The present disclosure relates to a voice assistant that may provide a generalized recommendation based on a natural flow of a conversation and thereafter, generate specific advertisements if there is interest in the generalized recommendation. In an illustrative embodiment, the voice assistant operating on a vehicle computing system may interact with a driver or operator of the vehicle to both respond to and anticipate the user's needs. The voice assistant may identify potential advertisements based on communications with the driver or occupant. The generalized recommendation related to the potential advertisements may be provided to the driver or occupant. If there is interest, the voice assistant may provide an advertisement within the potential advertisements. Real-time information from a location of the advertisement may also be provided that typify the feeling of the location to further draw interest to the advertisement.

Systems and methods for tracking movement of individuals through a building receive, by one or more RF nodes disposed near an entrance to the building, RF signals from RF-transmitting mobile devices carried by persons near the entrance, capture an image of the persons while they are near the entrance, determine an identity and relative distance of each RF-transmitting mobile device from each RF node based on information associated with the RF signals received by that RF node, detect humans in the image, determine a relative depth of each human in the image, and assign the identity of each RF-transmitting mobile device to one of the humans detected in the image based on the relative distance of each RF-transmitting mobile device from each RF node and the relative depth of each human in the image, thereby identifying each individual who to be tracked optically as that individual moves throughout the building.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for ranking devices based on a distance from a merchant device. One of the methods includes displaying, in a point-of-sale system, a listing of buyers located proximate to the point-of-sale system, the buyers having indicated using their mobile devices a desire to pursue a financial transaction in association with the point-of-sale system. The point-of-sale system determines relative distances of the mobile devices of the buyers with respect to the point-of-sale system and arranges the displayed listing in the point-of-sale system based at least in part on the determined relative distances.

A system and method is presented for product substantiation and promotion redemption. A purchased product list is transmitted from a retail store system to a promotion analysis server along with a user identifier. The promotion analysis server identifies promotions available to the user, and then considers whether the benefits under the promotions are still available to the user. Discounts for available promotions related to the purchased product list are calculated and transmitted to the retail store system for deduction from the transactions. An approved product list can be provided that filters the purchased product list before transmittal. The approved product list can include promotions from a plurality of programs.

Systems, device and techniques are disclosed for dynamically retrieving and monitoring geo-fence activity. A meta geo-fence may be identified based on a user device geolocation. The meta geo-fence having a radius that is dynamically generated to include previously defined geo-fences within or touching the meta geo-fence. User device geolocation may be monitored in relation to the defined geo-fences included in the radius of the meta geo-fence. A communication may be sent to the user device when the user device reports that the user device has entered or exited one of the previously defined geo-fences within or touching the radius of the meta geo-fence.

Method and system consist of a mobile application installed on a mobile device with internet connection and a geographical positioning device; a remote hosting server configured with software and database; an onsite wireless communication hosting apparatus. The mobile application communicates with the remote hosting server and the onsite wireless communication apparatus. The remote hosting server and onsite wireless communication apparatus communicate and transfer data to one another, the remote hosting server communicates with third party databases via secured access and retrieves location related information requested by onsite users of the mobile device. Web users at anywhere may select a location displayed on a digital map over interface of a web application configured to the remote hosting server; access the same as onsite users; including data entered by location owners, received from third-party databases via secured connection, and uploaded from onsite wireless communication apparatus.

An approach is provided for providing a collaborative reply to a flooding message over an ad-hoc mesh network. A reply message to a flooding message is received by a wireless node within the ad-hoc network. The wireless node monitors for an acknowledgement of receipt of the reply message according to a routing table and initiates a scheduled transmission of the reply message based on the monitoring.

Techniques to verify a participant's visit to a specific location are described. An embodiment may provide a system that generates a pattern that is unique to the location, and that may further be unique to a date or time, a transaction, or other criteria. Participants may capture the pattern, for example, using a mobile device, and transmit the pattern to a verification system. The verification system may decode, translate, decrypt or otherwise obtain information from the pattern. The information obtained from the pattern may be used to verify that the pattern came from the location. The participant may then receive credit for the visit. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Systems and related methods of providing seamless transactions, including payments and promotion redemptions, are discussed herein. Some embodiments may provide for a system including a communication beacon and one or more servers. The communication beacon may be configured to communicate with consumer devices via a direct wireless connection when the consumer devices are within a wireless direct communicable range of the communication beacon. The one or more servers may be configured to associate the communication with a merchant and receive consumer presence data from the communication beacon such that consumer presence at the merchant may be determined. In response, the one or more servers may be configured to perform a seamless transaction on behalf the consumer that allows the consumer to provide payments or redeem promotions, among other things, simply by self-identifying with the merchant while carrying the consumer device.

A method and system for providing a pay-for-visit billing model for advertisements is provided. The advertisement system provides advertisements that have associated physical visit locations. The advertisement system provides advertisements to a mobile device or fixed of a user when the user is in the vicinity of or examining locations in the vicinity of the visit location. If the user subsequently visits the visit location of the advertisement by physically going to the location, the advertisement system then bills the advertiser for the advertisement. The advertisement system bills the advertiser under the assumption that but for the advertisement, the user would not have visited the visit location.