Patent Application
20230095641
Aspects of the disclosure generally relate to wireless registration, check in, check out, and tracking systems and methods for attendees of events.
Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) technology has been evolving due to the introduction of this technology in the smartphone. UWB can perform precise Time of Flight (ToF) and Angle of Arrival (AoA) measurements, which may be used for measuring the distance between devices and the angle between which devices are located. These techniques may allow for the precise location of devices.
In one or more illustrative embodiments, an attendance system for an event is provided. The system includes wireless sensors and a server programmed to utilize the wireless sensors to determine locations, over a period of time, of wireless devices of attendees of an event, provide event materials to the wireless devices using the wireless sensors, and indicate attendance of the attendees at the event based on the locations over, the period of time, of the wireless devices of the attendees of the event.
In one or more illustrative examples, an attendance method for an event is provided. Wireless sensors are utilized to determine locations over a period of time of wireless devices of attendees of an event. Event materials are provided to the wireless devices using the wireless sensors. Attendance of the attendees at the event is indicated based on the locations over the period of time of the wireless devices of the attendees of the event.
In one or more illustrate examples, a non-transitory computer-readable medium includes instructions that, when executed by a server in communication with wireless sensors over a communication network, causes the server to perform operations including to utilize the wireless sensors to determine locations over a period of time of wireless devices of attendees of an event, the event including a plurality of rooms, each room of the plurality of rooms includes at least one wireless sensor of the wireless sensors, the at least one wireless sensor configured to determine whether the wireless devices are located in a specific room corresponding to the at least one wireless sensor, the wireless sensors including Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) sensors, the locations of wireless devices being determined using Time of Flight (ToF) and Angle of Arrival (AoA) measurements of signals between the wireless devices and the wireless sensors; provide event materials to the wireless devices using the wireless sensors; maintain an event schedule defining a track for each of the wireless devices, the track defining which of the plurality of rooms of the event are authorized for access by the wireless devices; compare the locations over the period of time of the wireless devices to which of the plurality of rooms the wireless devices are authorized to attend; raise an alert responsive to one or more of the wireless devices being in attendance in the one or more rooms that are not authorized for the access or being in the incorrect room; and indicate the track as being a completed status for one device of the wireless devices responsive to the one device attending each of the plurality of rooms of the event are authorized for the access by the one device.
As required, detailed embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present disclosure.
The database server 102 may include various types of computing apparatus, such as a computer workstation, a server, a desktop computer, a virtual server instance executed by a mainframe server, or some other computing system and/or device. Computing devices, such as the database server 102, generally include a memory on which computer-executable instructions may be maintained, where the instructions may be executable by one or more processors of the computing device. Such instructions and other data may be stored using a variety of computer-readable media. A computer-readable medium (also referred to as a processor-readable medium or storage) includes any non-transitory (e.g., tangible) medium that participates in providing data (e.g., instructions) that may be read by a computer (e.g., by the processor of the database server 102). In general, processors receive instructions, e.g., from the memory via the computer-readable storage medium, etc., and executes these instructions, thereby performing one or more processes, including one or more of the processes described herein. Computer-executable instructions may be compiled or interpreted from computer programs created using a variety of programming languages and/or technologies, including, without limitation, and either alone or in combination, JAVA, C, C++, C#, FORTRAN, PASCAL, VISUAL BASIC, JAVA SCRIPT, PERL, Structured Query Language (SQL), etc.
The database server 102 may include instructions that, when loaded into memory and executed by the database server 102, cause the database server 102 to perform database functionality including the storage, update, and retrieval of relational information. Databases or data repositories may include various kinds of mechanisms for storing, accessing, and retrieving various kinds of data, including a hierarchical database, a set of files in a file system, an application database in a proprietary format, a relational database management system (RDBMS), etc. An RDBMS generally employs SQL in addition to a language for creating, storing, editing, and executing stored procedures, such as the SQL language mentioned above. As shown, the database server 102 may be configured to maintain information including the event schedule 104, event materials 106, and attendance data 108.
The event schedule 104 may include information indicative of one or more events. An event may be a conference, seminar, test, conference, party, sports game, or other gathering in which attendees may be scheduled to attend at a predefined time and place. In some examples, the event may include a single session and location. For instance, a concert may include a single event in a single auditorium. In other examples, the event may include multiple sessions and/or locations. For instance, a conference may include multiple meetings in different areas (e.g., rooms, portions of a room, areas of a field, booths at a conference, space in front of a particular monitor or display, etc.). In some examples, there may be multiple concurrent meetings or tracks. As one possibility a first set of meetings in a first set of areas may follow a first track of events at a conference, and a second set of meetings in a second set of areas may follow a second track of events at the conference. The event schedule 104 may further include unique identifiers (IDs) of attendees. Based on the IDs, the event schedule 104 may indicate which attendees are checked in or not checked in, as well as which attendees are signed up to attend which meetings, tracks, or sessions. The IDs may also be associated with other attendee information, such as attendee name, attendee contact information, attendee device identifier, etc. Example details of the event schedule 104 are shown in
The event materials 106 may include documents that relate to the subject matter of the event. In an example, the event materials 106 may include materials presented at the event, such as slide presentations. In another example, the event materials 106 may include supporting materials that may be referenced but are not directly presented at the event, such as academic papers. For some events, all event materials 106 may be available to each attendee. For other events, only a portion of the event materials 106 may be appliable or available. For instance, an attendee may sign up for one track of a multiple track event. In such a case, the attendee may only require (or only be given access to) the event materials 106 corresponding to that track.
