Apparatuses, components and methods are provided herein useful to provide assistance to customers and/or workers in a shopping facility. In some embodiments, a shopping facility personal assistance system comprises: a plurality of motorized transport units located in and configured to move through a shopping facility space; a plurality of user interface units, each corresponding to a respective motorized transport unit during use of the respective motorized transport unit; and a central computer system having a network interface such that the central computer system wirelessly communicates with one or both of the plurality of motorized transport units and the plurality of user interface units, wherein the central computer system is configured to control movement of the plurality of motorized transport units through the shopping facility space based at least on inputs from the plurality of user interface units.

A method and system of forming an identifiable unit of a meltable material includes: melting a unit of the material to a liquid state; injecting a second material into the unit of material while the unit of material is in liquid state to change a density of the unit of material; cooling the unit of material to solid form while retaining the change in density; and recording the density of the unit of material so that the unit of material can be positively identified among other similar units of the material having a different density.

A novel and non-trivial system and method for restrictively exchanging and controlling vehicular data between communication devices of a private network is disclosed. A processor in communication with a plurality of user communication devices is used for controlling and restricting the exchange of vehicular data. In such network, the processor may establish a communication connection with an initiating communication device of an initiating user, receive initiating vehicular data from the initiating communication device and corresponding first users (e.g., defined trusted users) data, provide the initiating vehicular data to at least one available first user communication device, receive responding vehicular data responsive to the initiating vehicular data, and provide the responding vehicular data to the initiating communication device. Additionally, the processor may provide interested users who have not been defined as trusted users with the initiating product data and receive responding vehicular data from such interested users.

Example embodiments provide a system that uses a conversational agent to collect information and publish the information on a network. A computer-implemented conversational agent establishes a communication session with a user and receives conversational information via a simulated conversation between the user and the computer-implemented conversational agent via the communication session, whereby the conversational information comprises information to be published. The computer-implemented conversational agent also receives, via a graphical user interface, an upload of an image that is associated with the information to be published. The computer-implemented conversational agent then causes publication of the information to be published and the uploaded image.

An intermediary device for mediating a transaction of used heavy equipment may be provided. The intermediary device may provide a semitransparent photographing guideline including guidance on a photographing portion and a photographing angle for photographing a heavy equipment image on a heavy equipment portion basis to a sale terminal device. When the intermediary device receives heavy equipment sales request information including at least one of a nameplate image and a registration certificate image of the heavy equipment to be sold, an appearance image, first heavy equipment information, heavy equipment location information, and a desired sale price from the sale terminal device, the intermediary device may recognize at least one of the nameplate image and the registration certificate image to extract second heavy equipment information. The intermediary device may compare the first heavy equipment information with the second heavy equipment information to authenticate the first heavy equipment information, and calculate an estimated sale price in which a commission and a tax are added to the desired sale price when the first heavy equipment information is successfully authenticated.

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and computer program products for communicating a first information node between a seller and a buyer of a production share of verifiable physical goods over a central service layer. A second information node is recorded in the data store covering the verifiable physical goods, wherein the second information node is made by a guarantor in communication with the central service layer. An identifier of the second information node is associated with the first information node over the central service layer. Market information regarding the production share is translated from the first information node and the second information node accessed from the data store using the identifier and integrating the market information regarding the production share into adjusted market information, and the market information regarding the production share and the adjusted market information is transmitted to devices connected over the central service layer.

A multi-platform e-commerce distribution system includes a bi-directional data translation system, a product distribution platform, and a commerce graph API. The bi-directional data translation system extracts product data and translates product data. The product distribution platform includes a product repository of the purchasable products containing information that has been converted into a unified product schema. The bi-directional data translation system translates product information between formats of one or more different merchants and the unified product schema of the product distribution platform. The bi-directional data translation system also translates the product information between the unified product schema of the product distribution platform and one or more formats expected by one or more individual e-commerce platforms. The commerce graph API receives orders from one or more purchasers via multiple third party applications that are converted into order transaction data in a unified order schema. The commerce graph API also converts the order transaction data in the unified order schema into order write back data in a platform-specific format expected by the e-commerce platform of product origin.

A multi-platform e-commerce system with a virtual cart is disclosed. The system includes one or more processors and a memory device storing a set of instructions that when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to: create an internal virtual cart associated with the multi-platform e-commerce system; in response to the creation of the internal virtual cart, create an external virtual cart associated with one or more single e-commerce platforms; in response to every action taken in the internal virtual cart associated with the multi-platform e-commerce system, enable performance of an immediate corresponding action on the external virtual cart associated with the one or more single e-commerce platforms.

A mobile station is arranged to determine its location, which is searched against street addresses from a database, and at least one matching street address is retrieved. The street address is searched on the mobile station and/or over the network. The search engine conducts a search in the mobile station file system and/or the Internet and/or a file system over the network with the at least one query term, —at least one search result is arranged to be displayed to user on the screen of the mobile station. This facilitates on-demand effortless Mobile Internet Search that allows the users to access opportunities that they did not know about, or would not have had time to find out about with minimum effort as the software of the mobile phone is scanning the Internet and information pages for these opportunities and displaying the results dynamically on the mobile phone screen.

A method for processing a plurality of electronic messages comprises, at a messaging hub comprising at least one processor and a memory device in communication with the at least one processor: receiving data relating to at least one rule to be satisfied by combining at least part of the content of respective messages; receiving one or more intent messages followed by one verification message; and, upon receiving a message: updating, in the memory device, intent message data or verification message data depending on the message content; determining from the intent message data and/or the verification message data if the at least one rule has been satisfied; providing a first indication when the at least one rule has been satisfied by the verification message data alone; and providing a second, different, indication when the at least one rule has been satisfied otherwise.