Service Discovery Via Mobile Imaging Systems And Methods

• US 20090088202A1
• Filed: 09/28/2007
• Published: 04/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: First Data Corporation (Fiserv Incorporated)
• Inventors: Arthur, Steven E., Toomer, Christopher L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,494,589 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/556.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2755 by optical scanning
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/52 including functional features of a camera constructional features concerning the integration of cameras in portable phones H04M1/0264

Abstract

A method of receiving content associated with media includes using a mobile device to acquire an image from media. The image has corresponding content. The method also includes using the mobile device to process the image to thereby produce the content and displaying at least a portion of the content on a display of the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method of receiving content associated with media, comprising:

using a mobile device to acquire an image from media, wherein the image has corresponding content;

using the mobile device to process the image to thereby produce the content; and

displaying at least a portion of the content on a display of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein using a mobile device to acquire an image from media comprises using a camera-enabled mobile phone to acquire an image of a portion of an advertisement.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein using the mobile device to process the image to thereby produce the content comprises using an application residing on the mobile device to process the image to produce the content.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the software application comprises optical character recognition software.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the software application comprises pattern recognition software.

6. The method of claim 1, using the mobile device to process the image to thereby produce the content comprises;

sending the image to a server; and

receiving output representative of the content from the server.

7. The method of claim 1, using the mobile device to process the image to thereby produce the content comprises:

using an application residing on the mobile device to produce a link to the content; and

using the link to direct a browser on the mobile device to a server having the content.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the media comprises print media selected from a group consisting of:

poster advertisement;

publication advertisement;

food label;

restaurant menu; and

business card.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the media comprises electronic media selected from a group consisting of:

television commercial;

electronic billboard;

television show; and

computer-generated display image.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the content comprises a selection from a group consisting of:

2-D bar code;

3-D bar code;

design;

picture;

URL;

ISBN; and

text.

11. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions thereon configured to:

configure a mobile device to capture an image;

process the image to produce content; and

display at least a portion of the content on the mobile device.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the computer-executable instructions are further configured to process the image to produce content by;

sending the image to a server; and

receiving output representative of the content from the server.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the computer-executable instructions are further configured to process the image to produce content by:

producing a link to the content; and

using the link to direct a browser on the mobile device to a server having the content.

14. A method of receiving content associated with media, comprising:

acquiring a software application programmed to configure a mobile device to acquire and process images;

enabling the mobile device to acquire the images;

acquiring an image from media;

using the software application to process the image into content;

displaying at least a portion of the content on a display associated with the mobile device; and

transmitting at least a portion of the content to a point-of-sale device to thereby receive a benefit.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein acquiring an image from media comprises using a camera-enabled mobile phone to acquire an image of a portion of an advertisement.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the software application comprises optical character recognition software.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the software application comprises pattern recognition software.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the image is selected from a group consisting of:

2-D bar code;

3-D bar code;

design;

picture;

URL;

ISBN; and

text.

19. A method of communicating information to a consumer, comprising:

creating one or more images;

associating content with each of the one or more images;

storing each image and its corresponding content in a database associated with a server;

integrating each image into media;

deploying the media;

receiving a communication from a mobile device, wherein the communication includes a copy of one of the one or more images;

using the copy of the image to locate the content associated with the image; and

transmitting the content to the mobile device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the one are more images are selected from a group consisting of:

2-D bar code;

3-D bar code;

design;

picture;

URL;

ISBN; and

text.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising, prior to receiving the communication from the mobile device, receiving at a host computer a request from the mobile device to acquire software configured to thereafter capture images and transmit them to the server.