WO2009021970A2

WO2009021970A2 - Method and apparatus for geographical localization

Info

Publication number: WO2009021970A2
Application number: PCT/EP2008/060629
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stefano Adami; Giampietro Tecchiolli
Original assignee: Eurotech Spa
Priority date: 2007-08-16
Filing date: 2008-08-13
Publication date: 2009-02-19
Also published as: EP2188766A2; WO2009021970A3; ITUD20070145A1

Abstract

A method for the localization of users having specified characteristics, each of which is provided with a first personal pervasive object (12), comprises a preliminary step in which a user profile is memorized in the relative personal pervasive object. The method also comprises a step of anonymous acquisition of the user profiles by means of second pervasive objects (20), which effect a transmission and reception with an electronic search device (22) in order to transmit an anonymous request for geographical localization and search for affinities; a step in which the remote user sends to the electronic search device (22) the request for a search for affinities between his own search profile and the user profiles memorized in the pervasive objects (12), by means of a electronic user interface device (24); a step of comparison, in which at least one of the second pervasive objects (20) carries out a control of the correspondence between the search profile of the anonymous search request; a step of processing the outcome of the search by the electronic search device (22) and sending the result of the processing to the remote user through the electronic user interface device (24).

Description

"METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GEOGRAPHICAL LOCALIZATION"

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a method and the relative apparatus for the geographical localization of users having personal characteristics specified by a remote user, by means of an anonymous search for affinities between subjects, based on an architecture of comparison of affinities.

In particular, the present invention is based on the transmission and reception of anonymous personal information in contexts in which it is necessary to exchange information in an automatic and controlled manner, for example for the geographical localization and search for affinities in a professional or personal field, cultural activities, social activities, hobbies, sports, games, music, books, health, civil defense and suchlike.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Methods and apparatuses for searching for affinities between subjects are known, for example from the international patent application PCT/EP2006/069444 in the name of the present Applicant.

Known methods are based on the widespread use by a community of users in geographical proximity of a portable electronic apparatus, or so-called pervasive object, provided with a transmission and reception capacity so as to communicate with analogous apparatuses and with sufficient calculation and memorization capacity, which is typically of the wearable type, like a jewel or ornament.

Pervasive objects rely on the Internet and a centralized database for the exchange of personal information. To guarantee confidentiality of the data, the exchange is initially anonymous, preferably mediated and encrypted by a certifying entity associated with the centralized database and subject to prior confirmation by the users involved.

In these known methods and apparatuses, in order to access the exchange, even anonymous, of personal information, it is necessary to have one of the pervasive objects and therefore it is necessary to be in geographical proximity with other pervasive objects of the same type. Often, however, the result of the search can be too generic from the point of view of the geographical localization and therefore useless. However, in some specific situations it is necessary or advantageous to know in advance and to localize geographically, and without being physically present or having a pervasive object, the possible correspondence and/or the degree of correspondence between specified personal characteristics, defined by means of a search profile by a remote user, and the personal information associated with the users that frequent a certain environment, of work or other, public or private, or in any case it is necessary to localize a particular search for affinities.

This need may occur, for example, if a remote user has to plan a visit to a fair, a scientific conference or similar events, to plan an evening's relaxation in public premises, theaters, cinemas or suchlike, or even to plan his enrolment in an association for sports or hobbies, a school, university or suchlike.

Other situations in which this need might arise may be in the commercial field, for statistical purposes or security.

US-A1-2002090911, US-A1-2005174975 and US-A1-2007179792 disclose other examples of methods for searching affinity between groups of people through the matching of specific information data.

One purpose of the present invention is to perfect a method and achieve an apparatus for the geographical localization of users having personal characteristics specified by a remote user which can be used anonymously by a remote user, that is, without needing to be in geographical proximity, and using electronic apparatuses with the capacity of connecting to the Net which are normally available to a user, such as personal computers, either desk-top or portable, palmtops, cell phones which integrate the function of an electronic processor or suchlike, that is, without needing to have a determinate pervasive object.

Another purpose of the present invention is that, once the geographical localization has been defined, it is also possible to effect a search for affinities and a control of the correspondence between the personal characteristics specified by the remote user by means of a search profile and the personal profiles associated with the users temporarily present in a determinate environment.

Furthermore, another purpose of the present invention is to allow to define the concentration, that is, higher or lower presence, of users with specified personal characteristics, localized in a determinate environment, both in real time and by defining the temporal development of said concentration.

The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claims, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea. In accordance with the above purposes, a method according to the present invention is used for the geographical localization of users having personal characteristics specified by a remote user and temporarily present in one or more determinate environments, each user being provided with a first pervasive object, or personal object, so as to temporarily define groups of first personal pervasive objects in geographical proximity distributed in the environments.

The method according to the present invention comprises a preliminary step in which at least a user profile containing anonymous information correlated to a determinate user is memorized in each of the first personal pervasive objects and in which the user profiles are transmitted anonymously in the ether so as to be possibly acquired by other first pervasive objects as present in a determinate space geographically surrounding each user.

