Providing electronic content based on sensor data

• US 8,525,665 B1
• Filed: 05/02/2013
• Issued: 09/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/22/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alarm.com Inc. (Alarm.com Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Alarm.com Inc. (Alarm.com Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Trundle, Stephen Scott, Martin, Jean-Paul, Slavin, Alison Jane
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehmood, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): POINT, RUFUS C
• Application Number:
  US13/875,929
• Time in Patent Office: 124 Days
• Field of Search: 340/517, 340/537.15, 340/573.1, 705/14.1, 705/14.4
• US Class Current: 340/517
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0271 Personalized advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0423 detecting deviation from an expected pattern of behaviour or schedule
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 3/00 Audible signalling systems; Audible personal calling systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

Techniques are described for using sensor data derived from a monitoring system to drive personalized content. Sensor data captured by a monitoring system may be used to determine attributes of users of the monitoring system and/or attributes of a property monitored by the monitoring system. The determined attributes may be used to select content to present to users of the monitoring system. Content presentation may be made through the monitoring system and may be triggered based on events detected by the monitoring system.

Claims

1. A system for using sensor data collected via a monitoring system to deliver personalized relevant content, the system comprising:

a monitoring system including one or more sensors configured to sense attributes; and

a monitoring application server configured to electronically receive, either directly or via a network communications module, data communications from the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system and provide personalized content to a customer of the monitoring system based on the data communications from the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system, wherein;

the monitoring system is configured to send, to the monitoring application server, sensor data that is generated by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system and that reflects attributes sensed by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system; and

the monitoring application server is configured to;

receive, from the monitoring system, the sensor data that is generated by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system and that reflects attributes sensed by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system;

access customer information associated with the customer of the monitoring system;

select relevant electronic content based on the received sensor data and the accessed customer information; and

send the selected electronic content to at least one interface used by the customer to control the monitoring system or receive notifications from the monitoring system.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the monitoring application server is configured to select electronic content based on the received sensor data and the accessed customer information by:

determining one or more attributes of the customer based on the received sensor data and the accessed customer information;

comparing the one or more determined customer attributes with electronic content criteria associated with electronic content available for provision by the monitoring application server; and

selecting electronic content for provision to the customer based on the comparison.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the selected electronic content is selected advertising content and the monitoring system is configured to receive and present the selected advertising content based on the customer of the monitoring system agreeing to allow advertising content to be presented through the monitoring system in exchange for a reduction of a fee associated with the monitoring system.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the reduction of the fee associated with the monitoring system includes at least one of a reduction of an installation fee for the monitoring system, a reduction of a periodic monitoring fee associated with monitoring services offered for the monitoring system, and a reduction of a fee for enhanced functionality offered by the monitoring system.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the monitoring system comprises a security system configured to provide security monitoring operations associated with a building; and

the monitoring application server is configured to exchange communications with the security system to facilitate security monitoring for the building.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the customer of the security system receives a reduced fee associated with the security monitoring for the building based on the customer of the security system agreeing to allow the monitoring application server to present advertising content to the customer through one or more interfaces that the customer has designated for receiving security system information.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the one or more sensors include at least one of a contact sensor, a motion sensor, a smoke detector, a carbon monoxide detector, an air quality sensor, a temperature sensor, a water sensor, a radio-frequency identification sensor, a video camera, a photographic camera, an energy consumption sensor for an appliance, a health monitoring sensor, a rain sensor, a wind sensor, and a light sensor.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the monitoring application server is configured to select electronic content based on the received sensor data and the accessed customer information by:

deriving a first customer attribute based on the received sensor data generated by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system;

deriving a second customer attribute from the accessed customer information;

generating a customer profile including the first customer attribute derived based on the received sensor data generated by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system and the second customer attribute derived from the accessed customer information; and

selecting the relevant electronic content based on the customer profile.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein:

deriving the first customer attribute based on the received sensor data generated by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system includes;

determining a frequency with which one or more doors open and close based on the received sensor data; and

determining a first customer attribute related to the determined frequency with which the one or more doors open and close; and

