US 2015/0221054 A1 - Virtual Property System - The Lens - Free & Open Patent and Scholarly Search

Virtual Property System

Published: Aug 6, 2015
Earliest Priority: Feb 03 2014
Family: 4
Cited Works: 1
Cited by: 0
Cites: 4
Additional Info: Full text

Abstract

A virtual property system for collecting content files associated with a physical object having a unique identifier includes a server that is connected to a network. The server has at least a first non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and is adapted to define a virtual property associated with the physical object. The server includes a content acquisition module that captures a plurality of the content files, a moderating module that provides moderating access rights of the content files; a payment module that collects payment from the moderator, a display module adapted to display a status of each virtual property, and a content playback module for enabling presentation of any of the content files associated with the virtual property on a portable electronic device of a user who is within a predetermined distance of the physical object.

Claims

1-24. (canceled)
A system comprising:
a computer processor;

a content acquisition module executing on the computer processor and configured to enable the computer processor to:
generate a virtual property that uniquely corresponds with a physical object, wherein the virtual property has a virtual boundary based on a physical boundary of the physical object;

associate a unique identifier of the physical object with the virtual property, wherein the unique identifier uniquely identifies the geographical location of the physical object;

receive, from one or more client devices, a set of content files associated with the unique identifier;

associate the set of content files with the virtual property based on the unique identifier;

receive, from a client portable electronic device, a request for content files associated with the virtual property;

determine that the client portable electronic device is within a predetermined distance from the physical object; and

upon the determination, provide the set of content files associated with the virtual property to the client portable electronic device.
The system of claim 25, wherein the content acquisition module is further configured to:
determine that the set of received content files are related to the virtual property before associating the set of content files with the virtual property; and

storing the received content files.
The system of claim 25, wherein the physical object is at least one selected from a group consisting of real property, a physical landmark on real property, a business establishment, a residence, and public property.
The system of claim 25, wherein the unique identifier comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of a physical mailing address and geographic coordinates.
The system of claim 25, wherein the set of content files comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of a text file, an image file, a video file, and an audio file.
The system of claim 25, wherein the physical boundary of the virtual boundary corresponds to a physical boundary line.
The system of claim 25, wherein the physical boundary of the virtual boundary is associated with the physical object.
The system of claim 25, wherein the content acquisition module is further configured to establish, for a moderating user account of a virtual property platform, moderating access rights for the virtual property and the set of content files.
The system of claim 32, further comprising:
receive and storing visitor statistics, wherein the visitor statistics include for each visit of a visiting user account of a portable electronic device within the predetermined distance from the virtual property:
a visitor identification code, a visit start time and date, a visit duration and/or a visit end time and date, and a pointer to or copy of any content files generated by the visitor during the visit; and

provide access to the visitor statistics to the moderating user account.
A computer-implemented method comprising:
generating, by a computer processor, a virtual property that uniquely corresponds with a physical location, wherein the virtual property has a virtual boundary based on a physical boundary of the physical location;

associating a unique identifier of the physical location with the virtual property, wherein the unique identifier uniquely identifies the geographical location of the physical location;

receiving, from one or more client devices, a set of content files associated with the unique identifier;

associating the set of content files with the virtual property based on the unique identifier;

receiving, from a client portable electronic device, a request for access to content files associated with the virtual property;

determining that the client portable electronic device is within a predetermined distance from the virtual boundary; and

upon the determination, providing the set of content files associated with the virtual property to the client portable electronic device.
The computer-implemented method of claim 34 further comprising:
establishing, for a user account of a virtual property platform, moderating access rights for the virtual property and the set of content files.
The computer-implemented method of claim 34 further comprising:
in response to a status request from a user account of a virtual property platform, providing a status of the virtual property indicating whether the moderating access rights are currently assigned to another user account, whether the moderating access rights of the virtual property are currently offered for sale, and a sale price; and

offering, to the user account, the sale of an initial set-up of the moderating access rights and/or recurring moderating access rights.
The computer-implemented method of claim 36 wherein the offering to the user account the sale of an initial set-up of the moderating access rights and/or recurring moderation access rights only occurs when a portable electronic device of the user account is within a predetermined distance of the virtual boundary.
The computer-implemented method of claim 36 further comprising:
establishing moderating access rights for the user account upon receiving payment for the initial set-up of the moderating access rights and/or the recurring moderation access rights.
The computer-implemented method of claim 34 wherein the moderating access rights include enabling a moderating user account to edit metadata of the set of content files, to delete the set of content files, to provide access rights for other user accounts requesting to view or playback the set of content files, to promote certain content files, and to establish and maintain metadata for the virtual property.
The computer-implemented method of claim 39, wherein the moderating access rights further include the ability to share a subset of the moderating access rights with other user accounts.
The computer-implemented method of claim 34 wherein the physical boundary of the virtual boundary corresponds to a physical boundary line.
The computer-implemented method of claim 34 wherein the physical boundary of the virtual boundary is associated with the physical location.
The computer-implemented method of claim 34 further comprising:
receiving and storing visitor statistics, wherein the visitor statistics include for each visit of a visiting user account of a portable electronic device to within the predetermined distance from the virtual boundary:
a visitor identification code, a visit start time and date, a visit duration and/or a visit end time and date, and a pointer to or copy of any content files generated by the visitor during the visit; and

providing access to the visitor statistics to a moderating user account.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising a plurality of instructions configured to execute on at least one computer processor to enable the computer processor to:
generate a virtual property that uniquely corresponds with a physical object, wherein the virtual property has a virtual boundary based on a physical boundary of the physical object;

associate a unique identifier of the physical object with the virtual property, wherein the unique identifier uniquely identifies the geographical location of the physical object;

receive, from one or more client devices, a set of content files associated with the unique identifier;

associate the set of content files with the virtual property based on the unique identifier;

receive, from a client portable electronic device, a request for content files associated with the virtual property;

determine that the client portable electronic device is within a predetermined distance from the physical object; and

upon the determination, provide the set of content files associated with the virtual property to the client portable electronic device.
The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein the computer processor is further enabled to:
determine that the set of received content files are related to the virtual property before associating the set of content files with the virtual property; and

storing the received content files.
The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein the computer processor is further enabled to:
establish, for a moderating user account of a virtual property platform, moderating access rights for the virtual property and the set of content files.
The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein the computer processor is further enabled to:
receive and storing visitor statistics, wherein the visitor statistics include for each visit of a visiting user account of a portable electronic device within the predetermined distance from the virtual property:
a visitor identification code, a visit start time and date, a visit duration and/or a visit end time and date, and a pointer to or copy of any content files generated by the visitor during the visit; and

provide access to the visitor statistics to the moderating user account.
The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 44, wherein the set of content files comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of a text file, an image file, a video file, and an audio file.