Moving an activity along terminals associated with a physical queue

• US 8,924,868 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2011
• Issued: 12/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hammoud, Amer
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Parker, Jeanette J
• Application Number:
  US13/288,621
• Publication Number:
  US 20130117695A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,153 Days
• Field of Search: 715/761
• US Class Current: 715/761
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/10 Services

Abstract

Aspects of this disclosure describe techniques for moving an activity down a physical queue. An example technique estimates a wait time to reach a service point for a user at a first position of a physical queue, selects an activity for the user at the first position of the physical queue based on the estimated wait time, the activity including an interactive application, sends the selected activity to a terminal associated with the first position of the physical queue, and, after receiving an indication that the user has advanced to a second position that is closer to the service point than the first position, forwards the activity to a terminal associated with the second position of the physical queue.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

estimating, by at least one processor, a wait time for a user located at a first position of a physical queue to reach a service point, wherein the user queues for the service point in the physical queue;

selecting, by the at least one processor, an activity for the user at the first position of the physical queue based on the estimated wait time, the activity including an interactive software application;

sending, by the at least one processor, the selected activity to a first terminal associated with the first position of the physical queue; and

in response to receiving an indication that the user has advanced to a second position of the physical queue that is closer to the service point than the first position, wherein the second position of the physical queue is different from the service point, forwarding, by at least at least one processor, the selected activity to a second terminal associated with the second position of the physical queue, wherein the first terminal is different from the second terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to receiving an indication that the user is now at a position of a second physical queue, forwarding the activity to a third terminal associated with the position of the second physical queue.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

tracking a mobile device associated with the user to determine that the user has left the physical queue and is now at the position of the second physical queue.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

forwarding the activity to a mobile device associated with the user in response to the user leaving the physical queue.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the activity further comprises:

selecting the activity having a time to completion that is less than the estimated wait time.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the activity further comprises:

selecting the activity that is related to the user'"'"'s transaction at the service point.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein forwarding the activity further comprises:

preserving state information of the activity at the first terminal associated with the first position; and

restoring a state of the activity at the second terminal associated with the second position based on the preserved state information.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

estimating a total travel and wait time for a second user not within the physical queue based on an estimated wait time for the physical queue and a physical distance of the second user from the physical queue; and

sending the total travel and wait time to a mobile device associated with the second user.

9. A computing device comprising:

one or more processors;

a wait estimation module executing by the one or more processors and configured to estimate a wait time for a user located at a first position of a physical queue to reach a service point, wherein the user queues for the service point in the physical queue;

an activities module executing by the one or more processors and configured to select an activity based on an estimated time of completion for the activity and the estimated wait time, the activity including an interactive software application; and

a queue syncing module executing by the one or more processors and configured to send the activity to a first terminal at the first position and to forward the activity to a second terminal at a second position of the physical queue in response to receiving an indication that the physical queue has advanced, the second position being closer to the service point than the first position, wherein the second position of the physical queue is different from the service point, and wherein the first terminal is different from the second terminal.

10. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the queue syncing module is further configured to, in response to receiving an indication that the user is now at a position of a second physical queue, forward the activity to a third terminal associated with the position of the second physical queue.

11. The computing device of claim 10, further comprising:

a user detection module executing on the one or more processors and configured to track a mobile device associated with the user to determine that the user has left the physical queue and is now at the position of the second physical queue.

12. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the queue syncing module is further configured to forward the activity to a mobile device associated with the user in response to the user leaving the physical queue.

13. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the activities module is further configured to select the activity having a time to completion that is less than the estimated wait time.

14. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the activities module is further configured to select the activity that is related to the user'"'"'s transaction at the service point.

15. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the queue syncing module is further configured to preserve state information of the activity at the first terminal associated with the first position, and to restore a state of the activity at the second terminal associated with the second position based on the preserved state information.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for causing a programmable processor to:

estimate a wait time for a user located at a first position of a physical queue to reach a service point, wherein the user queues for the service point in the physical queue;

select an activity for the user at the first position of the physical queue based on the estimated wait time, the activity including an interactive software application;

send the selected activity to a first terminal at the first position of the physical queue; and

in response to receipt of an indication that the user has advanced to a second position of the physical queue that is closer to the service point than the first position, wherein the second position of the physical queue is different from the service point, forward the selected activity to a second terminal at the second position of the physical queue, wherein the first terminal is different from the second terminal.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the processor to:

in response to receipt of an indication that the user is now at a position of a second physical queue, forward the activity to a third terminal associated with the position of the second physical queue.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the processor to:

track a mobile device associated with the user to determine that the user has left the physical queue and is now at the position of the second physical queue.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the processor to:

forward the activity to a mobile device associated with the user in response to the user leaving the physical queue.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to select the activity further cause the processor to:

select the activity having a time to completion that is less than the estimated wait time.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to select the activity further cause the processor to:

select the activity that is related to the user'"'"'s transaction at the service point.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to forward the activity further cause the processor to:

preserve state information of the activity at the first terminal associated with the first position; and

restore a state of the activity at the second terminal associated with the second position based on the preserved state information.