deriving the second customer attribute from the accessed customer information includes determining a geographic location of the monitoring system based on the accessed customer information.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the selected electronic content is selected advertising content and the monitoring system is configured to send the selected advertising content to at least one interface used by the customer by presenting the advertising content in a manner in which a user may accept an offer included in the advertising content through interaction with the interface.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein:

the monitoring system is configured to;

receive, from the user, user input related to the offer included in the advertising content, and

send, to the monitoring application server, an electronic communication based on the user input related to the offer; and

the monitoring application server is configured to;

receive, from the monitoring system, the electronic communication based on the user input related to the offer,

determine whether the user accepted the offer based on the electronic communication, and

in response to determining that the user accepted the offer, send order information to a vendor associated with the offer to enable fulfillment of an order corresponding to the user'"'"'s acceptance of the offer.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the monitoring application server is configured to:

track offer acceptance information based on the determination of whether the user accepted the offer; and

select future advertising content for the user based on the tracked offer acceptance information.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein:

the monitoring application server is configured to send the selected electronic content to at least one interface used by the customer by sending the selected electronic content to the monitoring system;

the monitoring system includes one or more output devices and is configured to;

receive the selected electronic content from the monitoring application server;

detect an event based on sensor data generated by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system; and

in response to detecting the event, trigger presentation of the selected electronic content on at least one of the one or more output devices included in the monitoring system.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the one or more sensors include a contact sensor configured to detect whether a door or window is in an open position or a closed position, and the monitoring system is configured to:

detect an event based on sensor data generated by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system by detecting opening or closing of the door or window based on sensor data generated by the contact sensor; and

in response to detecting the event, trigger presentation of the selected electronic content on at least one of the one or more output devices included in the monitoring system by triggering presentation of the selected electronic content in response to detecting opening or closing of the door or window.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein the one or more sensors include a motion sensor configured to detect motion of a person in an area, and the monitoring system is configured to:

detect an event based on sensor data generated by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system by detecting motion of the person in the area based on sensor data generated by the motion sensor; and

in response to detecting the event, trigger presentation of the selected electronic content on at least one of the one or more output devices included in the monitoring system by triggering presentation of the selected electronic content in response to detecting motion of the person in the area.

16. The system of claim 13 wherein the monitoring system is configured to:

detect the event based on sensor data generated by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system by inferring presence of a person in an area based on sensor data generated by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system; and

in response to detecting the event, trigger presentation of the selected electronic content on at least one of the one or more output devices included in the monitoring system by;

selecting, from among the one or more output devices included in the monitoring system, an output device that is proximate to the area in which presence of the person has been inferred; and

triggering presentation of the selected electronic content on the selected output device in response to inferring presence of the person in the area.

17. The system of claim 13 wherein:

the one or more output devices include an electronic display and a speaker; and

the monitoring system is configured to trigger presentation of the selected electronic content on at least one of the one or more output devices included in the monitoring system by;

displaying the electronic content on the electronic display; and

generating, using the speaker, an audible alert in response to displaying the content on the electronic display.

18. The system of claim 13 wherein the monitoring system is configured to:

receive the selected electronic content from the monitoring application server by receiving a first advertisement and a second advertisement that is different from the first advertisement;

trigger presentation of the selected electronic content on at least one of the one or more output devices included in the monitoring system by;

determining whether the detected event is a first event or a second event that is different from the first event;

in response to determining that the detected event is the first event, presenting the first advertisement; and

in response to determining that the detected event is the second event, presenting the second advertisement.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein:

receiving the first advertisement and the second advertisement that is different from the first advertisement includes receiving a first advertisement associated with a first category and a second advertisement associated with a second category, the second category being different from the first category;

determining whether the detected event is a first event or a second event that is different from the first event includes determining whether the detected event is a first event associated with the first category of advertisements or a second event associated with the second category of advertisements;

in response to determining that the detected event is the first event, presenting the first advertisement includes, in response to determining that the detected event is the first event associated with the first category of advertisements, presenting the first advertisement; and

