GB2522611A

GB2522611A - Transaction making method and system

Info

Publication number: GB2522611A
Application number: GB1322121.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Dave Duke; Sean Patrick Kearney
Original assignee: XSPET Ltd
Current assignee: XSPET Ltd
Priority date: 2013-12-13
Filing date: 2013-12-13
Publication date: 2015-08-05
Also published as: GB201322121D0

Abstract

A transaction method comprises sending a unique sound signal from an audio source 120, the unique sound signal forming part of an announcement of a product; receiving at a mobile device 101 the unique sound signal from the audio source; recognising the unique sound signal at the mobile device by sound recognition means; identifying at the mobile device that the recognized sound signal is associated with the product for which the announcement has been made; displaying on the mobile device information of the identified product and options for making the transaction for the identified product; and using the mobile device to execute the transaction for the product. The announcement may be an advertisement or media program and the sound signal may be ultrasound or infrasound or may be dialogue or music. A server 155, 160, 145, 150 controls a database of sounds associated with products.

Description

Transaction Making Method and System

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a transaction making system using a unique sound signal.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Conventionally when an advertisement has been played on a television, a viewer would generally follow that and then if interested would try to find out about the product manually. The user would probably visit a shop or the product's website to find out more about the product and then if suitable make a purchase. This process is time consuming and not efficient.

The present invention seeks to address this problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aspects and preferred features of the invention are set out in the accompanying claims.

It is disclosed herein a method for performing a transaction for a product, the method comprising: sending a unique sound signal from an audio source, the unique sound signal forming part of an announcement of a product, the announcement of the product being made at the audio source; receiving at a mobile device the unique sound signal as a part of the announcement from the audio source; recognising the unique sound signal at the mobile device by sound recognition means; identifying at the mobile device that the recognised sound signal is associated with the product for which the announcement has been made at the audio source; displaying on the mobile device information of the identified product and options for making the transaction for the identified product; and using the mobile device to execute the transaction for the product.

The invention helps to enable a customer to place an order for a purchase as soon as an advert or announcement of a product has been made for example on a TV, radio, mobile phone, tablet computer or personal computer. A sound detection technique is implemented on an application running on the mobile device. The sound detection technique can recognise the unique sound byte embedded at least in a portion of the advertisement. Once the sound byte is recognised the application can contact a server to check which product is linked with the recognised sound byte. The server can send the product information linked with the identified sound byte to the mobile device. The screen of the mobile device is capable of displaying the product information and can then give the options of making a purchase. If the customer using the mobile device wishes to make a purchase, the mobile phone application can contact the server again and then make the necessary arrangements to complete the transaction.

It would be appreciated that the term "announcement" covers advertisement played on a TV, radio, mobile phone, tablet computer, or a personal computer. The term "announcement" is not limited to an advertisement broadcasted in these media only. It also covers all sort of media broadcasting. For example, it covers the situation in cinemas where a movie being played. The mobile phone application would be able to respond on this situation. It also covers other media broadcasting for example through a DVD, Blu-ray, music from a CD player, etc. It also covers the situation when a program (not a dedicated advertisement of a product) is being played on a device and then an advert is being played as a part of the program or embedded in the program for playing at the same time of playing the program.

It would be also appreciated that the unique sound signal forms part of the advertisement. It can be in any part of the advertisement. It can for example be a dialogue of an advertisement (e.g. "every little count") or a music being played during the advertisement or at least any other portion of the advertisement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects of the invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures in which: Figure 1 illustrates a transaction system; Figure 2 illustrates databases associated with the server of Figure 1; and Figure 3 illustrates in one embodiment a first scenario of a payment transaction process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIM ENTS

Figure 1 illustrates a transaction system 100. The system 100 includes a mobile device 101 and an audio source 120. The mobile device 101 includes a memory 103 which stores a mobile payment application 105. The mobile payment application 105 is provided by a particular vendor. The payment application 105 includes a user interface for receiving instruction data to perform a payment process. The mobile device 101 also includes a processor 107 connected to the memory 103, which controls the instruction data provided by the payment application 105. The mobile device 101 also includes a speaker 110 and a microphone 115.

The audio source 120 also can have very similar features as the mobile device 101, i.e. a memory 123, a processor 127 connected to the memory 123, a speaker 130 and a microphone 135. However, it would be appreciated that the audio source is not limited to a mobile device. It could be a television, radio, web-based television, personal computer, a cinema, movie player, DVD player and/or CD player.

