Exchanging personal information to determine a common interest

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9691107-B2
Application number	US-201313776835-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 26, 2013
Priority date	Feb 26, 2013
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

A user agent of a user selects another user having a user agent. The user agents exchange personal information about the user and personal information about the other user. The user agent determines whether a common interest exists between the two users based on the exchange of personal information. The other user is added to a social networking webpage of the user when the user agent determines that a common interest exists.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method executed by a computer system, comprising: selecting, by a first user agent included in a first handheld portable electronic device (HPED) of a first user in the computer system and without knowledge of and instruction from the first user, a second HPED an electronic device of a second user having a second user agent included in the second HPED of the second user; exchanging, between the first user agent in the first HPED and the second user agent in the second HPED in the computer system and without knowledge of and instruction from the first user, personal information about the first user and personal information about the second user; determining, by the first user agent in the first HPED in the computer system and without knowledge of and instruction from the first user, whether a common interest exists between the first user and the second user based on the personal information about the first user and the personal information about the second user; and adding, by the first user agent in the first HPED in the computer system and without knowledge of and instruction from the first user, the second user to a social networking webpage of the first user based on the determining by the first user agent in the first HPED that the common interest exists, wherein the first user agent and the second user agent are intelligent user agents that analyze the personal information to make an intelligent prediction about whether the common interest exists, wherein the first HPED of the first user is pointed at the second user in order to select the second user with the first HPED of the first user.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: building by the first user agent, on behalf of the first user, the social networking webpage of the first user by the first user agent creating a new user account for the first user at the social networking webpage, deciding which pictures of the first user to upload to the social networking webpage, establishing a username and password for the first user to log into the social networking webpage, and sending friend requests on behalf of the first user.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
activating, by the first user agent and without knowledge of and instruction from the first user, a camera on a handheld portable electronic device to take a photograph of the first user;
uploading, by the first user agent and without knowledge of and instruction from the first user, the photograph to the social networking webpage of the first user.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining, by the first user agent and without knowledge of and instruction from the first user, a mood of the first user and an action of the first user;
composing, by the first user agent and without knowledge of and instruction from the first user, a post that describes the mood of the first user and the action of the first user;
posting, by the first user agent and without knowledge of and instruction from the first user, the post to the social networking webpage of the first user.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
determining, by the first user agent, alternative information to populate a field in the social networking webpage of the first user;
displaying, to the first user, simultaneously a plurality of the fields that are populated with the alternative information, wherein the plurality of fields are displayed with a hierarchical format in which a first choice alternative is located above a second choice alternative.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
searching, by the first user agent and without knowledge of and instruction from the first user, other electronic devices that are within visual proximity of the first user;
exchanging the personal information about the first user with user agents of the other electronic devices when the other electronic devices are within the visual proximity.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
informing the first user that the second user was added to the social networking webpage of the first user after the second user is already added to the social networking webpage of the first user.

8. A computer system, comprising: one or more memories that store instructions; and a processing unit that executes the instructions to: select, with a handheld portable electronic device (HPED) of a user, an individual having an HPED and being away from but within proximity of the user; exchange, between the HPED of the user and the HPED of the individual, personal information about the user and personal information about the individual; determine, by the HPED of the user and by the HPED of the individual, whether the user and the individual have a common interest; notify, on the HPED of the user, the user that the common interest exists between the user and the individual; provide the user with information to locate the individual and to identify the individual after the individual agrees to provide the information to locate and to identify the individual; and provide the individual with information to locate the user and to identify the user after the user agrees to provide the information to locate and to identify the user, wherein the HPED of the user and the HPED of the individual include machine-learning agents that learn from data to predict that the common interest exists between the user and the individual, wherein the HPED of the user is pointed at the individual in order to select the individual with the HPED of the user, and wherein the user and the individual are different people.

9. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the processing unit further executes the instructions to:
take, with the HPED of the user, a photograph of the individual that is within visual proximity of the user;
analyze a face of the individual to determine an identity of the individual; and
determine contact information for the HPED of the individual based on the identity determined from analyzing the face of the individual.

10. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the information to locate the user and to identify the user are not disclosed to the individual until the user authorizes disclosing the information to locate the user and to identify the user, and the information to locate the individual and to identify the individual are not disclosed to the user until the individual authorizes disclosing the information to locate the individual and to identify the individual.

11. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the information to locate the user and to identify the user are displayed on the HPED of the individual and includes a description of a physical location of the user and a photograph of the user, and the information to locate the individual and to identify the individual are displayed on the HPED of the user and includes a description of a physical location of the individual and a photograph of the individual.

12. The computer system of claim 8 , wherein the HPED of the user selects the individual by taking a photograph of the individual and receiving a tap on a display of the HPED to indicate a location of the individual in the photograph.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions that cause a computer system to execute a method, comprising: select, by a first user agent in a first handheld portable electronic device (HPED) of a first user, a second user having a second user agent in a second HPED of the second user; exchange, between the first user agent in the first HPED and the second user agent in the second HPED, personal information about the first user and personal information about the second user; determin

Assignees

• Lyren Philip Scott

Inventors

• Lyren Philip Scott

Classifications

• G06Q10/40

  Business processes related to social networking or social networking services · CPC title

• G06Q50/01 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06Q10/109

  Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting · CPC title

• H04L51/222

  using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area · CPC title

• H04L41/046

  comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor · CPC title