Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR VEHICLE ADVERTISING
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to advertising, and more specifically
to
advertising coupled to the surface of a vehicle.
Description of the Related Art ,
Placing graphic advertisements on vehicle surfaces is a long held promotional
tactic
for entities, typically corporate entities, trying to deliver a branded
message to a wide
audience. Graphic advertisements such as painted images, posters, placards,
skins and the
like have been placed on vehicles that serve the public such as buses,
subways, street cars and
taxis. Graphic ads may be placed for side views and rear views visible for the
exterior of a
vehicle, or interior cards that are relatively smaller and viewed by riders
within the vehicle.
Graphic ads mays be placed on the windows or chassis of a vehicle. A
relatively recent
variety of vehicle advertising is to "wrap" an entire vehicle, typically a
bus, street car or
subway car, with the theme of a company, a product, a brand, etc.
Another type of vehicle advertising is a mobile billboard. Most mobile
billboards are
dedicated, customized trucks with large, but narrow, bodies for posting the
advertisements.
Some of these dedicated units offer features such as external sound systems,
illumination, and
hot/cold boxes for product sampling.
Benefits to vehicle based graphic advertising are well known and include
restriction
of the audience to turn off or move from the graphic, reaching a varied
audience, reaching an
audience regardless of any interfering sound, flexibility of graphic size and
location.
Use of vehicle advertising is typically limited to larger entities, as the
cost and time
reserve requirements for purchasing advertising space is a barrier to entry
for most small
business owners and individuals. Moreover, in smaller cities the options for
vehicle
advertising are limited due to limited numbers or lack of public transit
vehicles and/or taxis.
Similarly, mobile billboards are not always an effective promotional tactic as
these
billboards are costly and typically operate in larger, congested cities.
-1-
,
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for systems and methods for vehicle
advertising.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In an aspect there is provided a system for vehicle advertising, comprising:
a storage system comprising a plurality of account records for purchasers of
advertising and a plurality of account records for vehicle owners of vehicles
with advertising
space;
an interface device connected to a network for receiving from a purchaser an
image of
an advertisement and associated parameters of desired advertising space and
for receiving
from a vehicle owner parameters of available advertising space;
a GPS tracker device coupled to a print of the advertisement installed on a
vehicle, the
GPS tracker device logging vehicular travel information;
a processor communicative with the storage system, the interface device, and
the GPS
tracker device, the processor generating unique identifiers and associating a
unique identifier
to the image of the advertisement and the parameters of desired advertising
space, logging
vehicular travel information of the advertisement installed on the vehicle and
sorting the
vehicular travel information according to the unique identifier.
In another aspect there is provided a system for vehicle advertising,
comprising:
a storage system comprising a plurality of account records for purchasers of
advertising and a plurality of account records for vehicle owners of vehicles
with advertising
space;
an interface device connected to,a nctwork for receiving from a purchaser an
image of
an advertisement and associated parameters of desired advertising space and
for receiving
from a vehicle owner an image of a vehicle and associated parameters of
available
advertising space,
a processor connected to the storage system and the interface device for
generating
unique identifiers and associating a first unique identifier to the image of
the advertisement
and the parameters of desired advertising space, associating a second unique
identifier to the
image of the vehicle and the parameters of available advertising space, and
tracking and
-2-
, =
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
categorizing vehicular travel information of the advertisement installed on
the vehicle
according to the first unique identifier and/or the second unique identifier.
In still further aspects there are provided, method and computer readable
medium for
providing the same.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 shows a block diagram describing an example of an advertisement
purchaser
interacting with the vehicle advertising system;
Figure 2 shows a block diagram describing an example of processing of the
image and
parameter(s) selected in Figure 1,
Figure 3 shows a block diagram describing an example of obtaining advertising
space
and tracking vehicular travel for the image processed in Figure 2;
Figure 4 shows a block diagram describing an example of a vehicle owner
interacting
with the vehicle advertising system;
Figure 5 shows a block diagram describing an example of processing of the
vehicle
image and parameter(s) selected in Figure 4;
Figure 6 shows a block diagram describing an example of selling advertising
space
and tracking vehicular travel associated with the vehicle image and
parameter(s) processed in
Figure 5.
