WO2002021090A1 - Systeme de terminaux de point de vente pour le traitement de transactions commerciales mettant en oeuvre l'intelligence artificielle assistee par intervention humaine - Google Patents

Systeme de terminaux de point de vente pour le traitement de transactions commerciales mettant en oeuvre l'intelligence artificielle assistee par intervention humaine Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2002021090A1
WO2002021090A1 PCT/US2001/028675 US0128675W WO0221090A1 WO 2002021090 A1 WO2002021090 A1 WO 2002021090A1 US 0128675 W US0128675 W US 0128675W WO 0221090 A1 WO0221090 A1 WO 0221090A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
customer
cit
transaction processing
processing system
order
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PCT/US2001/028675
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English (en)
Inventor
Kevin E. Mahaffy
David B. Mahaffy
Eric E. Schmidt
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Agentai Inc
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Agentai Inc
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Filing date
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Priority to AU2001289074A priority Critical patent/AU2001289074A1/en
Publication of WO2002021090A1 publication Critical patent/WO2002021090A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10L—SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING
    • G10L13/00—Speech synthesis; Text to speech systems
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F9/00—Details other than those peculiar to special kinds or types of apparatus
    • G07F9/02—Devices for alarm or indication, e.g. when empty; Advertising arrangements in coin-freed apparatus
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10L—SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING
    • G10L15/00—Speech recognition
    • G10L15/26—Speech to text systems

Definitions

  • This invention relates broadly to data processing systems for commercial transactions. More particularly, this invention relates to point-of-sale (POS) registers and systems for communicating therewitli to facilitate and expedite the ordering and purchase of food items from a restaurant. Notably, the invention utilizes artificial intelligence to at least partially process transactions, and relies on human intervention where the artificial intelligence is unable to complete the transactions.
  • POS point-of-sale
  • the concept behind a fast food restaurant is the ability to rapidly fulfill food orders placed by a customer at the restaurant's order placement counter.
  • POS point-of-sale
  • a plurality of point-of-sale (POS) registers are located on the counter, and the registers are each operated by a cashier behind the counter to enter a customer's order into the register, for example via a keypad.
  • the order is then communicated, for example orally by the cashier, by printed instructions, or by video display, to employees who prepare and assemble the customer's order.
  • the purchase price of the order is totalled and the customer provides payment to the cashier.
  • the order is delivered to the customer, either at the register or in an order pick-up queue.
  • U.S. Patent No. 5,235,509 to Mueller et al. discloses a customer self-order system which displays menu items on a touch screen and steps the customer through ordering from various food categories: burgers, fries, salads, drinks, desserts, etc.
  • U.S. Patent No. 5,845,263 to Camaisa et al. discloses an interactive visual order system which provides information in addition to menu items and price to the customer. For example, the customer can obtain information relating to method of preparation and nutritional content, thereby allowing the customer to make a more informed decision. None of these systems or other alternatives has gained acceptance.
  • Another object of the invention is to provide a fast food ordering system which does not require customer 'training' and provides a relatively seamless experience for the customer relative to conventional fast food ordering.
  • a further object of the invention is to provide a fast food ordering system which effectively promotes products in a manner to increase sales for the restaurant.
  • the transaction processing system utilizes (1) a customer interaction terminal (CIT) having a video display, an audio speaker, a microphone, and preferably a printer, (2) a computer system coupled or integral with the customer interaction terminal (CIT) and running artificial intelligence routines to process or pre-process verbal requests provided into the microphone of the customer interaction terminal, and (3) a human-controlled response system which completes, corrects or verifies requests that cannot be satisfactorily completed by the artificial intelligence routines alone.
  • the human-controlled response system is preferably in communication with the customer interaction terminal (CIT) (and the customer) via a high speed voice over internet protocol (VoIP) or data connection.
  • VoIP voice over internet protocol
  • the computer system presents on the customer interaction terminal (CIT) a graphic image of a virtual cashier which is programmed to interact graphically and through audio with the customer in a manner to which the customer is accustomed from prior experience with human cashiers in conventional fast food restaurants.
