Driver controlled automated taxi service and devices
First Claim
1. An in-taxi customer selection system, the system comprising:
- in a plurality of taxis, a touch-screen display map of a surrounding location of each said taxi;
an indicator of at least one future rider desiring a taxi, exhibited anonymously on each said display map and lacking destination data;
sensors within said touch-screen display, wherein upon receiving a selection of an indicator on one of said display maps from a driver of one of said taxis, said indicator is removed from all other display maps and said driver is sent a confirmation of said selection.
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Abstract
An embodiment of the disclosed technology is an in-taxi customer selection system. The selection system is placed in a plurality of taxis in the form of a device which includes a touch-screen display map of a surrounding location of each taxi. An indicator of at least one future rider desiring a taxi is exhibited anonymously on each display map. The indicator exhibits only a location, and thus, lacks destination data or information about the potential rider other than his or her location of pickup. In this manner, all picked up riders are anonymous to the driver and discrimination against the rider is actually less than in the prior art, since the appearance of the rider cannot be judged before the ride is accepted. Sensors within the touch-screen display receive a selection of an indicator on one of the display maps from a driver of one of the taxis using this system. The selected indicator is then removed from all other display maps, if shown on any at the time, and the driver is sent a confirmation of said selection. In this manner, only drivers actively looking for rides see who is looking, and such drivers only see riders who are waiting for a taxi ride.
150 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An in-taxi customer selection system, the system comprising:
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in a plurality of taxis, a touch-screen display map of a surrounding location of each said taxi; an indicator of at least one future rider desiring a taxi, exhibited anonymously on each said display map and lacking destination data; sensors within said touch-screen display, wherein upon receiving a selection of an indicator on one of said display maps from a driver of one of said taxis, said indicator is removed from all other display maps and said driver is sent a confirmation of said selection. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of picking up a rider for a taxi ride comprising the steps of:
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engaging a global positioning system to determine location; viewing a street map showing said location; viewing a plurality of indicators on said street map, each indicator anonymously representative of a person desiring to be a rider in a taxi and disappearing upon an indicator being selected by another; using a processor to select a said indicator and driving to a location represented by said selected indicator on said street map; picking up a rider and receiving data from said rider indicating that said rider is said person represented by said selected indicator. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A device in a first taxi, comprising:
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satellite navigation capabilities; a display comprising a map image of an area surrounding that of a present location determined by way of said satellite navigation capabilities; bi-directional wireless communication configured to receive location data corresponding to locations of people desiring rides, wherein received data relating to said people desiring rides consists only of location data; an interface capable of providing interaction capabilities with indicators overlaid on said map image, each indicator of said indicators placed on said map and corresponding to a location of a person of said people desiring rides; wherein upon selection of a said indicator by way of said interface, non-selected indicators are removed from said display. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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17. A second device comprising said satellite navigation capabilities, said display, said bi-directional wireless communication, and said interface of said device of clam 16, wherein
said second device is in a second taxi; - and
upon selection of said indicator in said first taxi, said selected indicator is removed from said display of said second taxi.
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Specification