Many products, such as dispensers, come with a variety of operating guides, maintenance instructions, and other media assets. For commercial products, some companies have customized guides for their employees to follow, such as company-specific cleaning instructions for dispensers used in their business locations. In some cases, these guides and instructions are accessible via the internet, but finding the appropriate guide or instructions can be time-consuming and cause difficulties. Moreover, management of these media assets can be difficult.
Therefore, there is a need to overcome one or more of these difficulties.
According to one aspect, this disclosure provides a QR code proxy system with a content/media routing map and a proxy engine. The content/media routing map is to establish an association between a plurality of dispensers each with a respective QR code and a plurality of digital dispenser assets. The proxy engine is to: (i) determine an identity of a dispenser of the plurality of dispensers based on a QR code; and (ii) respond with one or more digital dispenser assets based on the association established by the content/media routing map.
According to another aspect, this disclosure provides one or more non-transitory, computer-readable storage media. The media has a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, in response to being executed, cause a computing device to: establish an association between a plurality of dispensers each with a respective QR code and a plurality of digital dispenser assets; determine an identity of a dispenser of the plurality of dispensers based on a QR code; and respond with one or more digital dispenser assets based on the association established by the content/media routing map.
According to a further aspect, this disclosure provides a computer-implemented method in which an association is established between a plurality of dispensers each with a respective QR code and a plurality of digital dispenser assets. The method includes the step of determining an identity of a dispenser of the plurality of dispensers based on a QR code. Additionally, the method includes responding with one or more digital dispenser assets based on the association established by the content/media routing map.
The concepts described herein are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the accompanying figures. For simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. Where considered appropriate, reference labels have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.
While the concepts of the present disclosure are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described herein in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit the concepts of the present disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives consistent with the present disclosure and the appended claims.
References in the specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an illustrative embodiment,” etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may or may not necessarily include that particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described. Additionally, it should be appreciated that items included in a list in the form of “at least one A, B, and C” can mean (A); (B); (C); (A and B); (A and C); (B and C); or (A, B, and C). Similarly, items listed in the form of “at least one of A, B, or C” can mean (A); (B); (C); (A and B); (A and C); (B and C); or (A, B, and C).
The disclosed embodiments may be implemented, in some cases, in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. The disclosed embodiments may also be implemented as instructions carried by or stored on a transitory or non-transitory machine-readable (e.g., computer-readable) storage medium, which may be read and executed by one or more processors. A machine-readable storage medium may be embodied as any storage device, mechanism, or other physical structure for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a volatile or non-volatile memory, a media disc, or other media device).
In the drawings, some structural or method features may be shown in specific arrangements and/or orderings. However, it should be appreciated that such specific arrangements and/or orderings may not be required. Rather, in some embodiments, such features may be arranged in a different manner and/or order than shown in the illustrative figures. Additionally, the inclusion of a structural or method feature in a particular figure is not meant to imply that such feature is required in all embodiments and, in some embodiments, may not be included or may be combined with other features.
In some embodiments, this disclosure addresses a number of technical problems. For example, the dispenser identification system allows granular management of digital dispenser assets, including but not limited to digital media assets, such as documents, videos, audio, multimedia, etc., digital assets for servicing the dispenser, and digital support/technology assets. In some embodiments, the system allows the behavior of QR codes to be externally controlled. For example, the system can be configured to change the digital media asset(s) that are associated with QR codes; this allows the digital media that is shown in response to scanning a QR code to be changed by the system. The QR code can be static on the dispenser, but the network location of the digital media asset shown in response to scanning the QR code can be adjusted by the system. This allows control and adjustability of content/media associated with a specific dispenser without changing the QR code itself. By way of another example, consider an example in which the digital dispenser asset is a digital asset for servicing the dispenser, a customer could request service by scanning the QR code and the service request could have information pre-populated. Consider another example in which the digital dispenser asset is a digital support/technology asset. The dispenser could be configured to send a message to a remote server if a malfunction or other alert is detected. This could prompt a customer support person to designate an appropriate digital support/technology asset information for the dispenser, which allows the customer to obtain pre-identified support/technology assets upon scanning the QR code.