  • the virtual cashier preferably includes an image of a face of cashier which auditorily greets, engages, and prompts the customer to verbally provide the fast food order to the virtual cashier (Hello. Please tell me your order.).
  • the customers verbal orders are received by the microphone of the CIT and transmitted to the computer system where they are processed.
  • the virtual cashier image is computer generated, the face and other features of the cashier may be human-like or whimsical, and may even be representative of a mascot of the restaurant.
  • the artificial intelligence routines of the computer system are preferably adapted to process the verbal orders such that a complete fast food order (menu item selection, special preparation requests, eat in or take out, etc.) can be processed.
  • the complete order may require multiple interactions between the customer and virtual cashier; i.e., after the customer orders a sandwich, the virtual cashier can engage the customer and ask whether the customer would like a soft drink and, if so, which size.
  • the routines in the computer system which operate the virtual cashier are adapted to follow techniques which are shown to increase restaurant sales. For example, the virtual cashier can ask whether the customer would like french fries with an order, or whether for a nominal additional sum the customer would prefer to upsize the french fries and drink order.
  • the virtual cashier can promote special offers and provide advertisements.
  • a human-controlled response system preferably located off-site of the CIT, is employed to complete, correct or verify the order by interaction with the customer via the CIT.
  • the interaction of the human-controlled response system is through the graphics and audio of the CIT and is preferably indistinguishable to the customer relative to interaction with the artificial intelligence routines.
  • the customer is preferably unaware of any shortcoming in the Al processing and perceives the order interaction as one continuous interaction even if the response system is utilized within an order.
  • the availability of human intervention permits the use of artificial intelligence even as the state of the art artificial intelligence may not yet be ripe for use in all fast food order transactions.
  • payment may be made at the CIT, using a debit or credit card or cash, and the order is sent to order fulfillment employees who prepare the order.
  • the customer is also directed to a pick-up location and may be given an order number corresponding to his or her order.
  • CITs may be placed on tables, on walls, at kiosks, at drive-through locations, in portable devices, and at other locations.
  • CITs may be placed on tables, on walls, at kiosks, at drive-through locations, in portable devices, and at other locations.
  • the customer does not require any particular training to use the system; i.e., use of the system of the invention provides a substantially seamless experience, in terms of ordering, from conventional fast food ordering experiences.
  • the customer interacts in the same manner as he or she has previously with human cashiers.
  • the system while easy to use for the customer, provides substantial novelty which attracts and retains customers.
  • Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a point-of-sale commercial transaction processing system according to the invention
  • Fig. 2 is a flow chart of a first embodiment of implementing the point-of-sale commercial transaction processing system of the invention.
  • Fig. 3 is a flow chart of a second embodiment of implementing the point-of-sale commercial transaction processing system of the invention.
  • the transaction processing system includes a customer interaction terminal (CIT) 12, a computer system 14 coupled to the CIT, and a human-controlled response system 16 in communication with the computer system 14.
  • CIT customer interaction terminal
  • computer system 14 coupled to the CIT
  • human-controlled response system 16 in communication with the computer system 14.
  • the CIT 12 includes a video display 20, an audio speaker 22, a microphone 24, and optionally a video camera 26.
  • the CIT 12 also preferably includes a printer 28, a debit/credit card reader 30, and a bill and/or coin currency reader 32 as well as a change dispenser 34.
  • the CIT may also include an activation button 36, such as a 'push-to-talk' button, and may further include a sensor 37, e.g., an infrared or sonic sensor, which senses when a customer is located in an "ordering" position relative to the CIT.
  • the video camera 26 may function as the sensor.
  • the CIT 12 is located in a fast food restaurant.
  • the CIT 12 may be placed on a counter, in a kiosk, on a wall, at a dining table, along a take-out drive-through route, in a portable device which may be transported along a drive-through route, or in any other suitable location within or relative to a fast food restaurant enabling customer interaction with the CIT.
