Granted Patent B2

US 10,957,102 · App. 15/471,523 · Granted Mar 23, 2021

Inventors: Yehoshua Zvi Licht (Alpharetta, GA); Grant Charles Paton (Scotland, GB); Joseph Arnold White (Encinitas, CA); Mariano J. Maluf (Woodstock, GA)

Assignee: NCR Corporation

G06T19/006G06Q10/101G06Q10/20G06Q20/00G06Q20/18G06Q20/3567G07F9/006G07F9/026

Abstract

Claims (60)

1. A method, comprising:

establishing, by a set of executable instructions representing a Virtual Reality (VR) interface that is executed on a hardware processor from a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, a VR session;

loading, by the VR interface, into a VR room and rendered during the VR session, files describing and program instructions that are processed, permitting:

viewing, interacting, and manipulating a Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminal within the VR room,

wherein the POS terminal is represented as a real-world POS terminal with a plurality of real-world component pieces represented as components,

wherein loading further includes rendering a white board within the VR room during the VR session for collaborative interaction between participants of the VR session,

wherein rendering further includes presenting text on the white board based on direction from a first VR input device operated by one of the participants or a different VR input device operated by a different one of the participants,

wherein presenting further includes playing and posting one or more videos and documents on the white board for the participants to interact within the VR room and during the VR session;

manipulating, by the VR interface, at least one component of the POS terminal during the VR session as directed by VR input devices operated by the participants collaborating during the VR session through manipulation and interaction with a component object in the VR room,

the component object representing the at least one component, wherein manipulating further includes

operating the component object within the VR room,

positioning the component object with the VR room,

removing the component object from the POS terminal based on interaction of the participants during the VR session using the VR input devices, and

replacing the component object with a replacement component object within the POS terminal based on other interactions of the participants,

wherein manipulating further includes manipulating the component object by at least two of the participants during the VR session; and

processing, by the VR interface, the VR session as a collaborative maintenance or repair session between the participants,

wherein a particular one of the participants is physically present at the real-world POS terminal and wears a VR headset, the VR headset comprising a front facing camera that casts real-time information specific to what is being displayed on a POS display of the real-world POS terminal on the white board during the VR session.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein loading further includes loading a Computer-Assisted Design (CAD) file for the POS terminal as the files and program instructions.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein loading further includes identifying the CAD file based on a make and model of a particular POS terminal that is being reviewed during the VR session.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein identifying further includes receiving an identifier for the particular POS terminal from at least one of the participants during the VR session.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein manipulating further includes simulating a set of actions associated with manipulation of the at least one component within the VR room as one of the participants removes the at least one component from the POS terminal in real time during operation by that participant of the first VR input device.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein simulating further includes simulating a second set of actions performed by a different participant operating the different VR input device that depicts, within the VR room, insertion of a new component into the POS terminal that replaces the removed at least one component.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein manipulating further includes simulating one or more actions directed by the different VR input device operated by a second participant that depicts manipulation of an object within the VR room that is unrelated to the POS terminal, wherein a first participant operates the first VR input device and the second participant operates the different VR input device.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein simulating further includes simultaneously simulating the one or more actions directed by the different VR input device within the VR room while the first participant is manipulating the at least one component of the POS terminal.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing further includes processing the collaborative maintenance and repair session on a particular real-world Self-Service Terminal (SST) and represented in the VR room by the POS terminal.

10. A method, comprising:

rendering, by a set of executable instructions representing a Virtual Reality (VR) interface that is executed on a hardware processor from a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, a VR room in a collaborative VR session representing a real-world room on a display;

loading, by the VR interface, an interactive object representing a Self-Service Terminal (SST) within the VR room,

wherein loading further includes loading the interactive object as a plurality of real-world component pieces of a real-world SST as components of the interactive object,

wherein loading further includes loading a second interactive object representing a white board within the VR room,

wherein loading further includes presenting text on the white board based on direction from a first VR input device operated by one of at least two participants or a different VR input device operated by a different one of the at least two participants,

wherein presenting further includes playing and posting one or more videos and documents on the white board for the at least two participants to interact within the VR room and during the VR session;

permitting, by the VR interface, the at least two participants to collaborate on maintenance or repair of a real-world SST during the VR session and within the VR room by at least partially manipulating individual components of the interactive object; and

collaborating by the at least two participants through the VR interface on the real-world SST by manipulating the interactive object within the VR room,

wherein collaborating further includes operating a specific component within the VR room,

positioning the specific component within the VR room,

removing the specific component from the interactive object based on interaction of the at least two participants during the VR session with the interactive object, and

replacing the specific component with a replacement component within the interactive object based on other interactions of the at least two participants,

wherein collaborating further includes manipulating the interactive object by both the at least two of the participants during the collaborative VR session,

wherein a particular one of the participants is physically present at the real-world SST and wears a VR headset, the VR headset comprising a front facing camera that casts real-time information specific to what is being displayed on an SST display of the real-world SST on the white board during the VR session.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein loading further includes presenting an option to send an out-of-band invitation message to a new participant for dynamically joining in the VR session.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein loading further includes loading the interactive object as a Computer-Assisted design file for a same make and a same module SST as the real-world SST.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein permitting further includes receiving direction for at least partially manipulating the individual components from the first VR input device and the different VR input device manipulated by the at least two participants during the VR session.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising identifying, by the VR interface, a first of the two or more participants as being physically present at the real-world SST and identifying a second of the two or more participants as being remotely located from the real-world SST.

15. A system, comprising:

a server including a hardware processor and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium;

the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including executable instructions representing a Virtual Reality (VR) session manager; and

the VR session manager is executed as the executable instructions by the hardware processor and configured to perform processing on the server to:

establish a VR session between two or more participants;

render an interactive model of a real-world terminal within a VR room of the VR session as objects, wherein each object represents a real-world component piece of the real-world terminal;

load a particular interactive object representing a white board within the VR room;

present text on the white board based on direction from a first VR input device operated by one of the two participants or a different VR input device operated by a different one of the two participants;

play and post one or more videos and documents on the white board for the two participants to interact within the VR room and during the VR session; and

permit interactive manipulation of the objects by the two or more participants within the VR room to collaborate on the interactive model for the real-world terminal, and operate a specific component of the real-word terminal within the VR room,

position the specific component within the VR room,

remove the specific component from the interactive model based on interaction of the participants during the VR session with the objects, and

replace the specific component with a replacement component within the interactive model based on other interactions of the participants,

wherein both of the two or more participants interact with the objects during the VR sessions;

wherein a particular one of the participants is physically present at the real-world terminal and wears a VR headset, the VR headset comprising a front facing camera that casts real-time information specific to what is being displayed on a terminal display of the real-world terminal on the white board during the VR session.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the real-world terminal is one of: an Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), a kiosk, and a Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminal.

Assignments (14)

Continuity (2)