Method and apparatus for providing contextual services
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method to configure a plurality of portable computers at a selected location for a plurality of transient users, the method comprising:
- determining, by a computer system, location-specific information about the selected location, the location specific information including a location of each portable computer of the plurality of portable computers at the selected location;
determining, by a computer system, status information about a first transient user and a second transient user of at least one portable computer of the plurality of portable computers, wherein the first transient user and the second transient user are visitors at the selected location and the status information includes visitor information of the first transient user and the second transient user;
grouping, by a computer system, the plurality of portable computers into a hierarchy comprising a plurality of layers based on the location of each portable computer of the plurality of portable computers at the selected location, wherein the hierarchy defines a cascading configuration profile of respective configurations through the plurality of layers whereby subsequent layers override configuration settings from at least one preceding layer;
assigning, by a computer system, at least one configuration profile to each portable computer of the plurality of portable computers based on analyzing membership of each portable computer to one or more layers within the plurality of layers of the hierarchy and configuration settings for each of the one or more layers;
receiving, by a computer system, an update to the at least one configuration profile associated with the one or more layers of the hierarchy;
updating, by a computer system, the at least one configuration profile on each of the portable computers assigned to the one or more layers of the hierarchy;
identifying, by a computer system, a relationship between the first transient user and the second transient user based on the status information; and
displaying, by an interface of the at least one portable computer, digital content consistent with the at least one configuration profile assigned to the at least one portable computer, wherein the digital content includes an available service presented to the first transient user selected based on user activity of the second transient user on the at least one portable computer.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Provided are systems and methods for contextually providing services via a portable computer at a selected location. According to some embodiments, the systems and methods include processes for determining location-specific information about the selected location, determining status information about a user of the portable computer interface, and displaying an available service to the user on a display screen of the portable computer, the available service being selected based on the location-specific information and the status information, configuring a portable computer for transient use by a plurality of guests at a selected location.
-
Citations
26 Claims
-
1. A computer implemented method to configure a plurality of portable computers at a selected location for a plurality of transient users, the method comprising:
-
determining, by a computer system, location-specific information about the selected location, the location specific information including a location of each portable computer of the plurality of portable computers at the selected location; determining, by a computer system, status information about a first transient user and a second transient user of at least one portable computer of the plurality of portable computers, wherein the first transient user and the second transient user are visitors at the selected location and the status information includes visitor information of the first transient user and the second transient user; grouping, by a computer system, the plurality of portable computers into a hierarchy comprising a plurality of layers based on the location of each portable computer of the plurality of portable computers at the selected location, wherein the hierarchy defines a cascading configuration profile of respective configurations through the plurality of layers whereby subsequent layers override configuration settings from at least one preceding layer; assigning, by a computer system, at least one configuration profile to each portable computer of the plurality of portable computers based on analyzing membership of each portable computer to one or more layers within the plurality of layers of the hierarchy and configuration settings for each of the one or more layers; receiving, by a computer system, an update to the at least one configuration profile associated with the one or more layers of the hierarchy; updating, by a computer system, the at least one configuration profile on each of the portable computers assigned to the one or more layers of the hierarchy; identifying, by a computer system, a relationship between the first transient user and the second transient user based on the status information; and displaying, by an interface of the at least one portable computer, digital content consistent with the at least one configuration profile assigned to the at least one portable computer, wherein the digital content includes an available service presented to the first transient user selected based on user activity of the second transient user on the at least one portable computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A computer system configured to contextually provide services to a plurality of transient users, the computer system comprising:
-
a plurality of portable computers located at a facility, each portable computer including a network connection, a display screen and a user interface configured to receive inputs from the plurality of transient users and to display digital content on the display screen; computer storage separate from the plurality of portable computers and coupled to each of the plurality of portable computers via the respective network connection, the computer storage holding a plurality of configuration profiles; a facility computer system coupled to the computer storage and to the plurality of portable computers, the facility computer system configured to; provide facility-specific information to the plurality of portable computers; group the plurality of portable computers into a hierarchy comprising a plurality of layers based on a location of each portable computer at the facility, wherein the hierarchy defines a cascading configuration profile of respective configurations through the plurality of layers whereby subsequent layers override configuration settings from at least one preceding layer; assign at least one configuration profile from the plurality of configuration profiles to each portable computer based on analyzing membership of the respective portable computer to one or more layers within the plurality of layers of the hierarchy and configuration settings for each of the one or more layers; receive an update to the at least one configuration profile associated with the one or more layers of the hierarchy; update the at least one configuration profile on each of the portable computers assigned to the one or more layers of the hierarchy; and identify a relationship between a first transient user and a second transient user of the plurality of transient users; wherein each portable computer displays the digital content consistent with the assigned configuration profile associated with the respective portable computer; and wherein the digital content displayed to the first transient user on the display screen of a first portable computer of the plurality of portable computers includes an available service selected based on the user activity of the second transient user on at least one portable computer of the plurality of portable computers. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A computer system to configure a plurality of portable computers located at a facility, the computer system comprising:
-
computer storage separate from the plurality of portable computers and coupled to each of the plurality of portable computers, the computer storage holding a plurality of configuration profiles; a facility computer system coupled to the computer storage and to the plurality of portable computers, the facility computer system configured to; identify location-specific information including a location of each portable computer of the plurality of portable computers at the facility; group the plurality of portable computers into a hierarchy composed of a plurality of layers based on the location of each portable computer at the facility, wherein the hierarchy defines a cascading configuration profile of respective configurations through the plurality of layers whereby subsequent layers override configuration settings from at least one preceding layer; assign at least one configuration profile from the plurality of configuration profiles to each portable computer based on analyzing the membership of the respective portable computer to one or more layers within the hierarchy and configuration settings for each of the one or more layers; receive an update to the at least one configuration profile associated with the one or more layers of the hierarchy; update the at least one configuration profile on each of the portable computers assigned to the one or more layers of the hierarchy; and provide digital content to the plurality of portable computers; wherein each portable computer includes a display screen and is configured to receive the digital content from the facility computer system and present the digital content via the respective display consistent with the at least one configuration profile assigned to the respective portable computer.
-
Specification