Abstract:
Provided herein are tools for assisting a customer in locating products and/or services. An extension of these tools is the ability for a customer to communicate with other parties via a voice over the internet phone service. Specifically, through the use of, for example, advertising, kiosks can be made available to customers at regular locations throughout a geographical area, such as a shopping mall, a street comer, a building location, or the like. These kiosks would be funded, for example, by advertising which is streamed to display devices located on the kiosks. A user, upon approaching the kiosks, could enter a search criteria, such as a specific product or service request, and the kiosks would communicate with the necessary products/server databases to determine the availability, location, price, retailer, or the like, of the product/service. The customer could then, for example, use the voice-intelligent phone to contact, for example, the retailer to supplement the information provided via the kiosks.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    This invention relates to electronic communication over a distributed network. In particular, this invention relates to locating specific information within a distributed network, and communication over the network.  
           [0003]    2. Background of the Invention  
           [0004]    Locating a product can be achieved in various ways. For example, a person can thumb through a phone book and determine companies that sell products within a particular subject area. Then, for example, with a phone call, a use can determine whether a company has a particular product in stock, the price, the availability, or the like.  
           [0005]    Alternatively, a user can physically visit a number of companies querying them as to the availability of the desired product. Alternatively still, a user can navigate the Internet and attempt to locate product information in this manner.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    While existing systems and methods work well in general, they have a number of shortcomings. For example, often a customer may not have access to a phone, a phone book, or similar resources that allow that customer to locate a particular product. Similarly, a customer may not wish to expend personal resources in locating the desired products and/or service.  
           [0007]    The systems and methods of this invention provide tools for assisting a customer in locating products and/or services. An extension of these tools is the ability for a customer to communicate with other parties via a voice over the internet phone service. Specifically, through the use of, for example, advertising, kiosks can be made available to customers at regular locations throughout a geographical area, such as a shopping mall, a street corner, a building location, or the like. These kiosks would be funded, for examples by advertising which is streamed to display devices located on the kiosks. A user, upon approaching the kiosks, could enter a search criteria, such as a specific product or service request, and the kiosks would communicate with the necessary products/server databases to determine the availability, location, price, retailer, or the like, of the product/service. The customer could then, for example, use the voice-intelligent phone to contact, for example, the retailer to supplement the information provided via the kiosks.  
           [0008]    Alternatively, the kiosks can be used to access, for example, movies, news feeds, television stations, directory services, catalog services, video conferencing services, or the like, to a user.  
           [0009]    These and other features and advantages of this invention are described in or are apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    The embodiments of the invention will be described in detail, with reference to the following figures wherein:  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating exemplary electronic commerce systems according to this invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a screen shot of an exemplary user interface in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a screen shot of an exemplary user interface in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a screen shot of an exemplary user interface in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is a screen shot of an exemplary user interface in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 is a screen shot of an exemplary user interface in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 7 is a screen shot of an exemplary user interface in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 8 is a screen shot of an exemplary user interface in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 9 is a screen shot of an exemplary user interface in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 10 is a screen shot of an exemplary user interface in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 11 is a screen shot of an exemplary user interface in accordance with an embodiment of this invention;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 12 is a flow chart outlining exemplary methods for requesting information over a distributed network according to an embodiment of this invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 13 is an exemplary method for establishing communication over a distributed network according to an embodiment of this invention;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary information selection scheme according to an embodiment of this invention; and  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary method for determining subject matter according to an exemplary embodiment of this invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0026]    [0026]FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary e-commerce system according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. Specifically, the electronic commerce system  100  comprises a kiosk  110 , a voice-intelligent phone  200 , a product/server database  300 , a broadcast server  400 , and one or more digital information providers  500 , all interconnected by links  5  and distributed networks  10 .  
         [0027]    The kiosk  110  comprises a network interface  120 , a display device  130  and an input device  140 .  
         [0028]    The voice-intelligent phone  200  comprises a network interface  210 , a display device  220  and an input device  230 . The voice intelligent phone  200  is also connected to a plain old telephone system (POTS)  600 , such as a digital subscriber line, a direct dial connection, or the like, and voice over Internet protocol service provider  610 .  
         [0029]    A product/server database  300  is connected to one or more database server appliances  310 , an application server appliances  320 . Additionally, the broadcast server  400  is connected to one or more video content servers  410  and one or more advertising servers  420 .  
         [0030]    While the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 shows the electronic commerce system  100  and associated components collocated, it is to be appreciated that the various components of the electronic commerce system  100  can be located at distant portions of a distributed network, such as a local area network, a wide area network, an intranet and/or the Internet, or within a dedicated electronic commerce system. Thus, it should be appreciated that the components of the electronic commerce system  100  can be combined into one or more dedicated devices or collocated on a particular node of a distributed network. As it will be appreciated from the following description, and for reasons of computational efficiency, the components of the electronic commerce system can be arranged at any location within a distributed network without affecting the operation of the system.  
