Pre-purchase mechanism for autonomous vehicles
View Patent ↗An onboard computing device of autonomous vehicle interacts with computers utilized by one or more merchants to enable users to pre-purchase items from the one or more merchants while en route to a destination. Merchant computing devices may employ dynamic promotions to incent the user to prep-purchase items and to reroute to a destination of the respective merchant. Once a user pre-purchases an item from a merchant, the merchant may prepare the item for the user's arrival by, for example, prepackaging the item, or manufacturing or assembling the item, while the customer is en route (i.e., before the user's autonomous vehicle arrives at the destination). The merchant computing device may send a pre-purchase confirmation to the onboard computing device of the user, which may indicate where the user's autonomous vehicle should park and/or where the pre-purchased items are being held for pick up.
1. An autonomous vehicle comprising:
a user interface comprising an input and an output;
a navigation system;
one or more communication connections; and
an onboard computer communicatively coupled to the user interface and the navigation system, the onboard computer having one or more processors and memory, the memory storing executable instructions that, when executed configure the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving input of a destination via the input of the user interface;
determining a route to the destination using the navigation system;
driving the autonomous vehicle along the route toward the destination autonomously;
retrieving, via the one or more communication connections, information regarding one or more items available for pre-purchase from a merchant at or proximate the destination; and
presenting a prompt via the output of the user interface, the prompt identifying the one or more items available for pre-purchase from the merchant prior to the autonomous vehicle arriving at the destination, wherein the one or more items comprises a part to be manufactured by three-dimensional printing after pre-purchase of the item and while the autonomous vehicle is in transit.
2. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
receiving, via the input of the user interface, a selection of at least one of the one or more items identified in the prompt, wherein the selection comprises the part to be manufactured by three-dimensional printing; and
responsive to receiving the selection, transmitting a pre-purchase request to a computing device of the merchant via the one or more communication connections prior to arriving at the destination.
3. The autonomous vehicle of claim 2 , wherein:
the user interface comprises a touch screen display,
presenting the prompt comprises displaying on the touch screen display a list of the one or more items available for pre-purchase from the merchant, and
receiving the selection to pre-purchase the at least one of the one or more items comprises receiving a touch input selecting the at least one of the one or more items available for purchase from the list of the one or more items on the touch screen display.
4. The autonomous vehicle of claim 2 , wherein:
the user interface comprises a microphone as the input and a speaker as the output,
presenting the prompt comprises audibly announcing, via the speaker, a list of the one or more items available for pre-purchase from the merchant, and
receiving the selection to pre-purchase the at least one of the one or more items comprises receiving a voice input, via the microphone, selecting the at least one of the one or more items available for purchase from the announced list of the one or more items.
5. The autonomous vehicle of claim 1 , the operations further comprising:
receiving, via the one or more communication connections, a promotion from another merchant within a predetermined distance of the route, the promotion offering to sell at least one of the one or more items identified in the prompt;
presenting a second prompt via the output of the user interface, the second prompt including the promotion offering to sell the at least one of the one or more items;
receiving, via the input of the user interface, a selection of the at least one of the one or more items identified in the promotion; and
responsive to receiving the selection, transmitting a pre-purchase request to a computing device of the other merchant via the one or more communication connections; and
changing the destination to a location of the other merchant.
6. An autonomous vehicle comprising:
a user interface comprising an input and an output;
a navigation system;
one or more communication connections; and
an onboard computer communicatively coupled to the user interface and the navigation system, the onboard computer having one or more processors and memory, the memory storing executable instructions that, when executed configure the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
sending a communication from an onboard computing device of an autonomous vehicle indicating that the onboard computing device is en route to a destination within a predetermined proximity of a location of a merchant;
obtain information about one or more items available for purchase from the merchant to offer to a user of the onboard computing device of the autonomous vehicle;
receiving a pre-purchase communication sent to the onboard computing device of the autonomous vehicle offering the one or more items for purchase prior to the onboard computing device arriving at the destination, the pre-purchase communication comprising a control usable to pre-purchase the items from the merchant;
sending a pre-purchase request indicating selection of the pre-purchase communication and identifying one or more pre-purchased items;
receiving notification of a location at which the autonomous vehicle should park at the location of the merchant; and
providing geolocation information from the onboard computing device to confirm an identity of the user to retrieve the one or more pre-purchased items.
7. The autonomous vehicle of claim 6 , wherein the destination comprises a location other than the location of the merchant.
8. The autonomous vehicle of claim 6 , the operations further comprising:
providing a payment instrument associated with the user for the one or more pre-purchased items.
9. The autonomous vehicle of claim 8 , further comprising:
receiving a pre-purchase confirmation to the onboard computing device of the autonomous vehicle, the pre-purchase confirmation comprising a token; and
providing confirmation of an identity of the user prior to receiving the one or more pre-purchased items to the user, the confirming of the identity of the user being based on multiple authentication factors, including:
the geolocation information from the onboard computing device at the destination; and
the token of the pre-purchase confirmation.
10. The autonomous vehicle of claim 6 , the operations further comprising receiving the one or more pre-purchased items to be conveyed to the user upon arrival of the user at the location of the merchant.
11. The autonomous vehicle of claim 6 , wherein the onboard computing device of the user comprises an integrated computing device of the autonomous vehicle or a mobile device that is onboard the autonomous vehicle and in communication with the autonomous vehicle.
12. An autonomous vehicle comprising:
a user interface comprising an input and an output;
a navigation system;
one or more communication connections; and
an onboard computer communicatively coupled to the user interface and the navigation system, the onboard computer having one or more processors and memory, the memory storing executable instructions that, when executed configure the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving input indicating a desired destination;
transmitting the desired destination to one or more computing devices;
receiving content including one or more items available for pre-purchase from one or more merchants while the autonomous vehicle is en route to, and prior to arrival at, the desired destination, wherein the one or more items comprise food from a restaurant to be prepared to be available when the autonomous vehicle arrives at the restaurant, and wherein the autonomous vehicle has an estimated time of arrival (ETA) based on calculations performed by the onboard computer; and
transmitting a request to pre-purchase the food, the request being transmitted at a time based at least in part on the ETA and an estimated time to prepare the food.
13. The autonomous vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the one or more items available for pre-purchase are available from a merchant associated with the desired destination.
14. The autonomous vehicle of claim 13 , further comprising:
receiving input requesting to pre-purchase additional items; and
transmitting a request to pre-purchase the additional items.
15. The autonomous vehicle of claim 14 , wherein transmitting the request comprises transmitting the request to a merchant associated with the desired destination.
16. The autonomous vehicle of claim 14 , wherein transmitting the request comprises transmitting the request to a competitor of a merchant associated with the desired destination,
the operations further comprising changing the desired destination to be a location of the competitor.
17. The autonomous vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the one or more items available for pre-purchase are available from a competitor of a merchant associated with the desired destination, wherein the competitor is at location different than the desired destination.
18. The autonomous vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the one or more computing devices comprise one or more servers of a merchant associated with the desired destination.
19. The autonomous vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the one or more computing devices comprise one or more servers of a location service.
20. The autonomous vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the ETA is refined while the autonomous vehicle is en route, and wherein the refined ETA is transmitted to at least one computing device of the restaurant.