Patent ID: 8228299

Claim:
An electronic contract disclosure unit (ECDU) for controlling a commercial transaction between at least a business employee and a customer, said ECDU comprising: a computer; a housing having an upper surface, the housing being sized and configured to be located between the business employee and the customer with its upper surface oriented generally horizontally for access by the business employee and by the customer; a digitizing display visible to the business employee and to the customer through the upper surface of the housing, the digitizing display being coupled to said computer and including a video display for presenting documents and information and a digitizer for detecting written input from a user; a first stylus associated with the business employee for interaction by the business employee with said digitizer in response to documents and information presented on said display; a second stylus associated with the customer for interaction by the customer with said digitizer in response to documents and information presented on said display; said computer being programmed to distinguish interactions with the first stylus from interactions with the second stylus for identifying the individual making the interaction; said computer being programmed to cause images of documents associated with the commercial transaction to be imaged on said display and to receive responsive inputs from the business employee via said first stylus and said digitizer and to receive responsive inputs from the customer via said second stylus and said digitizer; the computer being further programmed for selective rotation of documents imaged on the video display so that the documents face either the business employee for business employee interaction or face the customer for customer interaction; a first biometric reader associated with said digitizing display and coupled to said computer, said first biometric reader permitting the customer to select a first option in response to information presented on said display while simultaneously acquiring an image of the customer's biometrics, the computer being programmed to accept the first option and to associate the biometrics with the first option so that it may be confirmed that it was the customer and not another who selected the first option.