Figure 7 shows a system map describing an illustrative implementation of the
vehicle
advertising system in a geographically centralized computer system; and
Figure 8 shows a system map describing an illustrative implementation of the
vehicle
advertising system in a geographically distributed computer system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A vehicle advertising system, or method for providing the same, is based on
connection of a plurality of owners offering advertising space on their
vehicles with a
plurality of purchasers of advertising space. As such, a virtual marketplace
exchange of
vehicle advertising space can be provided.
A typical vehicle owner may be any individual or entity that owns one or more
vehicles and is willing to offer space on the exterior or interior surfaces to
post graphic
advertisements.
-3-
,
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
A typical purchaser may be any individual or entity that wishes to purchase
advertising space and coordinate the purchase of advertising space among a
plurality of
vehicles. The plurality of vehicles may be owned by one or more owners.
The system allows a purchaser of advertising space to provide parameters of
desired
advertising space and to provide a desired graphic for the advertising space.
A plurality of
vehicle owners can view the parameters of the desired advertising space and
offer to sell
advertising space to the purchaser. Offer to sell may be any convenient
mechanism including,
for example, a bidding process. The vehicle owner chosen by the purchaser can
have the
desired graphic installed. Vehicular travel information specific to each
installed desired
graphic is used to monitor advertising activity. Optionally, pricing may be
based on the
vehicular travel information. Conversely, the system can allow vehicle owners
to provide
parameters of available advertising space and a plurality of purchasers can
offer to purchase
the advertising space through any convenient mechanism including, for example,
a bidding
process.
The system allows for parameters of desired advertising space and parameters
of
available advertising space to be distributed to any number of computing
devices and any
number of networked destinations, such as an interne websites accessed through
an internet
browser, to provide a convenient forum for purchasers of advertising space and
vehicle
owners with available advertising space to engage each other.
Referring to the drawings, an example of the system will be described in the
context
of a purchaser of advertising space and a vehicle owner with available
advertising space for
illustrative purposes. In practice, the system can accommodate any number of
user
interactions including one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one and many-to-many.
Figure 1 shows a block diagram describing an example of a purchaser of
advertising
space providing parameters of desired advertising space and providing a
desired image to be
displayed in the advertising space. The purchaser may perform the steps shown
in Figure 1
using a personal computing device or using a website interface connected to a
server
computer. For convenience the steps are described in the context of the
purchaser's personal
computing device. Typically, upon start up of the purchaser's computing device
an end-user
interface application software previously installed on the computing device
will start (110)
-4-
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
and initiate a networked communication with a server computer of the system.
The server
computer will typically require login information (120) that may be provided
by the
application software in the form of a stored electronic data packet such as an
electronic
cookie. In the absence of automated login information provided by the
application software,
the purchaser is prompted to manually enter the login information (122) such
as a user name
and password. Once in a logged in environment the purchaser can access image
upload and
image processing functions. The purchaser selects a graphic image (130) that
represents the
advertisement for which the purchaser desires vehicle advertising space. Upon
selection of an
image, the purchaser selects or provides parameters of the desired advertising
space (140)
based on an array of choices provided by the application software. Possible
parameters may
encompass any parameter typically associated with vehicle advertising
including, for
example, size of advertising space, type of vehicle, location on vehicle,
geographical
location, set time commitment, minimum/maximum range of time commitment, start
date,
end date, set price, minimum/maximum price range, reserve price, and the like.
As the selection of the desired image and the parameters of desired
advertising space
are completed the selected image information and the selected parameter(s)
information may
be synchronously or asynchronously uploaded (150) to the server computer using
any
convenient data transfer scheme.
