Digital assistant for use in a commercial environment

• US 20040155109A1
• Filed: 02/12/2003
• Published: 08/12/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/12/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Sears Brands LLC (Sears Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sears Brands LLC (Sears Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Stone, Douglas Alex, Kenney, William M., Downs, Jessica Christine
• Application Number:
  US10/365,581
• Publication Number:
  US 20040155109A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/462.45
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/086 by passive credit-cards adapted therefor, e.g. constructive particularities to avoid counterfeiting, e.g. by inclusion of a physical or chemical security-layer for security documents G07D7/00; for the reading of record-carriers in general G06K7/00; for the design of coded credit-cards G06K19/10

Abstract

A method and apparatus for generating, in a commercial environment, alternative or complementary suggestions in response to a specific inquiry about a product, for displaying the suggestions on a display device at the point of purchase, and for providing real time electronic communication with a product expert.

Claims

1. A portable electronic device or an in-store kiosk for use in communicating product data in a commercial environment, the portable electronic device or in-store kiosk comprising:

an electronics module including a communication interface for acquiring product data from a remote product database;

a display device connected to the electronics module; and

software, stored on computer-readable medium accessible by the portable electronic device, that generates a related, alternative or complementary suggestion for a product in response to a specific inquiry about the product, and that displays the suggestion on the display device.

2. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 1, wherein the electronics module includes a data input device.

3. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 2, wherein the data input device is a bar code scanner.

4. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 2, wherein the data input device is a touch screen.

5. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 4, wherein the touch screen is integrated with the display device connected to the electronics module.

6. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 1, wherein the related, alternative, or complementary suggestion for a product includes an extended warranty plan.

7. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 1, wherein the related, alternative, or complementary suggestion for a product includes an accessory for the product.

8. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 1 further comprising software that generates customer characteristics for a customer based on the purchasing history of the customer stored in a remote database.

9. A portable electronic device or an in-store kiosk for use in communicating product data in a commercial environment, the portable electronic device or in-store kiosk comprising:

an electronics module including a communication interface for acquiring product data from a remote product database;

a display device connected to the electronics module; and

means for generating a related, alternative or complementary suggestion for a product in response to a specific inquiry about the product, and for displaying the suggestion on the display device.

10. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 9, wherein the electronics module includes a data input device.

11. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 10, wherein the data input device is a bar code scanner.

12. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 10, wherein the data input device is a touch screen.

13. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 12, wherein the touch screen is integrated with the display device connected to the electronics module.

14. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 9, wherein the related, alternative, or complementary suggestion for a product includes an extended warranty plan.

15. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 9, wherein the related, alternative, or complementary suggestion for a product includes an accessory for the product.

16. The portable electronic device or in-store kiosk of claim 9 further comprising means for generating customer characteristics for a customer based on the purchasing history of the customer stored in a remote database.

17. A method of offering alternative or complementary product suggestions in response to an inquiry about the product, the method comprising the acts of:

providing a portable electronic device or in-store kiosk including an electronics module having a communication interface for acquiring product data from a remote product database, and having a display device connected to the electronics module;

prompting the portable electronic device or in-store kiosk to communicate with the remote product database to gather information about a specific product; and

generating in response to the prompt information on related, alternative, or complementary products and displaying the information on the display device.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising obtaining customer-specific information from a customer to prompt the portable electronic device or in-store kiosk to gather information about specific products of interest to the customer.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein providing a portable electronic device or in-store kiosk including an electronics module includes providing a data input device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein providing a data input device includes providing a bar code scanner.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein providing a data input device includes providing a touch screen.

22. The method of claim 17 further comprising generating customer characteristics for a customer based on a purchasing history of the customer stored in a remote database.

23. An electronic device for use in communicating product data in a commercial environment, the electronic device comprising:

an electronics module including a communication interface for acquiring product data from a remote product database;

a display device connected to the electronics module; and

software, stored on computer readable medium accessible by the portable electronic device, for effecting audio/visual communication between a user of the device and an expert having information about the product.

24. The electronic device of claim 23, wherein the electronics module includes a data input device.

25. The electronic device of claim 24, wherein the data input device is a bar code scanner.

26. The electronic device of claim 24, wherein the data input device is a touch screen.

27. The electronic device of claim 26, wherein the touch screen is integrated with the display device connected to the electronics module.

28. The electronic device of claim 23 further comprising software that generates customer characteristics for a customer based on the purchasing history of the customer stored in a remote database.

29. The electronic device of claim 23, wherein the audio/visual communication between a user of the device and an expert occurs in real time.

30. An electronic device for use in communicating product data in a commercial environment, the electronic device comprising:

an electronics module including a communication interface for acquiring product data from a remote product database;

a display device connected to the electronics module; and

means for effecting audio/visual communication between a user of the device and an expert having information about the product.

31. The electronic device of claim 30, wherein the electronics module includes a data input device.

32. The electronic device of claim 31, wherein the data input device is a bar code scanner.

33. The electronic device of claim 31, wherein the data input device is a touch screen.

34. The electronic device of claim 33, wherein the touch screen is integrated with the display device connected to the electronics module.

35. The electronic device of claim 30 further comprising software that generates customer characteristics for a customer based on the purchasing history of the customer stored in a remote database.

36. The electronic device of claim 30, wherein the audio/visual communication between a user of the device and an expert occurs in real time.

37. A method of providing product information from a remote product expert to a customer in a commercial environment, the method comprising the acts of:

providing an electronic device including an electronics module having a communication interface for acquiring real time video and audio data representing the image and voice of the product expert, having a display device connected to the electronics module for generating images based on the video data, and having a speaker for generating sounds based on the audio data;

prompting the electronic device to communicate with the remote product expert; and

transmitting the video and audio data to the electronic device; and

generating the image and voice sounds of the remote product expert on the display device and the speaker, respectively.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein prompting the electronic device includes obtaining and entering customer-specific information from a customer relating to products of interest to the customer to ensure the electronic device communicates with the appropriate remote product expert.