According to a characteristic feature of the present invention, the method also comprises: - a step of anonymous acquisition of the user profiles of the first pervasive objects by means of second pervasive objects, or sniffers, distributed statically in said environments, i.e. neither worn nor hold by any of the users present in the environments, which are able firstly to receive from the first pervasive objects of each group of the relative environment, in an automatic way, i.e. without the users wearing the pervasive objects become aware of this, the corresponding user profiles thereof, and secondly to effect a transmission and reception with a local electronic search device, i.e. a device associated to a geographically defined group of second pervasive objects, provided with calculation and memorization capacity in order to satisfy and transmit an anonymous request for geographical - A -

localization and search for affinities between the user profiles of each user in the environment and a search profile transmitted by the remote user containing the specified personal characteristics to be searched;

- a step of anonymous search, in which the remote user sends to the electronic search device the anonymous request for a search for affinities between his own search profile and the user profiles, acquired in an anonymous way by the second static pervasive objects, of the other users temporarily present in the determinate environment, by means of a electronic user interface device provided with the capacity to insert data relating to the search profile of the remote user, which is associated locally, or remotely, with a determinate environment and is able to be connected locally or remotely to the electronic search device of the relative environment for the transmission and reception of the data inserted relating to the search profile;

- a step of comparison, in which at least one of the second static pervasive objects carries out a control of the correspondence between the search profile of the anonymous search request, effected by the remote user, and the user profiles acquired, in order to determine a geographical localization of the users having personal characteristics specified by the remote user and the level of affinity between the user profiles and the search profile of the remote user, and to send to the electronic search device, based on said geographical localization and said level of affinity, a coherent anonymous message relating to the outcome of the geographical localization and the search for affinities;

- a step of processing the outcome of the geographical localization and the search for affinities by the electronic search device and of sending the result of the processing to the remote user through the electronic user interface device.

Advantageously, the result of the processing of the outcome of the geographical localization and the search for affinities comprises an indication of the concentration of users with specified personal characteristics in a determinate environment. According to a variant, in the anonymous search step the remote user selects at least a determinate environment in which to effect the search for affinities.

Therefore, the present invention defines an apparatus which is a computerized and intelligent architecture distributed in the environment where the pervasive objects operate and a method to achieve a service to search for and localize anonymous personal affinities from a distance.

Thanks to the invention, a remote user provided with a common personal computer connected to the net, local or Internet, can easily verify the affinity between his own search profile containing the specific personal characteristics searched for, which can vary according to the private or public sphere, professional or personal, and the profile of other users who frequent a determinate environment, place, premises, event or suchlike. Based on this verification, the user can decide whether or not to go to the determinate place and/or meet/contact the other user(s), advantageously after consent from the other party, in any case preserving reciprocal anonymity.

In this way the method and the relative apparatus for the anonymous search for affinities is localized in one or more determinate environments, it can also be used by a remote user, that is, without needing to be in geographical proximity, who selects the determinate environment where to carry out the search, and using electronic apparatuses with the capacity to connect to the Net which are normally available to a user, like personal computers, desk-top or portable, palmtops, cell phones which integrate the function of an electronic processor or suchlike, that is, without needing to have a determinate pervasive object. The present invention allows a user to localize precisely, also inside buildings or specific zones of buildings, and substantially in real time if and where there exists a greater concentration or presence of persons having specific profile characteristics requested, but in anonymous way, i.e. without having private information related to a particular user. Than the user who has carried on the remote search may reach said environment in which he has found some users who match his search and, if he is provided of one of the first personal object, he can proceed with the affinity search of one or more specific person in a traditional way through the communication between two pervasive objects.

Advantageously, the precision of the localization can be defined by increasing or decreasing the number of second pervasive objects, or sniffers, distributed statically in the environments, which improves to a greater or lesser extent said second acquisition step.

The present invention supplies, substantially in real time, the results of the geographical localization and the comparison of affinities substantially like a search engine of Internet pages, allowing to display the results in order of relevance or according to another criterion, advantageously definable according to weights pre-defined by the remote user and also allowing, once a determinate type of user has been geographically localized, to refine the search by inserting other selection and search criteria.

The remote user can also monitor, for example for statistical, commercial, security purposes or other, the temporal development of the concentration of a determinate type of user in one or more determinate environments, and also the variation in the concentration of users relating to various sectors of the same environment, such as for example in a big shopping center.

With the present invention it is possible to know in advance, anonymously and without being physically present, and without having a pervasive object, the correspondence and level of correspondence or affinity, based on pre-defined weights, between specified personal characteristics defined by a remote user in a search profile and the personal information associated with the users that frequent a determinate environment, whether a work environment or other, public or private.

The present invention can thus be used to plan a visit to a fair, a scientific conference or similar events, to plan an evening's relaxation in public premises, theaters, cinemas or suchlike, or even to plan one's enrolment in an association for sports or hobbies, a school, a university or suchlike, or in any case to localize the particular search for affinities.

The user can go to the environment with the greatest concentration of persons with the desired characteristics and then meet them and make their acquaintance or not, in a traditional way. Alternatively, the user can also go to said environment with a pervasive object and use it to verify the local affinity.

It is clear that the remote user can also be interested in environments with a defined concentration of users with specified characteristics, not necessarily the greatest, according to his personal requirements.