Figure 2 shows a block diagram describing an example of processing steps
performed
by the server computer on the selected image and the selected parameter(s).
The server
computer receives (210) the selected image information and the selected
parameter(s)
information from the purchaser's computing device. Based on the information
provided
during the purchaser's login (120/122) the server computer can store the
selected parameter(s)
in memory and associate the selected parameter(s) with the purchaser's account
record (220).
The server computer can also process the 'selected image information to
associate a unique
and trackable code (230) and store the code and image in memory (240). The
unique and
trackable code is associated with the purchaser's account record (250). The
unique and
trackable code may be sent to the purchaser's computing device (260) and
received by the
application software and stored in memory (270).
-5-
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
Figure 3 shows a block diagram describing an example of steps performed by the
system to allow the purchaser to select advertising space and track mobile
travel of an
installed advertisement. The purchaser's application software sends
information including
the unique and trackable code to the server computer (310), and based on this
information the
server computer obtains the parameter(s) associated with the image and using
matching
algorithms analyzes a database of available options for advertising space and
returns
advertising space options to the purchaser's computing device (320). Any
suitable matching
algorithms may be used. Moreover, the system may perform matching algorithm
analyses
proactively without being prompted from the purchaser's application software
to
intermittently provide the purchaser with a list of advertising space options.
The application
software receives a list of advertising space options and stores it in memory.
Based on a
purchaser's predetermined preference settings, images may be automatically
sent for printing
and installation in one or more of the options in the list of available
advertising space options
(330). Alternatively, the application software can display the list of
available advertising
space options for the purchaser and the purchaser can select one or more
options (340). Once
the purchaser completes the selection, the image is sent for printing and
installation on the
purchaser's selected advertising space options (330). Once the image is
installed the
vehicular travel information is tracked, logged, compiled and cataloged
according to each
code (350), sent for storage in memory by a server computer, and sent to the
purchaser's
computing device to be displayed to the purchaser (360). The vehicular travel
information
may be accessed by an administrator, a purchaser, a vehicle owner or any
combination
thereof by sending a request including the associated unique and trackable
code information
to a server computer. The vehicular travel information may comprise any
measure of time or
distance of vehicular motion. For example, vehicular travel information may be
based on
odometer readings, such as an odometer value read upon installation of an
advertisement
subtracted from an odometer value upOn removal of the advertisement. In
another example,
vehicular travel information may be based on GPS data associated with a
vehicle or the driver
of a vehicle. GPS data may be obtained by any conventional method, including
for example,
use of an honour system with access provided to a driver's phone GPS or GPS of
the vehicle,
a GPS tracker device coupled to printed image, a near field communication
device (eg.,
-6-
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
,
Bluetooth, RFD) coupled to printed image and linked to driver's phone GPS or
linked to the
GPS of the vehicle.
Figures 4 to 6 show that engagement between a purchaser of advertising space
and a
vehicle owner with available advertising space, when the vehicle owner selects
from a
plurality of offers to purchase, converse to the steps shown in Figure 1 to 3
where a purchaser
selects from a plurality of offers to sell advertising space. Figure 4 shows a
block diagram
describing an example of a vehicle owner with available advertising space
providing
parameters of available advertising space and providing an image of the
vehicle and the
available advertising space. The vehicle owner may perform the steps shown in
Figure 4
using a personal computing device or using a website interface connected to a
server
computer. For convenience the steps are described in the context of the
vehicle owner's
personal computing device. Typically, upon start up of the vehicle owner's
computing device
an end-user interface application software previously installed on the
computing device will
start (410) and initiate a networked communication with a server computer of
the system. The
server computer will typically require login information (420) that may be
provided by the
application software in the form of a stored electronic data packet such as an
electronic
cookie. In the absence of automated login information provided by the
application software,
the vehicle owner is prompted to manually enter the login information (422)
such as a user
name and password. Once in a logged in environment the vehicle owner can
access image
upload and image processing functions. The vehicle owner selects an image of a
vehicle and
available advertising space on the vehicle (430) that the vehicle owner
desires to sell for
displaying an advertisement. Upon selection of an image, the vehicle owner
selects or
provides parameters of the available advertising space (440) based on an array
of choices
provided by the application software. Possible parameters may encompass any
parameter
typically associated with vehicle advertising including, for example, size of
advertising space,
type of vehicle, location on vehicle, geographical location, set time
commitment,
minimum/maximum range of time commitment, set price, minimum/maximum price
range.