  • the computer system 14 is coupled to or integral with one or more CITs and is adapted to receive input from the CITs 12 (via the microphone 24 and optional video camera 26) and provide output to the display 20, audio speaker 22, and printer 28 of the CIT. That is, the CIT 12 is under the control of the computer system 14.
  • the computer system 14 preferably includes a memory adapted to record the audio and optionally the video portion of a current interaction between a customer and a CIT. While multiple CITs 12 may be coupled to a single computer system 14 (two CITs 12 being shown in solid lines in Fig. 1), for clarity, the invention will be described with respect to a single CIT 12 being coupled to the computer system 14.
  • the computer system 14 has software adapted to permit each CIT 12 to 'interact' with a customer and process (via artificial intelligence routines) customer orders spoken into the microphone 22, as described in more detail below, and a microprocessor adapted to run the software.
  • the human-controlled response system e.g., a call center 16
  • the call center 16 is connected to the computer system 14 (or multiple computer systems 14, each, in turn, coupled to one or more CITs 12).
  • the call center 16 is preferably located on different premises than the CIT 12 and computer system 14, and more preferably located in a country or region having a relatively lower labor cost than the country or region in which the CIT is located.
  • a number of human operators 40 work at the call center, and each operator is provided with an audio speaker 42, a microphone 44, and a display 46.
  • the audio speaker 42 is adapted to reproduce for the operator 40 sounds (words) spoken into the microphone 24 of the CIT and/or recorded by the computer system 14, the microphone 44 is adapted to permit the operator to provide spoken messages to the customer via the speaker 22 of the CIT, and the display 46 permits the operator to see the customer's order, and preferably displays the same images shown on the display 20 of the CIT.
  • the software permitting the CIT 12 to 'interact' with customers includes a graphic image of a virtual cashier 38 programmed to interact graphically and through audio via the microphone 22 and speakers 24 with the customer interfacing with the CIT 12.
  • the images of the virtual cashier are preferably computer generated and, as such, the face and other features of the cashier may be human-like, animal-like, or whimsical in nature, and may even be representative of a mascot of the restaurant (e.g., Ronald McDonald) or characters in a movie or television show. Human-like features may be representative of celebrities.
  • the interaction is preferably performed in a manner similar to that which the customer is accustomed from prior experience with human cashiers in conventional fast food restaurants.
  • the virtual cashier preferably displays images of a face of cashier and auditorily greets, engages, and prompts at 100 the customer to verbally provide a fast food order to the virtual cashier (e.g., "Hello. Please place your order with me.”).
  • the customer's verbal orders are received by the microphone 22 of the CIT and transmitted to the computer system 14 where they are processed, as described below.
  • the order processing software when a customer order is verbally provided into the microphone 22 of the CIT at 102, the order is provided to the computer system 14 and the artificial intelligence routines are adapted to process at 104 the customer's order in real time. That is, the artificial intelligence (Al) routines are adapted to parse from the orders the necessary content to determine what the customer wants to order.
  • Al routines The ability of the Al routines to satisfactorily process customer orders at 104 depends on the amount of variability present in the process; i.e., the extent to which the vocabulary and the grammar used in the interaction varies from one customer to another.
  • the Al routines are preferably optimized based on conditioning data collected from conversation over a period of time (e.g., a few days) at a conventional cashier point of sale terminal and examined for recurring patterns, and then used to train the Al routines.
  • Al routine training and optimization is preferably performed on a continual basis, with reports of misunderstood communications regularly analyzed and used to improve the performance of the system.
  • An important issue for automating customer interaction with the CIT is to distinguish between customer-CIT interaction speech and other speech, e.g., utterances by the customer to other people in the vicinity, or even "talking to oneself.
  • One simple approach to overcome this difficulty is to use a push-to-talk button 36, as described in J. Gustafson, N. Lindberg, and M. Lundeberg, "The August Spoken Dialogue System", Proceedings ofEurospeech '99 (1999).
