Doorbell Community Network Selective Visitor Data Sharing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing doorbell systems lack the ability to share visitor information selectively among users and do not facilitate communication between remotely located individuals and visitors effectively, especially in a community setting where multiple doorbells are involved.
Innovation Solution
A doorbell system that allows users to create a user group for sharing visitor information, including pictures and traits, across multiple doorbells, enabling selective sharing of data and communication through remote computing devices, even if the devices are not directly connected, using a database and map-based interface for user management and alerting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If visitor information is shared among all doorbell users in a community, then community safety and awareness are improved, but user privacy control and selective information sharing are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts information sharing based on user preferences and visitor characteristics. Users can set different sharing levels for different types of visitors (e.g., suspicious visitors vs. known delivery personnel), and the system adapts the sharing behavior accordingly, resolving the contradiction between broad sharing for safety and selective sharing for privacy.
Solution Approach 2:
Different information sharing policies are applied to different types of visitors and different user groups. The system allows granular control where specific users or user groups can receive specific types of visitor information based on local preferences and needs, rather than a blanket all-or-nothing approach.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a doorbell system is expanded to include multiple remote computing devices and doorbells in a user group, then community communication and safety are improved, but system complexity and configuration requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
A centralized server acts as an intermediary that manages communication between multiple doorbells and remote computing devices. The server handles user group formation, information distribution, and coordination, simplifying the system architecture and reducing configuration complexity for individual users while enabling extensive community communication.
Solution Approach 2:
The server provides universal functionality that serves all users in the doorbell community, including user management, information sharing, alert distribution, and communication coordination. This multi-functional approach consolidates complexity into a single system component rather than requiring each user device to handle all these functions independently.
3Reliability
If all visitors are monitored and information is shared with all users, then crime prevention and community awareness are improved, but information overload and unnecessary alerts are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements partial monitoring and sharing by focusing resources on potentially suspicious visitors rather than treating all visitors equally. Users can configure the system to share information selectively based on visitor behavior patterns, time of day, visitor identification, and other criteria, providing sufficient action for crime prevention while avoiding information overload from routine visits.
Data Source
AI summary
Doorbells can send data to each other to enable a first doorbell user to warn a second doorbell user regarding a suspicious visitor. A first user can indicate a first trait of a visitor via a first remote computing device. The first user can create a user group to enable the members of the user group to use their doorbells to take pictures of suspicious visitors and to send the pictures of the suspicious visitors to other members of the user group.