Mobile-phone adapter for electronic transactions
AssigneeHand Held Products, Inc.
InventorBenjamin Hejl
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mobile-device adapter to facilitate the exchange of visual information between a mobile device and a point-of-sale terminal is disclosed. The mobile-device adapter may be connected to a point-of-sale terminal at a retail checkout and configured to allow a customer to temporarily position their mobile device so that the mobile-device adapter may (i) image the mobile-device display and (ii) present images to the mobile-device camera. In this way, the mobile-device adapter may facilitate electronic transactions using visual images.
Claims20
A mobile-device adapter to facilitate electronic communication between a mobile device and a host device, the mobile-device adapter comprising:
- an adapter camera configured to acquire images of a mobile-device display;
- an adapter display configured to present images to a mobile-device camera;
- an adapter frame configured to temporarily position the mobile device in a guide area and to permanently support the adapter camera and the adapter display, the adapter frame permitting (i) the adapter camera to acquire images of the mobile-device display and (ii) the adapter display to present images to the mobile-device camera when the mobile device is positioned in the guide area;
- and
- an adapter communication module configured to facilitate a digital data link between the mobile-device adapter and a host device, the adapter communication module being electrically connected to the adapter camera and the adapter display.
A checkout system, comprising:
- a mobile device having a mobile-device camera for capturing visual information and a mobile-device display for displaying visual information;
- a mobile-device adapter configured to temporarily position the mobile device in a guide area and to exchange visual information with the mobile device, the mobile-device adapter comprising (i) an adapter camera for receiving visual information from the mobile-device display and (ii) an adapter display for transmitting visual information to the mobile-device camera when the mobile device is positioned in the guide area;
- and
- a point-of-sale terminal for processing and recording the visual information from the mobile-device adapter, the point-of-sale terminal connected to the mobile-device adapter via a communication link.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.