Personalizing interaction with a structure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for personalizing interaction with structures, such as homes and office buildings, often require users to physically interact with sensors and devices, and may involve costly custom-built hardware, limiting user convenience and increasing installation costs.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize a mobile device, such as a smartphone or wristband, to determine user comfort preferences based on location and context, allowing the device to automatically modify operations of system devices like thermostats, lights, and security systems without user intervention, using location beacons and wireless connections to tailor settings to individual preferences.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If custom-built hardware is used to personalize interaction with structures, then user comfort and interaction quality are improved, but manufacturing and installation costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by using standard mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, wearables) that users already possess for multiple functions including authentication, comfort preference input, and location tracking. This eliminates the need for custom-built hardware while maintaining personalized interaction quality, as these universal devices can perform all required functions through software applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by replicating the functionality of specialized personalization devices using standard mobile devices. Instead of manufacturing custom hardware, the system copies the necessary functions (sensors, displays, processors) that already exist in common mobile devices, thereby reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining interaction capabilities.
2Reliability
If physical interaction with sensors and devices is required, then device functionality is maintained, but user convenience and automation level decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies self-service by enabling mobile devices to automatically perform tasks such as location tracking, comfort preference detection, and device control without requiring physical user interaction. The mobile device continuously monitors user location and automatically adjusts structure devices based on pre-configured preferences, eliminating the need for manual sensor interaction while maintaining full device functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical interaction systems (physical sensors and switches) with wireless electronic communication. Mobile devices communicate with structure devices through wireless networks, substituting physical contact and mechanical operations with electronic signals, thereby maintaining functionality while enabling full automation and remote operation.
3Ease of manufacture
If standard mobile devices are used instead of custom hardware, then manufacturing and installation costs are reduced, but device integration complexity may increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent leverages the universality of standard mobile devices which already contain integrated sensors, processors, displays, and wireless communication capabilities. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized components, thereby simplifying system integration despite the diversity of available mobile devices. The system interacts with the mobile device as a unified platform rather than individual components.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs an intermediary approach by using a centralized server or cloud platform to manage communications between mobile devices and structure devices. This intermediary layer handles device-specific protocols and variations, shielding the core system from integration complexity while enabling support for multiple standard mobile device types without requiring custom hardware integration for each device variant.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, devices, and systems for personalizing interaction with a structure are described herein. One method includes determining a comfort preference associated with a user of a mobile device corresponding to a particular location with respect to a structure, storing the comfort preference in a memory, and modifying an operation of at least one device in the structure to provide the comfort preference responsive to a distance between the mobile device and the particular location being less than a particular threshold.