Augmented Reality Query System for Retail Store Assistance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Large retail stores face challenges in assisting customers efficiently due to overcrowding and difficulties in finding products, leading to frustration and reduced customer satisfaction, as existing systems lack effective means to quickly resolve consumer queries and provide assistance.
Innovation Solution
A consumer assistance system that uses an augmented reality device to receive and process consumer queries, providing proposed answers from a commerce server and diverting queries to human customer service if not satisfactorily resolved, utilizing a combination of databases and sensors for navigation and product information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If employees are deployed to over-crowded locations, then customer service in crowded areas is improved, but customers in other areas receive less assistance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements an automated customer service system using augmented reality devices, sensors, and machine learning that enables customers to receive assistance independently without employee intervention. The system detects customer queries, identifies products and locations, and provides guidance through the augmented reality device, allowing the system to serve itself rather than requiring human employees to physically assist each customer.
Solution Approach 2:
The automated system provides universal service coverage across all store areas simultaneously through the augmented reality device and network infrastructure. Unlike employees who can only be in one location at a time, the digital system can assist multiple customers in different store sections concurrently, making the service capability adaptable to all areas without physical constraints.
2Ease of operation
If employees are deployed to assist customers, then customer assistance is provided, but product information accuracy and query resolution speed may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical human employee system with an automated digital system comprising sensors, processors, databases, and augmented reality output. This substitution eliminates human limitations such as memory errors, fatigue, and lack of product knowledge, while providing consistent, accurate information from centralized databases and enabling instantaneous query resolution through automated processing.
3Productivity
If manual customer assistance is used, then personal service is provided, but query resolution time and customer frustration increase
Solution Approach 1:
The automated system operates continuously without interruption, detecting and processing customer queries in real-time as they occur. The system maintains constant readiness to assist customers throughout store hours, processing multiple queries simultaneously and providing immediate responses through the augmented reality device, eliminating the delays inherent in manual employee response times.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method is disclosed herein. The method includes the step of receiving, with a processing device of a commerce server, a signal from a consumer transmitted through an augmented reality device worn by the consumer. The method also includes the step of confirming, with the processing device, the signal contains a query from the consumer. The method also includes the step of retrieving, with the processing device, a proposed answer to the query. The method also includes the step of transmitting, with the processing device, the proposed answer to the augmented reality device. The method also includes the step of verifying, with the processing device, the proposed answer is accepted by the consumer. The method also includes the step of prompting, with the processing device, the consumer to resubmit the signal if the query is not confirmed in the confirming step or if the proposed answer is not accepted in the verifying step.