Patent Application
20160104062
The invention relates to apparatus and methods for tracking, billing and otherwise servicing vacationers at a recreational facility, such as a resort, convention center or hotel.
(Not applicable)
Resorts, country clubs, municipal recreational facilities, cruise ships, convention centers, theme parks, museums and so forth often have many recreational options. Such options may include theatrical presentations, rides, restaurants, fast food facilities, classes, parties, meetings, exhibition halls, pools, tennis courts, horseback riding, and so forth. Operators of such facilities often have a number of reasons for controlling and/or monitoring use of and or access to their facilities, and the various attractions located therein by patrons.
At the present time, in a typical facility, one or more individuals are present at the entrance to the venue hosting the attraction, event or other offering. These individuals check persons wishing to enter the attraction venue, requesting and/or collecting and/or ripping tickets in half.
Tickets to facilities, such as amusement parks, are often purchased on the Internet. However, due to the fact that multiple tickets can be printed, consumers are generally provided only with an identification number or alphanumeric. When the individual arrives at the attraction, he or she presents the reservation number at a kiosk where specially printed tickets are provided. Typically these tickets are collected and ripped in half at the venue. These specially printed tickets have a format which is largely unknown to the individual attending and offering and which may be difficult to copy.
Such systems suffer from multiple drawbacks. For example, the cost of personnel at the entrance to the venue is high. Moreover, for quality of service reasons, multiple personnel are often employed at the entrance to the venue. In addition, the possibility exists that reservations may be made and resold by “scalpers”. Individuals may even swap tickets once they enter the facility, posing a security risk.
Given the longstanding recognition that it is desirable to track usage at a facility, for many years numerous solutions have been proposed and implemented. For example, using a rubber stamp and ink to identify individuals who have paid a fee is something which has been done for at least 50 years. Other possibilities may involve selling tickets for cash, providing unlimited access to all facilities, for example in a convention center, or other expedient. The possibility also exists to use RFID technology which has been used in a wide variety of venues, such as transit systems. However, tickets, RFID identifiers, and the like have the disadvantage that they can be transferred to other persons. Moreover, in the case of tickets or RFID identifier devices associated with unlimited use, a single one of the same may be shared by multiple individuals, one of whom is using the ticket while the other is perhaps traveling to town, and then vice versa, reducing the income of the facility operator.
Despite their drawbacks and limitations, tickets and rubberstamps applied to the skin of the user remain the only significant methodologies used for identification of individuals and tracking their consumption of resources.
In accordance with the invention, a method and a temporary cutaneous identification device for identifying individuals is provided.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the temporary cutaneous identification device includes a barcode which may be read by or at, for example, the turnstile providing admission to an attraction venue. Alternatively, the inventive temporary cutaneous identification device may be read by a smartphone being used by a member of the facility's staff. In such instance, the smartphone used by the staff member has an appropriate application downloaded on it, which provides for both 1) the input of data associated or to be associated with the individual's temporary cutaneous identification device, and 2) the retrieval of information either by direct request or keyword searching. This enables the generation of a more complete guest record at a central server. At the same time, artificial intelligence software on a computing device with the capability of accessing the central server database periodically checks guest conditions, measurements, medications, procedures and so forth to identify potential issues, inconsistencies, and other circumstances suitable for bringing to the attention of different classes of resort personnel. More particularly, it is contemplated that certain conditions might be brought to emergency services, security or other personnel.
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The operation of the inventive infrastructure and method will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:
A hardware system constructed in accordance with the present invention and suitable for practicing the method of the present invention is illustrated in
In the accordance with the invention as illustrated, a user connects to the facility (such as a resort, convention center or theater) by accessing the facility website and reserving one or a number of facility products, such as a room, a ticket for a ride, a ticket for a party, access to an ice skating rink or ski lift (for example for a morning, day or week), access to a pool or tennis court, access to a convention hall, access to a course, a ticket for a theater, etc.
