Personalized transaction assistance with sensor networks
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a sensor network including a plurality of sensor nodes distributed over a region, each sensor node monitoring availability information indicating whether items for sale within a vicinity of the sensor node are in stock via wireless communication with the vicinity;
a memory in communication with the sensor network that stores availability information from the sensor network; and
a user-detecting node that includes one of the plurality of sensor nodes within the sensor network, the user-detecting node comparing the availability information from the memory with a user preference list obtained from a mobile device within a vicinity of the user-detecting node, and outputting the user preference list and a preference-matched subset to another one of the plurality of sensor nodes, the user preference list including items for purchase, and the preference-matched subset including at least one of the items for sale coinciding with the items for purchase.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In order to provide personalized transaction assistance using sensor networks, a user interacts with the sensor networks within, for example, a retail environment, using a wireless mobile device. The user is provided with timely, convenient, and personalized information related to products for sale within the retail environment. More specifically, for example, a message exchange between the sensor network and the mobile device is automatically initiated, such that the user is provided with information regarding, for example, an availability, description, price, and/or location of products in which the user has previously expressed a purchase interest. In this way, a probability of a sale is increased for the retail environment, as well as a likelihood that the user will be happy with the purchase experience, and these benefits are provided with a minimal amount of effort required of the user.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a sensor network including a plurality of sensor nodes distributed over a region, each sensor node monitoring availability information indicating whether items for sale within a vicinity of the sensor node are in stock via wireless communication with the vicinity; a memory in communication with the sensor network that stores availability information from the sensor network; and a user-detecting node that includes one of the plurality of sensor nodes within the sensor network, the user-detecting node comparing the availability information from the memory with a user preference list obtained from a mobile device within a vicinity of the user-detecting node, and outputting the user preference list and a preference-matched subset to another one of the plurality of sensor nodes, the user preference list including items for purchase, and the preference-matched subset including at least one of the items for sale coinciding with the items for purchase. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method comprising:
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detecting a presence of a mobile device within a vicinity of a sensor node that is one of a plurality of sensor nodes of a sensor network, the plurality of sensor nodes located at different locations within a retail environment; accessing preference information stored in association with the mobile device and including items for purchase; matching, at each of the sensor nodes in succession, information about items for sale within a vicinity of the sensor node with the preference information to determine ones of the items for sale coinciding with the items for purchase; determining, based on results of the matching, preference-matched information that reflects collective knowledge of the sensor network about availability of the items for purchase within the retail environment; and outputting the preference-matched information to the mobile device. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus comprising a storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions including:
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a first code segment associated with a sensor node of a sensor network, the first code segment for monitoring whether items for sale within a vicinity of the sensor node are in stock based on information wireles sly received from the vicinity; a second code segment associated with the sensor node, the second code segment for receiving an item list from a mobile device, the item list reflecting a preference of a user of the mobile device; a third code segment for comparing the item information with the item list to obtain preference-matched item information; and a fourth code segment for outputting the preference-matched item information and the item list to a different sensor node of the sensor network, the different sensor node monitoring whether items for sale within a vicinity of the different sensor node are in stock. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A system comprising:
a sensor network including a plurality of wirelessly-linked sensor nodes located at a plurality of different product shelves in a retail environment, each sensor node having real-time availability information indicating the current stock of products at its respective product shelf, the plurality of sensor nodes including; a user-detecting sensor node, at a first product shelf, that receives a user preference list from a mobile device within a vicinity of the first product shelf, the user preference list including products of interest, and a neighboring sensor node, at a second product shelf other than the first product shelf, the neighboring sensor node configured to; receive the user preference list from the user-detecting sensor node, compare the current stock of products at the second product shelf with the user preference list, and output to the sensor network a preference-matched subset, the preference-matched subset including at least one product that is currently stocked at the second product shelf and that coincides with at least one of the products of interest on the user preference list. - View Dependent Claims (19)
Specification