In the example shown in
For example, the QR codes 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d may each embed a global identifier with a URL, which allows each of the dispensers 108a, 108b, 108c, 108d to be uniquely identified. By way of example only, the global identifier could be the serial number of the dispenser. In some cases, the global identifier may be a random or pseudo-random alphanumeric sequence (e.g., 16 or 32 character sequence) that uniquely identifies a dispenser. Of course, the exact length of the global identifier may vary based on the circumstances. By way of example, the URL embedded in the QR code may be a network address of the QR code proxy system 104.
In the example shown, there is a computing device 112 that includes a QR code scanner 114, such as a camera, for scanning the QR codes 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d. Depending on the circumstances, the computing device 112 could be a mobile device, such as phone or tablet, or a notebook computer or any other type of computing device that is capable of scanning a QR code. When the QR code scanner 114 scans one of the QR codes 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, the computing device 112 is provided with digital dispenser assets, which are embodied as content/media assets 106 associated with the scanned QR code via the network 116.
Although a single computing device 104 for executing the QR code proxy system 102 is shown in this example, the computing device 104 may comprise multiple computing devices that are connected to each other. The computing device 104 may be embodied as any type of computation or computer device capable of performing the functions described herein, including, without limitation, a computer, a server, a workstation, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a mobile computing device, a wearable computing device, a network appliance, a web appliance, a distributed computing system, a processor-based system, and/or a consumer electronic device. Additionally or alternatively, the computing device 104 may be embodied as one or more compute sleds, memory sleds, or other racks, sleds, computing chassis, or other components of a physically disaggregated computing device.
As shown in
The processor 118 may be embodied as any type of processor capable of performing the functions described herein. The processor 118 may be a multi-core processor, however, in other embodiments the processor 118 may be embodied as a single or multi-core processor(s), digital processor, microcontroller, or other processor or processing/controlling circuit. The illustrative processor 118 includes multiple processor cores 128, each of which is an independent, general-purpose processing unit capable of executing programmed instructions.
The memory 122 may be embodied as any type of volatile or non-volatile memory or data storage capable of performing the functions described herein. In operation, the memory 122 may store various data and software used during operation of the computing device 104 such operating systems, applications, programs, libraries, and drivers. The memory 122 is communicatively coupled to the processor 118 via the I/O subsystem 120, which may be embodied as circuitry and/or components to facilitate input/output operations with the processor 118, the memory 122, and other components of the computing device 104. For example, the I/O subsystem 120 may be embodied as, or otherwise include, memory controller hubs, input/output control hubs, sensor hubs, firmware devices, communication links (i.e., point-to-point links, bus links, wires, cables, light guides, printed circuit board traces, etc.) and/or other components and subsystems to facilitate the input/output operations. In some embodiments, the I/O subsystem 120 may form a portion of a system-on-a-chip (SoC) and be incorporated, along with the processor 118, the memory 122, and other components of the computing device 104, on a single integrated circuit chip. Similarly, the data storage device 124 may be embodied as any type of device or devices configured for short-term or long-term storage of data such as, for example, memory devices and circuits, memory cards, hard disk drives, solid-state drives, non-volatile flash memory, or other data storage devices.
The computing device 104 also include the communication subsystem 126, which may be embodied as any communication circuit, device, or collection thereof, capable of enabling communications between the computing device 104 and possibly other remote devices over the computer network 116. For example, the communication subsystem 126 may be embodied as or otherwise include a network interface controller (NIC) 130 or other network controller for sending and/or receiving network data with remote devices, such as computing device 112. The NIC 130 may be embodied as any network interface card, network adapter, host fabric interface, network coprocessor, or other component that connects the computing device 104 to the network 116. The communication subsystem 126 may be configured to use any one or more communication technology (e.g., wired or wireless communications) and associated protocols (e.g., Ethernet, InfiniBand®, Bluetooth®, Wi-Fi®, WiMAX, 3G, 4G LTE, etc.) to effect such communication. In some embodiments, the communication subsystem 126 and/or the NIC 130 may form a portion of a SoC and be incorporated along with the processor 118 and other components of the computing device 104 on a single integrated circuit chip.
The computing device 104 may further include one or more peripheral devices 132. The peripheral devices 132 may include any number of additional input/output devices, interface devices, and/or other peripheral devices. For example, in some embodiments, the peripheral devices 132 may include a touch screen, graphics circuitry, a graphical processing unit (GPU) and/or processor graphics, an audio device, a microphone, a camera, a keyboard, a mouse, a network interface, and/or other input/output devices, interface devices, and/or peripheral devices.