The attendance data 108 may include information with respect to the timing and location of attendance of the attendees at the event. For instance, the attendance data 108 may include indications of when attendees checked-in to the conference, when the attendees left the conference, which area or areas of the conference the attendees were located in, etc. An example detail of the attendance data 108 is shown in
The wireless sensors 110 may be configured to track the attendees for use in generation of the attendance data 108. For instance, the wireless sensors 110 may operate using various wireless technologies, such as BLUETOOTH Low Energy (BLE), UWB, and/or Wi-Fi. The attendees may be tracked based on wireless devices 112 carried by the attendees. For instance, UWB location technologies such as ToF and AoA may be used to determine the locations of the wireless devices 112, which may serve as proxy for the locations of the event attendees.
In many examples, the wireless devices 112 may be smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, or other wireless devices 112 that are owned by the attendees. In other examples, the wireless devices 112 may be devices that are given to the attendees at the event, such as wireless tag devices. The wireless devices 112 may be programmed to emit the IDs unique for each attendee (and/or identifiers of the wireless devices 112). These IDs may be compared to the IDs specified in the event schedule 104, such that the attendees may be easily tracked by the database server 102.
In another example, the wireless devices 112 may be programed to emit tokens or other cryptographic data generated with a pre-shared key associated with each attendee and/or their device. These tokens or other cryptographic data may be generated responsive to messages from the database server 102 sent to the wireless device 112 using one or more communication networks 114 and/or the wireless sensors 110. These tokens or data may be captured by the wireless sensors 110 and provided to the database server 102 to track the wireless devices 112.
The communication network 114 may include various wired and/or wireless forms of communication configured to allow the wireless sensors 110 to communicate with the database server 102. By communicating over the communication network 114 the database server 102 may be able to receive information from the wireless sensors 110 for creating the attendance data 108. Additionally, the communication over the communication network 114 may be used to allow the database server 102 to send the event materials 106 to the wireless devices 112.
The event schedule 104 may further indicate a track 304 that specifies permissions for the attendee to attend the various portions of the event. As shown, this may include the full conference, one or more subsets or tracks of the conference, lunch only, etc. Referring to
Referring back to
In some examples, the event schedule 104 may also include a completed event 308 column indicative of whether the attendee actually attended the track 304 of the conference to which the attendee was assigned. This column may be filled out based on the attendance data 108. For instance, the completed event 308 may initially set to FALSE, but if the attendee did attend each of the rooms of the track, the completed event 308 may be set to TRUE.
The tracking and/or check in may be based on the attendee distance from the wireless sensors 110. This distance threshold to check in or to associate an attendee with a location may be programmable (e.g., may be updated based on the event venue). The ToF measurements between the wireless sensors 110 and the wireless device 112 may be used to determine how close the attendee is located to a session location and to check the attendee in based on the distance measurement and/or also the AoA measurement.
If the user does not have a wireless device 112 enabled with sufficient localization technology (e.g., UWB, BLE, or WiFi with ToF and AoA), then the attendee may be provided with a UWB tag as a wireless device 112. The tag may then be used to emit these UWB signals which can be tracked. These tags may be reusable and handed in at the end of the event or may be given to the attendee and programmed for a future event the attendee is planning to attend.
Using the determined location, the database server 102 may automatically check the attendee corresponding to the wireless device 112 into that room 400 or session. For instance, the database server 102 may record a check in time 500 for the attendee joining the room 400, and a check out time 502 for the attendee leaving the room 400. A completed room 504 value may be initially set to FALSE. If the attendee stays located in the room 400 for the time period specified in the event schedule 104 (e.g., as shown in
While the example event 200 of
At operation 602, the database server 102 locates the wireless devices 112. For instance, the wireless sensors 110 may be located in one or more areas of the event 200, and the locations of the wireless devices 112 may be tracked using ToF and AoA techniques. In an example, if a wireless device 112 is located closest to a wireless sensor 110 in a particular area, then the wireless device 112 may be deemed to be located within that area.
