post. These parameters may also be entered using the lower portion
of the user interface 190 shown in FIG. 19. Step 205 is followed by
step 206, in which the situational awareness server 12 receives
submission instructions and transmits the online post to
participating member devices meeting the specified criteria. Step
206 is followed by step 207, in which the situational awareness
server 12 receives online response data, such as message metrics
and responses. Step 207 is followed by step 208, in which the
situational awareness server 12 causes the requesting customer's
device to display the online response data. For example, the
response data may be displayed through the user interface displays
shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 or other suitable types of displays.
[0107] Step 208 is followed by step 209, in which the situational
awareness server 12 may receive and relay request from a requesting
party for personal contact information of tracked traveler(s). Step
209 is followed by step 210, in which the situational awareness
server 12 receives and relays authorization to provide personal
contact information of tracked traveler(s) to requesting party.
Step 210 is followed by step 211, in which the situational
awareness server 12 transmits the personal contact information of
tracked traveler(s) to the requesting party or transmits the
personal contact information of requesting party to the tracked
traveler(s). For example, this may include sending a text or email
message to the requesting party opening a line of communication
between the responding member and the requesting party.
[0108] It will be appreciated that the tracking system described
above is not limited to human passengers, but may also be used to
track equipment, animals, or any other type of shipped item. It
will be further appreciated that the system is not limited to
flight tracking, but may also be used to track parties or items
traveling by marine vessel, train, truck, automobile, and so
forth.
[0109] The present disclosure may be implemented on portable
computing devices, which may communicate with a server system
providing access to a number of client systems over a network, or
as a dedicated computing system. As such, embodiments of the
disclosure may comprise adapting or reconfiguring presently
existing equipment. Alternatively, original equipment may be
provided embodying the disclosure.
[0110] All of the methods described in this disclosure may include
storing results of one or more steps of the method embodiments in a
non-transient storage medium. The results may include any of the
results described in this disclosure and may be stored in any
manner known in the art. The storage medium may include any storage
medium described in this disclosure or any other suitable storage
medium known in the art. After the results have been stored, the
results can be accessed in the storage medium and used by any of
the method or system embodiments described in this disclosure,
formatted for display to a user, used by another software module,
method, or system, etc. Furthermore, the results may be stored
"permanently," "semi-permanently," temporarily, or for some period
of time. For example, the storage medium may be random access
memory (RAM), and the results may not necessarily persist
indefinitely in the storage medium.
[0111] Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are
various vehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other
technologies described in this disclosure can be effected (e.g.,
hardware, software, and/or firmware), and that the preferred
vehicle will vary with the context in which the processes and/or
systems and/or other technologies are deployed. For example, if an
implementer determines that speed and accuracy are paramount, the
implementer may opt for a mainly hardware and/or firmware vehicle;
alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, the implementer may opt
for a mainly software implementation; or, yet again alternatively,
the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software,
and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles by
which the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies
described in this disclosure may be effected, none of which is
inherently superior to the other in that any vehicle to be utilized
is a choice dependent upon the context in which the vehicle will be
deployed and the specific concerns (e.g., speed, flexibility, or
predictability) of the implementer, any of which may vary. Those
skilled in the art will recognize that optical aspects of
implementations will typically employ optically-oriented hardware,
software, and or firmware.
[0112] Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common
within the art to describe devices and/or processes in the fashion
set forth in this disclosure, and then use engineering practices to
integrate such described devices and/or processes into data
processing systems. That is, at least a portion of the devices
and/or processes described can be integrated into a data processing
system via a reasonable amount of experimentation. Those having
skill in the art will recognize that a typical data processing
system generally includes one or more of a system unit housing, a
video display device, a memory such as volatile and non-volatile
memory, processors such as microprocessors and digital signal
processors, computational entities such as operating systems,
drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one
or more interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and/or
control systems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g.,
feedback for sensing position and/or velocity; control motors for
moving and/or adjusting components and/or quantities). A typical
data processing system may be implemented utilizing any suitable
commercially available components, such as those typically found in
data computing/communication and/or network computing/communication
systems. All of the technology described in this disclosure is
suitable for implementation using commercially available computing
devices, such as network servers operated by the situational
awareness system and smartphones or personal computers operated by
members and customers. These computing devices may be
interconnected via the Internet, mobile telephone voice and data
system, or other data suitable network.
[0113] This disclosure sometimes illustrates different components
contained within, or connected with, different other components. It
is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely
exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can be
implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual
sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same
functionality is effectively "associated" such that the desired
functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components may be
combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as
"associated with" each other such that the desired functionality is
achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components.
Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as
being "connected", or "coupled", to each other to achieve the
desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so
associated can also be viewed as being "functionally connected" to
each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples
of functional connection include but are not limited to physical
connections and/or physically interacting components and/or
wirelessly communicating and/or wirelessly interacting components
and/or logically interacting and/or logically interacting
components.
[0114] While particular aspects of the present subject matter have
been shown and described in detail, it will be apparent to those
skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings of this
disclosure, changes and modifications may be made without departing
from the subject matter described in this disclosure and its
broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to
encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as
are within the true spirit and scope of the subject matter
described in this disclosure. Although particular embodiments of
this disclosure have been illustrated, it is apparent that various
modifications and embodiments of the disclosure may be made by
those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and
spirit of the disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the disclosure
should be limited only by the claims appended hereto.
[0115] It is believed that the present disclosure and many of its
attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing
description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be
made in the form, construction and arrangement of the components
without departing from the disclosed subject matter or without
sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form described is
merely explanatory, and it is the intention of the following claims
to encompass and include such changes. The disclosure is defined by
the following claims, which should be construed to encompass one or
more structures or function of one or more of the illustrative
embodiments described above, equivalents and obvious
variations.
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