METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ONLINE RENTAL OF NETWORKED REMOTE DEVICES
First Claim
1. A method of reserving and operating remotely operated devices, the method comprising:
- providing information to a plurality of users regarding an availability of a remotely operated device for rent in a set of time slots;
reserving the remotely operated device in a particular time slot in the set of time slots for a user in the plurality of users;
providing a set of remote controls to remotely control the device in the particular time slot; and
remotely controlling the device in the particular time slot according to a set of commands received through the provided set of remote controls.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An online reservation method and system is described where networked remote devices, such as networked cameras, telescopes, and radio controlled cars, planes, ships, toys, robots are rented to interested renters. Renters use the reservation system to select devices from a group of remote devices offered for rent, reserve the devices for available time slots, and control the reserved devices remotely. Some embodiments provide tools for the users to record remotely operated sessions and to share live or previously recorded sessions with other users. The reservation system also manages auctions for reserving the use of high demand remote devices during certain time slots. Some embodiments allow a user who has reserved a remotely operated device for a time slot to rent it back to other users for a same or a different price that the user originally paid to reserve the use of the device during the time slot.
77 Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method of reserving and operating remotely operated devices, the method comprising:
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providing information to a plurality of users regarding an availability of a remotely operated device for rent in a set of time slots; reserving the remotely operated device in a particular time slot in the set of time slots for a user in the plurality of users; providing a set of remote controls to remotely control the device in the particular time slot; and remotely controlling the device in the particular time slot according to a set of commands received through the provided set of remote controls. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of auctioning available time slots and operating remotely operated devices, the method comprising:
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providing information to a plurality of users regarding auction terms for operating a remotely operated device in a set of time slots; receiving bids from a set of users in the plurality of users for reserving the remotely operated device in the set of time slots; reserving the device in a particular time slot in the set of time slots for a user in the set of users based on the received bids; providing a set of remote controls to remotely control the device in the particular time slot; and remotely controlling the device in the particular time slot according to a set of commands received through the provided set of remote controls. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for reserving and operating remotely operated devices, the system comprising:
a reservation server to; provide information to a plurality of users regarding an availability of a remotely operated device for rent in a set of time slots; reserve the remotely operated device in different time slots in the set of time slots for different user in the plurality of users; provide a set of remote controls to remotely control the device in each reserved time slot; and remotely control the device in the each reserved time slot according to a set of commands received through the provided set of remote controls. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A machine readable medium storing a program for reserving and operating remotely operated devices, the program comprising a graphical user interface (GUI), the program executable by at least one processing unit, the GUI comprising:
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a tool for receiving a request to display remotely operated devices based on an specified address; a display area for; displaying a map based on the specified address; and displaying a set of remotely operated devices within a range of the specified address; a tool for selecting a remotely operated device displayed on the map; a display area for displaying a set of time slots for a selected remotely operated device; and a tool for reserving the remotely operated device on a particular time slot. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification