Member preference control of an environment
First Claim
1. A system for allowing a plurality of members to influence control of an environment based on preferences of the members, comprising:
- storage for storing one or more preferences of the members; and
a controller that establishes the environment based on one or more of the preferences of at least two members present in the environment, wherein the preferences include one or more modes and each preference includes an indicia representative of a preference for at least one mode, wherein the controller determines a mean indicia for each mode to generate a percentage of time that each mode is selected by the controller.
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Abstract
A system is disclosed that enables intelligent environments comprised of physical spaces that sense and respond to the people and events taking place in them to dynamically influence environmental factors that affect them, such as the lighting, temperature, décor or background music. An intelligent environment in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention controls the selection of music played in a fitness center. Two different algorithms are utilized to arbitrate preferences in a shared environment: one seeks to maximize the average satisfaction of the inhabitants, the other seeks to maximize the equitable distribution of satisfaction among the inhabitants. The resultant system is an approach that affords effective environmental control.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A system for allowing a plurality of members to influence control of an environment based on preferences of the members, comprising:
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storage for storing one or more preferences of the members; and
a controller that establishes the environment based on one or more of the preferences of at least two members present in the environment, wherein the preferences include one or more modes and each preference includes an indicia representative of a preference for at least one mode, wherein the controller determines a mean indicia for each mode to generate a percentage of time that each mode is selected by the controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for allowing preferences of members of a group environment to influence control of an element in the group environment, comprising:
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storing the preferences of one or more members; and
controlling the element of the group environment in a manner that is optimized based on the preferences of one or more members, wherein the element includes various modes that may be selected by the controller to meet the preferences of the members of the group environment, and the preferences each include a numerical indicator representative of a preference for each mode, wherein the step of controlling further comprises;
calculating subtotals of the numerical indicators for each mode;
calculating a total of the subtotals; and
dividing the subtotals by the total to govern a percentage of time that each mode is selected. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for allowing preferences of members of a group environment to influence control of an element in the group environment, the method comprising:
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identifying at least two members that ate present in the group environment;
retrieving stored preferences associated with the members identified as being present in the group environment, wherein said preferences indicate members'"'"' preferred settings for the element;
applying a predetermined algorithm to the retrieved preferences to determine a collective group preference of the identified members present in the group environment; and
controlling the element in the group environment consistent with the collective group preference, wherein identifying the members that are present in the group environment includes tracking members entering or exiting the group environment and wherein a member is tracked as exiting the group environment after a predetermined time has elapsed after the member entered the group environment. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A computer program embodied on a computer-readable medium that allows preferences of a plurality of members in an environment to influence the control of an element in the environment, comprising:
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a code segment for storing the preferences of the plurality of members; and
a code segment for controlling the element in the environment in an optimized manner based on the preferences of at least two members present in the environment, wherein the preferences include one or more modes and each preference includes an indicia representative of a preference for each mode, wherein the controller determines a mean indicia for each mode to generate a percentage of time that each mode is selected by the controller. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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27. A method for allowing preferences of members of a group environment to influence control of an element in the group environment, the method comprising:
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identifying at least two members that are present in the group environment;
retrieving stored preferences associated with the members identified as being present in the group environment, wherein said preferences indicate members'"'"' preferred settings for the element;
applying a predetermined algorithm to the retrieved preferences to determine a collective group preference of the identified members present in the group environment;
controlling the element in the group environment consistent with the collective group preference, wherein the element is ambient music category, and the algorithm includes one or more adjustable factors to allow a plurality of categories of music to be broadcast in the group environment, and wherein the collective group preference indicates a ranking of the ambient music categories, and the ambient music category is controlled by sequentially broadcasting a predetermined number of music categories having a high ranking, wherein the predetermined number corresponds to one of the adjustable factors, and further controlling the ambient music categories by controlling an amount of time a first music category is broadcast proportionate to the ranking of the first music category relative to the ranking of other music categories selected for broadcast.
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28. A method for allowing preferences of members of a group environment to influence control of an element in the group environment, the method comprising:
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identifying at least two members that are present in the group environment;
retrieving stored preferences associated with the members identified as being present in the group environment wherein said preferences indicate members'"'"' preferred settings for the element;
applying a predetermined algorithm to the retrieved preferences to determine a collective group preference of the identified members present in the group environment, and controlling the element in the group environment consistent with the collective group preference, wherein the element is ambient music category, and the algorithm includes one or more adjustable factors to allow a plurality of categories of music to be broadcast in the group environment, and wherein one factor is a maximum amount of time that a first category of music may be broadcast without an intervening broadcast of a second category of music.
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Specification