Such selections as well as user information may be downloaded from user devices 2 to server 1 where it may be stored for later use. At the same time the individual will provide, optionally, credit card information, identification information, demographic information, etc. The individual may also be asked whether he wants to preserve certain nights, movies, attractions, meetings, and so forth. All of this information may be stored on server 1 for later use. The guest may also be given the opportunity to select a level of membership at the facility, such as bronze, silver, gold and platinum levels of membership. Each level of membership would have different privileges and different access to the various attractions at the facility.
When the user-guest arrives at the facility, a reception subsystem 5 (which may be a programmable general-purpose personal computer) recalls stored information and the user-guest is given the opportunity to change rights (for example by raising or lowering his level of membership), movies, or other attractions.
At reception, the user is provided with the inventive cutaneous identification device, which confers upon the user the ability to access attractions as a guest (at a particular level), and is thus free to enjoy the attractions of the facility. The guest may continue to use his personal smartphone 6, which can access server 1 via local cell towers 7 and cyberspace 4 for the purpose of implementing new choices, or being accessed by the system on matters related to the stay of the guest. Such use by guests after they are at the facility may involve making additional reservations, receiving alerts, receiving offers, responding to offers, changing their preselected options, and so forth, all of which may be done by accessing server 1. Likewise, staff members may use their personal smartphones 8, to receive instructions to assist certain customers. Staff members may also use their smartphones 8 to make changes or otherwise assist guests.
In accordance with the invention, guest smart phones 6 may be used to track location, useful, for example, for the purpose of making offers or for security purposes. Such tracking may be done after users consent, using the publicly available cellular telephone system.
Alternatively, while at the facility, users may be given the option to sign onto the Wi-Fi system for the facility, and thus avoid use of their cellular time and data. In the event that the user is on the facility's private Wi-Fi network, the private Wi-Fi network of the facility may also be used to determine the location of the user.
In accordance with the invention, access to various attractions, such as tennis courts, pools, theaters and so forth may be gated, with gates responsive to the inventive cutaneous information system to provide admission. For example, venues 9 may be provided with turnstiles, and when the user presents his cutaneous identification device to a scanner (for example by holding the wrist in facing relationship to a scanner), the turnstile is released and admission is allowed.
Alternatively or additionally, staff smartphones 8 may be provided with a scanner app, which allows them to read the inventive cutaneous identification device, and allow those with proper credentials into the attraction, or take steps to validate the individual to enter the attraction, for example, by charging their account with the cost of admission to the attraction. Accordingly, it will be understood that server 1, reception subsystem computer 5, guest smart phones 6, staff smartphones 8 and venue subsystems 9 together cooperate, through the use of cyberspace 4 and cellular tower 7, to comprise the facility's system.
Turning to
In accordance of the invention, the option is provided for personalized treatment of the individual. For example, information on such things as allergies, food preferences, recreational interests, and so forth may be gathered at the reception desk and input into server 1. Badges may be provided where there are a variable number of informational indications printed on the guest badges. Some guests may require a relatively small number of items of information. Other guests may have multiple allergies, and other characteristics which should be displayed on a guest badge. Where there are a large number of items of information which are important enough to put on a guest badge, smaller type may be used in order to fit all the information on the guest badge. Alternatively, if there is a small amount of information for the guest badge, relatively large type may be used. More important information may be emphasized by using large type and/or another device, such as color.
At step 16 the guest is given his room, and at step 20 an identification number (or alphanumeric) associated with the guest at the time of the booking of the reservation over, for example, the Internet is associated with information that the individual is now a guest. The inventive temporary cutaneous identification device is then composed at step 22 based on information stored in hard drive 56 at step 14. Optionally, a guest is given a choice of designs, or the design may be a barcode or similar identifier printed in invisible ink, visible only under the ultraviolet light of a scanner located at the venue, for example at the entrance, of the particular attraction.
The inventive cutaneous identification device is then printed at step 44 and applied by, for example, hotel personnel in the reception area of the hotel, to the back of the wrist or the back of the hand, for example, of the guest at step 46. The application of a badge 26 to the back of the hand is illustrated in
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, guest badges for all guests in the system will include the same types of information in the same places. The optimal size for the inventive temporary identification device (hereinafter referred to as “badges”) is approximately equal to between 15% and 35% of the circumference of the wrist. Based on gender identification in the database, larger size badges may be provided for men as opposed to women, and smaller devices may be provided for children in accordance with their age, as the same as recorded in the database of server 1.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, diecut sheets, similar to the sheets used with printers making temporary tattoos, may be used to print the badges. Different diecut sheets may be provided for guest badges of different sizes, for example in the case of a family.
