ATTRIBUTE-BASED ASSISTANCE REQUEST SYSTEM FOR SEQUENTIALLY CONTACTING NEARBY CONTACTS WITHOUT HAVING THEM DIVULGE THEIR PRESENCE OR LOCATION

摘要

An anonymous non-emergency help system matches capabilities of potential helpers to a requestor's needs. Helpers identify the type of assistance they are willing to provide and then agree to become available anonymously. The helpers are contacted sequentially for assistance based on proximity to the requestor. The nearest helper may choose to respond or decline the request. This anonymous location process occurs sequentially, awaiting a requestor-defined timeout, until one of the identified individuals agrees to fulfill the request or until there are no other proximate individuals that meet the specific request criteria. A call for help is not broadcast, but helpers are chosen based on their disclosed skills/capabilities, attributes, and their proximity to the requestor. The attributes are related to at least one of speed and trajectory relative to the requestor, time the helper is in a particular location, and altitude difference between the requestor and the helper.

主权项

1. A method comprising the steps of:
receiving, from a requestor, a request for assistance for a specified task; selecting, from a list of contacts, contacts based on the request for assistance for the specified task using keywords of the request compared against capabilities of the contacts on the list of contacts; determining physical locations of the requestor and one or more of the selected contacts; identifying, from the selected contacts, one or more potential contacts based on physical distance between the one or more selected contacts and the requestor; calculating an attribute for each of the one or more potential contacts having a determined physical location; selecting, from the one or more potential contacts having a calculated attribute, a set of one or more viable contacts based on a comparison between the calculated attribute and a requestor-defined limitation; and forwarding the request for assistance to the one or more selected viable contacts; wherein the attribute is at least one of:
i) speed of the potential contact having a determined physical location,ii) trajectory of the potential contact having a determined physical location with respect to the physical location of the requestor,iii) altitude of the potential contact having a determined physical location with respect to the physical location of the requestor, andiv) residence time of the potential contact at a determined physical location.