in response to determining that the detected event is the second event, presenting the second advertisement includes, in response to determining that the detected event is the second event associated with the second category of advertisements, presenting the second advertisement.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein:

receiving the first advertisement and the second advertisement that is different from the first advertisement includes receiving a first advertisement associated with a first room in a building monitored by the monitoring system and a second advertisement associated with a second room in the building monitored by the monitoring system, the second room being different from the first room;

determining whether the detected event is a first event or a second event that is different from the first event includes determining whether the detected event is a first event based on sensor data received from a sensor associated with the first room or a second event based on sensor data received from a sensor associated with the second room;

in response to determining that the detected event is the first event, presenting the first advertisement includes, in response to determining that the detected event is the first event based on sensor data received from the sensor associated with the first room, presenting the first advertisement; and

in response to determining that the detected event is the second event, presenting the second advertisement includes, in response to determining that the detected event is the second event based on sensor data received from the sensor associated with the second room, presenting the second advertisement.

21. The system of claim 13 wherein the monitoring system is configured to:

infer an identity of a user that triggered generation of the sensor data by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system based on the detected event;

receive the selected electronic content from the monitoring application server by receiving a first advertisement associated with a first user associated with the monitoring system and a second advertisement associated with a second user associated with the monitoring system, the second user being different from the first user; and

trigger presentation of the selected electronic content on at least one of the one or more output devices included in the monitoring system by;

determining whether the inferred identity corresponds to the first user or the second user;

in response to determining that the inferred identity corresponds to the first user, presenting the first advertisement; and

in response to determining that the inferred identity corresponds to the second user, presenting the second advertisement.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the monitoring system is configured to infer the identity of the user that triggered generation of the sensor data by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system based on the detected event by:

determining a room in a building monitored by the monitoring system associated with the detected event;

accessing, from electronic storage, data relating rooms in the building monitored by the monitoring system with users of the monitoring system;

comparing the determined room to the accessed data relating rooms in the building monitored by the monitoring system with users of the monitoring system; and

inferring the identity of the user based on the comparison.

23. The system of claim 21 wherein the monitoring system is configured to infer the identity of the user that triggered generation of the sensor data by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system based on the detected event by:

accessing sensor data generated by multiple sensors within in a building monitored by the monitoring system;

determining a movement pattern of a user within the building monitored by the monitoring system based on the accessed sensor data generated by multiple sensors; and

inferring the identity of the user based on the determined movement pattern.

24. The system of claim 13 wherein the monitoring system is configured to:

receive the selected electronic content from the monitoring application server by receiving a first advertisement associated with a first type of product;

detect an event based on sensor data generated by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system by detecting presence of the first type of product in a building being monitored by the monitoring system; and

trigger presentation of the selected electronic content on at least one of the one or more output devices included in the monitoring system by presenting the first advertisement associated with the first type of product based on detecting the first type of product in the building being monitored by the monitoring system.

25. The system of claim 13 wherein the monitoring system is configured to:

receive the selected electronic content from the monitoring application server by receiving a first advertisement associated with a first product or service related to remedying a particular problem the monitoring system is configured to detect;

detect an event based on sensor data generated by the one or more sensors included in the monitoring system by detecting the particular problem; and

trigger presentation of the selected electronic content on at least one of the one or more output devices included in the monitoring system by presenting the first advertisement associated with the first product or service related to remedying the particular problem based on detecting the particular problem.

26. The system of claim 13 wherein the monitoring system is configured to:

receive the selected electronic content from the monitoring application server by receiving a first advertisement associated with a first time attribute and a second advertisement that is different from the first advertisement and associated with a second time attribute;

trigger presentation of the selected electronic content on at least one of the one or more output devices included in the monitoring system by;

identifying a current time attribute;

determining whether the current time attribute corresponds to the first time attribute or the second time attribute;

in response to determining that the current time attribute corresponds to the first time attribute, presenting the first advertisement; and

in response to determining that the current time attribute corresponds to the second time attribute, presenting the second advertisement.