  • Another preferred approach is to use the optional video camera 26 to track the customer's head orientation and gaze (head tracking), and only respond to utterances made when the user is looking directly at the CIT.
  • pose recognition i.e., recognizing, from a camera image, whether a person's face is oriented towards the camera
  • standard machine learning techniques can be used.
  • Third, the resulting classifier is applied to new faces.
  • Reasonable success has been achieved on the pose recognition task using neural networks.
  • T. Mitchell Machine Learning, McGraw Hill (1997). More modern classifiers, such as support vector machines can be used to achieve even higher accuracy.
  • C. Burges "A tutorial on Support Vector Machines for Pattern Recognition", Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, Vol. 2, Number 2, p.
  • the CIT 12 indicate to the customer when the system interprets that the customer's spoken words are aimed at the system.
  • the indicator can be entertaining. For example, if the system is not listening to the spoken words of the customer, the character can pretend to be sleeping. Then, when the customer is communicating with the system, but the system fails to recognize the communication, the manual push-to-talk button can be used as a fall-back.
  • Another option is to utihze a speech recognition tool kit with a developer's application programming interface (API) that allows the vocabulary and other aspects to be tailored to the fast food ordering process (See http.V/www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/comp.speech F AQ.Packages.html for links to available packages.)
  • API application programming interface
  • an existing pubhc domain speech recognition system may be adapted, or a system may be implemented from scratch. See Gustafson et al. (1999) for details on how this can be done.
  • the utterance contained words outside the vocabulary of the speech recognition system's lexicon that the system "forced” into words in the lexicon.
  • the Al routines processes the words of the customer's order, the task is to recognize the customer's request at a level sufficient to process his order.
  • the simplest approach is to use no semantic processing, just recognition of basic menu items. In this case, the analysis is a direct result of the speech recognition. If one recognizes the words "three" and "SuperBurgers" in an utterance, this is interpreted as an order of three SuperBurgers. This approach will work for simple menu orders, but may be too hmited to many cases, as it may not be able to deal with any extensions such as "without pickles", "extra mustard”, etc.
  • a second level is to generate a corpus of utterances that are likely to occur in a customer- CIT interaction. One can then compare the customer utterance to others in the database, and find the closest match. This is the approach discussed in Gustafson et al. (1999).
  • a semantic interpretation i.e., a mapping between the sentence structure and an order form, can then be manually constructed for each template sentence. The extent to which this approach can be successful depends, as discussed above, on the variability of utterances that occur.
  • the CIT is updated at 108 (and 42 in Fig. 1) to affirm order recognition.
  • the update preferably includes one or more of three subtasks: text generation, voice generation, and animation generation.
  • the text is preferably displayed in a predetermined set of grammatical forms, filled in with the details of the customer's transaction.
  • Voice generation to interact with the customer may be based on automated speech synthesis. However, given the limited number of words that the CIT would need to reproduce, it is preferable that CIT speech to a customer be provided using pre-recorded words.
  • Known smoothing techniques are preferably used to provide a natural sounding transition between the reproduced pre-recorded words.
  • the virtual cashier's face is animated to correspond to the words being 'spoken' by the virtual cashier. This can be done by one of two approaches. The simpler approach is a 'manual' approach in which, for human characters, a human actor prerecords all the words which may need to be spoken and, using standard morphing techniques, the transitions between words are smoothed. For cartoon characters, each word can be animated and the same morphing technique can be used for the transition.
  • a more complex approach permits more sophisticated interactions.
  • a computer-generated character is animated based on an actor's rendition of the same word.
  • the actor says a word with certain markers on his face, capturing the main articulation points.
  • the articulation points are then mapped onto corresponding points for the cartoon character, allowing the character's animation to mimic the actor's expression.
  • simple morphing can be used to deal with the inter-word transitions. See, for example, F. Pighin, J. Hecker, D. Lischinksi, R. Szeliski, and D. Salesin, "Synthesizing Realistic Facial Expressions from Photographs", Proceedings ofSiggraph (1998), and M. Brand, “Voice Puppetry", Proceedings ofSiggraph '99 (1999).