Advantageously, the present invention can be used to carry out market research and statistical studies on the presence and concentration of determinate types of users, whether they are staying or not and how long they are staying, in specific environments, for example in environments of a commercial type, such as shops, fairs, exhibitions, sports events or other.

For example, the present invention can be used to indicate, also visually, as a function of time or of space, the stream of a determinate category of users, responding to specific characteristics defined by a remote user, in a determinate environment, which can be a building or part of a building, but also a district or a city.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

- fig. 1 is a schematic representation of an apparatus according to the present invention;

- fig. 2 is a schematic representation of a variant of the apparatus according to the present invention;

- fig. 3 is a schematic representation of a first form of execution of part of the method according to the present invention;

- fig. 4 is a schematic representation of a second form of execution of part of the method according to the present invention; - fig. 5 is a schematic representation of a third form of execution of part of the method according to the present invention;

- fig. 6 is a schematic representation of a form of execution of another part of the method according to the present invention;

- fig. 7 is a schematic representation of a form of execution of another part of the method according to the present invention; and

- fig. 8 is a flow chart for the execution of a part of the method according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERENTIAL FORM OF

EMBODIMENT With reference to fig. 1, an apparatus 10 according to the present invention is used by one or more remote users for the geographical localization and search for affinities with other users temporarily present in one or more environments 14. The invention is advantageously applied especially when the users who carry out the search for affinities are not physically present in said environments 14.

The apparatus 10 comprises a plurality of first pervasive objects 12 (Pervasive

Object - PO), or personal pervasive objects 12, each of which is worn by a determinate user-proprietor who frequents said environments 14, so as to define temporarily first groups 16 of first personal pervasive objects 12 in geographical proximity in the environment 14.

The first pervasive objects 12 are portable electronic devices, equipped with transmission and/or reception means, to communicate with other similar compatible electronic devices inside a circumscribed space. The first pervasive objects 12 are able to transmit in the ether, in an automatic way, an anonymous user profile containing anonymous information (ANONYM PROFILES) correlated to the determinate user.

This information can reach every possible first pervasive object 12 compatible for reception situated at a limited distance around the user (personal area). The personal area is defined as the geographical proximity between the various first pervasive objects 12, which is comprised between about 10 meters and 100 meters in an open environment, according to the radio communication technologies adopted.

In a traditional way, and as known in the prior art, each user provided with a first pervasive object 12 can assess the anonymous information received on his first pervasive object 12 and accept possible contact with the other user who has communicated, finally sending non-anonymous contact information

(CONTACT INFO), to establish a direct physical, visual contact or other.

To allow even a remote user who has no first pervasive object 12 to effect a prior search for affinities, in the environments 14 where the affinities search service according to the present invention is activated, other pervasive objects are statically distributed, namely second pervasive objects not worn by any users, in geographical proximity, between about 10 meters and about 100 meters as defined above to the first pervasive objects; hereafter these second pervasive objects are called "sniffers" and indicated by the reference number 20.

The function of the sniffers 20 is to acquire anonymous profiles sent by first pervasive objects 12 of the users temporarily present in the determinate environment 14 in an automatic way, i.e. without the users wearing the first pervasive objects 12 become aware of this. Moreover, each sniffer 20 must be able to communicate (in wireless or wired mode) with an electronic search device 22 (Local Search Engine - LSE) and must be able to perform a comparison function between the profiles received and the search characteristics. The electronic search device 22 is associated with the environments 14 and functions as a local search engine for profile affinities.

The electronic search device 22, as we said, is directly connected to the sniffers 20 with which it communicates. The electronic search device 22 is provided with a search interface 30 (search interface - SI), made directly in the device or remote, by means of which, on request from the user, it can implement a search for affinities between the information received from the sniffers 20 and the information specified by the remote user.

In particular, the electronic search device 22 performs the following functions:

- it registers and authenticates a sniffer 20 present in the connected environment 14;

- de-registers a sniffer 20 previously registered but no longer available;

- establishes a secure communication with every sniffer 20;

- memorizes a specific univocal geographical identification LSE INFO so that it defines the geographical boundaries affected by the search which it is able to effect;

- manages the sniffers 20, distributes the requests for comparison to the various sniffers, aggregates, filters and orders the information received according to the weights possibly defined by the remote user and returns the result in a form suitable for the user interface device 24 of the remote user. The remote user uses an electronic user interface device 24 (User Query Interface - UQI), such as a personal computer, a terminal or suchlike, fixed or mobile, which is able to be connected, locally or remote for example by Internet (UQI remote), to the relative electronic search device 22.

One solution of the present invention provides that the electronic user interface device 24 in its remote version can exploit the functions of a global server, Master Search Engine Interface (MSEI), indicated for convenience by the reference number 124 in fig. 2, for access to a group of electronic search devices 22, interconnected by means of Internet. In this case, the electronic user interface device is a personal computer 224, or equivalent user interface, by means of which a generic user, without a first pervasive object 12, can access the server 124, to carry out a search for geographical affinity that will cover part or all of the places reached by said server 124, possibly specified by the user. For example, all the electronic search devices 22 pertaining to as many public places or premises, again indicated for convenience by the reference number 14 in fig. 2, of a determinate city, could be served by said server 124. The server 124 is thus used to index the electronic search devices 22 pertaining to it. In this way, before leaving the house, a user of the service could decide in which premises to go, according to the result of a search for affinities effected on the server 124. Another solution provides that, having a mobile terminal available equipped with an adequate interface (for example a PDA or smart phone), the remote user can perform the search at successive time intervals and follow the signal relating to the greatest density of persons searched for, practically in real time.