As the selection of the desired image and the parameters of desired
advertising space
are completed the selected image information and the selected parameter(s)
information may
-7-
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
,
be synchronously or asynchronously uploaded (450) to the server computer using
any
convenient data transfer scheme.
Figure 5 shows a block diagram describing an example of processing steps
performed
by the server computer on the selected image of the vehicle and the selected
parameter(s) of
the available advertising space. The server computer receives (510) the
selected vehicle
image information and the selected parameter(s) information from the vehicle
owner's
computing device. Based on the information provided during the vehicle owner's
login
(420/422) the server computer can store the selected parameter(s) in memory
and associate
the selected parameter(s) with the vehicle owner's account record (520). The
server computer
can also process the selected vehicle image information to associate a unique
and trackable
code (530) and store the code and image in memory (540). The unique and
trackable code is
associated with the vehicle owner's account record and with the selected
parameter(s) (550).
The unique and trackable code may be sent to the vehicle owner's computing
device (560)
and received by the application software and stored in memory (570).
Figure 6 shows a block diagram describing an example of steps performed by the
system to allow the vehicle owner to select from a plurality of requests to
purchase
advertising space and track mobile travel of an installed advertisement. The
vehicle owner's
application software sends information including the unique and trackable code
to the server
computer (610), and based on this information the server computer obtains the
parameter(s)
associated with the vehicle image and using matching algorithms analyzes a
database of
requests to purchase advertising space and returns a plurality of requests to
purchase
advertising space to the vehicle owner's computing device (620). Any suitable
matching
algorithms may be used to compare parameters of available advertising space
selected by the
vehicle owner with a database of parameters of desired advertising space
selected by potential
purchasers. Moreover, the system may perform matching algorithm analyses
proactively
without being prompted from the vehicle owner's application software to
intermittently
provide the purchaser with a list of requests for advertising space. The
application software
,
receives a list of requests for advertising space and stores it in memory.
Based on a
purchaser's predetermined preference settings, offers to sell advertising
space or acceptance
of offers to purchase advertising space may be automatically sent to one or
more of the
-8-
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
,
options in the list of requests for advertising space (630). Alternatively,
the application
software can display the list of requests for advertising space for the
vehicle owner and the
vehicle owner can select one or more requests (640). Once the vehicle owner
completes the
selection, offers to sell advertising space or acceptance of offers to
purchase advertising space
are sent to the selected requests for advertising space (630). Once a sale of
advertising space
is agreed upon, the purchaser's advertisement image is printed and installed
on the vehicle
owner's vehicle and vehicular travel information is tracked, logged and
compiled based on
the code associated with the advertisement image and/or the code associate
with the vehicle
image (650), sent for storage in memory by a server computer, and sent to the
vehicle
owner's computing device to be displayed to the vehicle owner (660). The
vehicular travel
information may be accessed by an administrator, a purchaser, a vehicle owner
or any
combination thereof by sending a request including the associated unique and
trackable code
information to a server computer. The vehicular travel information may
comprise any
measure of time or distance of vehicular motion. For example, vehicular travel
information
may be based on odometer readings, such as an odometer value read upon
installation of an
advertisement subtracted from an odometer value upon removal of the
advertisement. In
another example, vehicular travel information may be based on GPS data
associated with a
vehicle or the driver of a vehicle. GPS data may be obtained by any
conventional method,
including for example, use of an honour system with access provided to a
driver's phone GPS
or GPS of the vehicle, a GPS tracker device coupled to printed image, a near
field
communication device (eg., Bluetooth, RFID) coupled to printed image and
linked to driver's
phone GPS or linked to the GPS of the vehicle.