  • facial animation can be incorporated.
  • the eyes of an animated character can follow the customer using feedback from the video camera 26. See Gustafson et al. (1999) and Pighin et al. (1998).
  • the CIT 12 may prompt the customer via computer-generated voice or displayed text to add other items to the menu list, and a complete order may require multiple interactions between the customer and virtual cashier 38; i.e., after the customer orders a sandwich, if the customer does not on his or her own add additional menu items within a predetermined time period, e.g. two second, the virtual cashier engages the customer and asks whether the customer would like a soft drink and, if so, which size.
  • the routines in the computer system which operate the virtual cashier are adapted to follow additional techniques which are shown to increase restaurant sales.
  • the virtual cashier preferably asks whether the customer would like french fries with an order which does not already include french fries, or whether for a nominal additional sum the customer would prefer to upsize the french fries and drink order, e.g., from medium to large.
  • the virtual cashier can promote special offers and provide advertisements for products in the restaurant establishment or for products from outside establishments. Additional menu items orders are processed at 104 and the CIT is updated at 108 until the customer indicates at 110 that the order is complete.
  • a network connection is created at 112 between the CIT 12 (and computer system 14) and the call center 16.
  • the network connection may be a high speed voice over internet protocol (VoIP) connection permitting the transmission of the customer's voice order quickly and inexpensively to an operator 40 at the off-site call center 16.
  • VoIP voice over internet protocol
  • the connection may be a high speed data connection, and the customer's recorded verbal order is sent from the memory of the computer system 14 to the audio speaker 42 directed at the operator 40.
  • the operator 40 is able to correct, verify or complete the customer menu orders at 114.
  • the CIT is updated at 116 to indicate the changes and additions and provide feedback to the customer.
  • the customer receive the same manner of interaction so that the customer is unaware when an operator 40 has intervened.
  • instructions by the operator 40 to the CIT 12, at 116 preferably result in the same type of CIT updating (text, speech, and animation) as when the Al routines alone interface with the customer and, until the order is complete at 118, the customer continues his or her food order by speaking to and otherwise interacting with the virtual cashier 38 on the CIT at 120.
  • the operator preferably interacts with the CIT and the customer by inputting keyboard commands, mouse, or voice commands which cause a preprogrammed automated update responses at the CIT. If the operator needs to respond outside the capability of the preprogrammed responses, the operator preferably speaks into the microphone 44 and the speech is converted to text by voice recognition. The recognized speech is filtered to remove unwanted accents and words and to provide smoothing, and data corresponding to the speech is sent to the computer and then synthesized by the CIT or used to trigger recorded words in memory of the CIT. According to the first embodiment of the invention, once the connection is made with the call center at 112, the operator 40 is utilized to complete the order with the customer without reversion to the Al routines.
  • the customer is prompted at 122 for payment which is preferably made at the CIT.
  • Payment is made at 124 using a debit card or credit card in conjunction with the card reader 30, or with cash in conjunction with the bill reader 32 and change dispenser 34.
  • the CIT prints at 126 with the printer 28 a receipt for the customer indicating the details of the order as well as an order number, and the virtual cashier directs the customer to proceed to an order pick-up area.
  • the order is sent at 128 to order fulfillment employees (kitchen staff and order assembly personnel) who prepare the order.
  • the orders are packaged with the respective order number and, once complete, the customer is provided at 130 with the customer's corresponding order.
  • a CIT greeting is provided at 200 which, rather than prompts the customer to place an immediate order (as in the first embodiment), requests whether the customer would like to place an order, e.g., "Hello, would you like to place an order.”
  • This request is intended to cause an initial "Yes" response- or other CIT-customer interaction from the customer, at 202, prior to order placement and provide a short delay prior to order entry which is sufficient for establishment at 204 of a connection to the call center 16.
  • the connection may be made upon indication by a sensor 37 which senses the presence of customer ready to place an order.
