Crowd based bonus and promotional system and method
A bonus and/or promotion system, such as for a casino or other retail location, includes one or more sensors for detecting the presence of one or more persons at a location and a bonus or promotion generator configured to generate and output bonuses or promotions based upon detected levels of persons in an area. The bonus or promotion generator may provide an output to existing audio and/or visual display devices of the location for announcing bonuses or promotions.
1. A method of providing a bonus or promotion, comprising:
providing at least one sensor configured to detect the presence of at least one person in each of a first area and a second area a location;
transmitting an output of the at least one sensor through a network to a bonus or promotional generator comprising at least one server that includes machine readable instructions for generating a bonus or promotion a database that includes bonus or promotion configuration data;
generating at the server at least one bonus or promotion based on a variability in a number of persons in said first area as compared to the second area as determined from the output of the at least one sensor;
transmitting from said server through said network the at least one bonus or promotion to at least display device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one display device comprises a video display or an audio device.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the variability comprises a number of persons above a predetermined threshold in said first area as compared to a number of persons below a predetermined threshold in said second area.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location comprises a retail location.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises a plurality of sensors in each of said first and second areas of said location.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bonus or promotion is only redeemable at a different area of the location than where the at least one sensor is located.
7. A system for providing a bonus or promotion, comprising:
at least one sensor configured to detect the presence of at least one person in each of a first area and a second area a location;
a bonus or promotion generator that receives an output of the at least one sensor over a first communications link and comprises at least one system server that includes machine readable instructions for generating a bonus or promotion based on a variability in a number of persons in said first area as compared to the second area as determined from the output of the at least one sensor, and at least one database of bonus and promotion information; and
an output device that receives the bonus or promotion over a second communications link and outputs the bonus or promotion to the at least one person.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the bonus or promotion generator comprises an electronic device having a processor and a memory, the electronic device being at a location proximate to the at least one sensor or at a location remote from the at least one sensor.
9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the bonus or promotion generator is configured to generate the bonus or promotion based upon at least a number of people detected by the at least one sensor in said first area and said second area.
10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises a plurality of sensors in each of said first and second areas of said location.
11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the location comprises a retail location.
12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the bonus or promotion is only redeemable at a different area of the location than where the at least one sensor is located.
13. The system of claim 7 , wherein the output device comprises a video display, an audio device or a kiosk.
14. A system for providing a bonus or promotion, comprising:
at least one sensor configured to detect the presence of at least one person in each of a first area and a second area a location;
a first communications link configured to send an output of the at least one sensor to a bonus or promotion generator that generates a bonus or promotion based a variability in a number of persons in said first area as compared to the second area as determined from the output of the at least one sensor;
a second communications link configured to send an output of the bonus or promotion generator to an output device; and
an output device that outputs the bonus or promotion to the at least one person.
15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the bonus or promotion generator comprises an electronic device having a processor and a memory, the electronic device being at a location proximate to the at least one sensor or at a location remote from the at least one sensor.
16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the at least one sensor comprises a plurality of sensors in said of said first and second areas of said location.
17. The system of claim 14 , wherein the location comprises a retail location.
18. The system of claim 14 , wherein the bonus or promotion is only redeemable at a different area of the location than where the at least one sensor is located.
19. The system of claim 14 , wherein the output device comprises a video display, an audio device or a kiosk.
20. The system of claim 14 , wherein the output device is a gaming machine.