The network 116 may be embodied as any number of various wired and/or wireless networks. For example, the network 116 may be embodied as, or otherwise include, a wired or wireless local area network (LAN), and/or a wired or wireless wide area network (WAN). As such, the network 116 may include any number of additional devices, such as additional computers, routers, and switches, to facilitate communications between the computing device 112 and computing device 104.
Referring now to
Depending on the circumstances, there may be one or more types of metadata associated with one or more of the content/media assets 106. In some cases, the content/media assets 106 could be categorized with metadata into a plurality of levels or categories. In the example shown, the content/media assets 106 could be tagged with metadata into a Level 1 type, a Level 2 type, a Level 3, and/or a Level N type. Of course, there could be more than four or less than four categories depending on the circumstances. Depending on the circumstances, the content/media assets 106 could have one or more other types of metadata.
In some cases, the levels or categories of metadata may be hierarchical in nature, such as a hierarchy that goes from media that is most specific to a product to less specific to the product. By way of example, a Level 1 type could indicate a media asset that is specific to a particular product model; a Level 2 type could indicate a media asset that is specific to that model's product family (e.g., at a higher level on the hierarchy), but not specific to the product model; Level 3 type could be a media asset more generally-related to the product, such as videos/documentation relating the manufacturer's dispenser products, but not specific to a product or product family. In some cases, the content/media assets 106 could be categorized in other ways. For example, Level 1 could be specific to the product model, Level 2 could be specific to a company's instructions for that product model. For example, the dispenser could be a commercial product that the company owns and has company-specific instructions on how employees should operate.
Consider an example with regard to cleaning instructions for a dispenser with a QR code. Cleaning instruction content tagged with metadata indicating Level 1 are specific to a particular product model and cleaning instruction content tagged with metadata indicating Level 2 could be company-specific cleaning instructions. The content/media can be tagged as Level 1 or Level 2, and depending which level to which the QR code is mapped, the QR code proxy system 102 can deliver the appropriate content/media. If the QR code associated with the dispenser in this example is mapped to Level 1, the cleaning instructions specific to the product model could be delivered upon scanning the QR code. However, if the dispenser is mapped to Level 2 in this example, the company-specific cleaning instructions would be delivered upon scanning the QR code. The media/content that is delivered upon scanning the QR code can be changed without changing the QR code on the dispenser; for example, the media/content can be changed by changing mapping of the QR code from Level 1 to Level 2, or vice versa. Thus, the QR code proxy system 102 can externally control the content/media that is delivered upon scanning the QR code associated with the dispenser without needing to change the QR code itself.
The proxy engine 202 is configured to receive a request for media/content from the computing device 112 upon scanning a QR code 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d, and determine which content/media assets to provide based on the QR code 110a, 110b, 110c, 110d that is scanned. As explained herein, in some embodiments, the proxy engine 202 determines the media/content to provide based on a content/media routing map 204 that establishes associations between QR codes 110a, 110b, 110c, or 110d and one or more content/media assets 106. For example, the content/media routing map 204 could be a table indexed based on QR codes. The table may associate each QR code with particular content/media asset(s), and entries in the table can be edited to change the content/media assets that are associated with each QR code. Upon doing a lookup in the content/media routing map 204 to determine one or more content/media assets associated with the QR code that has been scanned, the proxy engine 202 is configured to provide the one or more content/media assets to the computing device 112 that scanned the QR code.
As shown, the various components of the environment 200 may be embodied as hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. As such, in some embodiments, one or more of the components of the environment 200 may be embodied as circuitry or collection of electrical devices (e.g., a proxy engine circuitry 202). Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, those components may be embodied as hardware, firmware, or other resources of the processor 118.
