Systems and methods for electronic ticketing, monitoring, and indicating permissive use of facilities

• US 10,127,747 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2017
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intelliplay Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Active8 Software, LLC (Roller Networks Australia Pty Ltd.)
• Inventors: Spittle, Sean, Spittle, Greg, Howell, Phillip
• Primary Examiner(s): Neyzari, Ali
• Application Number:
  US15/850,204
• Publication Number:
  US 20180182193A1
• Time in Patent Office: 327 Days
• Field of Search: 340 561
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10366 the interrogation device being adapted for miscellaneous applications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/0457 the tickets being sent electronically
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/105 involving programming of a portable memory device, e.g. IC cards, "electronic purses"
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/127 Shopping or accessing services according to a time-limitation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/20 Point-of-sale [POS] network systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/202 Interconnection or interaction of plural electronic cash registers [ECR] or to host computer, e.g. network details, transfer of information from host to ECR or from ECR to ECR
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/321 using wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/325 using wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3278 RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/27 with central registration
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 5/36 using visible light sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/30 Services specially adapted for particular environments, situations or purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Systems and methods for electronic ticketing, monitoring, and indicating permissive use of facilities for family entertainment centers that implement connected terminal devices or kiosks, wireless communication networks, and a plurality of electronic wearable devices. Customers perform transactions with or without a facility employee, using the wearable device as a means of identifying the patron within the facility in addition to verifying the validity of said transactions. Systems and methods provide real-time status information regarding patrons via visual indicators embedded within wearable devices, gamification of facility attractions through an embedded motion-tracking component embedded in the wearable device, and establishment of a ‘leaderboard’ that encourages further participation by calculating and prominently displaying the top-performing customers in a facility.

Claims

1. A networked system comprising

a plurality of wearable electronic devices, where each of the plurality of wearable electronic devices comprises a wireless network adapter, a visual indicator having a state, a wirelessly readable RFID tag, and one or more processors executing programming logic;

a plurality of terminals, where each of the plurality of terminals comprises a user interface, a wireless RFID tag reader, a network adapter, and one or more processors executing programming logic; and

an apparatus comprising a network adapter and one or more processors executing programming logic;

where the programming logic of each of the plurality of terminals is configured to;

receive RFID data from the wireless RFID tag reader;

receive user input data from the user interface; and

send the RFID data and user input data to the apparatus via the network adapter;

where the programming logic of the apparatus is configured to;

receive the identification data and the user input data from one of the plurality of terminals via the network adapter of the apparatus;

determine an account associated with the RFID data;

process a transaction utilizing the user input data;

send status data to the wearable device via the network adapter of the apparatus;

where the programming logic of each of the plurality of wearable devices is configured to;

receive status data from the apparatus via the respective network adapter of the respective wearable device; and

alter the state of the visual indicator.

2. The networked system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of wearable electronic devices further comprises an accelerometer.

3. The networked system of claim 2, wherein the programming logic of each of the wearable devices is further configured to:

receive movement data from the accelerometer; and

send the movement data to the apparatus via the network adapter of the respective wearable device.

4. The networked system of claim 3, wherein the programming logic of the apparatus is further configured to:

receive movement data from at least one of the plurality of wearable devices via the networked adapter of the apparatus.

5. The networked system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of wearable electronic devices further comprises a timer.

6. The networked system of claim 5, wherein the timer of each of the plurality of wearable electronic devices is an oscillator.

7. The networked system of claim 5, wherein the programming logic of each of the plurality of wearable devices is further configured to wait a period of time specified by the status data before altering the state of the visual indicator.

8. The networked system of claim 1, further comprising a primary network and a secondary network, where the secondary network is a wireless network;

where the wireless network adapter of each of the plurality of wearable electronic devices communicates with the secondary network, where the network adapter of each of the plurality of terminals communicates with the primary network.

9. The networked system of claim 8, wherein the primary network is a wireless network.

10. The networked system of claim 8, wherein the network adapter of the apparatus communicates with the primary network.

11. The networked system of claim 1, wherein the network adapter of each of the plurality of terminals is a wireless network adapter.

12. The networked system of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a plurality of computer servers.

13. The networked system of claim 1, wherein the state of the visual indicator of each of the plurality of wearable electronic devices is a color produced by the visual indicator.

14. The networked system of claim 1, wherein the visual indicator of each of the plurality of wearable electronic devices is a liquid crystal display screen.

15. The networked system of claim 14, wherein the state of the visual indicator of each of the plurality of wearable electronic devices is a message displayed on the liquid crystal display screen.

16. The networked system of claim 1, wherein the programming logic of the apparatus is further configured to validate whether there is sufficient inventory or capacity to process the transaction.

17. The networked system of claim 1, further comprising a primary network, a secondary network, and a gateway, where the gateway relays data payloads from the primary network to the secondary network and from the secondary network to the primary network.

18. The networked system of claim 1, wherein the status data comprises a duration of time.

19. The networked system of claim 1, wherein the wirelessly readable identification tag is a radio-frequency identification tag.

20. The networked system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of terminals further comprises a visual display, where the programming logic of each terminal is further configured to receive response data from the apparatus via the network adapter and display a message through the visual display, and where the programming logic of the apparatus is further configured to send transaction data to the one of the plurality of terminals via the network adapter of the apparatus.

21. A networked arrangement of devices comprising

a plurality of wearable electronic devices, where each of the plurality of wearable electronic devices comprises a wireless network adapter, a visual indicator having a state, an accelerometer and a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, and one or more processors executing programming logic;

a plurality of terminals, where each of the plurality of terminals comprises a visual display, a user interface, an RFID reader, a network adapter, and one or more processors executing programming logic;

a server system comprising a network adapter and one or more processors executing programming logic;

a primary network; and

a secondary network, where the secondary network is a wireless network;

where the wireless network adapter of each of the plurality of wearable electronic devices communicates with the secondary network, where the network adapter of each of the plurality of terminals communicates with the primary network;

where the programming logic of each of the plurality of terminals is configured to;

receive RFID data from the RFID reader;

receive user input data from the user interface;

send the RFID data and user input data to the server system via the network adapter;

receive transaction data from the server system via the network adapter; and

display a message through the visual display;

where the programming logic of the server is configured to;

receive the RFID data and the user input data from one of the plurality of terminals via the network adapter of the server system;

determine an account associated with the RFID data;

process a transaction utilizing the user input data;

send the transaction data to the one of the plurality of terminals via the network adapter of the server system;

send status data to the wearable device via the network adapter of the server system;

where the programming logic of each of the plurality of wearable devices is configured to;

receive status data from the server system via the respective network adapter of the respective wearable device; and

wait a period of time specified by the status data and then alter the state of the visual indicator;

receive movement data from the accelerometer; and

send the movement data to the server system via the network adapter of the respective wearable device.

22. The networked arrangement of devices of claim 21, wherein the programming logic of the server system is further configured to:

receive movement data from at least one of the plurality of wearable devices via the networked adapter of the server system.

23. The networked arrangement of devices of claim 21, wherein the server system comprises a plurality of computer servers.

24. The networked arrangement of devices of claim 21, wherein the state of the visual indicator of each of the plurality of wearable electronic devices is a color produced by the visual indicator.

25. The networked arrangement of devices of claim 21, further comprising a gateway, where the gateway relays data payloads from the primary network to the secondary network and from the secondary network to the primary network.