Casino Player Tracking via Passive Wireless Device Detection

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Solution Overview

Problem

Casino enterprises face challenges in tracking and rewarding customer activities, particularly from unidentified customers, which hinders loyalty program effectiveness and revenue optimization due to the lack of identifying information.

Innovation Solution

A monitoring system that passively tracks portable wireless devices and associates them with activities within the casino, creating virtual customer accounts to store transaction data, allowing for the identification and reward of unidentified customers based on biometric and wireless signal data.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If traditional player tracking cards are used to identify customers, then customer loyalty can be tracked and rewarded, but unidentified customers cannot be tracked and their activities go unrewarded

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecustomer activity informationVSAvoidtracking system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces portable wireless devices as an intermediary between customers and the casino enterprise. These devices automatically transmit identification information to the monitoring system, serving as a mediator that enables tracking without requiring direct customer interaction with traditional card readers or manual identification processes.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the mechanical card insertion system with wireless communication technology. Instead of physically inserting player tracking cards into card readers, customers use portable wireless devices that automatically communicate with the monitoring system via wireless signals, eliminating the need for mechanical card readers and manual card handling.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Productivity

If customer identification is required for loyalty tracking, then rewards can be attributed to specific customers, but customers remain anonymous and unrewarded

Engineering Contradiction:

Improverevenue optimizationVSAvoidcustomer participation ease

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements a self-service tracking system where customers' portable wireless devices automatically perform identification and transmission of activity information without requiring customer action. The system autonomously tracks customers throughout the casino enterprise, eliminating the need for customers to manually present cards or register for each activity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary identification by having customers' portable wireless devices automatically transmit their identification information before activities occur. The monitoring system receives and stores this information in advance, enabling automatic attribution of subsequent activities to the correct customers without requiring real-time identification actions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If manual card insertion is used for tracking, then customer activities can be recorded, but the system requires active customer participation and cannot track anonymous customers

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveactivity tracking reliabilityVSAvoidtracking automation level

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSExtent of automation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces the mechanical card insertion process with automated wireless communication. Portable wireless devices continuously or periodically transmit identification information to the monitoring system automatically, eliminating the need for mechanical card readers and manual card handling while improving tracking reliability through consistent automated data capture.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent enables continuous tracking by having portable wireless devices continuously or periodically transmit identification information to the monitoring system throughout the customer's visit. This continuous automated transmission ensures that all activities are reliably captured without interruption or requiring repeated manual card insertions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #20Continuity of useful action

Data Source

PatentUS9928681B2Anonymous player tracking with mobile devices

Publication Date: 2018.03.27 INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY INC

AI summary

A monitoring system for monitoring customer activities within a casino enterprise can be used to determine a current utilization of casino activities so that the casino can offer an optimal mixture of activities. Further, the system can identify customers (whose loyalty a casino enterprise may wish to cultivate) based on their utilization of the activities. The monitoring system can passively track portable wireless devices and associate the portable wireless devices with activities within the casino enterprise that are not attributable to customers registered in a loyalty program. The person controlling a particular portable device can be unknown. A virtual customer account can be created where the first portable device is used to identify a virtual customer associated with the account. Based upon identification of the first portable device, activities can be associated with the virtual customer and store to the virtual customer account.