As shown, the content/media routing map 204 includes one or more content/media asset identifications 302 associated with each QR code (and/or global ID). In some embodiments, the content/media asset identifications 302 may be network locations where the content/media assets are located for each QR code. In the example shown, QR Code 1 304, QR Code 2 306, QR Code 3 308, QR Code 4 310, QR Code 5 312, and QR Code N 314 are associated with Level 1 316, Level 2 318, Level 3 320, Type 1 322, Type 2 324, and Type 3 326, respectively. In this example, when QR Code 1 is scanned, the proxy engine 202 will do a lookup of the content/media routing map 204 and determine a network address with Level 1 316 content/media assets. Likewise, the proxy engine 202 will do a lookup of the content/media routing map 204 for QR Code 2 306 and determine the network address associated with Level 2 318, and so forth. This allows the proxy engine 202 to determine the content/media assets corresponding to each QR code. Additionally, the content/media routing map 204 can be edited to change the content/media assets associated with QR codes to change the content/media assets that are provided upon scanning the QR codes, without needing to change the QR codes on the dispensers themselves. This allows the content/media assets of the QR codes to be externally controlled and managed.
Referring now to
Referring now to
In the example shown in
Illustrative examples of the technologies disclosed herein are provided below. An embodiment of the technologies may include any one or more, and any combination of, the examples described below.
Example 1 includes a QR code proxy system with a content/media routing map and a proxy engine. The content/media routing map is to establish an association between a plurality of dispensers each with a respective QR code and a plurality of digital dispenser assets. The proxy engine is to: (i) determine an identity of a dispenser of the plurality of dispensers based on a QR code; and (ii) respond with one or more digital dispenser assets based on the association established by the content/media routing map.
Example 2 includes the subject matter of Example 1, and wherein: the proxy engine is to edit associations between one or more of the plurality of dispensers and one or more of the plurality of digital dispenser assets.
Example 3 includes the subject matter of Examples 1-2, and wherein: to edit associations between the plurality of dispensers and the plurality of digital dispenser assets comprises editing associations between one or more QR codes and one or more digital dispenser assets.
Example 4 includes the subject matter of Examples 1-3, and wherein: the content/media routing map comprises a table that is indexed based on the plurality of QR codes.
Example 5 includes the subject matter of Examples 1-4, and wherein: each QR code embeds a global identifier that uniquely identifies a dispenser of the plurality of dispensers.
Example 6 includes the subject matter of Examples 1-5, and wherein: the global identifier comprises a unique alphanumeric sequence.
Example 7 includes the subject matter of Examples 1-6, and wherein: the global identifier comprises a serial number of a dispenser.
Example 8 includes the subject matter of Examples 1-7, and wherein: the proxy engine is to respond with a different digital dispenser asset based on one or more changes to the content/media routing map.
Example 9 includes the subject matter of Examples 1-8, and wherein: the content/media routing map is to establish one or more metadata parameters to organize of the plurality of digital dispenser assets.
Example 10 includes the subject matter of Examples 1-9, and wherein: the content/media routing map includes a first level metadata parameter corresponding to a product specific digital dispenser asset.
Example 11 includes the subject matter of Examples 1-10, and wherein: the content/media routing map includes a second level metadata parameter corresponding to a product family digital dispenser asset.
Example 12 includes the subject matter of Examples 1-11, and wherein: the content/media routing map includes a third level metadata parameter corresponding to a company specific digital dispenser asset.
Example 13 includes the subject matter of Examples 1-12, and wherein: the proxy engine is to change an association between a QR code and one of (1) a product specific digital dispenser asset; (2) a product family digital dispenser asset; or (3) a company specific digital dispenser asset by editing one or more entries regarding the QR code in the content/media routing map.
Example 14 includes one or more non-transitory, computer-readable storage media. The media has a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, in response to being executed, cause a computing device to: establish an association between a plurality of dispensers each with a respective QR code and a plurality of digital dispenser assets; determine an identity of a dispenser of the plurality of dispensers based on a QR code; and respond with one or more digital dispenser assets based on the association established by the content/media routing map.
Example 15 includes the subject matter of Example 14, and further comprising changing the association between a plurality of dispensers and the plurality of digital dispenser assets comprising editing associations between one or more of the plurality of dispensers and one or more of the plurality of digital dispenser assets.
Example 16 includes the subject matter of Examples 14-15, and wherein: to change association between the plurality of dispensers and the plurality of digital dispenser assets comprises editing associations between one or more QR codes and one or more digital dispenser assets.
Example 17 includes the subject matter of Examples 14-16, and wherein: the association between the plurality of dispensers and the plurality of digital dispenser assets comprises a table that is indexed based on the plurality of QR codes.
