Patent Publication Number: US-2007118437-A1

Title: Property proximate interactive sales kiosk

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Real-estate agencies and other property sales firms are often called upon to initiate, coordinate, and complete real-estate transaction between individuals and businesses for any number of types of real property including commercial buildings, industrial buildings, residential homes and condominiums. Other significant personal properties, such as a car and boat are also typically offered for sale by agents and businesses on behalf of an owner. As is the case with any property for sale, an agency or firm may typically use a common sign or yard-arm post to advertise that a property is for sale by placing the yard-arm post in the ground on or near the property for sale. Obviously, a conventional yard-arm post is limited to what the agency or firm is able to hang from the arm portion.  
      For real-estate and other property that is of a high value, agencies and firms often invest more time, money and effort into increasing the profile of the property for sale. Such aggressive and competitive agencies and firms will often use modern technology as a further tool to assist is creating a higher profile property. Such conventional technology typically includes using the Internet with a web page. Using typical web page design, an agency or firm may provide several indoor and outdoor pictures of the property such that a potential buyer may browse properties without having to visit the actual property to gain a better idea of the nature of the property. More advanced web applications allow for a virtual 3-D tour of the property that is rendered from previously recorded pictures and/or video.  
      A problem exists, however. A potential buyer must be physically at a computer that is connected to the Internet in order to browse a website to take advantage of such web technology. Although portable computers and personal data assistants have greatly increased the mobility of computer-system users, the computing device must still be connected to the Internet in some manner. Thus, while a potential buyer may virtually browse from their home or from an office of the real-estate agency, the potential buyer cannot connect to the Internet at the property listed for sale without establishing a connection to the Internet from within the property, such as through a phone line or local wireless network.  
      Typically, a potential buyer may happen by a property for sale and notice a yard-arm post in the yard. However, at best, the yard-arm post may only have an agency listing and perhaps a conventional paper advertisement for disbursement in a covered box. There is no way for an agency or firm, however, to provide the potential buyer with the far more appealing and informative web-based media with a simple yard-arm post and the like. That is, access to the relevant and interactive information is simply not proximate to the property offered for sale. Thus, a firm or agency must rely on a potential buyer to make their way to their own Internet connection and then to find their way to the property through their web listing. Such reliance on actions taken away from the potential “point-of-sale” pose a breakdown in the marketing engagement.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      An embodiment described herein is directed to an interactive sales kiosk system. A system may include a number of deployed interactive sales kiosks, each of which are communicatively coupled to a remote configuration computer that may be located at a central location. Each interactive sales kiosk may include a display, a local CPU, and a number of peripherals for realizing various applications and functions commonly associated with real-estate marketing and sales. Such a proximate interactive sales kiosk provides valuable and interactive information about a property for sale right at the property for sale. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of subject matter detailed below will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
       FIG. 1  is an isometric view of an interactive sales kiosk in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an interactive real-estate kiosk in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;  
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a system employing a plurality of interactive real-estate kiosks in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and  
       FIG. 4  is an isometric view of another interactive sales kiosk in accordance with another embodiment of the invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the embodiments and descriptions of the subject matter detailed herein. The general principles described herein may be applied to embodiments and applications other than those detailed above without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application. The present application is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed or suggested herein.  
       FIG. 1  is an isometric view of an interactive sales kiosk in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The sales kiosk  100  may be advantageously used for selling property, such as real-estate, cars, boats, or any other piece of property (real or otherwise) in which an owner wishes to promote its sale. In a typical embodiment, the sales kiosk  100  comprises a central processing unit, a memory, and a communication device for uploading and downloading information about the property for sale to and from the sales kiosk  100 . With these computer components available to display information about the property for sale on a display  110 , the sales kiosk  100  is typically located proximate to the property for sale such that a user may easily receive information about property for sale while at or near the property. These computer components are described in more detail below with respect to  FIG. 2 .  
