@patent {672947, title = {Participant Grouping for Enhanced Interactive Experience (4th)}, volume = {10,902,031 B2 }, number = {U.S Patent and Trademark Office}, year = {2021}, edition = {United States of America}, chapter = {US}, abstract = {Representative embodiments of a method for grouping participants in an activity include the steps of: (i) defining a grouping policy; (ii) storing, in a database, participant records that include a participant identifier, a characteristic associated with the participant, and/or an identifier for a participant{\textquoteright}s handheld device; (iii) defining groupings based on the policy and characteristics of the participants relating to the policy and to the activity; and (iv) communicating the groupings to the handheld devices to establish the groups.}, author = {Gary King and Lukoff, Brian and Eric Mazur} }