Assignment of a motorized personal assistance apparatus
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of motorized mobile retail facility personal assistance apparatuses that are each configured to move through a retail shopping facility;
a central computer system having a network interface such that the central computer system wirelessly communicates with the plurality of motorized mobile retail facility personal assistance apparatuses and with at least one user interface unit, the central computer system being configured to;
receive a request from a user via the at least one user interface unit to use one of the plurality of motorized mobile retail facility personal assistance apparatuses;
assign an available one of the plurality of motorized mobile retail facility personal assistance apparatuses for use by the user during a usage session by, at least in part, wirelessly transmitting to the user via the user interface unit a globally unique session token that uniquely corresponds to the usage session and also by wirelessly transmitting to the user interface unit a temporary N-digit code (where “
N”
is a non-zero integer) to be displayed by the user interface unit for no more than a pre-determined period of time, wherein beginning the usage session occurs when the user enters the temporary N-digit code into the user interface unit before expiration of the pre-determined period of time.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus comprises a plurality of motorized mobile retail facility personal assistance apparatuses and a central computer system. The central computer system includes a network interface that permits the central computer system to wirelessly communicate with the mobile apparatuses and also with at least one user interface unit. Upon receiving a request to use one of the mobile apparatuses, the central computer system assigns an available apparatuses for use by a user during a usage session. This activity can include interfacing with the user to determine one or more specifics regarding their current needs in these regards. The specifics of their needs, in turn, can provide a basis for assigning a particular apparatus from amongst a plurality of differently purposed and differently configured apparatuses.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of motorized mobile retail facility personal assistance apparatuses that are each configured to move through a retail shopping facility; a central computer system having a network interface such that the central computer system wirelessly communicates with the plurality of motorized mobile retail facility personal assistance apparatuses and with at least one user interface unit, the central computer system being configured to; receive a request from a user via the at least one user interface unit to use one of the plurality of motorized mobile retail facility personal assistance apparatuses; assign an available one of the plurality of motorized mobile retail facility personal assistance apparatuses for use by the user during a usage session by, at least in part, wirelessly transmitting to the user via the user interface unit a globally unique session token that uniquely corresponds to the usage session and also by wirelessly transmitting to the user interface unit a temporary N-digit code (where “
N”
is a non-zero integer) to be displayed by the user interface unit for no more than a pre-determined period of time, wherein beginning the usage session occurs when the user enters the temporary N-digit code into the user interface unit before expiration of the pre-determined period of time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification