Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
DETAILED ACTION
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-5, 9-10, 16, and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 8, 12-15, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or 102(a)(2) (or both) as being anticipated by Sahadi (Pub No. US 20180349808 A1).
As per claim 1, Sahadi anticipates the claimed:
1. A method comprising: receiving information from a user interface of a user device associated with a group of users, the group including first and second subgroups, each of the first and second subgroups including at least one user; (Sahadi [0005]: “The method also includes dividing the plurality of venue attendees into a plurality of groups, wherein each group of the plurality of groups corresponds to one of the plurality of points of interest and to the queue corresponding to the point of interest, wherein a size of each group is based on a difference between the optimal queue size and the queue size of to the queue corresponding to the group… The method also includes sending the plurality of recommendations to a plurality of attendee mobile devices corresponding to the plurality of venue attendees so that a different point of interest of the plurality of points of interest is recommended to each group of the plurality of groups based on the queue corresponding to the group.” To improve queue length, the attendees are divided into subgroups and are sent to a first and second activity in the venue, which are different points of interest.).
determining a first estimated time for a first activity for the first subgroup; (Sahadi teaches estimated time for users. This can specify the first user. Sahadi [0049]: “Recommendations of experiences or points of interest (POI) may be made based on user's location, on estimated time for the user to travel to the point of interest, on wait times at the point of interest, on queue lengths at the point of interest, on popularity of the experience/POI, on the user never having been to the experience/POI before, on the user having been to the experience/POI more than a predetermined number of times already (indicating that the user likes the experience/POI), on expected weather at the point of interest, on the experience or point of interest being related to something that the user likes according to profile information concerning the user,” This can include the first user to find the wait time based on the first point of interest, which is the first activity. The estimated time of an activity related to the wait time at the point of interest, since it is determined by how long the current users take to complete it.).
evaluating a plurality of activities to determine at least one of a second activity for the second subgroup or a third activity for the group proceeding the first and second activities to reduce an idle time of the group before the third activity, including using the determined first estimated time for the first activity for the first subgroup; (Sahadi claim 1: “wherein the first group of venue attendee devices includes at least one more venue attendee device than the second group of venue attendee devices does based on the second level of congestion being greater than the first level of congestion; sending the one or more recommendations for the first point of interest to the first group of venue attendee devices; and sending the one or more recommendations for the second point of interest to the second group of venue attendee devices.” The second point of interest is the second activity. This is a recommendation of an activity for the second group off the path of the original group. This is to address congestion which causes idle time. The second point of interest for the second group is the second subgroup activity. Sahadi fig. 5 shows two groups splitting up and going to two different activities because they reconverge on POI 515 at the bottom of the figure which is the third activity. The congestion related to the estimated wait time of the group that will eventually divide and reconvene. Sahadi [0022]: “The recommended point of interest may also be recommended based on estimated wait times, queue lengths, or other information obtained by the platform's servers.” The examiner is interpreting the “determination” of the third activity to be the determination that the group is going to separate into subgroups to take different paths to reach it. Thus, that point of interest is determined to be the third activity.).
and causing information about the determined second activity or the determined third activity to be displayed on a user experience application associated with the group.
(Sahadi claim 1: ”dividing a plurality of venue attendee devices within the predetermined venue area into at least a first group of venue attendee devices and a second group of venue attendee devices, wherein the first group of venue attendee devices includes at least one more venue attendee device than the second group of venue attendee devices does based on the second level of congestion being greater than the first level of congestion; sending the one or more recommendations for the first point of interest to the first group of venue attendee devices; and sending the one or more recommendations for the second point of interest to the second group of venue attendee devices.”).
As per claim 14, this claim is similar in scope to limitations recited in claim 1, and thus is rejected under the same rationale. Sahadi [0006] describes the computer hardware of claim 14: “A system that generates a personalized itinerary for a venue attendee in a predetermined venue area is claimed. The system includes a memory that stores instructions and locations of a plurality of points of interest located within the predetermined event venue area, wherein each of the plurality of points of interest corresponds to a queue of a plurality of queues. The system also includes a processor, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor causes the processor to perform system operations.”
As per claim 2, Sahadi anticipates the claimed:
2. The method of claim 1, wherein evaluating the plurality of activities to reduce the idle time of the group before the third activity comprises determining the second and third activities to reduce a first idle time of the first subgroup after completion of the first activity and before a start of the third activity and a second idle time of the second subgroup after completion of the second activity and before the start of the third activity, wherein the third activity for the group includes an activity for both of the first and second subgroups. (The reduction of the idle time before the third activity is the reduction of the congestion caused by the two groups going to the same location at the same time. Thus, the third activity is the point where the two groups meet again after going on their own paths. Sahadi [0143]: “First, the first crowd 1005 is actually divided into groups 1055, 1060, 1065, and 1075, wherein each of these groups takes a different one of the paths 1080, 1085, 1090, and 1095, respectively. That is, group 1070 takes path 1080, and therefore the size of group 1070 (87 people) is the difference of the target crowd size of the second crowd 1030 (97 people) and the actual crowd size of the second crowd 1030 (19 people). Group 1065 takes path 1085, and therefore the size of group 1065 (67 people) is the difference of the target crowd size of the fourth crowd 1040 (97 people) and the actual crowd size of the fourth crowd 1040 (30 people). Group 1060 takes path 1090 and group 1055 takes path 1095. Both paths 1090 and 1095 pass through the third crowd 1035, therefore the size of groups 1055 and 1060 (23 people) is one half to the difference of the target crowd size of the third crowd 1035 (96 people) and the actual crowd size of the third crowd 1035 (50 people). Because paths 1085 and 1090 both go to the third point of interest 1025, groups 1060 and 1065 are then merged together to form overarching group 1075 having 90 people (the sum of the sizes of groups 1060 and 1065).” The paths may take different times with different groups based on congestion. Sahadi fig. 10A shows a large crowd at the bottom left breaking into subgroups going in different directions but eventually moving to a last point of interest 1025. Similarly, Sahadi fig. 5 shows a group from the same starting point going to recommended points of interests before reconverging on a proceeding destination. Sahadi abstract: “A platform provides recommendations for points of interest in a venue to venue attendees. Different points of interest are recommended in different amounts in order to prevent congestion in the venue in the form of extremely long queues or extremely large crowds. To achieve this, the platform divides a large group of venue attendees into multiple sub-groups, with each sub-group being recommended a different point of interest, and the size of each sub-group based on a difference between an optimal queue or crowd size and an actual queue or crowd size of a queue or crowd associated with that point of interest.” Both groups would have the same idle time if they were not divided.).
As per claim 15, this claim is similar in scope to limitations recited in claim 2, and thus is rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 8, Sahadi anticipates the claimed:
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the user experience application comprises an experience application for a venue, the venue comprises an amusement park, and one or more of the first second, and third activities comprises a ride, an activity, a resource, or a location of the amusement park (Sahadi [0031]:“A managed location can include any of a wide variety of locations or venues as disclosed throughout this disclosure or known by those of skill in the art, such as a venue, stadium, arena, public park, public space or district, concert hall, amusement park, theme park, water park, block party, house party, beer garden, mall, store, monument, tourist attraction, and many others.” Sahadi [0051]: “The user profile can also account for user interests, including interests in particular types of dining, foods or beverages, interests in entertainment options (such as preferences in music, dancing, magic shows, animal shows, and many others), interests in attractions (such as thrill rides, water rides, arts, fireworks, fountains, historical information, and many others), interests in particular characters, people or topics, and many others.” ).
As per claim 12, Sahadi anticipates the claimed:
12. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving information from the user interface of the user device associated with the group of users comprises receiving the first activity for the first subgroup and the second activity for the second subgroup, wherein determining the first estimated time for the first activity for the first subgroup comprises:
receiving real-time location information for the first subgroup; (Sahadi teaches gaining information on the users’ locations and the wait times to their respective points of interests, based on the current queue length. Sahadi [0049]: “Recommendations of experiences or points of interest (POI) may be made based on user's location, on estimated time for the user to travel to the point of interest, on wait times at the point of interest, on queue lengths at the point of interest, on popularity of the experience/POI, on the user never having been to the experience/POI before, on the user having been to the experience/POI more than a predetermined number of times already (indicating that the user likes the experience/POI), on expected weather at the point of interest, on the experience or point of interest being related to something that the user likes according to profile information concerning the user, on the experience or point of interest being unrelated to something that the user dislikes according to profile information concerning the user, on the type of experience/POI, on an amount of time since the was last at an experience/POI of the same type exceeding a predetermined period of time, on inventory at the POI, or some combination thereof. Recommendations of experiences and related points of interest may be made based on such information concerning more than one user as well, so that when a family is traveling together, for example, the likes and dislikes of each member of the family (and other information as discussed above concerning each member of the family) can be taken into account to find optimal recommendations of experiences and points of interest.” The management of these experiences is done in real-time and would be based on real-time information “[0064] FIG. 3 illustrates information flow for real-time management of experiences and personalized itineraries. The information flow 300 of FIG. 3 more specifically shows connections (each optionally bidirectional) between different types and/or sources of information that ultimately are used to produce a personalized itinerary 302/304 for a user 320. In relation to FIG. 1, any of the sources of information 140 discussed with respect to FIG. 3 may be among any of data source(s) 105 identified in FIG. 1 and/or may be stored at the app server(s) 125 itself.”).
and determining the first estimated time for the first activity for the first subgroup using the received real-time location information for the first subgroup and information about the first activity, including a location of the first activity, (The determination of the points of interest, including the first activity, involve the user’s location and estimated time to arrive at the point of interest, as described above. This would require knowledge of the location of the point of interest. Sahadi [0022]: “…The platform generates a personalized itinerary and corresponding map for a user within a venue. The personalized itinerary includes at least one recommended point of interest, the recommendation generated based on a location of the recommended point of interest relative to a location of the user, and based on a comparison between user profile information concerning the user and point of interest information concerning the recommended point of interest. The recommended point of interest may also be recommended based on estimated wait times, queue lengths, or other information obtained by the platform's servers.”).
wherein evaluating the plurality of activities comprises: receiving real-time location information for the second subgroup; determining an estimated time for the second activity for the second subgroup using the received real-time location information for the second subgroup and information about the second activity, including a location of the second activity; (The description in Sahadi [0049] above concerns the points of interests for different users and different recommended activities. This can include the two subgroups going to the first and second activity. The recommendations are made for both groups for both activities as shown in fig. 5 would require location information and the estimated wait times require real-time information.).
and determining the third activity for the group proceeding the first and second activities to reduce the idle time of the group before the third activity using the determined estimated times for the first and second activities, the received real-time location information for the first and second subgroups, and information about the third activity, including a location of the third activity. (The examiner is interpreting the “idle time” as the congestion that comes from the two subgroups going to the same end destination together. That is the third location. The division of the groups into two activities that diverge and then converge on the third location is meant to reduce the idle time. The examiner is interpreting “determining the third activity” not to mean choosing the activity after knowing the first and second activity, but determining information about it like the estimated time to get there and the amount of people from each group arrive there at each time.).
As per claim 19, this claim is similar in scope to limitations recited in claim 12, and thus is rejected under the same rationale.
As per claim 13, Sahadi anticipates the claimed:
13. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving information comprises receiving a request for information from a user experience application associated with one of the first or second subgroups, the method comprising: (Sahadi teaches the application is connected to databases accessed by servers. Receiving the information about the venues would involve a request to a server. Sahadi [0033]: “FIG. 1 illustrates a system architecture for personalizing journeys and itineraries. Uses of the system 100 of FIG. 1 may include live, dynamic mapping that utilizes branding, including hyper-local marketing. The system 100 of FIG. 1 includes an ecosystem of data sources 105 such as mobile devices and/or wearable devices 110, point-of-entry/-exit (POE) terminals 115, point-of-sale (POS) terminals 117, and databases 120. Communicatively coupled to data sources 105 are back-end application servers 125. In system 100, application servers 125 can ingest, normalize and process data collected from mobile devices 110 and various POS or POE terminals 115. Types of information 140 gathered from data sources 105 and processed by back-end application servers 125 are generally inclusive of identity information such as user profiles, customer relationship management (CRM) data, entitlements, demographics, reservation systems and social media sources like Pinterest™ and Facebook™ data. ” Sahadi teaches points of interest displayed on a certain device related to a particular user. This can include the first and second groups respectively.
[0027] The present teachings further include methods for providing a dynamic map that is configured for display on a computing device, including providing graphical images of a venue and of relevant points of interest within the venue, with various interface elements, such as icons, logos, directional indicators, and the like that facilitate understanding a
bout the venue. The map may provide a navigation interface, such as for routing a user to one or more points of interest in a location, such as guiding a user through one or more steps of an itinerary. The map may further include providing a visual update of the user on the map as the visitor moves through the venue and providing a personalized message or other content to the visitor regarding the venue, such as based on user data collected while the user is in the venue or other information about the user.” Sahadi [0053]: “The EaaS platform 230 can further include, connect to, or integrate with a context engine 243, which may be used to determine the context of a visitor at a given time and place, such as taking into account the visitor's identity, the time of day, the season, the weather, the presence or proximity of various physical world elements (such as points of interest, displays, and infrastructure elements), the presence or proximity of other individuals (such as members of a family or social group, or the like), ”).
in response to causing the second and third activities to be displayed on the user experience application, receiving a selection of the third activity from the user experience application; (Sahadi fig. 5 shows the third activity as the selected activity at the bottom, with other recommended activities are different paths, including the second activity. Sahadi [0087]:“The recommended POI 510 is recommended based on its location being along an existing route (from the user's current location 530 to selected POI 515) and based on similarity to something that the user “Matt” likes according to his user profile (“Ike's Sadwiches”). A second POI 515 along the personalized itinerary is user-selected—Flamenco Beach in Culebra. A third POI 520 along the personalized itinerary is recommended by the EaaS platform 230 as “Miami Surf Lessons” based on its location being along an existing route (from the user-selected POI 515 back to the port of New York 505) and based on similarity to the user-selected POI 515 (Flamenco Beach in Culebra) in that both POIs are related to surfing” Flamenco Beach is the third activity in this figure.).
determining routing instructions for the first subgroup to the third activity; and causing the determined routing instructions for the first subgroup to be displayed to the third activity on a user experience application associated with the first subgroup. (The routing instructions are on the display device as described above. This would include the first group going to the third activity where both groups come together. Fig. 5 shows them being displayed to the user application.).
As per claim 20, this claim is similar in scope to limitations recited in claim 13, and thus is rejected under the same rationale.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sahadi in view of Geraghty (Pub No. US 10152840 B2).
As per claim 7, Sahadi alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Sahadi in combination with Geraughty teaches the claimed:
7. The method of claim 6, comprising: causing a representation of a location of the first subgroup to be displayed on the user experience application and a remaining portion of the first time for the first subgroup to arrive at the third activity. (Sahadi [0141]: “To optimally disperse the first crowd 1005 of FIG. 10A into the smaller crowds, the EaaS platform 230 should direct the first crowd 1005 in a way that each of the second crowd 1030, the third crowd 1035, and the fourth crowd 1040 has the optimal crowd size of 96⅔ people. As discussed with respect to the queues of FIG. 9C, the true target size for each of these smaller crowds may be rounded up to the nearest integer greater than the optimal crowd size, rounded down to the nearest integer less than the optimal crowd size, or otherwise adjusted based on estimated rate of travel of each of the members of the first crowd 1005, estimated rates of change in size of each of the smaller crowds, estimated movements of each of the smaller crowds, sizes of any queues at the points of interest, estimated rates of movement of any queues at the points of interest, estimated wait times of any queues at the points of interest, and so forth.” The EaaS platform is the user experience application. It shows all the queues for different groups including the main one. Sahadi fig. 5 shows an interface of a user device. Sahadi alone does not explicitly teach showing the remaining time to arrive at the third location. However, Geraughty teaches active wearable devices (“AW”s) that indicate current wait time in a queue for an attraction. Geraughty col. 5 line 45-col. 6 line 6: “In one embodiment, the guest 120 enters the queue by walking to the attraction entry and walking through an entry portal. For example, the guest 120 may walk to the water slide 142 and walk through its attraction station 166. Once the guest 120 walks through the portal 166, the guest's AW 110 will notify him/her (e.g., via a tone, vibration, illuminator) of being added to the virtual queue. This may be achieved by detecting the AW 110 with the monitoring sensor 104 at the attraction station 166 and via aspects of the AW 110, which will be discussed further below. In another embodiment, the guest 120 may enter the virtual queue by walking to a queue entry post 168, which may indicate the name of the attraction and current wait time, and engaging the post 168 with the AW 110. This may include tapping the AW 110 against or positioning it near the post 168. The posts 168 may be located at the exit or entry of each attraction and at a central location within each park area 152 or village.” Geraghty teaches showing the time remaining on the device. Geraghty col. 12 lines 10-30: “The AW 110 may be configured to receive, store, and display information associated with up to two virtual queues (or more). For example, VQ data assigned to other guests associated with a guest may be displayed. VQ data for display on the AW 110 may include: 1. When a new VQ is added; activated at the virtual queue allocation tap-point; 2. When the wearable is activated; and 3. When a VQ time is within 15 minutes of the guest's entry window (e.g., when the guest can ride); and Fifteen (15) minutes prior to the guest's entry window, the AW 110 may start and display a countdown. The countdown may be a numeric countdown (with different time period updates) (1 sec, 1 min, 15 min, etc). The countdown update rate may adjust as the patron's ride time gets closer to the actual time (e.g. 15 min left, the clock updates every 30 seconds instead of every 5 min). The countdown may also be a graphical representation of time remaining (progress bar, hourglass, analog clock) or a color representation of time remaining (Red, Yellow, Green).”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the indication of the remaining time to reach the end of an and the start of a new activity for which the user is waiting in a queue as taught by Geraghty with the system of Sahadi in order to display the remaining time for the remaining estimated time to the final activity to be displayed on the user device, and to show if the branching of groups does reduce the congestion.
Claims 6, 11 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sahadi in view of D’Andrea (Pub No. US 20180240151 A1).
As per claim 6, Sahadi alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Sahadi in combination with D’Andrea teaches the claimed:
6. The method of claim 1, comprising: in response to causing the information about at least one of the second and third activities to be displayed on the user experience application, receiving a selection of the second and third activities from the user experience application; (Sahadi does not clearly teach that the activities for different groups are selected. However, D’Andrea teaches selection of other activities on the path to a later one based on wait time. D’Andrea [0075]: “At step 404, the visitor 201 location position information is received from the visitor position database 355 and/or is derived from the location prediction module 373. Based upon the current position of the visitor 201, a determination can be made as to whether the visitor 201 should stay on their current route or be redirected along a different route. For example, if the visitor 201 is headed to attraction X, and the wait time of attraction X is determined to be too long, then the system can redirect the visitor 201 to attraction Y, if attraction Y has a shorter waiting time. Another consideration for redirecting the visitor 201 to attraction Y can be the proximity of attraction Y to the current route or location of the visitor 201. In this regard, the attraction Y may be determined based on the visitor attraction interest information and a history of the attractions that the visitor has visited (e.g., ridden). For example, the attraction Y may be selected from attractions that the guest has not ridden during the present visit or during past visits.” D’andrea [0080]: “Thus, in one embodiment, first visitor route includes a route in which all of the venues tall roller coasters will be on a path selected for the visitor. The visitor position database 355 continuously receives updates as to the position of each visitor 201 from the positioning hardware and software on the mobile devices 250a-d, via the visitor position server 356.” Sahadi teaches that these options are shown on mobile devices with user applications on them. Sahadi [0006]: “The system operations also include generating a plurality of recommendations, wherein each recommendation recommends one of the plurality of points of interests. The system also includes a communication transceiver that sends the plurality of recommendations to a plurality of attendee mobile devices corresponding to the plurality of venue attendees so that a different point of interest of the plurality of points of interest is recommended to each group of the plurality of groups based on the queue corresponding to the group.” Sahadi fig. 5 shows an interface with both the second and third activities, the second being one of the branches, and the third being the destination where they both meet.).
