Transient Order Session Management for Secure Communal Dining
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hospitality management systems lack efficient and secure methods for dynamic session management, particularly in communal dining settings, where multiple patrons order and pay collectively, without requiring human intervention or risking malicious use of static order sessions.
Innovation Solution
A dynamic session management engine (DSME) utilizing electronic paper devices and mobile computing devices to generate transient tokens for each patron party, allowing secure, single-use ordering sessions that require physical presence, enable communal ordering, and facilitate interaction with staff, while preventing malicious use and enabling independent session re-entry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a static order session is used, then staff can easily manage orders, but the system is vulnerable to malicious use and requires continuous human intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic session identifiers that automatically expire after a set time period, transforming the static session model into a dynamic one. This resolves the contradiction by providing security through automatic expiration while reducing the need for continuous staff intervention to manage and monitor static sessions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables patrons to independently join and manage order sessions using automatically generated tokens, eliminating the need for staff to manually create and manage each session. This self-service approach enhances security while reducing staff workload and intervention requirements.
2Productivity
If staff manually manage each order session, then ordering can be monitored, but it increases staff workload and reduces efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically generates transient tokens for each table and enables patrons to independently join order sessions without staff assistance. This self-service mechanism dramatically improves ordering efficiency while eliminating the need for staff to manually manage each session, resolving the contradiction between productivity and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an automated session management engine that acts as an intermediary between patrons and the ordering system. This engine handles token generation, session management, and patron authentication automatically, improving efficiency while reducing staff intervention requirements.
3Ease of operation
If a single bill is used for the entire party, then payment is simplified, but individual patron accountability for orders is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the ordering process by creating individual order records for each patron while maintaining a unified session identifier. This segmentation allows the system to track individual orders and associate them with specific patrons, yet still generate a single consolidated bill for the entire party, resolving the contradiction between payment simplicity and individual order tracking.
Solution Approach 2:
The system merges individual patron orders into a unified session bill by using a common session identifier. This merging approach maintains individual accountability through separate order records while simplifying payment through a single consolidated bill, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and information loss.
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and associated methods relate to a dynamic session management engine (DSME). In an illustrative example, a DSME may include an electronic paper device configured to display a transient token associated with a session identifier (SID). The SID may be associated with a table of a patron party. For example, the electronic paper device may generate a passive display associated with the SID. User devices in a patron party, for example, may engage the passive display to associate the user device with the SID. When order items are transmitted from one of the user devices, the DSME may associate the order items with the transmitting device. The DSME may update each of the associated user devices dynamically to display a patron visual indicia associating the order item with at least one patron of the patron party. Various embodiments may advantageously provide a communal food ordering experience.