Apparatus, systems and methods for visually connecting people

Abstract

A method for visually finding and interacting with people and places, operable on a computing system including a mobile device comprising a processor, a display, a camera and other sensors, the method including obtaining the current location of members of a group, if the group members have similar mobile devices (i.e., having the disclosed app) and if they have set to permit their visibility or if they shared their location, by scanning their surroundings with the camera of their mobile device or by receiving location data from the group members; and, for each location obtained, displaying on the mobile device's display a group member representation associated with the group member's location.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for visually finding and interacting with people and places with minimized network data usage, operable on a computing system including a first and a second device, each device comprising a processor, a display, a camera, a location sensor and an orientation sensor, the method comprising:
 downloading to the first and second device an application for visually connecting people adapted to function in a weak network environment by having a set of graphics preloaded with the application;   determining the location of the first device by the application;   sharing the location of the first device by directly communicating the location of the first device to the second device, with no or minimal involvement of a server associated with the application, a code string comprising location information of the first device which the user of the first device wishes to share with the operator of the second device, and instructions for displaying at least a graphic from the set of preloaded graphics;   wherein the at least a graphic from the set of preloaded graphics comprises information associated with the location the first device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the code string is a deep link. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the direct communication of the code string is performed via an SMS application. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the direct communication of the code string is performed via visible light that encodes data, thus requiring no connection to the server. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the direct communication of the code string is performed via one of a QR code, a bar code, an image which encodes data or a sound that encodes data. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the application is further configured to allow a financial transaction to be conducted by the user within the application, including purchasing of commercial content.