  • a constant connection may be maintained between the CIT 12 and the call center 16 and the CIT greeting may be intended to cause immediate order placement by the customer.
  • the customer then interacts at 206 with the CIT 12 in real-time, verbally ordering food.
  • the Al routines in the computer process the interaction at 208 to parse and identify the elements the food order. Assuming there is no problem with the processing at 210, after each menu item is ordered, the CIT is updated at 212, and the Al routines continue to process the order until the order is complete at 214. However, if there is a problem at 210 during any of the Al processing, the order is assigned to an operator 40 at the call center 16, and the operator corrects the order at 216, and the CIT is then updated at 212.
  • the Al routines are again given responsibility at 208 for processing the interaction between the customer and CIT at 206 and maintains control absent another processing problem at 208.
  • This is in contrast to the first embodiment, where after the occurrence of a processing problem an operator is given responsibility for not only correcting the problem but completing the order.
  • the CIT may be optimized for drive-through use and adapted to be handed to the customer or taken from a station at the beginning of a drive-through route.
  • the portable CIT preferably includes an accelerometer, which allows the unit, as well as an operator at the call center, to know whether the customer's vehicle is in motion.
  • the CIT is optionally programmed to not interact with the customer while the vehicle is in motion. For example, the portable CIT can repeat a message to ask the customer to continue the ordering process once the vehicle is stopped.
  • the portable CIT is preferably formed to fit within a standard cup holder found in most cars, and the top of the portable CIT is preferably provided with a small display screen which preferably alternately displays the virtual cashier and a screen that lists the menu items being ordered.
  • the portable CIT preferably contains a debit/credit card reader to facilitate and expedite payment.
  • the portable CIT optionally includes a compartment in which the customer can place paper and coin currency. The portable CIT is returned to a restaurant employee at the time of order pickup. If the customer pays with cash, the employee will remove the cash from the compartment in the CIT and give change to the customer. Finally the customer receives the food ordered.
  • the CIT is an all audio-based device, without a display component.
  • the benefits of such a CIT is that the hardware and software for the device are cheaper and more reliable.
  • One exemplar all audio-based CIT eliminates the speaker and preferably includes written instructions directing the customer to tune a car radio to a particular frequency.
  • the CIT then broadcasts the virtual cashier's voice into the car through the car's radio and speaker system. This may be done by adapting the CIT such that when it is placed near the car radio, it automatically sends the audio signal over the car's radio system. Transmission of audio signals through the radio in this manner is known for common audio devices such as MP3 players.
  • the words spoken by the customer are received by means of a laser incident on the windshield or driver side window of the car.
  • the laser detects the vibration of the glass caused by the customer's spoken words and then reconvert this vibration signal back into an audio signal.
  • This technology developed for espionage purposes, is now widely available. The advantage of this approach is that it minimizes the need for extra hardware to be produced and then put at risk by placing it into the hands of the customer where it potentially may be damaged or stolen. If multiple CITs are distributed to drive-through customers, it is preferable that each is linked to a central server in the restaurant by wireless networking technology, e.g., such as the BluetoothTM standard.
  • the portable CITs be used in conjunction with a system which prevents or inhibits accidental or purposeful removal of the CIT from the restaurant property.
  • the unit when the unit is removed from the restaurant property, the unit is preferably adapted to make an alarm sound and warn the customer to return the CIT unit.
  • the restaurant staff is likewise alerted and a digital or film photograph is preferably taken of the car (including the license plate) to aid in law enforcement action recovery.
  • the portable CIT preferably informs the customer that a picture has been taken of their car and instructs the customer to return the unit to the restaurant.
  • the CIT may also send out a tracking signal, e.g., GPS coordinates, permitting the CIT to be located.
  • the above described systems and methods eUminate the need and space required for traditional human cashiers and, therefore, provide a greater amount of the order processing space for CITs.
  • the customer does not require any particular training to use the system; i.e., use of the system of the invention provides a substantially seamless experience, in terms of ordering, from conventional fast food ordering experiences.