         [0031]    Furthermore, the links  5  can be a wired or wireless link or any other known or later developed element(s) that is capable of supplying and communicating electronic data to and from the connected elements. For example, the links  5  can be optical links and communications between the various components based on, for example, the TCP/IP network protocol. Additionally, the input devices  140  and  230  can be, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a speaker, a speech to text converter, a keypad, a digital camera or video recorder, or the like. The display devices  130  and  220  can be a computer monitor, a television, a digital display, an LCD display, or any other analog or digital device capable of displaying audio and/or video information to one or more users.  
         [0032]    In operation, the system is initialized, for example, by a user approaching the kiosk  110  and requesting specific information. For example, a user enters, via input device  140 , a request for product and/or services. This entry of product and/or service information can be, for example, a free form search, or, alternatively, a customized search where the user is directed, for example, by locality information, by product type, by information type, or the like, to a particular product. For example, FIGS.  2 - 11  illustrate an exemplary tailored search where a user is directed through geographical restrictions and then by product category to the desired product. For example, in FIG. 2, the user selects a country. Next, in FIG. 3, the user selects a particular state within that country. Then, a user selects a county within that state in FIG. 4.  
         [0033]    A user then selects, for example as illustrated in FIG. 5, a particular mall within that county. Next, a user, for example as illustrated in FIG. 6, selects a category of store within the selected mall. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 7, a user selects a particular department store.  
         [0034]    A user then selects a department as illustrated in FIG. 8. Then, a user selects a product type within that department as illustrated in FIG. 9. Then, as illustrated in FIG. 10, a user selects a product category. As illustrated in FIG. 11, a graphical user interface is assembled illustrating the products available based on the user&#39;s targeted search.  
         [0035]    Alternatively, if a user possesses the various information beforehand, the user can, for example, enter an advanced search directly which could, for example, include the necessary search parameters that would result in locating the desired product. Alternatively still, the user interfaces that assist a user in locating one or more of a product/service can be tailored in any manner that assists the user.  
         [0036]    For example, the kiosks  110  can employ a proprietary broadcasting technology. This technology could allow, for example, a user to track up to the minute broadcast video feeds from any source in the world, which could, for example, be identified as an additional advertising source for funding of free phone service. For example, a user in Virginia can initialize the system in search of a local news broadcast from North Carolina by selecting “News” from the user interface. A user would then select from a global directory of the United States the state, county, city and so forth, until the desired local broadcast station is located. A user could then make a selection and select from the local broadcast station&#39;s product showcase. For example, the user could select a category such as crime, weather, news headline, sports, or the like. Upon selection of a category, the broadcast is initiated which can be displayed on the display device or, for example, forwarded to a particular destination, such as the user&#39;s home.  
         [0037]    Thus, the kiosk  110 , upon receipt of the product/service information request, forwards the request, via link  5  and one or more distributed networks  10 , to a product/server database  300 . The product/server database  300  queries one or more of the data server appliance  310  and the application server appliance  320  to locate the requested information. The product/server database  300  can operate in a similar manner to commercially available search engines. Furthermore, the database service appliance  310  and the application server appliance  320  could be implemented as servers running, for example, commercially available search engine software. Therefore, the kiosks  110  are able to manage the convergence of voice, video and data over one or more distributed networks.  
         [0038]    Upon locating information pertaining to the requested product/service, the product/service database  300 , forwards, via link  5  and one or more distributed networks  10 , the results of the search to the kiosk  110 , the kiosk  110  receives, via network interface  120 , the results of the search and displays, on display device  130 , the results. A user can then, for example, request additional information about the search or products/service, or alternatively, establish a voice communication via the voice-intelligent phone  200 , and the aid of the network interface  210  and the display device  220 , with, for example, the retailer. The retailer could then, for example, provide additional information about the product/service or, for example, provide real-time inventory information, or, for example, an explanation of how the product works. For example, a retailer could, for example, use a video camera as an input device and transmit real time images of product information to a user located at kiosk  110 . This real time video information could then, for example, be displayed on display device  130 .  
         [0039]    Additionally, the kiosk  110  receives one or more information streams than can be, for example, displayed on display device  130 , or one or more other display devices (not shown) there are associated with the kiosk  110 . One or more of these display devices can display, for example, advertising information, news feeds, television broadcasts, or any other type of digital audio/video information. The information for supplying these displays is forwarded, via links  5  and one or more distributed networks  10 , from broadcast server  400  with the aid of the advertising server  420 , and/or the video content server  410 . Alternatively, information can be provided from one or more digital information providers  500 , via link  5 , and the distributed network  10 . Accordingly, depending on the type of information displayed on one or more of the display devices  130 , the information can come from one or more of the video content server  410 , the advertising server  420 , and the digital information providers  500 .  
