IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,954,956
Granted Patent B2
US 11,954,956 · App. 17/453,793 · Granted Apr 9, 2024

Multifunction smart door device

Inventors: Jay Schneider (Miami Beach, FL); Gregory Morwick (Miami, FL); Joey Hasty (Winter Park, FL); Alastair Partington (Minnetonka, MN)
Assignees: ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.; ASSA ABLOY GLOBAL SOLUTIONS AB
G07C9/00563G05B19/042G06F21/6254G06Q50/265G06V40/166G07C9/00571G07C9/37G07C9/38G08B21/182G08B25/00H04N7/186G05B2219/2614G06V40/172
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,954,956
App. No.
17/453,793
Granted
Apr 9, 2024
Kind
B2
Abstract

Multifunction smart door devices may be part of a system of multifunction smart door devices installed within or near stateroom doors of a cruise ship. Each smart door device can control access to a stateroom based on facial recognition or a wireless credential and can perform other functions such as controlling stateroom personalization features, providing an electronic peephole function, allowing controlled access for authorized crew members, accommodating remote unlocking, and providing notifications. Data obtained by the smart door devices can be provided to the cruise operator for service, safety, or security purposes, such as for anonymized foot traffic analysis, hazard detection, and stateroom access auditing. Smart door device functionality may be implemented in part by customers' mobile devices.

Claims (44)

1. A smart door device for stateroom access control, the smart door device comprising:

a local data store in communication, via a vessel-based network, with a remote data store having stored thereon a plurality of customer profiles associated with individual customers embarked on a vessel, the local data store having stored thereon at least a portion of a subset of the plurality of customer profiles, the subset comprising one or more profiles associated with customers permitted to access a stateroom of the vessel; and

a processor in communication with the local data store, an electronic door lock configured to lock and unlock a door of the stateroom, and a camera positioned to image a public area of the vessel adjacent to the door of the stateroom, the processor configured to:

receive, from the camera, an image of a face of a person disposed within the public area;

locally generate, based on one or more facial recognition software algorithms and the at least a portion of the one or more profiles, a facial recognition result indicating that the person is one of the customers permitted to access the stateroom; and

in response to the facial recognition result:

cause the electronic door lock to unlock the door of the stateroom; and

modify an operational configuration of a networked appliance within the stateroom based at least in part on the customer profile associated with the person.

2. The smart door device of claim 1 , wherein modifying the operational configuration of the networked appliance comprises changing at least one of a default climate control setting, a default in-room media setting, a default lighting setting, or a default window shade setting.

3. The smart door device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further in communication with one or more sensors configured to determine whether the stateroom is occupied or unoccupied, the processor further configured to modify the operational configuration of the networked appliance within the stateroom in response to the facial recognition result only if the stateroom is unoccupied.

4. The smart door device of claim 1 , wherein the camera is a video camera configured to capture video footage of the public area of the vessel adjacent to the door of the stateroom.

5. The smart door device of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to display the captured video footage to one or more of the customers associated with the stateroom as a live stream.

6. The smart door device of claim 5 , wherein displaying the captured video footage comprises playing the live stream on a display located at least partially within the stateroom.

7. The smart door device of claim 5 , wherein displaying the captured video footage comprises transmitting the live stream to a mobile device associated with the one or more of the customers associated with the stateroom.

8. The smart door device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

cause an access event record to be stored in the local data store or in the remote data store in response to the facial recognition result; and

cause an image or video of the person to be stored in the local data store or in the remote data store in association with the access event record.

9. The stateroom access control system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further in communication with a door position sensor configured to detect an open or closed status of the door of the stateroom, the processor further configured to generate a security alert when the door of the stateroom is open for longer than a predetermined threshold time.

10. A stateroom access control system comprising:

a plurality of smart door devices according to claim 1 , each smart door device disposed within or proximate to a door of a stateroom of the vessel; and

a server in communication with the remote data store and the plurality of smart door devices.

11. A computer-implemented method for stateroom access control, the method comprising:

receiving, at a local data store associated with a stateroom of the vessel via a vessel-based network, at least a portion of one or more profiles from a remote data store, the remote data store containing a plurality of customer profiles associated with individual customers embarked on the vessel including the one or more profiles, the one or more profiles comprising a subset of the plurality of customer profiles and being associated with customers permitted to access the stateroom;

receiving, from a camera positioned to image a public area of the vessel adjacent to a door of a stateroom, an image of a face of a person disposed within the public area;

locally generating, using one or more facial recognition software algorithms, a facial recognition result based on the at least a portion of the one or more profiles, the facial recognition result indicating that the person is one of the customers permitted to access the stateroom; and

in response to the facial recognition result:

causing an electronic door lock to unlock the door of the stateroom; and

modifying an operational configuration of a networked appliance within the stateroom based at least in part on the customer profile associated with the person.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein modifying the operational configuration of the networked appliance comprises changing at least one of a default climate control setting, a default in-room media setting, a default lighting setting, or a default window shade setting.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising determining whether the stateroom is occupied or unoccupied based on one or more sensors within the stateroom, wherein the operational configuration of the networked appliance is modified in response to determining that the stateroom is unoccupied.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the camera is a video camera configured to capture video footage of the public area of the vessel adjacent to the door of the stateroom.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising displaying the captured video footage to one or more of the customers associated with the stateroom as a live stream.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein displaying the captured video footage comprises playing the live stream on a display located at least partially within the stateroom.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein displaying the captured video footage comprises transmitting the live stream to a mobile device associated with the one or more of the customers associated with the stateroom.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

causing an access event record to be stored in the local data store or in the remote data store in response to the facial recognition result; and

causing an image or video of the person from the camera to be stored in the local data store or in the remote data store in association with the access event record.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving, from a proximity sensor positioned to detect a presence of an object within the public area of the vessel adjacent to the door of the stateroom, a signal indicative of the presence of the object; and

causing the camera to capture the image in response to the signal.

20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving, from an input device proximate the door of the stateroom, an input from the person; and

causing the camera to capture the image in response to the input.

21. The method of claim 11 , wherein the at least a portion of the one or more profiles comprises an embarkation image of a face of each of the customers permitted to access the stateroom taken at a time of embarkation on the vessel, and wherein the facial recognition result is generated based at least in part on the embarkation images.

Assignments (4)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 7, 2024
From: SCHNEIDER, JAY; MORWICK, GREGORY; HASTY, JOEY
To: ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.
Reel/Frame 066405/0329 →
CONFIRMATORY ASSIGNMENT Recorded Dec 4, 2023
From: TASCENT, INC.
To: TASDIME (ABC), LLC
Reel/Frame 065759/0114 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 4, 2023
From: TASDIME (ABC), LLC
To: ASSA ABLOY GLOBAL SOLUTIONS AB
Reel/Frame 065750/0094 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 1, 2023
From: PARTINGTON, ALASTAIR
To: TASCENT, INC.
Reel/Frame 065731/0713 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 16867461 · May 5, 2020
Related Publication 20220230493A1 · Jul 21, 2022
Cited By (1)
US 12,620,283