Figure 7 shows a system map describing an example of an implementation (700)
of
the system. In the implementation (700) the system comprises a plurality of
purchasers (710)
each with at least one computing device and plurality of vehicle owners (720)
each with at
least one computing device and at least one vehicle. Purchaser computing
devices (710)
communicate over a network with a website application for receiving and
curating requests
for desired advertising space functioning as a desired ad space manager (740)
while vehicle
owner computing devices (720) communicate with a website application for
receiving and
curating available advertising space functioning as an available ad space
manager (750). The
-9-
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
desired ad space manager (750) may communicate with the available ad space
manager (740)
mediated through an operable linkage with a processor (760) and a memory
(770). The
desired ad space manager (740), the available ad space manager (750), the
processor (760)
and the memory (770) together form an ad space manager server (730). Memory
(770) may
include volatile memory such as various RAM types, and non-volatile such as
ROM,
magnetic storage systems, optical storage systems and the like. Once an
advertising space
transaction is finalized, an approved advertisement is sent to a printer
and/or installer module
(780) for posting the advertisement on a surface of a vehicle owner's vehicle
(720).
Figure 8 shows a system map describing an example of a cloud (805) based
implementation of the system where functions for maintaining and updating
purchaser
profiles (810), maintaining and monitoring purchaser unique and trackable
codes (820),
tracking and updating vehicular travel data (830), updating and monitoring
purchaser and
vehicle owner payments and/or account balances (840), maintaining and updating
vehicle
owner profiles and vehicle profiles (850), and maintaining and monitoring
vehicular unique
and trackable codes (860) are distributed over a plurality of server computers
and data storage
systems.
In operation, the system enables a virtual market place or exchange for
purchasers
wishing to purchase advertising space and vehicle owners wishing to sell
available
advertising space. The system allows for connection of a plurality of owners
offering
advertising space on their vehicles with a plurality of purchasers of
advertising space.
An administrator or controller of the system can establish and oversee modules
for
procuring available vehicular advertising space, printing advertisements,
installing
advertisements and tracking vehicular travel of the advertisements to provide
a secure
method of advertising to people who are interested in mobile or vehicular
advertising. An
administrator of the system may establish modules to both recruit purchasers
of advertising
space who wish to advertise on a vehicle with a mobile method, as well as
recruit vehicle
owners willing to provide their vehicle to post an advertisement. Thus, the
system may
optionally include components responsible for engaging people who wish to
provide their
vehicle like vans, cars, trucks, trailers, dump truck, or bus etc. for
available advertising space,
-10-
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
and may also optionally include components for engaging purchasers of
advertising space
who wish to advertise using available advertising space on a vehicle.
Recruitment of purchasers and/or vehicle owners may be through any convenient
method of promotion or solicitation including for example, through commission
agents,
electronic media like TV and radio, door to door, personally, email campaigns,
phone or
telemarketing, word of mouth, etc.
The system will typically have sufficient tracking and monitoring capacity to
provide
a secure environment for both sides of an advertising transaction (buyer and
seller). For
example, the system may include a module to make sure that the advertisement
is on vehicle
and properly installed or posted. The system may also include a module to
perform random
spot inspection of vehicles and also an inspection at the beginning and/or end
of an
advertising term before providing payment to a vehicle owner. Alternatively,
the system may
be set up to limit transactional liability where the system provides a
connection between
purchasers of advertising space and vehicle, owners, but is not responsible
for payment terms
or transfer. In further examples of system iterations various degrees of
transactional oversight
may be assumed.
