Apparatus, systems and methods for visually connecting people

A mobile device comprising a processor, a display, a camera, a location sensor, an orientation sensor, and an application for visually connecting people adapted to function in a weak network environment by having a set of graphics preloaded with the application and by being configured for direct communication with another device, including receiving directly, with no or minimal involvement of a server associated with the application, a set of graphic codes from the another device having the application, the set of graphic codes comprising instructions for displaying at least a graphic from the set of preloaded graphics, and comprising processor-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory processor-readable media that, when executed by the processor, enables the mobile device to perform operations comprising:

• detecting a location of a user of the mobile device;
• performing a live scanning of the user's surroundings with the camera;
• determining what the camera points to during the live scanning using the orientation sensor and the location sensor;
• and displaying on the display a live image of the surroundings as captured by the camera during the live scanning;
• wherein the user has administrative permissions and is provided with an ability to add a visual tag to the live image, the visual tag having a corresponding physical location and being represented on the live image of the surroundings by a tag graphic from the set of preloaded graphics.

A method for visually finding and interacting with people and places with minimized network data usage, operable on a computing system including a first and a second device, each device comprising a processor, a display, a camera, a location sensor and an orientation sensor, the method comprising:

• downloading to the first and second device an application for visually connecting people adapted to function in a weak network environment by having a set of graphics preloaded with the application;
• determining the location of the first device by the application;
• sharing the location of the first device by directly communicating the location of the first device to the second device, with no or minimal involvement of a server associated with the application, a code string comprising location information of the first device which the user of the first device wishes to share with the operator of the second device, and instructions for displaying at least a graphic from the set of preloaded graphics;
• wherein the at least a graphic from the set of preloaded graphics comprises information associated with the location the first device.