Washroom device augmented reality installation system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11288510-B2
Application number	US-201716647395-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 15, 2017
Priority date	Sep 15, 2017
Publication date	Mar 29, 2022
Grant date	Mar 29, 2022

Abstract

A system and method for joining devices to a network by use of any augmented reality installation device. The installation system described herein includes an installation device, e.g., a smart phone, that includes a camera to capture an image of the device(s) in a facility, e.g., the area in which the devices are mounted or positioned for end user use. Then, through use of image analysis techniques and a graphical user interface (GUI) on the installation device, e.g., dispensers, in the image are individually identified and joined to the network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
an installation device comprising a screen and an imaging device, wherein the imaging device is configured to capture a representation of an environment having at a plurality of network-enabled washroom dispensers and the screen is configured to visually present the representation for viewing by a user; and
an application configured to:
analyze the representation to identify, as a dispenser device, the plurality of dispensers and present a graphical user interface, as an overlay on the representation, through which the user can select at least one of the plurality of dispensers by interacting with the graphical user interface;
determine a unique identifier of the at least one dispenser; and
generate a network name for the at least one dispenser different from the unique identifier, wherein the representation includes a reference point in the environment and

generate a network name for the at least one dispenser different from the unique identifier comprises:
generating the network name based on a relative position of the at least one dispenser to the reference point through an analysis of the representation comprising using a first protocol that defines one or more rules based on (i) a sequence of the plurality of dispensers according to spatial orientations of the plurality of dispensers and (ii) the reference point in the representation defining a starting point for the sequence, and wherein the network name includes relative position information.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein determine a unique identifier of the at least one dispenser comprises use an image processing technique to optically read a serial number or code visually displayed on the at least one dispenser.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein determine a unique identifier of the at least one dispenser comprises interrogate the at least one dispenser to query the unique identifier.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the application is at least partially run from the installation device.

5. The system of claim 1 comprising a data processing apparatus in data communication with the installation device, wherein the application is at least partially run from the data processing apparatus.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the representation is an image of the environment and analyze the representation to identify the at least one dispenser comprises match a shape of the at least one dispenser in the image to one of multiple dispenser images depicting respective known dispensers.

7. A method comprising:
capturing, through use of an installation device, an image of a washroom environment having a plurality of network-enabled washroom dispensers;
displaying the image on the device;
providing a graphical user interface simultaneously with the display of the image;
accepting an user input to the graphical user interface to select at least one of the plurality of washroom dispensers;
determining a unique identifier of the at least one dispenser;
generating a network name for the at least one dispenser based on a relative location of the at least one dispenser in the washroom environment through an analysis of the image using a first protocol that defines one or more rules based on (i) a sequence of the plurality of dispensers according to spatial orientations of the plurality of dispensers and (ii) a reference point in the image defining a starting point for the sequence, and wherein the network name includes relative position information.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein determining a unique identifier of the at least one dispenser comprises image processing the image to optically read a serial number or code visually displayed on the at least one dispenser.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein determining a unique identifier of the at least one dispenser comprises interrogating the at least one dispenser to query the unique identifier.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the installation device is a mobile device.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the mobile device has a camera and capturing an image of a washroom environment comprises using the camera to take a picture of the washroom environment.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein capturing an image of a washroom environment comprises using the camera to take multiple pictures of the washroom environment to create a panoramic view of the washroom environment.

13. The method of claim 7 comprising visually setting off the at least one dispenser in response to accepting a user input.

14. The method of claim 7 comprising determining a location of the at least one dispenser in a facility based on a location and orientation of the installation device and a location of the at least one dispenser in the image.

15. A system comprising:
an installation device comprising a screen and an imaging device, wherein the imaging device is configured to capture a representation of an environment having a plurality of network-enabled washroom dispensers and the screen is configured to visually present the representation for viewing by a user; and
an application configured to:
analyze the representation to identify, as a dispenser device, at least one of the plurality of dispensers and present a graphical user interface, as an overlay on the representation, through which the user can select the at least one dispenser by interacting with the graphical user interface;
determine a unique identifier of the at least one dispenser; and
generate a network name for the at least one dispenser different from the unique identifier based on a position of the at least one dispenser in the environment through an analysis of the representation using a first protocol that defines one or more rules based on (i) a sequence of the plurality of dispensers according to spatial orientations of the plurality of dispensers and (ii) a reference point in the representation defining a starting point for the sequence, and wherein the network name includes relative position information.

Assignees

• Kimberly Clark Co

Inventors

• Williams Jr Frederick J
• Ghazi Babak R
• Wilson Alexandra L
• Becker Stephen
• Thomson Andrew J

Classifications

• H04L61/3015 Primary

  Name registration, generation or assignment · CPC title

• G06V20/20

  in augmented reality scenes · CPC title

• H04N23/698

  for achieving an enlarged field of view, e.g. panoramic image capture · CPC title

• G06F18/22

  Matching criteria, e.g. proximity measures · CPC title

• H04L67/75 Primary

  Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display · CPC title