Facility wayfinding system

• US 9,702,706 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2013
• Issued: 07/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mappedin Inc.
• Original Assignee: Mappedin Inc.
• Inventors: Lee, Leander, Butler, Mitchell, Liu, Hongwei
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaawat, Mussa A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kerrigan, Michael
• Application Number:
  US13/852,304
• Publication Number:
  US 20140156186A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,566 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/206 specially adapted for indoor navigation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0259 based on store location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location

Abstract

A facility wayfinding system is provided which includes an interactive public display device and a mobile device, running a mobile wayfinding application. The interactive public display device, which is situated at a first location within a facility, displays a facility map showing facility units, receives a user selection of a facility unit as a second location, and displays a route from the first location to the second location on the facility map. The mobile device also displays the facility map, displays a route from a start location to a destination location on the facility map, and updates the start location to the first location and the destination location to the second location by synchronizing with the interactive public display device.

Claims

1. A wayfinding system for a facility including multiple facility units, the wayfinding system comprising:

an interactive public display device, situated at a first location within the facility, configured to;

present a public user interface on a display of the public display device;

display a facility map, showing the facility units, via the public user interface;

receive a user selection of a facility unit as a second location, via the public user interface;

display a route from the first location to the second location on the facility map, via the public user interface; and

present a scannable synchronization feature encoded with a uniform resource locator (URL) comprising an identifier associated with the route and the public display device, wherein the synchronization feature is at least one of a quick response (QR) code and a near-field communication (NFC) tag; and

a mobile device configured to;

present a mobile user interface on a display of the mobile device;

scan the synchronization feature to receive the URL;

via the URL, provide the identifier to a backend system;

obtain, from the backend system, the first location and the second location selected at the public display device;

update the start location to the first location and the destination location to the second location;

display the facility map, via the mobile user interface; and

display the route from a start location to a destination location on the facility map, via the mobile user interface.

2. The wayfinding system of claim 1, wherein the facility is an indoor facility.

3. The wayfinding system of claim 1, wherein the public display device is further configured to display a promotional item relating to the selected facility unit, via the public user interface;

and wherein the mobile device is further configured to receive the promotional item by synchronizing with the public display device.

4. The wayfinding system of claim 1, further comprising:

the backend system, wirelessly connected to the public display device and the mobile device, configured to;

provide the facility map to the public display device and the mobile device;

provide the route from the first location to the second location to the public display device; and

provide the route from the start location to the destination location to the mobile device.

5. The wayfinding system of claim 4, wherein the public display device includes the synchronization feature configured to enable the mobile device to synchronize with the public display device by scanning the synchronization feature;

and wherein the mobile device includes a scanning device configured to scan the synchronization feature.

6. The wayfinding system of claim 5, wherein the backend system is further configured to store identifiers, locations, and current selection states for the multiple interactive public display devices.

7. The wayfinding system of claim 5, wherein the synchronization feature is further encoded with an instruction directing the mobile device to provide the identifier to the backend system upon synchronization;

and

wherein the backend system is further configured to provide the first location and the second location to the mobile device upon receipt of the identifier.

8. The wayfinding system of claim 7, wherein the backend system is further configured to:

store identifiers, locations, and current selection states for the multiple interactive public display devices; and

use the identifier to identify the public display device among the multiple interactive public display devices, and to retrieve the location and the current selection state for the public display device, wherein the location is the first location, and the current selection state includes the user selection of the second location.

9. The wayfinding system of claim 4, further comprising:

a geographical information system (GIS), hosted internally by the backend system or supplied externally to the backend system, configured to;

store the facility map and associated facility metadata; and

the destination location.

10. The wayfinding system of claim 4, wherein the public display device is further configured to display a facility directory, listing the facility units, via the public user interface;

wherein the mobile device is further configured to display the facility directory, via the mobile user interface; and

wherein the backend system is further configured to provide the facility directory to the public display device and the mobile device.

11. The wayfinding system of claim 10, wherein the public display device is configured to display the facility map and the facility directory on a same screen of the public user interface;

and wherein the mobile device is configured to display the facility map and the facility directory on different screens of the mobile user interface.

12. The wayfinding system of claim 10, wherein the display of the public display device is a touch-screen display;

and wherein the public display device is configured to receive the user selection by detecting a user touch on a facility unit on the facility map or in the facility directory.

13. The wayfinding system of claim 1, wherein the identifier uniquely identifies the public display device among multiple interactive public display devices.

14. An interactive public display device for integration into a wayfinding system for a facility including multiple facility units, the public display device situated at a first location within the facility and comprising:

a display;

a processor configured to;

present a public user interface on the display of the public display device;

display a facility map, showing the facility units, via the public user interface;

receive a user selection of a facility unit as a second location, via the public user interface; and

display a route from the first location to the second location on the facility map, via the public user interface; and

present a scannable synchronization feature encoded with a uniform resource locator (URL) comprising an identifier associated with the route and the public display device, configured to enable a mobile device to scan the synchronization feature to receive the URL and provide the identifier to a backend system via the URL and obtain, from the backend system, the first location and the second location selected at the public display device; and

to display the route from the first location to the second location on the facility map, via a mobile user interface presented on a display of the mobile device;

wherein the synchronization feature is at least one of a quick response (QR) code and a near-field communication (NFC) tag.

15. The interactive public display device of claim 14, wherein the synchronization feature is encoded with an instruction directing the mobile device to provide the identifier to a backend system upon synchronization, wherein the backend system is wirelessly connected to the public display device and the mobile device;

and

wherein the backend system is configured to provide the first location and the second location to the mobile device upon receipt of the identifier.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a mobile device, cause the processor of a mobile device to execute a mobile wayfinding application for integration into a wayfinding system for a facility including multiple facility units, wherein the mobile wayfinding application causes the mobile device to:

present a mobile user interface on a display of the mobile device;

display a facility map, showing the facility units, via the mobile user interface;

display a route from a start location to a destination location on the facility map, via the mobile user interface;

scan a scannable synchronization feature to receive a uniform resource locator (URL), the synchronization feature encoded with the URL comprising an identifier associated with the route and a public display device to synchronize with the public display device to obtain, from a backend system, a first location and a second location, wherein the public display device is situated at the first location within the facility, and the second location comprises a location of a facility unit selected by a user via a public user interface of the public display device, wherein the synchronization feature is at least one of a quick response (QR) code and a near-field communication (NFC) tag; and

update the start location to the first location and the destination location to the second location by synchronizing with an interactive public display device.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the synchronization feature is encoded with an instruction directing the mobile device to provide the identifier to a backend system upon synchronization, wherein the backend system is wirelessly connected to the public display device and the mobile device;

and

wherein the backend system is configured to provide the first location and the second location to the mobile device upon receipt of the identifier.