US Patent 8493353 Methods and systems for generating and joining shared experience

A method for implementing shared experiences using mobile computing devices comprises capturing an image of a trigger along with background information associated with the trigger in a video frame using a video camera built into a first mobile computing device equipped with a display screen and a wireless communication module; identifying characteristics information of the trigger and the associated background information; transmitting the characteristics information of the trigger and the associated background information to a server computing device connected to a network using wireless communication; receiving an augmented reality corresponding to the characteristics information of the trigger and the associated background information from the server computing device; and presenting the augmented reality on the display screen of the first mobile computing device, wherein the augmented reality associated with the first mobile computing device is shared and time synchronized with an augmented reality previously transmitted by the server computing device to a second mobile computing device.