By means of the electronic user interface device 24, or equally by means of the server 124 and personal computer 224 connected to Internet, a user can perform a search for affinities by connecting to the electronic search device 22 and inserting a particular search profile (SEARCH PROFILE) which is then processed by the search interface 30 of the electronic search device 22 according to the anonymous user profiles received from the sniffers 20.

The user receives the results of the search for affinities directly on the electronic user interface device 24 or on the personal computer 224, and then makes the appropriate decision, without needing to have a pervasive object 12 too, and preferably operating remote.

Each first pervasive object 12 meets the following specifications:

- easily wearable and accessible for owner;

- autonomous functioning for at least a whole day; - able to memorize/modify one or more anonymous personal user profiles of the owner, received through a wired/wireless reception interface in connection with a configuration device 13 like a personal computer (Remote User Interface - RUI). In particular, the most advantageous solution is the one that provides to receive - l i ¬

the user profile from the same wireless reception interface of the profiles of the other users from the other pervasive objects 12 for which affinity is assessed;

- able to memorize/modify the non-anonymous contact information sent, following acceptance of the contact, directly by the first pervasive object 12 or by the configuration device 13;

- able to transmit periodically the anonymous user profile, through a wireless transmission interface compatible with the wireless reception interface, to a specific remote first pervasive object 12 or to the first pervasive objects 12 active in the area covered by the service (personal area) able to receive it: This transmission can be without acknowledgement;

- able to receive constantly and/or periodically the user profiles sent by other equivalent first pervasive objects 12;

- able to transmit the non- anonymous contact information sent to a specific first pervasive object 12 with acknowledgement protocol (acknowledgement message CONTACT INFO ACK);

- able to transmit the acknowledgement message in reply to the reception of non- anonymous contact information;

- able to perform a comparison algorithm between personal profiles and to calculate the level of affinity; - able to configure the possible method of comparison between user profile and profile received (if more than one) and the possible parameters, from the configuration device 13 ;

- able to configure the minimum level of compatibility between the anonymous user profile and the profiles received so that they can be considered similar, both directly from the first pervasive object 12 and also from the configuration device 13;

- able to configure the notification modes in the event of an affinity found, both directly from the first pervasive object 12 and also from the configuration device 13; - able to memorize a list of IDs of profiles received but not yet processed (PENDINGJPROFILE LIST);

- able to memorize a list of IDs of dissimilar profiles (OTHER PROFILE LIST) able to memorize a list of IDs of profiles to be ignored (DISMISS PROFILE LIST); able to memorize a list of IDs of accepted profiles (SIMILAR PROFILE LIST).

Optionally, each first pervasive object 12 also meets the following specifications:

- able to select the active anonymous user profile and the non-anonymous contact information directly from the first pervasive object 12 itself; able to support the specific invisible communication mode

(INVISIB LE MODE) with the other first pervasive objects 12: in this specific communication the anonymous user profile is sent only in the event of an explicit consent from the user following a notification of affinity whereas, in reception, the device functions normally;

- able to display completely or at least partly the information relating to a profile received which is similar to the personal profile; - able to accept or reject sending one's own profile in reply to a profile received:

The specifications of the anonymous user profile are divided into private fields, managed by the first pervasive object 12 but not accessible by the user, and public fields accessible to the user.

The private fields can be organized in this way: - PO ID: univocal ID of every anonymous user profile and hence of every first pervasive object 12. It can be obtained starting from the physical address (MAC address) of the wireless transmission interface of the first pervasive object 12;

- UNRELIABLE: indicates a false profile, and is a field used to support the function FUNCTION DI S CREDIT described hereafter; - ID VALID ATING: list of IDs that have discredited this profile (field used to support the function FUNCTION DISCREDIT described hereafter). The public fields are as follows:

- non-anonymous contact information;

- characteristic of the profiles from 1 to N. In particular, each non-anonymous contact information contains non- anonymous data or localization data defined in advance and selectable at any moment by the user-proprietor (also according to context/environment) and may consist of a text message, voice message, image, or combination of the three, such that it allows the user who sends it to be reached (contacted telephonically or met) by the receiver.

The anonymous user profile may be initialized as follows:

- PO ID set as MAC wireless or in any case univocal ID relating to the first pervasive object 12;

- indicator of false profile set to the value 0;

- empty list of user IDs;

- non-anonymous contact information containing the information selected by the owner; - characteristic from 1 to N of each profile set by owner.