determining routing instructions for the second subgroup to the second and third activities; (The navigation interface that routes a user to a point of interest is providing routing instructions. Sahadi [0027]: “The present teachings further include methods for providing a dynamic map that is configured for display on a computing device, including providing graphical images of a venue and of relevant points of interest within the venue, with various interface elements, such as icons, logos, directional indicators, and the like that facilitate understanding about the venue. The map may provide a navigation interface, such as for routing a user to one or more points of interest in a location, such as guiding a user through one or more steps of an itinerary. The map may further include providing a visual update of the user on the map as the visitor moves through the venue and providing a personalized message or other content to the visitor regarding the venue, such as based on user data collected while the user is in the venue or other information about the user.” These can apply to all the different groups and different activities related to different points of interest. Sahadi fig. 5 shows paths to the respective locations.). and causing the determined routing instructions for the second subgroup to be displayed to the second and third activities on the user experience application, wherein the user experience application is executed on the user device of at least one user of the second subgroup. (Sahadi [0069]: “In many aspects, the EaaS platform 130 can track completion of experiences for an itinerary, such as by receiving location signals (such as an indication that a user's mobile phone or wearable device has entered the proximity of a beacon that is positioned at a point of interest), by receiving evidence of redemption of entitlements (such as redemption of tickets, including electronic tickets, or redemption of credits, such as stored on a mobile device or wearable), and receiving evidence of purchases or consumption (such as indicated by transaction data or other information from points of purchase located within a venue). Completed experiences can be recorded on the itinerary, prompting directions (such as messages or elements on a map, such as routing information) for the next itinerary item, allowing the progression through a series of locations, points of interest and the like on the itinerary. As noted, changes in the venue, in the user's state, and other factors can lead to changes in the itinerary, which can be managed automatically in the platform, can be managed by the user (such as by setting or approving items on the user's mobile phone), and can be managed for the user by the experience provider, such as using the live experience development application 352.” These settings are shown on mobile devices from the different members of the groups.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the selection of the second and third activities as taught by D’Andrea with the system of Sahadi in order to give more control over the paths being taken to reduce congestion and idle time.
As per claim 11, Sahadi alone does not explicitly teach the claimed limitations.
However, Sahadi in combination with D’Andrea teaches the claimed:
11. The method of claim 1, comprising: in response to causing information about the determined second activity or the second and third activities to be displayed on the user experience application, receiving a selection of the second and third activities from the user experience application; (Sahadi fig. 5 describes the third activity being selected and the second and first activities along the way being recommended. It does not clearly indicate that the first and second intermediate activities are selected. However, D’Andrea teaches selection of other activities on the path to an original one. D’Andrea [0075]: “At step 404, the visitor 201 location position information is received from the visitor position database 355 and/or is derived from the location prediction module 373. Based upon the current position of the visitor 201, a determination can be made as to whether the visitor 201 should stay on their current route or be redirected along a different route. For example, if the visitor 201 is headed to attraction X, and the wait time of attraction X is determined to be too long, then the system can redirect the visitor 201 to attraction Y, if attraction Y has a shorter waiting time. Another consideration for redirecting the visitor 201 to attraction Y can be the proximity of attraction Y to the current route or location of the visitor 201. In this regard, the attraction Y may be determined based on the visitor attraction interest information and a history of the attractions that the visitor has visited (e.g., ridden). For example, the attraction Y may be selected from attractions that the guest has not ridden during the present visit or during past visits.” D’Andrea [0080]: “Thus, in one embodiment, first visitor route includes a route in which all of the venues tall roller coasters will be on a path selected for the visitor. The visitor position database 355 continuously receives updates as to the position of each visitor 201 from the positioning hardware and software on the mobile devices 250a-d, via the visitor position server 356.”)
determining routing instructions for the second subgroup to the second and third activities; causing the determined routing instructions for the second subgroup to be displayed to the second and third activities on the user experience application. (Sahadi teaches presenting routing instructions Sahadi [0027]: “The present teachings further include methods for providing a dynamic map that is configured for display on a computing device, including providing graphical images of a venue and of relevant points of interest within the venue, with various interface elements, such as icons, logos, directional indicators, and the like that facilitate understanding about the venue. The map may provide a navigation interface, such as for routing a user to one or more points of interest in a location, such as guiding a user through one or more steps of an itinerary. The map may further include providing a visual update of the user on the map as the visitor moves through the venue and providing a personalized message or other content to the visitor regarding the venue, such as based on user data collected while the user is in the venue or other information about the user.” This concerns different venues and points of interest. Thus, it could be for different groups).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the selection of the second and third activities as taught by D’Andrea with the system of Sahadi in order to give more control over the paths being taken to reduce congestion and idle time.
As per claim 17, this claim is similar in scope to limitations recited in claim 11, and thus is rejected under the same rationale.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THOMAS JOHN FOSTER whose telephone number is (571)272-5053. The examiner can normally be reached Mon, Fri 8:30-6. Tues-Thurs 7:30-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Daniel Hajnik can be reached at 571-272-7642. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THOMAS JOHN FOSTER/Examiner, Art Unit 2616
/DANIEL F HAJNIK/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2616