         [0040]    The voice-intelligent phone  200 , in cooperation with the POTS  600 , VOIP  610 , and one or more distributed networks  10  and links  5 , manages and controls voice communications between one or more parties, this can be a direct party-to-party communication, a PC to PC connection, a PC to phone connection, or, for example, an audio/video teleconference. The voice-intelligent phone system can operate, for example, using standard voice over internet protocol technology. Additionally, the voice intelligent phone  200  can run an operating system, such as Windows® CE, that allows for application layers such that phone directories, or the like can be displayed on the display device  220 . Furthermore, the input device  230  can be a wired or wireless handset that can have embedded remote control buttons that can provide users access to digital television and special program services, whose revenues can also be used, for example, to fund the free phone service. Additionally, the voice intelligent phone can display advertising that is designed, for example, to subsidize connection fees imposed by, for example, a connection provider, thus reducing or eliminating the end user&#39;s monthly bill.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary method for searching a product/service in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the invention. In particular, control begins in step S 100  and continues to step S 110 . In step S 110 , the system is initialized. Next, in step S 120 , a product/service information request is received. Then, in step S 130 , a search for the requested product/service is conducted. Control then continues to step S 140 .  
         [0042]    In step S 140 , a determination is made whether the requested product/service has been located. If the requested product/service has been located, control continues to step S 150 . Otherwise, control jumps to step S 160 .  
         [0043]    In step S 150 , information relating to the requested products/services is displayed. Control then continues to step S 160 .  
         [0044]    In step S 160 , a determination is made whether to perform another search. If another search is to be performed, control continues to step S 170 . Otherwise, control jumps to step S 180  where the control sequence ends.  
         [0045]    In step S 170 , a user can update the request for a product/service. Control then continues back to step S 130  where the search for the requested product/service is conducted.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary method of establishing communication via the voice-intelligent phone. In particular, control begins in step S 200  and continues to step S 210 . In step S 210 , the system is initialized. Next, in step S 220 , one or more phone numbers are input to the voice-intelligent phone. The voice-intelligent phone, in cooperation with, for example, a voice-intelligent phone stream server, establishes a connection in step S 230  with the one or more parties identified in step S 220 . Control then continues to step S 240 .  
         [0047]    In step S 240 , data from the various parties is streamed and distributed. Next, in step S 250 , a query is made whether to end the call. If the call is to be terminated, control continues to step S 260  where the sequence ends. Otherwise, control returns to step S 240  where the audio/video data is continued to be streamed.  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary method of selecting information that could, for example, be displayed on one or more of the display devices  130  or  220 . In particular, control begins in step S 300  and continues to step S 310 . In step S 310 , an information provider is selected. Next, in step S 320 , an information stream is selected. Then, in step S 330 , the selected information is displayed. Control then continues to step S 340 .  
         [0049]    In step S 340 , a determination is made whether new information should be selected. If new information is to be selected, control jumps back to step S 310 . Otherwise, control continues to step S 350  where the control sequence ends.  
         [0050]    [0050]FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary method of determining an information provider based on one or more criteria. In particular, control begins in step S 400  and continues to step S 410 . In step S 410 , the subject matter of, for example, the product/server inquiry is determined. Alternatively, subject matter can be determined, for example, based on the geographical location, environment, time of day, or the like of the kiosk  110 . Next, in step S 420 , an information provider is selected based on the determined subject matter. Then, in step S 430 , an information stream from the selected information provider is selected. Control then continues to step S 440 . In step S 440 , the selected information is displayed. Next, in step S 450 , a determination is made whether new information should be selected. If new information is to be selected, control jumps back to step S 410 . Otherwise, control continues to step S 460  where the control sequence ends.  
         [0051]    As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic commerce system is implemented either on a single program general purpose computer, or a separate programmed general purpose computer. However, the electronic commerce system can also be implemented on a special purpose computer, a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit element, an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a hard wired electronic or logic circuit such as a discrete element circuit, a programmable logic device such as a PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, or the like. In general, any device capable of implementing a finite state machine that is in turn capable of implementing the flow charts illustrated in FIGS.  12 - 15  can be used to implement the electronic commerce system according to this invention.  
         [0052]    Furthermore, the disclosed method may be readily implemented in software using object or object-oriented software development environments that provide portable source code that can be used on a variety of computer or workstation hardware platforms. Alternatively, the disclosed electronic commerce system can be implemented partially or fully in hardware using standard logic circuit or VLSI design. Whether software or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance with this invention, is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirements of the system, the particular function, and the particular software or hardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems being utilized. The electronic commerce system and methods illustrated herein however, can be readily implemented in hardware and/or software using any known or later developed systems or structures, devices and/or software by those of ordinary skill in the applicable art from the functional description provided herein and with the general basic knowledge of the computer and telecommunications arts.  
         [0053]    Moreover, the disclosed methods may be readily implemented as software executed on a programmed general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, or the like. In these instances, the methods and systems of this invention can be implemented as a program embedded on a personal computer such as a Java® or a CGI script, as a resource residing on a server or a graphics workstation, as a routine embedded in an electronic commerce system, a web browser, an electronic commerce enabled cellular telephone, a PDA, a dedicated electronic commerce management system, or the like. The electronic commerce system can also be implemented by physically incorporating the system into a software and/or hardware system, such as the hardware and software of a graphics workstation or dedicated electronic commerce management system.  
         [0054]    It is, therefore, apparent that there has been provided, in accordance with the present invention, systems and methods for electronic commerce. While this invention has been described in conjunction with a number of embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations would be or are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the applicable arts. Accordingly, it is the intent to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, equivalents and variations that are within the spirit and scope of this invention.