The system will provide flexibility for various advertising budgets. Money can
be
charged from purchasers of advertising space and payment made to vehicle
owners that
provide available advertising space on their vehicle. The payment may depend
on the size of
advertisement space and/or size of vehicle. For example, using a car or van to
post
advertisement may have a different price, typically a lower price' than use of
a relatively
bigger space for advertisement like truck, dump truck or bus sides. Pricing
may be
standardized based on units of measurement such as a price per square feet or
price per
square meter.
A further flexibility of the system may be to provide service options of
advertisement
in many size or types like small poster, big poster, permanent and temporary.
Due to the flexibility of the system, large to small budgets, corporate
entities to
individuals can be accommodated to do any kind of print advertisement with
this method for
their business.
-11-
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
Benefits will be apparent for purchasers who wish to use a mobile method of
advertisement. The system provides Mobile advertising that can be deployed
everywhere,
from large cities to small towns, and offers potential for more customers or
profits.
Benefits will also be apparent to vehicle owners that provide their vehicle
for
advertising as they can earn extra money just by giving space on their
vehicle.
The system allows a purchaser of advertising space to provide parameters of
desired
advertising space and to provide a desired graphic for the advertising space.
A plurality of
vehicle owners can view the parameters of the desired advertising space and
offer to sell
advertising space to the purchaser. Offer to sell may be any convenient
mechanism including,
for example, a bidding process. The vehicle owner chosen by the purchaser can
have the
desired graphic installed. Vehicular travel information specific to each
installed desired
graphic is used to monitor advertising activity. Optionally, pricing may be
based on the
vehicular travel information. Conversely, the system can allow vehicle owners
to provide
parameters of available advertising space and a plurality of purchasers can
offer to purchase
the advertising space through any convenient mechanism including, for example,
a bidding
process such as an open ascending price auction, open descending price
auction, sealed first-
price auction, sealed-bid second-price auction, buyout auction, no-reserve
auction, reserve
auction, reverse auction, silent auction, bidding fee auction and the like.
The system allows for parameters of desired advertising space and parameters
of
available advertising space to be distributed to any number of computing
devices and any
number of networked destinations, such as an interne websites accessed through
an internet
browser, to provide a convenient forum for purchasers of advertising space and
vehicle
owners with available advertising space to engage each other.
An example of the system and method have been described above. Illustrative
variants and modifications will now be described.
The system may accommodate any type of vehicle including for example, cars,
vans,
trucks, trailers, dump trucks, SUV, buses, etc. Any interior or exterior
surface of a vehicle
may be used to post and display an advertisement including for example,
installation on a
vehicle's back bumper, back glass, left side window, right side window, left
side body panel,
-12-
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
right side body panel, back body panel or any combination thereof. Both
purchasers and
vehicle owners may specify and negotiate space on a vehicle according to their
interest.
The system can accommodate any type of graphic advertisements such as painted
images, posters, placards, skins and the like that can be posted on vehicles.
Graphic ads may
be placed for side views and rear views visible for the exterior of a vehicle,
or interior cards
that are relatively smaller and viewed by riders within the vehicle. Graphic
ads mays be
placed on the windows or chassis of a vehicle. Any convenient method of
attachment may be
used including magnets, electrostatic interaction, rivets, bolts adhesive, and
the like.
Printed graphic advertisements may comprise a pouch for enclosing tracker
devices
that log vehicular travel information such as geographic zone, location,
distance, time, date
and the like.
The system may accommodate any type of end-user computing device provided the
computing device can be networked to the system and is configured to display
images. For
example, the computing device may be a desktop, laptop, notebook, tablet,
personal digital
assistant (PDA), PDA phone or smartphone, gaming console, portable media
player, and the
like. The computing device may be implemented using any appropriate
combination of
hardware and/or software configured for wired and/or wireless communication
over the
network. The computing device hardware components such as displays, storage
systems,
processors, interface devices, input/output ports, bus connections and the
like may be
configured to run one or more applications to allow, for example, an image to
be isolated
from a displayed document, extraction of unique identifiers from images,
sending of the
unique identifier to a remote computer, receiving actions and optionally
action parameters
associated with the unique identifier, representing the actions in a graphic
overlay at or near
the image, and/or a selection of an action in the graphic overlay. The terms
end-user
computing device and client computing device may be used interchangeably when
the system
is implemented in a client/server arrangement.