The user's personal information inserted must be at least a minimum sub-set defined by the specific application (search for soul mate, search for professional skill...) so as to avoid obtaining profiles that are too generic which may give rise to too high a number of not significant correspondences. The transmission and reception sequence between the first pervasive objects 12 is coordinated by minimum timeout specifications, which are configurable by the user within a certain range (the minimum is imposed by the processing required by the system) and which are:

- CONTACT_ACK_TIMEOUT: timeout for re-transmission of the non- anonymous contact information, waiting for the reception confirmation message;

- CONTACT TIMEOUT: timeout waiting for non-anonymous contact information from remote.

The list of IDs mentioned above in the specifications of the first pervasive objects 12 do not memorize the information of the anonymous user profiles nor the non-anonymous contact information, but only the IDs of the first pervasive objects 12 with which they have come into contact in various ways.

In this way, the memory resources required from each first pervasive object 12 are really limited and, even if a first pervasive object 12 is used by another ill- intentioned person, it is not possible to trace any personal information of the persons contacted but only, in the worst scenario, to access the owner's personal information.

The list of IDs of profiles received and not yet processed is a FIFO list ("first in first out") of univocal IDs of the first pervasive objects 12 present in the environment from which the relative anonymous user profile has been received, during the processing step. The following operations can be carried out on the list:

- initialization, that is, the list is emptied every time the first pervasive object 12 is switched on again;

- addition to the list when a new profile, not already present in the list and not present in the other lists, is received;

- removal from the list due to end-of-processing after a profile has been processed and the result of the processing is that: - it is not similar (it is inserted into the list of IDs of dissimilar profiles);

- it is similar and is inserted into the list of IDs of profiles to be ignored;

- it is similar and the contact has been accepted, after the reception confirmation has been received;

- removal due to timeout, if the profile is similar and the contact accepted, after a time longer than the maximum established by the attempts to re-transmit the non- anonymous contact information (value given by the product of the contact attempts CONTACT RETRY for timeout for re-transmitting the non-anonymous contact information, waiting for the message confirming reception of the non- anonymous contact information); - removal of the hardware, every time the device is started.

The list of IDs of dissimilar profiles is a FIFO-type list of the univocal IDs of the pervasive objects present in the environment, from which the relative anonymous user profile has been received and processed as not similar or with a level of affinity below the minimum required. The operations that can be carried out on the list of IDs of dissimilar profiles are:

- initialization, where the list is emptied every time the pervasive object is switched on again;

- addition, when a new profile not already present in the list and not present in the other lists is received;

- removal of hardware, when the pervasive object is re-started.

The list of IDs of profiles to be ignored is a FIFO list of univocal IDs of the pervasive objects 12 present in the environment 14 and previously processed, which the user has decided to ignore in the future. If the pervasive object again receives the same profile present in this list, it will not be processed again.

The operations that can be carried out on the list of IDs of profiles to be ignored are as follows: - initialization, which is carried out once, only the first time the device is activated. Then it remains stably memorized, except in the event of explicit removal by the user;

- addition, after a profile has been processed, is seen to be similar and subsequently the user has decided to ignore it; - removal for configuration, in which the list is modifiable through the configuration device 13.

The list of IDs of profiles accepted is a FIFO-type list of univocal IDs of the pervasive objects 12 present in the environment 14 and previously processed, seen to be similar, which the user has decided to contact through the non- anonymous contact information received.

If the user has accepted the contact, by sending his own non-anonymous contact information, but the non-anonymous contact information has not in turn been sent to him, this profile is not added to the list (the communication has not reached the end). This does not mean that the user cannot be contacted in any case by the other user who had instead received the non-anonymous contact information.

The operations that can be carried out on the list of IDs of accepted profiles are as follows:

- initialization, which is carried out once only, the first time the device is activated. Then the list remains stably memorized, except in the event of explicit removal by the user;

- addition, after a profile has been processed, is seen to be similar and the non- anonymous contact information from both parties has been exchanged;

- removal for configuration, in which the list can be modified through the configuration device 13.

If the contact is concluded successfully, that is, following the exchange of the non-anonymous contact information between two users, the respective pervasive objects 12 will have their own list of IDs of accepted profiles containing the univocal ID of the other user (except if subsequently a user decides to remove it by force).

The flow chart which shows the management of the lists of univocal profile IDs by the pervasive object 12 is shown in fig. 8. The pervasive object 12 is thus able to receive the anonymous user profile, and if not present in the list of profiles to be ignored and in that of the similar profiles already contacted, it can calculate the level of affinity with respect to the personal anonymous user profile of the owner, notify the receiving user if the minimum affinity threshold has been exceeded, communicate to the receiver (if requested) the information of the profile received.

The negotiation of the non-anonymous contact information to be exchanged between the two users is different if the receiver uses the device in a standard manner or in the invisible specific communication mode.

Fig. 1 shows pervasive objects 12, in normal or invisible communication mode, connected to each other by continuous line arrows, which indicate the transmission of a user profile, and/or a line of dashes, which indicate the response to the reception of a user profile. Pervasive objects 12 not connected to others are also shown, that is, in off mode, or in any case not able to send and receive in the relative environment 14. In particular, there are three specific possibilities of communication, the functioning of which is shown schematically in figs. 3 to 5:

- two pervasive objects 12, associated with two users A and B, in normal transmission and reception mode, in which one pervasive object receives the profile of the other pervasive object (symmetrical interrogation) (fig. 3); - a pervasive object 12 associated with a user A transmitting in normal mode and a pervasive object 12 associated with a user B receiving in invisible mode (asymmetrical interrogation) (fig. 4);

- two pervasive objects 12, associated with two users A and B, in normal transmission and reception mode, in which one pervasive object receives the profile of the other pervasive object, but the other pervasive object does not receive any profile (symmetrical interrogation) (fig. 5).