In accordance with the invention, it is contemplated that a plurality of guest badges will be generated at the same time in the printing of a single sheet, for example for a family or larger party, on a single sheet of, for example, paper 23, as illustrated in
In accordance with the invention, the guest badge preferably includes an optically readable code 42. Alternatively, optically readable code 42 may be replaced by any automated readable device, such as an RFID chip, a quad code, and so forth. Moreover, it is noted that the system may accommodate OCR capability which would make the generation of a machine-readable code, such as code 42, unnecessary, because the system could simply read the same information that a human operator reads.
In accordance with the invention, guest badges are generated using technology of the types used to generate temporary tattoos. Thus, the guest badges essentially comprise an adhesive layer with an image formed of an ink deposit overlying the adhesive layer. After application, the result is an ink image glued to the skin by the adhesive.
Referring back to
At step 50, available information is analyzed by the system in accordance with an algorithm and, if appropriate, the system instructs the individual receiving the guest to offer an upgrade at step 50. The system then proceeds to step 52 where sales goals are developed by an algorithm on the hard drive, for example, of the server, on the basis of available information. Such sales goals may include overall dollar amounts, and particular items which information indicates as likely to be of interest to the particular guest. Depending upon guest location and, optionally, other factors, particular items (such as products or services, events and so forth) may be suggested to guests by sending them text messages on guest cell phones 6, at step 60. Such suggestions are sent periodically, for example once every 90 minutes during the day and early evening in response to a periodic prompt at step 59.
At a time measured at step 66, the system determines at step 68 whether there has been a response to the text message (for example, acceptance of an invitation to go to a particular attraction close to the location where the guest is at the time of the text message). Location is measured periodically at step 56 using any one of a number of available technologies. If there has been no response after the time has elapsed, the system proceeds to send a reminder text at step 70. Alternatively, if an affirmative response has been received, the system sends a text message to a staff member's smart phone 8 at step 86. The step instructs a staff member to greet the guests and knowledge the recent decision to accept an invitation to an unscheduled event. A “thank you” gift, as determined by the system algorithm at step 52, may also be included as an incentive to accept future invitations. In addition, the system at step 86 sends the acceptance information to database 56 enabling better responses to guest activities and reshaping goals at step 52.
Periodically, in response to prompting at step 59, the system checks, at step 80, data which has been input into the system to determine whether an alarm condition exists. An alarm condition may be indicated by a complaint which the consumer application downloaded by the guest when he arrives at the facility may facilitate by a communication from the guests to server 1 at step 54. If an alarm condition is found to exist, at step 82 the system proceeds to step 84 where text messages sent to the smart phone of a staff member located proximate the guests. Alternatively, if there is no alarm the system proceeds to step 52 where information is updated and goals are reset.
Referring to
When a guest is being received, the information is communicated to computer 110, which causes computer 110 to consult a generation algorithm 116, which generates the badge design. The badge design is then communicated to and printed by a printer 118, optionally using information stored on the hard drive 138 of server 1. Once printed, the inventive badge may be applied to the back of the hand or wrist or other area on the exposed skin of the guest.
In accordance with the invention, it is also contemplated that a photo of the guest is taken using a camera 134. Camera 134 may be a conventional camera coupled to computer 110 by a cable. Alternatively, camera 134 may be the camera on the smartphone 8 of a staff member and coupled by a cellular communications link 136 to computer 110. Alternatively, dedicated devices operating on a local private wireless network operated by the facility may be employed.
The structure of venue subsystem 9 is illustrated in
If there is a question of guest identity, a camera, permanently connected to processing unit 214 may be used to check guest identity based, for example, on facial recognition. Alternatively, as illustrated, a camera 234 on a smartphone belonging to a staff member or the guest may be coupled by any appropriate communications link 236 to processing unit 214.