The server computer may be any combination of hardware and software components
used to store, process and/or provide code-embedded images and actions
associated with each
code-embedded image. The server computer components such as storage systems,
processors,
interface devices, input/output ports, b'us 'connections, switches, routers,
gateways and the
-13-
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
like may be geographically centralized or distributed. The server computer may
be a single
server computer or any combination of multiple physical and/or virtual servers
including for
example, a web server, an image server, an application server, a bus server,
an integration
server, an overlay server, a meta actions server, and the like. The server
computer
components such as storage systems, processors, interface devices,
input/output ports, bus
connections, switches, routers, gateways and the like may be configured to run
one or more
applications to, for example, generate a unique identifier for an image,
generate a URL for
the image, associate predetermined actions with the unique identifier, receive
a request from
an end-user computing device including the unique identifier, send the
predetermined actions
to the end-user computing device, and/or receive the selection of one or more
of the
predetermined actions from the end-user computing device.
While the system has been illustrated using a client/server implementation,
the system
may also accommodate a peer-to-peer implementation.
The network may be a single network or a combination of multiple networks. For
example, the network may include the internet and/or one or more intranets,
landline
networks, wireless networks, and/or other appropriate types of communication
networks. In
another example, the network may comprise a wireless telecommunications
network (e.g.,
cellular phone network) adapted to communicate with other communication
networks, such
as the Internet. Typically, the network will comprise a computer network that
makes use of a
TCP/IP protocol (including protocols based on TCP/IP protocol, such as HTTP,
HTTPS or
FTP).
The system may adapted to follow any computer communication standard including
Extensible Markup Language (CML), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Java
Message
Service (JMS), Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), Lightweight Directory
Access
Protocol (LDAP), and the like.
The purpose of using unique and trackable codes is to be able to sort
information
relevant to each advertisement or relevant to each vehicle according to unique
identifiers.
Many different types of unique and trackable code schemes may be useful. For
example, a
code scheme may be based on a unix time appended a numerical or alphanumerical
incremental series. A portion of each unique and trackable code may have a
random or
-14-
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
entropy component. Each unique and trackable code may optionally be obfuscated
through an
encryption function or a hashing function. Hashing functions provide a
convenient
compromise of security and speed. Examples of hashing functions include MD5 or
any of the
Secure Hash Algorithms SHAl, SHA2 (S1-14k224, SHA256, SHA384, SHA512) and
SHA3.
Unique and trackable codes for vehicles may include any existing system of
unique
identifiers for vehicles such as vehicle identification number (V1N), vehicle
registration
number, license plate number, and the like.
Vehicular travel information may be derived from manual spot checks or manual
odometer readings, for example an odometer reading at the time of installation
of an
advertisement compared to an odometer reading at the time of removal of the
advertisement.
Odometer readings may also be automated to provide by communicatively linking
an
odometer tracking device with a tracking module of the system. GPS data may
also be used to
derive vehicular travel information. A benefit of GPS data is that pricing can
be calculated
based on distance, time, geographic location, or any combination thereof. Any
conventional
GPS tracking technology may be used including for example, a driver's phone
GPS or GPS
of the vehicle, a GPS tracker device coupled to printed image, a near field
communication
device (eg., Bluetooth, MD) coupled to printed image and linked to driver's
phone GPS or
linked to the GPS of the vehicle. A GPS 'tracker device with a battery and/or
solar power
source coupled to the printed image can be highly effective in providing
comprehensive
vehicular travel data. Optionally, a solar powered GPS tracker device may
comprise a
rechargeable battery backup. GPS trackers are available that use a small solar
panel to power
the GPS directly. Another available GPS tracker uses a small solar panel to
charge a battery
which will power a GPS data logger based on a desired programming schedule.