  • the customer interacts in the same manner as he or she has previously with human cashiers.
  • the system wlender easy to use for the customer, provides substantial novelty which attracts and retains customers.
  • the system can be operated permit the Al routines to regain control of an order.
  • orders of the method of the invention have been shown and described with respect to the flow charts, it will be appreciated that another order may be used, and that the two flow charts are exemplary.
  • the transaction processing system has been described with respect to the operations of a fast food restaurant, it will be appreciated that the system may be used in other industries which have conventionally used a point-of-sale register.
  • the system is suitable for use in the rental car industry and the purchase of movie/theater tickets.
  • the display is shown with a virtual cashier and details of an order, it will be appreciated that the display can display advertising (of the establishment in which it is being used, or of another establishment, and promotions of the establishment). Such displays of advertising and promotions can occur during an order transaction or while the CIT is idle waiting for a customer to interact with the CIT. It will therefore be appreciated by those skilled in the art that yet other modifications could be made to the provided invention without deviating from its spirit and scope as claimed.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Computational Linguistics (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Audiology, Speech & Language Pathology (AREA)
  • Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
  • Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
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  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
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Abstract

L'invention se rapporte à un système de terminaux de point vente pour le traitement de transactions commerciales, particulièrement adapté à l'industrie de restauration rapide. Le système de traitement de transactions (14) met en oeuvre un terminal à interaction client (CIT, 12) comportant un afficheur vidéo (46), un haut-parleur (42), un microphone (44) et de préférence une imprimante; un système informatique en communication avec le CIT et exécutant des programmes d'intelligence artificielle de manière à traiter une demande verbale entrée par l'intermédiaire du microphone; et un système de réponse à commande humaine en communication avec ledit système informatique qui complète, corrige ou vérifie les demandes qui ne peuvent pas être traitées de manière satisfaisante par les programmes d'intelligence artificielle seuls. Le système de réponse à commande humaine est de préférence en communication avec le CIT et le client par l'intermédiaire d'une connexion réseau à grande vitesse.
PCT/US2001/028675 2000-09-08 2001-09-10 Systeme de terminaux de point de vente pour le traitement de transactions commerciales mettant en oeuvre l'intelligence artificielle assistee par intervention humaine Ceased WO2002021090A1 (fr)

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AU2001289074A AU2001289074A1 (en) 2000-09-08 2001-09-10 A point-of-sale commercial transaction processing system using artificial intelligence assisted by human intervention

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US65771900A 2000-09-08 2000-09-08
US09/657,719 2000-09-08

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Cited By (27)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
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EP1571560A3 (fr) * 2004-03-03 2007-01-17 Microsoft Corporation Remplissage assisté de formulaire
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KR101114194B1 (ko) * 2004-03-03 2012-02-22 마이크로소프트 코포레이션 보조된 서식 채우기
EP1571560A3 (fr) * 2004-03-03 2007-01-17 Microsoft Corporation Remplissage assisté de formulaire
ES2335074A1 (es) * 2008-09-10 2010-03-18 Treelogic, Telematica Y Logica Racional Para La Empresa Europea, S.L. Cajero automatico.
ES2335074B1 (es) * 2008-09-10 2011-02-09 Treelogic, Telematica Y Logica Racional Para La Empresa Europea, S.L. Cajero automatico.
US11790328B2 (en) 2008-10-02 2023-10-17 Ecoatm, Llc Secondary market and vending system for devices
US12198108B2 (en) 2008-10-02 2025-01-14 Ecoatm, Llc Secondary market and vending system for devices
US11935138B2 (en) 2008-10-02 2024-03-19 ecoATM, Inc. Kiosk for recycling electronic devices
US11526932B2 (en) 2008-10-02 2022-12-13 Ecoatm, Llc Kiosks for evaluating and purchasing used electronic devices and related technology
US11907915B2 (en) 2008-10-02 2024-02-20 Ecoatm, Llc Secondary market and vending system for devices
ES2395376A1 (es) * 2011-03-15 2013-02-12 Eulen, S.A. Sistema de una comunicación interactiva entre un usuario y un centro de servicios.