In the event that the inventive guest badge has deteriorated to the point where recognition is difficult, the monitor 218 may present a message that the guest needs a new badge. At the same time, it will send text or other notification to a nearby staff member who will instruct processing unit 214 to created a badge using printer 236. The badge is then applied by the staff member to the wrist of the user after the previous badge has been removed, for example, using mineral oil or a specialized product. It is noted that in accordance with the invention, each guest is given a single badge at the time he or she is received at the facility. This is to prevent the use of additional badges by unauthorized persons. Accordingly, replacement badges are applied by facility personnel as the need arises, or as requested by guests.
In accordance with the invention, it is contemplated that the guest admission area of the facility may optionally have on hand a number of input devices, which may take the form of a mini tablet, or full size tablet incorporating a camera and wireless conductivity. When a guest is being received, an input device is given to the guest. The input device prompts the guest to fill in various informational units to be used by the system. This information, including an image of the face of the guest, is directly transferred by the system for storage by the server.
Further in accordance with the invention, it is contemplated that guest image presentations may advantageously also be included on sheets of guest badges.
Referring to
When it is desired to make a sheet of guest badges, sheet 510 with coating 512 is placed in a laser or inkjet printer and an image is deposited thereon. The image takes the form of deposits of ink 514, as illustrated in
During the manufacture of a guest badge sheet, a second sheet of paper 516 is put proximate to and in facing spaced relationship to sheet 510 after a protective layer of paper 518 bearing a layer of release agent 520 has been removed. This allows a layer of adhesive 522 overlying a layer of release agent 524 to be exposed prior to assembly of the guest badge sheet, as illustrated in
When it is desired to apply a guest badge, a guest badge is separated from the sheet, for example by removing it from the sheet. To apply the guest badge, adhesive layer 522 must be exposed by removal of paper sheet 516 with release layer 524 by peeling the same way as illustrated in
After separated guest badge 530 has been adhered to the skin, it is possible to remove paper member 510 with release coating 512 because adhesive 522, transferred from sheet 516 to sheet 510, holds ink 514 more securely than release layer 512. This leaves adhesive 522 secured to the skin and ink 514 forming the desired guest badge image secured by adhesive 522 to the skin of the guest.
The manufacture of badge sheets is of relatively simple methodology. Accordingly, it is contemplated that such manufacture will occur both at the point of admission of the guest and at the point of care. Any structure and method of manufacture of the type used in the field of temporary tattoos may be employed to implement the methodology of the present invention.
As discussed above, badges may be manufactured in any facility, such as a hotel or amusement park, by staff using materials commonly available for tattoo generation. Generally, as illustrated in
In contrast to the optical reader badge previously described, an RFID chip 754 may be employed, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Such guest badges may be removed by any technique used for the removal of temporary tattoos, such as rubbing with mineral oil, alcohol and so forth.
Moisture may then be applied to paper layer 510, resulting in the release of the assembly of paper layer 510 and release coating 512 from the badge assembly, leaving behind guest badge 760. The resulting badge is shown in
In accordance with a preferred embodiment, guest badges are applied using a “peel packed” water impregnated foam pad designed to cover the temporary cutaneous identification device fully, and with sufficient aqueous solution that several temporary cutaneous identification devices can be applied with a single pad, but without so much aqueous phase as to drip or run. Such wet sponges, pads or the like may be packaged in any suitable container, such as double foil heat sealed containers of the type used to contain perfumes, condiments, and so forth.
The inventive guest identification badge can also be easily removed using a “peel pack” foam sponge impregnated with a solution capable of dissolving the adhesive of the inventive temporary cutaneous identification device without irritating the skin (e.g., mineral oil, baby oil, Detatchol™, etc.).
While illustrative embodiments of the invention have been described, it is noted that various modifications will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the above description and drawings. Such modifications are within the scope of the invention which is limited and defined only by the following claims.
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Patent Application No. 62/053725, filed Sep. 22, 2014, and and PCT Application No. PCT/US15/51289 filed Sep. 22, 2015, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62053725 | Sep 2014 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/US2015/051289 | Sep 2015 | US |
| Child | 14862081 | US |
