Virtual Product Annotations for Privacy-Preserving Guided Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing customer support systems lack effective methods for providing guided instructions and annotations to users, especially in the context of product usage and maintenance, which can be privacy-invasive and require real-time interaction with customer service representatives.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that uses a virtual representation of a product, combined with annotations and animations, to provide guided instructions to users, allowing for privacy-preserving interactions and enabling annotations to be presented on both physical and virtual representations of products, facilitated by computing devices with sensors and communication capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If real-time interaction with customer service representatives is used to provide guided instructions, then customer support effectiveness is improved, but user privacy is compromised and representative workload increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual representation (copy) of the physical product that can be annotated and manipulated digitally. This virtual model allows customer service representatives to provide guided instructions through annotations on the virtual product rather than requiring direct real-time interaction with the physical product, thereby maintaining support effectiveness while preserving user privacy.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual representation of the product serves as an intermediary between the customer service representative and the user's physical product. Annotations are applied to this virtual model and transmitted to the user's device, enabling guided instructions without direct exposure of the user's physical environment or personal information.
2Reliability
If real-time interaction with customer service representatives is used to provide guided instructions, then customer support effectiveness is improved, but system complexity and operational costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-generates a virtual representation of the product with all necessary annotation capabilities built in. This preliminary setup allows subsequent guided instructions to be delivered through automated annotation transmission rather than requiring complex real-time interaction systems, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining support effectiveness.
3Ease of operation
If traditional customer support methods are used without virtual representations, then implementation simplicity is maintained, but guided instruction effectiveness and user engagement decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds a digital/virtual dimension to the traditional physical product support model. By creating a virtual representation that can be annotated and manipulated digitally, the system enhances guided instruction effectiveness through visual overlays and interactive elements while maintaining relative implementation simplicity by building upon existing product data.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a method for providing guided instructions or support using a virtual object. The method comprises at a first computing device in communication with one or more input devices and a second computing device, capturing, using the one or more input devices, one or more images, determining an identity of an object using the one or more images, and transmitting the identity of the object to the second computing device. The method further comprises receiving from the second computing device an indication of a first input received at the second computing device and presenting a first view of the object comprising a first annotation that corresponds to the first input received at the second computing device.