      The interactive sales kiosk  100  also typically includes a viewing display  110  that is mounted to a housing base  155 . The kiosk  100  may further include an awning  150  mounted to the base  155  for covering the display  110 . The awning  150  is typically weather proof, (e.g., shingled or water-proofed) such that weather elements may be shielded from the display  110  and the base  155  as the sales kiosk  100  will typically be deployed outdoors proximate to a real property (e.g., a house or condominium) that is for sale. The awning  150  is coupled to the base  155  and designed to provide protection to the display  110  from the elements, such as rain, snow, sun and the like. Further, the awning may contain trade names and/or company contact information so as to allow a user to identify the sales kiosk  100  from a distance. The awning  150  may be supported by two poles  160  connected to the base  155 . In other embodiments, the awning  150  may be supported by any number of supports emanating from the base  155  including the display  110  itself. The awning  150  may also be other shapes than the shape depicted in  FIG. 1 .  
      The base  155  may typically comprise a cavity for housing a number of components for realizing different functions of the kiosk  100 . The components are accessible via an access door  130  that is depicted on one side of the base  155 . The access door  130  may be located at any side of the base  155  or may be a section of the top of the base  155 . The access door  130  is typically lockable using a conventional keyed entry system or alternatively using a keypad for a user to enter a code to gain access.  
      The base  155  may further include an access port  120  for an output mechanism, such as a printer and the like. The base  155  may further include an external keyboard and mouse bay  115  to allow a user to input data and commands to the kiosk  100 . The external keyboard and mouse bay  115  may be configured to house an integrated keyboard and mouse that are coupled to internal components of the kiosk  100 .  
      According to one embodiment of the sales kiosk  100 , the base  155  is made of a heavy cement or brick material such that the kiosk  100  is heavy enough to discourage would-be thieves from moving the entire kiosk  100  from a deployed location. A typical weight for the kiosk  100  is 650-800 pounds. The base  155  may further include loopholes and/or eyeholes such that chains or theft-prevention chain-cords may be strung through the base and attached to nearby fixtures. The base  155  may be water-proof and weatherproof and may further include an internal cooling system for maintaining a suitable internal temperature.  
      According to another embodiment of the sales kiosk  100 , the base  155  may include vertical cylindrical cavities (not shown) suitable for mounting the base  155  of the sales kiosk  100  to anchored protruding members emanating from the property in which the sales kiosk  100  is deployed. In such a deployment, a fork lift may be employed to lower the sales kiosk  100  down onto mounting members that are typically metal poles anchored deep into the ground. This type of anchoring mechanism helps prevent theft by requiring the lifting of the entire sales kiosk  100  vertical by about 3 feet before clearing the mounting poles. With this type of quasi-permanent installation, the sales kiosk  100  may also be hard-wired for AC power from a nearby power source, such as a house located at the real property that is for sale.  
      The display  110  is suitable to display typical information about the property to which it is proximate. The display  110  may typically comprise a Liquid-Crystal Display (LCD) or a plasma screen. In other embodiments, the display  110  may be a conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) or a projection screen. In any embodiment, the display  110  is suited to provide a viewing area for one or more people around the kiosk  100 . In further embodiments, a second display  110  facing the opposite direction may also be present or a single display  110  may be double-sided. The display  110  may further provide interactivity such that a user may navigate through the information by touching specific location on the display  110 . Such a touch screen allows more flexible user control of the information displayed on the display  110 .  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an interactive sales kiosk  100  in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. This figure shows the afore-mentioned internal components of the kiosk  100 . These components include a central processing unit  220  (CPU) operable to execute applications capable of displaying information about the property for sale. The CPU  220  is coupled to a memory  221  and is operable to store information about the property and applications executable by the CPU  220 . The CPU  220  is also coupled to a display  225  (same as display  110  is  FIG. 1 ) and is operable to display the information about the real property. Further, the CPU  220  is coupled to a communication device  230  it and is operable to interface with at least one other computer to receive updated information about the real property.  
      The components described above, including the CPU  220 , may be a part of a conventional personal computer or a conventional server computer system. Alternatively, the CPU  220  may be a dedicated computing platform for providing very specific application programmability to the kiosk  100 . As such, the CPU  220  is generally associated with a processor, a communication bus, memory and input/output peripherals, some of which are not shown for ease of illustration. Such peripherals devices include the display  225  for displaying many sorts of data to a user and a printer  235  for printing data for a user. Another device, as mentioned above, may include a keyboard  260  or a mouse  261  anchored to a keyboard bay  115 . Additional devices include a keypad  262  for entering numerical data and a speaker system  265  operable to play audio signals concurrent with information being displayed on the display  225 .  