US11790327B2 (en) 2014-10-02 2023-10-17 Ecoatm, Llc Application for device evaluation and other processes associated with device recycling
US12217221B2 (en) 2014-10-02 2025-02-04 Ecoatm, Llc Wireless-enabled kiosk for recycling consumer devices
US11734654B2 (en) 2014-10-02 2023-08-22 Ecoatm, Llc Wireless-enabled kiosk for recycling consumer devices
US11989701B2 (en) 2014-10-03 2024-05-21 Ecoatm, Llc System for electrically testing mobile devices at a consumer-operated kiosk, and associated devices and methods
US12205081B2 (en) 2014-10-31 2025-01-21 Ecoatm, Llc Systems and methods for recycling consumer electronic devices
US12008520B2 (en) 2014-12-12 2024-06-11 Ecoatm, Llc Systems and methods for recycling consumer electronic devices
US12541745B2 (en) 2015-12-11 2026-02-03 Ecoatm, Llc Systems and methods for recycling consumer electronic devices
US11803954B2 (en) 2016-06-28 2023-10-31 Ecoatm, Llc Methods and systems for detecting cracks in illuminated electronic device screens
US11989710B2 (en) 2018-12-19 2024-05-21 Ecoatm, Llc Systems and methods for vending and/or purchasing mobile phones and other electronic devices
US12322259B2 (en) 2018-12-19 2025-06-03 Ecoatm, Llc Systems and methods for vending and/or purchasing mobile phones and other electronic devices
US11462868B2 (en) 2019-02-12 2022-10-04 Ecoatm, Llc Connector carrier for electronic device kiosk
US11482067B2 (en) 2019-02-12 2022-10-25 Ecoatm, Llc Kiosk for evaluating and purchasing used electronic devices
US11843206B2 (en) 2019-02-12 2023-12-12 Ecoatm, Llc Connector carrier for electronic device kiosk
US12300059B2 (en) 2019-02-12 2025-05-13 Ecoatm, Llc Kiosk for evaluating and purchasing used electronic devices
US12223684B2 (en) 2019-02-18 2025-02-11 Ecoatm, Llc Neural network based physical condition evaluation of electronic devices, and associated systems and methods
US11798250B2 (en) 2019-02-18 2023-10-24 Ecoatm, Llc Neural network based physical condition evaluation of electronic devices, and associated systems and methods
US12307505B2 (en) 2019-02-26 2025-05-20 Xenial, Inc. System for eatery ordering with mobile interface and point-of-sale terminal
US11741529B2 (en) * 2019-02-26 2023-08-29 Xenial, Inc. System for eatery ordering with mobile interface and point-of-sale terminal
US20200273089A1 (en) * 2019-02-26 2020-08-27 Xenial, Inc. System for eatery ordering with mobile interface and point-of-sale terminal
US12380420B2 (en) 2019-12-18 2025-08-05 Ecoatm, Llc Systems and methods for vending and/or purchasing mobile phones and other electronic devices
US12033454B2 (en) 2020-08-17 2024-07-09 Ecoatm, Llc Kiosk for evaluating and purchasing used electronic devices
US11922467B2 (en) 2020-08-17 2024-03-05 ecoATM, Inc. Evaluating an electronic device using optical character recognition
US12271929B2 (en) 2020-08-17 2025-04-08 Ecoatm Llc Evaluating an electronic device using a wireless charger
US12475756B2 (en) 2020-08-17 2025-11-18 Ecoatm, Llc Connector carrier for electronic device kiosk
US12321965B2 (en) 2020-08-25 2025-06-03 Ecoatm, Llc Evaluating and recycling electronic devices
US12462635B2 (en) 2021-07-09 2025-11-04 Ecoatm, Llc Identifying electronic devices using temporally changing information

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