Retail store fly-around product locator

• US 7,309,009 B2
• Filed: 06/21/2005
• Issued: 12/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Holdings Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Singer-Harter, Debra Lin
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Thien M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Labaze, Edwyn
• Application Number:
  US11/157,255
• Publication Number:
  US 20060283941A1
• Time in Patent Office: 910 Days
• Field of Search: 235/383, 235/385, 235/375, 235/381, 235/382, 235/472.01, 235/487, 705/22, 705/26, 705/28
• US Class Current: 235/383
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A method, system, computer program product and service for aiding a shopper in locating a product in a store are presented. The shopper enters an identifier for a desired product into a wireless computer, such as a tablet computer or a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). A server determines both where the shopper is presently located (starting physical location) and where the desired product is located (final physical location) in the store. The server then sends the wireless computer a real-time image that corresponds with a changing physical location of the shopper, such that the shopper is able to find the desired product by following a travel pathway to the final physical location of the desired product.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving an identifier for a desired product;

determining a final physical location of the desired product;

receiving a signal identifying a current real-time physical location of a product searcher;

generating a set of one or more instructions describing a travel pathway from a starting physical location of the product searcher to the final physical location of the desired product; and

generating an image, for use on a display, that depicts a real-time changing physical scenery as viewed by the product searcher as the item searcher travels along the travel pathway, wherein the real-time changing physical scenery is a same scenery image as the product searcher sees with unaided human vision, and wherein the real-time changing physical scenery is created from a pre-recorded video of the same scenery image by the product searcher with unaided human vision.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an image of a stocking area on which the desired product is placed when the product searcher reaches the stocking area, wherein a particular area on the stocking area in which the desired product should be stocked is highlighted on the image of the stocking area.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

transmitting the image that depicts the real-time changing physical scenery to a wireless device.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a real-time location of wireless device used by the product searcher via a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver in the wireless device.

5. A server comprising a processing module coupled to a memory, wherein the memory comprises a plurality of instructions executable by the processing module, which when executed, cause the processing module to perform a method comprising:

receiving an identifier for a desired product;

determining a final physical location of the desired product;

receiving a signal identifying a current real-time physical location of a product searcher;

generating a set of one or more instructions describing a travel pathway from a starting physical location of the product searcher to the final physical location of the desired product; and

generating an image, for use on a display, that depicts a real-time changing physical scenery as viewed by the product searcher as the item searcher travels along the travel pathway, wherein the real-time changing physical scenery is a same scenery image as the product searcher sees with unaided human vision, and wherein the real-time changing physical scenery is created from a pre-recorded video of the same scenery image by the product searcher with unaided human vision.

6. The server of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:

generating an image of a stocking area on which the desired product is placed when the product searcher reaches the stocking area, wherein a particular area on the stocking area in which the desired product should be stocked is highlighted on the image of the stocking area.

7. The server of claim 6, wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting the image that depicts the real-time changing physical scenery to a wireless device.

8. The server of claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:

receive a real-time location of wireless device used by the product searcher via a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver in the wireless device.

9. A machine-readable medium having a plurality of instructions processable by machine embodied therein, wherein said plurality of instructions, when processed by said machine causes said machine to perform a method comprising:

receiving an identifier for a desired product;

determining a final physical location of the desired product;

receiving a signal identifying a current real-time physical location of a product searcher;

generating a set of one or more instructions describing a travel pathway from a starting physical location of the product searcher to the final physical location of the desired product; and

generating an image, for use on a display, that depicts a real-time changing physical scenery as viewed by the product searcher as the item searcher travels along the travel pathway, wherein the real-time changing physical scenery is a same scenery image as the product searcher sees with unaided human vision, and wherein the real-time changing physical scenery is created from a pre-recorded video of the same scenery image by the product searcher with unaided human vision.

10. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, further comprising processable instructions for:

generating an image of a stocking area on which the desired product is placed when the product searcher reaches the stocking area, wherein a particular area on the stocking area in which the desired product should be stocked is highlighted on the image of the stocking area.

11. The machine-readable medium of claim 10, further comprising processable instructions for:

transmitting the image that depicts the real-time changing physical scenery to a wireless device.

12. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, further comprising processable instructions for:

receiving a real-time location of wireless device used by the product searcher via a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver in the wireless device.

13. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the processable instructions are deployed to a server from a remote location.

14. The machine-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the processable instructions are provided by a service provider to a customer on an on-demand basis, and wherein on-demand provision of the processable instructions is accomplished by:

receiving, from a customer, a request for processable instructions, a unique customer identification, an any service parameters that further specify a type of service that the processable instructions provide;

querying a server central processing unit'"'"'s capacities in an on-demand environment to determine if available servers, in the on-demand environment, have a capacity to process the request;

in response to the server central processing unit determining that an insufficient number of servers are available to process the request, allocating additional processor capacity;

in response to the server central processing unit determining that a sufficient number of servers are available to process the request, sending the request to a selected server from the available servers;

summing a network bandwidth usage, processor memory usage, storage usage and processor cycle usage, used in processing the request, to create a summed usage value;

multiplying the summed usage value by a unit cost to create a customer charge for processing the request; and

transmitting the customer charge to the customer via an e-mail message and via a posting to a website.