The payment system 100 also includes a server 140 which is set up by the same vendor. Therefore the vendor can be linked with both the server 140 and the mobile device. The vendor generally runs the server 140. The server 140 includes a memory which is connected to a processor 150. The application server 140 also includes a transmitter 155 and a receiver 160, which are coupled with the processor 150.

Figure 2 illustrates databases associated with the server of Figure 1. Three databases are associated with the server 140: a customer database 3, a merchant audit signal database 2 and a merchant product database 1. The server 140 controls all these databases to perform the transaction.

Figure 3 illustrates in one embodiment a first scenario of a payment transaction process. In particular the figure shows the following steps.

At Si, a customer sets up an account with the server (vendor) i40 with bank details and delivery address stored in the customer database 3 associated with the server 140. The customer also has a mobile device such as a smartphone, a tablet computer and/or a personal computer. It would be appreciated that the mobile device also covers a personal computer as it can be moved by the customer. The customer then downloads the payment application on the mobile device.

At S2, a merchant sets up a merchant account with the server 140 with bank and company details to accept payments stored on the merchant audit signal database 2.

The vendor generally also provides a cost for providing the service to the merchant.

iS At S3, the merchant uploads his products for sale to the merchant product database server i. The product information includes parameters for the products such as colour

size, description, quantity, etc.

At 54, the merchant then uploads to the merchant audit database server 2 a unique sound byte from the advert or announcement they will be playing. In one embodiment, the merchant already have the advertisement of the associated product and then he selects a unique sound byte from the advertisement. This sound byte is embedded in the advertisement or announcement so that this can be picked up by a sound recognition technique in the mobile device. It would be appreciated that the unique sound byte can be any part of the advertisement or the announcement for example someone talking in the announcement or a music being played or a specific sound being played, etc. It would be also appreciated that the unique sound byte is not always part of an advertisement or announcement of an associated product, but can also be a part of an advert or announcement which could be played as a part of a media program or a TV program. The unique sound byte is then assigned or linked to the product for sale. In one embodiment, the unique sound byte can be generated by the server of the vendor. The unique sound byte can also be embedded in the advert by the server of the vendor. The predetermined advertisement with the unique sound byte is played from the audio source in the customer's territory.

At 55, the customer runs the mobile application. The mobile application includes a sound recognition technique which optionally includes a mathematical algorithm. The sound recognition technique implemented by the mobile application on the mobile device is capable of listening to the TV/Radio/web audio/video advert with the unique sound byte or signal. Once the unique sound pattern or signal is recognised by the sound recognition technique, the mobile device then sends the unique signal to the server. The server then compares the received sound signal with those saved in the merchant audit database 2. Once a pattern of the sound in the advert matches the sounds stored in the merchant audio database 2 the mobile phone application via for example the internet shows the product details from the Merchant product database server 1 with the option to set parameters such as size, quantity, delivery address etc. The mobile phone application can then also display the description of the relevant product. This is advantageous because the mobile phone application is capable of recognise the advert and then able to fetch relevant product information and also provide purchasing option to the customer using the mobile device. In this way the customer does not need to manually find out more about the product information and then order it by visiting a shop or the relevant product website.

At 36, once the mobile application on the customer's mobile device receives confirmation that the customer wishes to make a purchase, the application then sends confirmation of the purchase to the server which matches the merchant to the product purchased and instigates a bank transaction to pay the merchant's bank account and confirm the purchase. These information are all saved on the server which is capable of completing the transaction.

At S7, if the transaction is successful then the merchant and customer (via mobile device) are notified of the purchase, and product/delivery details etc are then sent to the merchant.

The above steps are also summarised in the following paragraphs which describe the overall process in more general terms.

Process Summary

TV / radio advertising company creates an online account with the vendor and register products and services including prices and bank details to accept payment information.

Customers create an online account with the vendor or with the server including bank details and delivery address TV / radio advertising company obtains a unique code/sound signal or byte for a specific product or service and cost to buy price from the vendor's server.

TV / radio advertising company places adverts or announcements which contain the unique sound signal in advertisement or announcement.

A customer listens to the advert with vendor's application/software installed on the mobile device. The application picks up the audio signal with product information. The customer can then see the product /price and agree purchase on the application. The application then contacts the server to complete the transaction using merchant and stored customers bank details Vendor server Customer creates account with bank! card details.

TV radio advertising company creates an account to accept payments.

TV radio advertising company requests a unique code/Audio code for each product they sell.

