Interpersonal Spacetime Interaction System

Abstract

The present innovation provides a method of establishing a connection between two individuals using an interpersonal spacetime interaction system, including enabling a first user to specify a spacetime event and to provide annotations for the spacetime event, maintaining a spacetime database comprising data objects, each data object corresponding to a spacetime event, querying a spacetime database, using a query that includes at least a specification of a desired spacetime event, said query being initiated by a second user, retrieving information from those data objects in the spacetime database whose corresponding spacetime events are proximate to the desired spacetime event, and providing the retrieved information to the second user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method of establishing a connection between a plurality of users using an interpersonal spacetime interaction system, comprising:
 receiving, from an electronic device of a first user of the plurality of users, a specified spacetime event and an annotation for the specified spacetime event, the specified spacetime event including a spatial portion and a temporal portion, the specified spacetime event corresponding to a three-dimensional coordinate system in which the spatial portion of the spacetime event is a two-dimensional geometric area corresponding to an area on the surface of the earth and the temporal portion is a time interval;   storing the specified spacetime event and the annotation in a spacetime database as a data object, the data object stored as a private event of the first user, the first user comprising the owner of the data object;   receiving a query for the specified spacetime database, the query including a specification of a desired spacetime event, said query being initiated by a second user of the plurality of users;   retrieving every data object in the spacetime database that satisfies criteria of: (a) the spacetime event of the data object to be retrieved being proximate to the desired spacetime event, and (b) at least one data object in the database being associated with the second user such that a spatial portion of the data object associated with the second user contains a center of the spatial portion of a data object to be retrieved; and   establishing, in response to the retrieved data object, a communication channel between the first and the second user.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein, each spacetime event corresponds to one or more parallelepipeds or one or more cylinders in the three-dimensional coordinate system in which two of the dimensions are spatial and refer to points on the surface of the earth and the third dimension is time. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a spacetime event is proximate to the desired spacetime event if the center of its spatial portion lies inside the geometric area of the spatial portion of the desired spacetime event, and the time interval of the temporal portion of the spacetime event intersects with the temporal portion of the desired spacetime event. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the two-dimensional geometric area is a rectangular area. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the specified spacetime event comprises receiving an indication from the first user of the center of the spatial portion of the spacetime event on an interactive map. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving the specified spacetime event comprises receiving a selection of a date, a start time of the time interval and a stop time of the time interval to specify the temporal portion of the spacetime event. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the spatial portion of the desired spacetime event corresponds to a visible portion of an interactive map. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 maintaining a user database comprising records for users, each record including an electronic address and a personal photo; 
 retrieving from the user database personal photos of the owners of those data objects in the spacetime database whose corresponding spacetime events are proximate to the desired spacetime event; 
 displaying the retrieved personal photos to the second user; 
 enabling the second user to select a personal photo from among the displayed personal photos; and 
 providing to the second user the electronic address that corresponds to the selected personal photo. 
 
     
     
         10 . A system for establishing a connection between at least two users using an interpersonal spacetime interaction system, comprising:
 a website configured to enable a first user to specify a spacetime event and an annotation for the spacetime event, the specified spacetime event including a spatial portion and a temporal portion, the specified spacetime event corresponding to a three-dimensional coordinate system in which the spatial portion of the specified spacetime event is a two-dimensional geometric area corresponding to an area on the surface of the earth and the temporal portion is a time interval;   a spacetime database configured to store spacetime events as one or more data objects, the specified spacetime event and the annotation for the specified spacetime events stored as a data object comprising a private event of the first user, the first user associated with being the owner of the data object;   a web interface configured to:   receive a query for the specified spacetime database, the query including a specification of a desired spacetime event, the query being initiated by a second user;   retrieve every data object in the spacetime database that meets the condition of: (a) the spacetime event of the data object to be retrieved being proximate to the desired spacetime event, and (b) at least one data object in the data associated with being owned by the second user such that a spatial portion of the data object owned by the second user contains a center of the spatial portion of a data object to be retrieved; and   establish, in response to the retrieved data object, a communication channel between the first and the second user.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10  wherein, each spacetime event corresponds to one or more parallelepipeds or one or more cylinders in a three-dimensional coordinate system in which two of the dimensions are spatial and refer to points on the surface of the earth and the third dimension is time. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein a spacetime event is proximate to the desired spacetime event if the center of its spatial portion lies inside the geometric area of the spatial portion of the desired spacetime event, and the time interval of the temporal portion of the spacetime event intersects with the temporal portion of the desired spacetime event. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the two-dimensional geometric area is a rectangular area. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the website is further configured to enable a first user to specify a spacetime event by receiving an indication from the first user of the center of the spatial portion of the spacetime event on an interactive map. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the website is further configured to enable a first user to specify a spacetime event by receiving a selection of a date, a start time of the time interval and a stop time of the time interval to specify the temporal portion of the spacetime event. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the spatial portion of the desired spacetime event corresponds to a visible portion of an interactive map. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a user database for maintaining records for users, each record including an electronic address and a personal photo;   a second web interface configured to retrieve from the user database personal photos of the owners of those data objects in the spacetime database whose corresponding spacetime events are proximate to the desired spacetime event;   a network device configured to display the retrieved personal photos to the second user; and   a third web interface configured to:
 enable the second user to select a personal photo from among the displayed personal photos; and 
 provide to the second user the electronic address that corresponds to the selected personal photo. 
   
     
     
         19 . A computer-implemented method of establishing a connection between at least two users in an interpersonal spacetime interaction system, comprising:
 receiving, from an electronic device of a first user, a specified spacetime event and an annotation for the specified spacetime event, the specified spacetime event including a spatial portion and a temporal portion, the specified spacetime event corresponding to a three-dimensional coordinate system in which the spatial portion of the spacetime event is a two-dimensional geometric area corresponding to an area on the surface of the earth and the temporal portion is a time interval;   storing the specified spacetime event and the annotation in a spacetime database as a data object, the data object stored as a private event of the first user, the first user comprising the owner of the data object;   identifying whether the stored data object matches any previously stored data object associated with another user in the spacetime database by determining whether (a) the temporal portion of the spacetime event of stored data object is proximate in time to the temporal portion of the any previously stored data object, and (b) a spatial portion of the stored data object contains a center of the spatial portion of the any previously stored data object; and   establishing, in response to identification of an identified match, a communication channel between the user and another user associated with the matched data object.   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon, the stored instructions when executed by a processor causes the processor to:
 receive, from an electronic device of a first user, a specified spacetime event and an annotation for the specified spacetime event, the specified spacetime event including a spatial portion and a temporal portion, the specified spacetime event corresponding to a three-dimensional coordinate system in which the spatial portion of the spacetime event is a two-dimensional geometric area corresponding to an area on the surface of the earth and the temporal portion is a time interval;   store the specified spacetime event and the annotation in a spacetime database as a data object, the data object stored as a private event of the first user, the first user comprising the owner of the data object;   identify whether the stored data object matches any previously stored data object associated with another user in the spacetime database by determining whether (a) the temporal portion of the spacetime event of stored data object is proximate in time to the temporal portion of the any previously stored data object, and (b) a spatial portion of the stored data object contains a center of the spatial portion of the any previously stored data object; and   establish, in response to identification of an identified match, a communication channel between the user and another user associated with the matched data object.