The sniffers 20 are associated with a sniffer profile (SNIFFER PROFILE), in the same way as the pervasive objects 12 which are associated with an anonymous user profile. The elements of the data structure used to memorize the sniffer profile are defined hereafter, divided into private fields and public fields. The private fields are as follows:

- PO ID, that is, univocal ID of every sniffer 20. It can be obtained starting from the MAC address of the communication interface towards the electronic search device 22;

- LOCALIZATION, that is, the univocal description of the localization of the environment where the sniffer 20 is installed: This information is supplied as part of the output of a remote geographical search. If the communication with the electronic search device 22 takes place using the same wireless communication interface between pervasive objects 12 and in the same manner, the univocal IDs relating to the sniffers 20 must be identifiable with respect to those of the pervasive objects 12 themselves, and not considered as anonymous user profiles on which the correspondence of affinity is to be made.

The sniffers 20 have all the properties and specifications as shown above for the normal pervasive objects 12, with the following extra requirements:

- it must be able to perform in acceptable times (for example, typically less than about 5 sees) the algorithm of correspondence between the search profile and the possible anonymous user profiles received from the pervasive objects 12 (present at the moment of search);

- it must be possible to feed the device, in the event of necessity, from the local electricity network;

- it must be configurable in the specific functions provided for functioning as a sniffer at least by the configuration device 13;

- it must be able to receive (through the wireless reception interface) constantly and/or periodically the anonymous user profiles sent by the pervasive objects present in an area at least equal to said personal area, preferably much larger;

- it must be able to assess when a pervasive object 12 is no longer active/present in the environment 14 and possibly remove the relative memorized profile;

- it must be able to have a wireless or wired bi-directional communication interface available, which achieves a logical connection with the electronic search device 22, secure and encrypted, indicated by LSE LINK; - it must be able to transmit the sniffer profile through the bi-directional communication interface;

- it must be able to receive from the electronic search device 22, by means of the bi-directional communication interface, the search profile requested by the user by means of the electronic user interface device 24, or the personal computer 224;

- it must be able to send a reply message concerning the results of the search (SEARCH RESULT) to the electronic search device 22, by means of the bidirectional communication interface, relating to the result of the search for correspondence (including the univocal IDs of the relative profiles);

- it must be able to receive from the electronic search device 22, by means of the bi-directional communication interface, and interpret a special search request message (LSE QUERY) used by the electronic search device 22 to obtain an anonymous user profile memorized on the various dependent sniffers 20; - it must be able to transmit to the electronic search device 22, by means of the bi-directional communication interface, the anonymous profile (QUER Y PROFILE) requested by the search message;

- it must be able to receive from a pervasive object 12, through the wireless reception interface, an invalidating message (FALSE PROFILE) used to invalidate the authenticity of a user profile (used to achieve the function FUNCTION DISCREDIT described hereafter in more detail):

- it must be able to detect the presence of a pervasive object 12. In this case, having defined a maximum interval of inactivity of a pervasive object 12 (during which the specific sniffer 20 does not receive a previously acquired personal profile, PO PRESENT TIMEOUT), the registered profile is made to expire and is cancelled from the list of profiles received. This situation can occur if the pervasive object 12 is no longer in the area covered by the specific sniffer 20 or has passed to invisible mode, is de-activated or actually the relative user is no longer in the environment 14 covered by the service. The functioning of the apparatus 10, and therefore the relative method to search for affinities, is as follows.

The anonymous user profiles are memorized in the pervasive objects 12 and the various anonymous, and subsequently non-anonymous, information is transmitted/ received between them.

Moreover, the sniffers 20 of each environment 14 simultaneously acquire the anonymous information exchanged between the pervasive objects 12 and transmit it to the electronic search device 22 associated with the particular environment 14. This transmission is not contextual, as the sniffers 20 transmit the profile proper if and only when the electronic search device 22 requests it.

Normally, the sniffers transmit only the result of the control of correspondence

("matching") between profiles memorized and search profiles. For example, it may simply be a message containing the number of local profiles active with the characteristics requested.

The electronic search device 22 receives the search request message from the user of the service, through the electronic user interface device 24, locally or remote through Internet, or equally by means of the server 124 - personal computer 224 connected to Internet. The search request is both satisfied according to the information already possessed by the electronic search device 22, and also forwarded and satisfied by all the active sniffers 20.

In particular, the sniffers 20 effect the comparison between the user profiles received and memorized by the pervasive objects 12 and the specifications of the search effected by the remote user.