Announcement or advertising company Places adverts using audio sounds Customer Runs the vendor application installed on the mobile device which listens to advert and collects sounds, these are then via internet show on phone with costs and option data entry like size of cloths etc. If customer buys item this transaction is sent to our server and transaction is completed and item is sent to delivery address either manually entered or stored on server Although the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments as set forth above, it should be understood that these embodiments are illustrative only and that the claims are not limited to those embodiments. Those skilled in the art will be able to make modifications and alternatives in view of the disclosure which are contemplated as falling within the scope of the appended claims. Each feature disclosed or illustrated in the present specification may be incorporated in the invention, whether alone or in any appropriate combination with any other feature disclosed or illustrated herein.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A method for performing a transaction for a product, the method comprising: sending a unique sound signal from an audio source, the unique sound signal forming part of an announcement of a product, the announcement of the product being made at the audio source; receiving at a mobile device the unique sound signal from the audio source; recognising the unique sound signal at the mobile device by sound recognition means; identifying at the mobile device that the recognised sound signal is associated with the product for which the announcement has been made at the audio source; displaying on the mobile device information of the identified product and options for making the transaction for the identified product; and using the mobile device to execute the transaction for the product.
2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising: prior to sending the sound signal, generating the unique sound signal at a server, storing the unique sound signal associated with the product in first database; and embedding the unique sound signal in the product announcement for delivering from the sound source.
3. A method according claim 2, wherein the step of recognising the unique sound signal comprises: receiving the entire announcement of the product from the audio source; and recognising the sound signal from at least a part or portion of the entire announcement.
4. A method according to claim 3, wherein the step of identifying comprises: matching the recognised sound signal with that stored in the first database; and if a matching is found, identifying the product linked with the recognised unique sound code.
5. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the step of displaying comprises displaying the details of the identified product on a screen of the mobile device and providing purchase options on the mobile device.
6. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the step of executing comprises making a payment for the product through the mobile device, wherein the mobile device is linked with a server to which both an owner of the mobile device and a merchant of the product are registered.
7. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the unique sound signal is one or both of an ultrasound signal and an infrasound signal.
8. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the announcement of the product is made from the audio source which is selected from a group comprising a television, a radio, a mobile device, and a personal computer.
9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the announcement is a dedicated advertisement of the product broadcasted from the audio source.
10. A method according to claim 8, wherein the announcement is part of a media program broadcasted from the audio source.
11. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the unique audio signal forms part of one or more of a dialogue, music and/or noise of the announcement.
12. A system for making a transaction for a product, the system comprising: an audio source for sending a unique sound signal, the unique sound signal forming part of an announcement of a product, the announcement of the product being made at the audio source; a mobile device for receiving the unique sound signal from the audio source; sound recognition means in the mobile device for recognising the unique sound signal received at the mobile device; wherein the sound recognition means is configured to identify that the recognised sound signal is associated with the product for which the announcement has been made from the audio source; wherein the mobile device is configured to display information of the identified product and options for making the transaction for the identified product; and wherein the mobile device is configured to execute the transaction for the product.
13. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a server configured to: generate the unique sound signal prior to sending the sound signal from the audio source to the mobile device.store the unique sound signal associated with the product in first database; and embed the unique sound signal in the product announcement for delivering from the sound source.
14. A system according to claim 13, wherein the sound recognition means is configured to: receive the entire announcement of the product from the audio source; and recognise the sound signal from any part or portion of the entire announcement.
15. A system according to claim 14, wherein the sound recognition means is configured to: match the recognised sound signal with that stored in the first database; and if a matching is found, identify the product linked with the recognised unique sound code.
16. A system according to any one of claim 12 to 15, wherein the mobile device is configured to display the details of the identified product on a screen of the mobile device and provide purchase options on the mobile device.
17. A system according to any one of claim 12 to 16, wherein the mobile device is configured to make a payment for the product through the mobile device, wherein the mobile device is linked with a server to which both an owner of the mobile device and a merchant of the product are registered.
18. A system according to any one of claim 12 to 17, wherein the unique sound signal is one or both of an ultrasound signal and an infrasound signal.
19. A system according to any one of claim 12 to 18, wherein the announcement of the product is made from the audio source which is selected from a group comprising a television, a radio, a mobile device, and a personal computer.
20. A system according to claim 19, wherein the announcement is a dedicated advertisement of the product broadcasted from the audio source.
21. A system according to claim 19, wherein the announcement is part of a media program broadcasted from the audio source.
22. A system according to any one of claim 12 to 21, wherein the unique audio signal forms part of one or more of a dialogue, music andlor noise of the announcement.
23. A system or method substantially described hereinbefore with reference to the accompanying drawings.