System and method for generating information regarding demographic composition of locations

Abstract

The present invention is directed to systems and methods for generating information regarding demographic composition of a location using mobile devices associated with individuals at the location. A method of the present invention comprises receiving information indicating presence of one or more mobile devices associated with one or more individuals at a given location and identifying one or more attributes of the individuals. Information regarding demographic composition of the location is generated through use of the one or more attributes of the one or more individuals with which the one or more mobile devices are associated, wherein the one or more attributes may comprise one or more of age, relationship status, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, race, hobbies, occupation or religion.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for identifying demographic composition information of one or more commercial establishments having preexisting boundaries, the system comprising:
 a presence monitor receiving information associated with a plurality of mobile devices, each mobile device of a given user, wherein the presence monitor determines presence of the plurality of users at one or more commercial establishments by performing a comparison of the geographic coordinates of the mobile devices of the users with the geographic coordinates of one or more commercial establishments, each commercial establishment having preexisting boundaries; and   a demographic composition generator in communication with the presence monitor, wherein the demographic composition generator:   (i) receives a profile for each user determined to be present at a given commercial establishment by the presence monitor, each profile including a plurality of attributes for a given user;   (ii) generates demographic composition information for the commercial establishment, the demographic composition information comprising a summary of the attributes of the users determined to be present at the commercial establishment, and   (iii) generates a record linking the demographic composition information with the commercial establishment.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a search module in communication with the demographic composition generator, wherein the search module:
 (i) receives a query identifying one or more desired attributes; 
 (ii) performs a search of the one or more records generated by the demographic composition generator to identify one or more commercial establishments having demographic composition information matching the received query; and 
 (iii) generates a result set comprising the one or more identified commercial establishments having demographic composition information matching the received query. 
 
     
     
         3 . System of  claim 2 , further comprising a filtering module to filer the result set, wherein the filtering module filters the result set by one or more filters. 
     
     
         4 . System of  claim 3 , wherein a filter comprises a geographic region. 
     
     
         5 . System of  claim 3 , wherein a filter comprises one or more attributes in addition to the one or more desired attributes received with the query. 
     
     
         6 . System of  claim 2 , further comprising a mapping module, wherein the mapping module:
 (i) receives the result set;   (ii) displays the one or more identified commercial establishments on a map.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising an absence monitor, wherein the absence monitor determines absence of a given of user from a commercial establishment at a time after the presence monitor has determined presence of the user at the commercial establishment by determining that the geographic coordinates of the mobile device of the user are outside the preexisting boundaries of the commercial establishment. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the demographic composition generator, upon receipt of information from the absence monitor indicating absence of a given of user from the commercial establishment, generates revised demographic composition information for the commercial establishment, the revised demographic composition information comprising a summary of the attributes of the users determined to be present at the commercial establishment, and excluding from the summary the attributes of the user determined to be absent from the commercial establishment by the absence monitor. 
     
     
         9 . A system for generating demographic composition information comprising one or more summaries of attributes of at least two or more individuals at a commercial establishment, the system comprising:
 a presence monitor, wherein the presence monitor:
 (i) determines presence information, using geographic coordinates associated with one or more mobile devices of one or more users, said presence information indicating presence of one or more users at a given commercial establishment having preexisting boundaries by determining that the geographic coordinates associated with the one or more mobile devices of the users are within the preexisting boundaries of the commercial establishment; 
 (ii) updates one or more data stores with said presence information; 
   an absence monitor, wherein the absence monitor:
 (i) determines absence information, using geographic coordinates associated with the one or more mobile devices of the one or more users, said absence information indicating absence of one or more of the one or more users from the commercial establishment having preexisting boundaries, by determining that the geographic coordinates of the one or more mobile devices of the users are outside the preexisting boundaries of the commercial establishment; and 
 (ii) updates the one or more data stores with said absence information; 
   a demographic composition generator, wherein the demographic composition generator generates information comprising one or more summaries of attributes of at least two or more individuals at the commercial establishment using one or more attributes of the one or more individuals determined to be present at the commercial establishment.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9  further comprising a search engine. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the search engine retrieves a profile of a user located external to the commercial establishment, and generates a notification for delivery to the user upon determining a match exists between one or desired more attributes identified in the profile of the user and the one or more summaries of attributes of at least two or more individuals at the commercial establishment. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10  wherein the search engine:
 (i) receives a request identifying one or more desired attributes; 
 (ii) performs a comparison of the one or more desired attributes and the one or more summaries of attributes of at least two or more individuals at the commercial establishment; and 
 (iii) determines whether a match exists between the one or desired more attributes identified in the profile and the one or more summaries of attributes of at least two or more individuals at the commercial establishment. 
 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12  wherein the search engine generates an alert upon determining a match exists between the one or desired attributes identified in the profile and the one or more summaries of attributes of at least two or more individuals at the commercial establishment. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the alert comprises displaying the commercial establishment on a map. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the alert comprises delivering an alert to a mobile device associated with a user with which the request originated.