초록 ▼

A method and apparatus for enabling a selection of items at a computer terminal from an electronic catalog is described. One or more customers access the terminal and identify themselves, and each such customer's past item selections are made available to the system in the form of an electronic sign

A method and apparatus for enabling a selection of items at a computer terminal from an electronic catalog is described. One or more customers access the terminal and identify themselves, and each such customer's past item selections are made available to the system in the form of an electronic signal. A subset of catalog items is created which excludes the prior selections of each identified customer. Thus, if only one customer has identified himself or herself, then only that customer's prior selections are excluded from the catalog of items. And, if two or more customers have identified themselves, then the subset created will exclude the items of those customers' prior selections. The customer is enabled to select items at the terminal from at least the items in the subset. The subset may be distinguished from the remainder of the catalog items in a number of ways. The subset formed may optionally be directed to items of a specific category or type from within the catalog. The invention has industrial utility, for example, in the rental and sale of movies in the form of videotapes and the like and in the maintenance and managing of registry-based transactions.

대표청구항 ▼

[ We claim:] [1.] A method for enabling a designation of items from a store's catalog, the store's catalog being made available at a station in an automated system, comprising the steps of:a. identifying at least a first customer at the station from an input customer-identification signal;b. obtaini

[ We claim:] [1.] A method for enabling a designation of items from a store's catalog, the store's catalog being made available at a station in an automated system, comprising the steps of:a. identifying at least a first customer at the station from an input customer-identification signal;b. obtaining catalog data associated with the identified customer including items from the store's catalog;c. obtaining designation-data associated with each identified customer which represents the prior designations of items for each identified customer;d. defining a database subset of the catalog data using the designation-data, wherein the database subset is restricted to those items in the store's catalog that are not among the items in the designation-data associated with each identified customer;e. guiding present selections by enabling an electronic designation of an item at the station from at least the items in the database subset; andf. electronically modifying the designation-data associated with each identified customer to include any item designated at the station, such that a subsequent step of obtaining designation-data will obtain said modified designation-data,whereby any subsequent selection is guided using a database subset defined by said modified designation-data.