Both versions
are available with bi-directional wireless communication capability. Retrievor
is a
commercially available example of a solar powered GPS disk that is about an
inch in
diameter and less than a half-inch thick. Retrievor trackers are powered by
tiny solar panels
and can be set to very low power usage; so, in theory, they can operate
indefinitely. There's
also a micro USB port for charging the batteries conventionally. Trackers can
be viewed and
controlled by web, Android, or iPhone applications.
,
-15-
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
Highly-compact modules that combine the RF and antenna can be combined with
energy-harvesting transducers and power management to provide the same kind of
small
system that is independent of power sources. With careful attention to the
power budget of
the system, solar cells such as those from Sanyo can provide all the power
requirements.
The M10478 from Antenova is a highly-integrated GPS RF Antenna Module suitable
for Ll -band GPS and A-GPS systems. The device is based on a SiRFstarIV GPS
architecture,
combined with Antenova's high-efficiency antenna technology. All front-end and
receiver
components are contained in a single package laminate base module, providing a
complete
GPS receiver. The M10478 operates on a single 1.8 V positive supply with low
power
consumption and several low-power modes for further power savings, allowing it
to be
powered by a 3.7 V lithium battery that is supplied by a solar cell. An
accurate 0.5 ppm
TCXO ensures a short time to first fix (TTFF) for mobile applications, and the
module is
supported by stand-alone software and is compatible with UART, SPI, and I2C
host-processor
interfaces. Still further examples of GPS technology are available that may be
incorporated
within or coupled to an advertisement installed on a vehicle surface.
The system may accommodate any type of still or moving image file including
JPEG,
PNG, GIF, PDF, RAW, BMP, TIFF, MP3, WAV, WMV, MOV, MPEG, AVI, FLV, WebM,
3GPP, SW and the like. Furthermore, a still or moving image file may be
converted to any
other file without hampering the ability of the system software to identify
and process the
image. Thus, the system may accommodate any image file type and may function
independent of a conversion from one file type to any other file type.
The selected parameters associated with a unique and trackable code and the
corresponding image may be represented by any convenient form or user
interface element
including, for example, a window, a tab, a text box, a button, a hyperlink, a
drop down list, a
list box, a check box, a radio button box, a cycle button, a datagrid or any
combination
thereof. Furthermore, the user interface elements may provide a graphic label
such as any
type of symbol or icon, a text label or any combination thereof. The user
interface elements
may be spatially anchored or centered around the corresponding image such that
the user
interface elements may appear at or near their corresponding image. Otherwise,
any desired
spatial pattern or timing pattern of appearance of user interface elements may
be
-16-
CA 02968685 2017-05-24
WO 2016/082020 PCT/CA2014/051145
accommodated by the system. Any number of selected parameters may be
associated with
each unique and trackable code, and each parameter may be represented by one
or more user
interface elements as desired.
Any type of selected parameter may be associated with each unique and
trackable
code. The number and type of selected parameters may vary with the specific
use of the
system and the end-user's choices and preferences.
The system described herein and each variant, modification or combination
thereof
may also be implemented as a method or code on a non-transitory computer
readable medium
(i.e. a substrate). The computer readable medium is a data storage device that
can store data,
which can thereafter, be read by a computer system. Examples of a computer
readable
medium include read-only memory, random-access memory, CD-ROMs, magnetic tape,
optical data storage devices and the like. The computer readable medium may be
geographically localized or may be distributed over a network coupled computer
system so
that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed
fashion.
Variants and modifications described above are for illustrative purposes.
Still further
variants, modifications or combinations thereof are contemplated and will be
recognized by
the person of skill in the art.
,
-17-
