System and method for facilitating interpersonal contacts and social and commercial networking

Abstract

The system and method of the present invention is a mobile computing device application or “mobile application” designed to assist users in performing directed searches within defined geographic scope to achieve specific goals within social, e-commerce and collaborative spaces.

1 . A method for notifying at least one user u i  of presence of at least one user u k , comprising the steps of:
 determining locations of users u i  and u k , wherein user u i  has at least one electronic device, e i , and user, u k , has at least one electronic device e k ;   generating at least one pre-qualifying list of users u k  and sending the pre-qualifying list to user u i , wherein the pre-qualifying list is generated by a server based on criteria c i  for user u i , criteria c k  for user u k  and locations of users u i  and u k ; and   notifying the user u i  when the user u k  is within about 30 meters of user u i .   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the location is determined by at least one location-based service (LBS). 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the LBS comprises a GPS (global positioning system), a cell phone tower, and/or an IEEE 802.11 network (WiFi). 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the location of user u i  is a static location selected by the user u i . 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is in wireless internet communication with the server. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the electronic device communicates with the server through a Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN). 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic device sends a unique user identification to the server before receiving the pre-qualifying list. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the criteria, c i  and c k , comprise a set of user preferences. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the criteria comprise dating preferences, friendship preferences, collaboration preferences and/or purchasing preferences for the user u i . 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the server comprises a means for matching criteria c i  and C k . 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic device e i  comprises a software application for the user to set up the criteria. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user u i  is notified when a short-range wireless communication protocol determines the user u i  to be within about 30 meters of user u k . 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the short-range wireless communication protocol comprises Bluetooth. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the short-range wireless communication protocol comprises RFID, Wibree, UWB (ultra-wideband), WUSB (wireless USB) and/or WLAN (wireless local area network) connection. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the user u i  is notified when the short-range wireless communication protocol determines user u i  to be within about 25 meters of another user u k . 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the short-range wireless communication protocol determines user u i  to be within about 25 meters of another user u k . 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein electronic devices e i  and e k  are mobile devices. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the mobile device is a smart phone or a cell phone. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein user u k  is notified.