Each sniffer 20 interrogated controls the correspondence with its own active profiles (or corresponding to pervasive objects 12 of persons present in the environment 14 at the moment of the request). It returns, with a search message, the number of profiles that satisfy the parameters of the search profile. If it is so requested by the remote user, the specific sniffers 20 pertaining to the same electronic search device 22 send to the same electronic search device 22 a message containing the details of the profiles positive to the search.

The electronic search device 22 receives the results of the search from the various sniffers 20, processes them, aggregates and possibly post-processes them in order to supply the final information to the user, by means of the electronic user interface device 24, in a rapid and intuitive manner.

The results of the search processed by the electronic search device 22 can be sent locally or remotely by means of Internet, or through the server 124 and the personal computer 224.

The presentation of the results of the search by the electronic user interface device 24 may be totally analogous to what is provided for search engines traditionally used on Internet, with a presentation of the results based on a greater or lesser pertinence to the search carried out (expressed, based on weights defined by the user, as a score) and with the possibility of effecting a more detailed search among the current search results.

Among the possible search results, the remote user may receive, for example, a list of the geographical areas with greatest density and number of persons with the characteristics requested, in increasing or decreasing order. The user can select one of these geographical areas or environments and, in this case, the details relating to the specific environment and the persons pertaining thereto will be displayed.

Optionally, the invention provides that the remote user can request a further targeted search (specifying the new search parameters) or request the details of a profile already present which has satisfied the search or has at least partly satisfied it. In this case a request will be sent to the relative specific electronic search device 22 which will ask the sniffer 20 for the anonymous profile requested. The interaction between the sniffers 20, the electronic search device 22 and the electronic user interface device 24 is shown schematically in fig. 6.

In this way the service is able to determine whether in a specific moment of time the persons inside the environment 14 covered by the service to search for affinities provided by each pervasive object 12 exist, and where they are (with respect to the localizations of the sniffers 20), which best satisfy a personal profile requested.

According to a variant, the present invention defines an additional function of the pervasive objects 12 and the sniffers 20, used by the electronic search device 22, thanks to which it can supply a range of unreliability of the result of the search (fig. 7).

To this purpose, the additional operations required of the pervasive objects 12 are: - to allow the user at every moment to characterize as "false" a profile really contacted previously;

- to send for a certain pre-defined time interval, in a manner transparent for the user, a special profile (unreliable profile: FALSE PROFILE) based on the user profile data structure. This information is ignored by the other pervasive objects 12 while it is used by all the sniffer devices 20 reached.

The initialization of the unreliable user profile concerns the private fields of the pervasive object 12 and is as follows:

- PO ID set to the MAC wireless profile (to be invalidated);

- indicator of false profile set to value 1 ; - ID VALID ATING set to the univocal ID of the validating user.

A pervasive object 12 allows at every moment to judge the truthfulness of the fundamental information of a profile received. The graphical interface of the electronic user interface device 24, or the personal computer 224, allows to display a memorized accepted profile and to characterize it as an unreliable profile: this information is decided by the user typically after having communicated with the relative contact.

If the fundamental elements of the profile (for example sex, age, for a personal type profile) turn out not to correspond to the truth, the user will mark the profile as unreliable. The profile thus modified is transmitted automatically and transparently to the possible sniffer 20 present in the environment. If no sniffer 20 receives this message within a certain time period it will not be possible for the remote affinity search service to exploit this information.

The additional operations required of the sniffer device 20 are as follows:

- to accept reception of the special unreliable profile; - to update the unreliable information relating to said profile;

- if the sniffer 20 does not recognize the profile as active (not having previously received the profile, or the user is no longer present in the environment), the profile is memorized, the false profile indicator is set to value 1 and the field of the univocal ID of the validating user is set; - if the profile is recognized by the sniffer 20 as present, the false profile indicator is increased by 1 and the field of the univocal ID of the validating user received is added to the current list of the field of the validating user present in the profile; - to control the correspondence between the past search profile and all the active user profiles, including profiles marked as unreliable;

- to return as output of the correspondence control the fields of the false profile indicator and the validating user in the event of a positive correspondence control with a profile marked as unreliable.

The additional operations required of the electronic search device 22 are as follows:

- to process the information concerning unreliability from the output of the relative sniffers 20 in the event that the correspondence control is verified for an active profile marked as unreliable by one or more of any of the sniffers 20;

- to add all the fields of false profile indicator arriving from the various sniffers 20;

- to subtract the number of elements of the lists of validating user which appear in more than one sniffer 20 (these are unreliable profiles received from several sniffers 20 simultaneously, only one is to be considered);

- to return the information concerning the control of correspondence to the electronic user interface device 24, 224 (local or remote), including the possible information concerning unreliability (for example, it can be reported as a percentage of notifications of false profile with respect to the total number of users equipped with pervasive objects 12 present in the search environment 14).

It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts and/or steps may be made to the method and apparatus 10 for geographical localization as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.

It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of method and apparatus for geographical localization, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.