At operation 604, the database server 102 determines whether the wireless device 112 is authorized to be at the event 200. For instance, based on the area identified at operation 602, the database server 102 may access the event schedule 104 to determine whether the device ID 302 of the wireless device 112 (and/or the attendee ID 300 broadcast by the wireless device 112) is authorized to be in attendance in the area according to the event schedule 104. For instance, if the event schedule 104 does not include an entry for the attendee, then control passes to operation 606 to indicate an alert condition. Or, if the event schedule 104 does include an entry for the attendee but not for the area and current time, control may also pass to operation 606. Or, if the event schedule indicates that the attendee is in the wrong location, control may also pass to operation 606. If the event schedule 104 indicates the current area is authorized for the attendee pursuant to the event schedule 104, control passes to operation 608.
At operation 606, the database server 102 raises an alert. In an example, this may include sending a message to the wireless device 112 (e.g., via the device ID 302), informing the attendee that the attendee is not authorized to attend (or that the attendee is at the wrong location). In another example, this may include informing staff of the event 200 that there is an attendee at the area that is not authorized. After operation 606 the process 600 ends.
At operation 608, the database server 102 determines whether the wireless device 112 is checked in. For instance, the database server 102 may access the attendance data 108 to identify whether the wireless device 112 was previously located in the area in which the wireless device 112 is now located. If so, then the wireless device 112 does not require check in. If, however, the wireless device 112 has moved and is now in a different area, then the process 600 proceeds to operation 610 to check the wireless device 112 into the area.
At operation 610, the database server 102 checks the wireless device 112 into the area. For example, as shown in
At operation 612, the database server 102 determines whether the wireless device 112 has the event materials 106. In an example, the database server 102 accesses the event schedule 104 (e.g., via the device ID 302) to determine whether event materials 106 were provided to the attendee. If not, control passes to operation 614 to provide the event materials 106 to the wireless device 112 via the wireless sensors 110. After operation 614, or if event materials 106 are not required to be provided at operation 612, control passes to operation 616.
At operation 616, the database server 102 determines whether the attendee has checked out. For instance, the database server 102 may access the attendance data 108 to identify whether the wireless device 112 was previously located in the area and now is no longer in the area. If so, then the process 600 proceeds to operation 618 to check the wireless device 112 out of the area and record the check-out time 502 time into the attendance data 108.
At operation 618, the database server 102 checks the wireless device 112 out of the area. For example, as shown in
At operation 620, the database server 102 determines whether the track is completed for the attendee. For example, the database server 102 may access the event schedule 104 for the track of the attendee and the attendance data 108 for the attendee, and determine if each of the rooms 400 of the track 304 of the attendee marked as completed rooms 504. If so, control passes to operation 622 to mark a completed event 310 field in the event schedule 104 as completed for the attendee.
After operation 620, the process 600 ends. It should be noted that the process 600 may be performed continuously throughout the event 200 to track the attendees. Moreover, one or more operations of the process 600 may be performed concurrently or in an order other than as shown in the
Computing devices described herein, such as the database server 102, wireless sensors 110, and wireless devices 112 generally include computer-executable instructions where the instructions may be executable by one or more computing devices such as those listed above. Computer-executable instructions may be compiled or interpreted from computer programs created using a variety of programming languages and/or technologies, including, without limitation, and either alone or in combination, Java™, C, C++, C#, Visual Basic, JavaScript, Python, JavaScript, Perl, etc. In general, a processor (e.g., a microprocessor) receives instructions, e.g., from a memory, a computer-readable medium, etc., and executes these instructions, thereby performing one or more processes, including one or more of the processes described herein. Such instructions and other data may be stored and transmitted using a variety of computer-readable media.
With regard to the processes, systems, methods, heuristics, etc. described herein, it should be understood that, although the steps of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to a certain ordered sequence, such processes could be practiced with the described steps performed in an order other than the order described herein. It further should be understood that certain steps could be performed simultaneously, that other steps could be added, or that certain steps described herein could be omitted. In other words, the descriptions of processes herein are provided for the purpose of illustrating certain embodiments, and should in no way be construed so as to limit the claims.
Accordingly, it is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Many embodiments and applications other than the examples provided would be apparent upon reading the above description. The scope should be determined, not with reference to the above description, but should instead be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is anticipated and intended that future developments will occur in the technologies discussed herein, and that the disclosed systems and methods will be incorporated into such future embodiments. In sum, it should be understood that the application is capable of modification and variation.
All terms used in the claims are intended to be given their broadest reasonable constructions and their ordinary meanings as understood by those knowledgeable in the technologies described herein unless an explicit indication to the contrary in made herein. In particular, use of the singular articles such as “a,” “the,” “said,” etc. should be read to recite one or more of the indicated elements unless a claim recites an explicit limitation to the contrary.
The abstract of the disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.
While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms of the disclosure. Rather, the words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of the disclosure.