Example 18 includes the subject matter of Examples 14-17, and wherein: each QR code embeds a global identifier that uniquely identifies a dispenser of the plurality of dispensers.
Example 19 includes the subject matter of Examples 14-18, and wherein: the global identifier comprises a unique alphanumeric sequence.
Example 20 includes the subject matter of Examples 14-19, and wherein: the global identifier comprises a serial number of a dispenser.
Example 21 includes the subject matter of Examples 14-20, and further comprising one or more instructions to respond with a different digital dispenser asset based on one or more changes to the association between the plurality of dispensers and the plurality of digital dispenser assets.
Example 22 includes the subject matter of Examples 14-21, and further comprising one or more instructions to establish one or more metadata parameters to organize of the plurality of digital dispenser assets.
Example 23 includes the subject matter of Examples 14-22, and wherein: the one or more metadata parameters includes a first level metadata parameter corresponding to a product specific digital dispenser asset.
Example 24 includes the subject matter of Examples 14-23, and wherein: the one or more metadata parameters includes a second level metadata parameter corresponding to a product family digital dispenser asset.
Example 25 includes the subject matter of Examples 14-24, and wherein: the one or more metadata parameters includes a third level metadata parameter corresponding to a company specific digital dispenser asset.
Example 26 includes the subject matter of Examples 14-25, and further comprising one or more instruction to change an association between a QR code and one of (1) a product specific digital dispenser asset; (2) a product family digital dispenser asset; or (3) a company specific digital dispenser asset by editing one or more entries regarding the QR code in the content/media routing map.
Example 27 includes a computer-implemented method in which an association is established between a plurality of dispensers each with a respective QR code and a plurality of digital dispenser assets. The method includes the step of determining an identity of a dispenser of the plurality of dispensers based on a QR code. Additionally, the method includes responding with one or more digital dispenser assets based on the association established by the content/media routing map.
Example 28 includes the subject matter of Example 27, and further comprising changing the association between a plurality of dispensers and the plurality of digital dispenser assets comprising editing associations between one or more of the plurality of dispensers and one or more of the plurality of digital dispenser assets.
Example 29 includes the subject matter of Examples 27-28, and wherein: changing association between the plurality of dispensers and the plurality of digital dispenser assets comprises editing associations between one or more QR codes and one or more digital dispenser assets.
Example 30 includes the subject matter of Examples 27-29, and wherein: the association between the plurality of dispensers and the plurality of digital dispenser assets comprises a table that is indexed based on the plurality of QR codes.
Example 31 includes the subject matter of Examples 27-30, and wherein: each QR code embeds a global identifier that uniquely identifies a dispenser of the plurality of dispensers.
Example 32 includes the subject matter of Examples 27-31, and wherein: the global identifier comprises a unique alphanumeric sequence.
Example 33 includes the subject matter of Examples 27-32, and wherein: the global identifier comprises a serial number of a dispenser.
Example 34 includes the subject matter of Examples 27-33, and further comprising one or more instructions to respond with a different digital dispenser asset based on one or more changes to the association between the plurality of dispensers and the plurality of digital dispenser assets.
Example 35 includes the subject matter of Examples 27-34, and further comprising one or more instructions to establish one or more metadata parameters to organize of the plurality of digital dispenser assets.
Example 36 includes the subject matter of Examples 27-35, and wherein: the one or more metadata parameters includes a first level metadata parameter corresponding to a product specific digital dispenser asset.
Example 37 includes the subject matter of Examples 27-36, and wherein: the one or more metadata parameters includes a second level metadata parameter corresponding to a product family digital dispenser asset.
Example 38 includes the subject matter of Examples 27-37, and wherein: the one or more metadata parameters includes a third level metadata parameter corresponding to a company specific digital dispenser asset.
Example 39 includes the subject matter of Examples 27-38, and further comprising one or more instruction to change an association between a QR code and one of (1) a product specific digital dispenser asset; (2) a product family digital dispenser asset; or (3) a company specific digital dispenser asset by editing one or more entries regarding the QR code in the content/media routing map.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/294,631 filed Dec. 29, 2021 for a “Dispenser Identification System,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2022/053822 | 12/22/2022 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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63294631 | Dec 2021 | US |