Claims

1. A method for the geographical localization of users having personal characteristics specified by a remote user and temporarily present in one or more determinate environments (14), each of which users is provided with a first pervasive object (12) so as to temporarily define groups (16) of first personal pervasive objects (12) in geographical proximity distributed in the environments, comprising a preliminary step in which at least a user profile containing anonymous information correlated to a determinate user is memorized in the relative first personal pervasive object (12) associated with the determinate user and in which the user profile is transmitted anonymously in the ether, characterized in that it also comprises:

- a step of anonymous acquisition of the user profiles of the first personal pervasive objects (12) by means of second pervasive objects (20), distributed statically in said environments (14), neither worn nor hold by any user present in said environments, which are able firstly to receive from the first pervasive objects (12) of each group (16) of the relative environment (14), in an automatic way, the corresponding user profiles thereof, and secondly to effect a transmission and reception with an electronic search device (22) provided with calculation and memorization capacity in order to satisfy and transmit an anonymous request for geographical localization and search for affinities between the user profiles of each user in the environment and a search profile transmitted by the remote user containing the specified personal characteristics to be searched;

- a step of anonymous search, in which the remote user sends to said electronic search device (22) the anonymous request for a search for affinities between his own search profile and the user profiles acquired in an anonymous way by the second static pervasive objects (20) by means of an electronic user interface device (24, 224) provided with the capacity to insert data relating to the search profile of the remote user, which is associated locally, or remotely, to a determinate environment (14) and is able to be connected locally or remotely to the electronic search device (22) of the relative environment (14) for the transmission and reception of the data inserted relating to the search profile;

- a step of comparison, in which at least one of the second static pervasive objects carries out a control of the correspondence between the search profile of the anonymous search request, effected by the remote user, and the user profiles acquired, in order to determine a geographical localization of the users having personal characteristics specified by the remote user and the level of affinity between the user profiles and the search profile of the remote user, and to send to the electronic search device (22), based on said geographical localization and said level of affinity, a coherent anonymous message relating to the outcome of the geographical localization and the search for affinities;

- a step of processing the results of the geographical localization and the search for affinities by the electronic search device (22) and sending the result of the processing to the remote user through the electronic user interface device (24, 224).

2. Method as in claim 1, characterized in that the result of the processing of the outcome of the geographical localization and the search for affinities comprises an indication of the concentration of users with specified personal characteristics in a determinate environment (14).

3. Method as in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that in the anonymous search step, the remote user selects at least a determinate environment (14) in which to effect the search for affinities.

4. Method as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that, based on a possible non-anonymous contact between users, a step is provided to indicate an unreliable profile of the user profile associated with one or another of the users, in which the indication is made available to the remote user.

5. Method as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that it comprises an anonymous transmission and reception step in which the pervasive objects (12) effect a transmission and reception with the other pervasive objects (12) in geographical proximity in the determinate environment (14) in order to exchange anonymously at least the relative user profile, a step of controlling the correspondence and of calculating the level of affinity of the user profiles exchanged anonymously effected directly by the pervasive objects (12), and a step of sending non-anonymous contact information at least from one of the users provided with a pervasive object (12) to one or more users provided with a pervasive object (12) and having a determinate level of affinity, to proceed with a non- anonymous contact between the users.

6. Method as in claim 5, characterized in that, based on a possible non- anonymous contact between users, it comprises a step of indicating an unreliable profile of the user profile associated with one or another of the users provided with a pervasive object (12), in which the indication is made available to the user who carries out the search.

7. Apparatus for the geographical localization of users having personal characteristics specified by a remote user and temporarily present in one or more environments (14), comprising a plurality of first personal pervasive objects (12), each of which is associated with a determinate user so as to temporarily define groups (16) of first personal pervasive objects (12) in geographical proximity in a determinate one of said environments (14) and in each of which at least a user profile containing anonymous information correlated to the determinate user is memorized, the first pervasive objects (12) being able to anonymously transmit the user profile, characterized in that it comprises:

- an electronic search device (22) associated with every environment (14) and provided with calculation and memorization capacity in order to satisfy and transmit an anonymous request for geographical localization and search for affinities between the user profiles of each user and a search profile transmitted by the remote user containing the specified personal characteristics to be searched for and to process the results of the geographical localization and the search for affinities;

- second pervasive objects (20), distributed statically in the environments (14), and neither worn nor hold by any of the users, which are able to receive, in an anonymous way from the first personal pervasive objects (12) of each group (16) of the relative environment (14), the corresponding user profiles thereof, and to effect a transmission and reception with the electronic search device (22), said second static pervasive objects (12) also being able to carry out a control on the correspondence between the search profile relating to the anonymous search request received from the electronic search device (22) and the user profiles received from the first personal pervasive objects (12) and memorized;

- at least an electronic user interface device (24, 224) provided with the capacity to insert data relating to the search profile of the remote user, which is associated locally, or remotely, with a determinate environment (14) and is able to be connected locally or remotely to the electronic search device (22) of the relative environment (14) for the transmission and reception of the data inserted relating to the search profile, said electronic user interface device (24, 224) being able to be used by the remote user both to send to the electronic search device (22) the anonymous request for geographical localization and search for affinities, and also to receive the result of the processing of the outcome of the geographical localization and the search for affinities by the electronic search device (22).

8. Apparatus as in claim 7, characterized in that it comprises a centralized electronic device processing (124) to index the electronic search device (22) pertaining thereto, with which both the electronic search device (22) and also the electronic user interface device (224) are connected remotely.