      The kiosk  100  may further include an Ethernet port  250  for facilitating network communication between the kiosk  100  and a central computing system (described below with respect to  FIG. 3 ) via standard network protocols such as TCP/IP. The Ethernet port  250  may be wireless or otherwise and may typically be coupled to the Internet, a privately-facilitated intranet, or a virtual private network. Data may be downloaded or uploaded to and from the kiosk  100  via the Ethernet port  250 .  
      The CPU  220  may be generally configured to provide a platform for implementing a number of applications associated with real estate and property sales. For example, the kiosk  100  may be configured to display several pictures of a property offered for sale. The kiosk may further include a virtual 3-D tour of the property, information about the neighborhood, maps of the area, topographical maps of the property, tax assessment information, and the like. The information may be updatable and configurable remotely via communication devices as described below.  
      The communication device  230  may typically be a wireless communication device for facilitating wireless communication between the kiosk  100  and a central computing system (depicted in  FIG. 3 ). The wireless communication device may also include a Bluetooth-enabled device for communicating with other Bluetooth-enabled devices that may be in close proximity to the kiosk  100 . Data may be downloaded or uploaded to and from the kiosk  100  via the wireless communication device  230 .  
      The kiosk  100  may further include an alarm system  240  configured to detect motion of the kiosk  100  or an off-balanced kiosk  100  and configurable to send a notification email or phone call in an effort to indicate movement or damage. The alarm system  240  may also play a loud audible sound through the speaker system  265  indicating movement or tampering. The alarm system  240  may further include a theft-recovery device, such as a Lo-Jack™ recovery system. Additional security and functionality may be realized through a global positioning system  270  (GPS) that may be configured to be tracked by a remote device or system and through a gyrometer-based motion detector system, an accelerometer based system, and a motion detection system.  
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a system  300  employing a plurality of interactive sales kiosks in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The system  300  may typically comprise at least one kiosk  340  located proximate to the property  341  being sold and a server computer  310  communicatively coupled to the kiosk  340  and operable to automatically update the information stored in the memory.  
      The system  300  utilizes the remote configuration computer  310  i.e., a server computer  310  wherein the server computer  310  is communicatively coupled to a number of kiosks in the deployed system  300 . For example, a local kiosk  305  may be coupled directly to the remote configuration computer  310 . Further, a wireless kiosk  340  may coupled to the remote configuration computer  310  via a network  320  and a wireless hub  330 . Still further, other kiosks  350  and  360  may be coupled to the remote configuration computer  310  via just the network  320 .  
      Having a system  300  with a number of deployed kiosks all communicatively coupled to a remote configuration computer  310  allows a real estate agency to update data at a number of kiosks remotely from a central office location. Further, data requests and other information may be sent from a deployed kiosk to the real-estate office, such as a request for an agent to show a property. One or more of the kiosks are typically deployed proximate to the property which is being promoted thereon. Thus, kiosk  340  is located on or near the property/house  341  (i.e., proximate to). Likewise, kiosk  350  is proximate to house  351  and kiosk  360  is proximate to house  361 . As used herein, a kiosk located on or within a typical walking distance of the property being sold is considered to be proximate to the property being sold.  
      Having a sales kiosk  340  proximate to the property  341  being sold is advantageous because potential buyers need not have a remote connection to the Internet and the like in order to garner information about the property being sold. Additionally, the kiosk  340  may provide a communications hub such that a potential buyer may learn additional information about the property, email directly to an agent, or download information for printing or data transfer to a cell phone, a PDA, etc. via wireless Bluetooth and such.  
       FIG. 4  is an isometric view of another interactive sales kiosk  400  in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. The interactive sales kiosk  400  also typically includes a viewing display  410  that is mounted to a housing base  455 . The kiosk  400  may further include an awning  450  mounted to the base  455  and the display  410  for covering the display  110 . The awning  450  is typically weather proof, (e.g., shingled or water-proofed) such that weather elements may be shielded from the display  410  and the base  455  as the sales kiosk  400  will typically be deployed outdoors. Further, the awning may contain trade names and/or company contact information so as to allow a user to identify the sales kiosk  400  from a distance.  
      While the embodiments disclosed are susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the subject matter to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the specification.