Accenture Global Solutions Limited
[2022] APO 22
•29 March 2022
IP AUSTRALIA
AUSTRALIAN PATENT OFFICE
Accenture Global Solutions Limited [2022] APO 22
Patent Application: 2019261750
Title:SEAMLESS MANAGEMENT OF CONNECTED ENVIRONMENTS
Patent Applicant: Accenture Global Solutions Limited
Delegate: Dr W.E. Guinea
Decision Date: 29 March 2022
Hearing Date: Written submissions filed 23 February 2022
Catchwords: PATENTS – standard patent – examiner objections – manner of manufacture – substance of the invention resides in a tour management scheme providing for revision of the tour service based on certain events, with the revision including presentation of content in a different format and in a different order – all claims lack a manner of manufacture – no patentable subject matter in application – application refused.
Representation: Patent attorney for the applicant: Murray Trento & Associates Pty Ltd
IP AUSTRALIA
AUSTRALIAN PATENT OFFICE
Patent Application: 2019261750
Title:SEAMLESS MANAGEMENT OF CONNECTED ENVIRONMENTS
Patent Applicant: Accenture Global Solutions Limited
Date of Decision: 29 March 2022
DECISION
None of the claims are for a manner of manufacture. There is no material within the application that would lead to a manner of manufacture if made the subject of a claim. The application is refused.
REASONS FOR DECISION
Background
Patent application 2019261750 (the “application”) was filed on 7 November 2019 in the name of Accenture Global Solutions Limited (the “Applicant”) and has an earliest priority date of 13 December 2018.
Expedited examination of the application was requested on 29 May 2020. The first of three adverse examination reports issued on 24 July 2020, with the second examination report issuing on 20 January 2021 and the third examination report issuing on 17 June 2021. All these reports objected to the claims as not being for a manner of manufacture, and this remains the only objection outstanding on the application.
On 22 July 2021, the Applicant wrote to the Commissioner requesting to be heard in relation to the outstanding objection. On 20 January 2022, the Commissioner wrote to the Applicant, advising them that the hearing would be by way of written submissions due to be filed five weeks from that date. The Applicant filed their submissions in this regard on 23 February 2022 (the “submissions”).
The Invention as Described
The application deals with what may be broadly understood as methods of re-configuring or tailoring a tour of a facility, potentially comprising several geographically dispersed buildings, based on certain events that may occur and/or preferences of a user regarding the tour. The invention makes use of a variety of computer-based systems and sensors. The nature of the invention and the problems to be solved, however, are not immediately apparent on reading paragraph [0002], which comprises the entirety of the “BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION”, and is as follows:
“An entity, such as an enterprise, a learning institution, and/or the like, may be associated with one or more facilities in various geographic locations. In some cases, a facility may include a collection of geographically proximate environments, such as one or more buildings, one or more outdoor spaces, and/or the like.”
The specific issues that the specification would seem to address become more apparent when one considers paragraphs [0012] to [0014] of the “DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT(S) OF THE INVENTION:
“[0012] In some cases, a user may visit a facility to tour the facility, to attend a meeting at the facility, and/or the like. In some cases, the environments included in the facility may provide a fixed and/or static experience in that each environment may provide the user with a set of devices that is not able to communicate with another set of devices in another environment. As a result, the user's experience at the facility may be disjointed, in that there may not be a smooth transition in the user's experience from a first set of devices in a first environment to a second set of devices in a second environment. For example, processing and/or memory resources may be unnecessarily consumed because the user may need to reinitiate the user's experience every time the user transitions to another environment in the facility. As another example, processing and/or memory resources may be wasted on presenting content exhibits when there is not anyone nearby to view the content exhibits (e.g., because the user has left the vicinity of where a content exhibit is being presented), may be wasted on presenting content exhibits to the user in which the user has no interest, may be wasted on presenting content exhibits which conflict with the user's schedule, may be wasted on presenting content exhibits which conflict with other exhibits, and/or the like.
[0013] In addition, if an agenda of a tour service of the facility, provided to the user, is modified (e.g., before the tour service commences and/or during the tour service), the modification may have to be manually propagated to the various environments and personnel located at the facility (or not propagated at all), which can cause the tour service to become delayed, may cause unnecessary consumption of memory, processing, and/or networking resources of devices that are used to provide the tour service (e.g., content exhibits, included in the tour service, may be presented when the user is not actually present to view the content exhibits), may cause the utilization of the devices that are used to provide the tour service to be inefficiently scheduled, may cause unnecessary consumption of heating and cooling utilities at the facility (e.g., due to environments, in the facility, in which the tour service is to be provided being heated and/or cooled when the user is not present), and/or the like.
[0014] Some implementations, described herein, provide a tour management platform that is capable of providing seamless management of connected environments included in a facility, capable of providing a personalized tour service of the facility, and/or the like. The tour management platform may engage with a user that is to be provided a tour service at the facility, the moment the user boards a vehicle associated with the facility. Once the user has boarded the vehicle, the tour management platform may provide the user with a seamless experience as the user travels throughout the various environments in facility.
The precise nature of the invention as described is perhaps best understood by reference to figures 1A to 4, which are reproduced where appropriate below.
As can be seen from figure 1A, for example, figures 1A to 1H illustrate an example implementation 100, by reference to a “facility” comprising one or more “buildings”, 1 to m. Similarly, the example also includes one or more “vehicles”, 1 to n, that can be used to transport a “user” to or from the facility or around the buildings of the facility. The facility comprises a “tour management platform” (“TMP”) that substantially performs the functions required to implement the invention as outlined in figures 1A to 1H, which comprise the generation and management of a tour of the facility.
As explained at [0022], the nature of the “tour” implemented using the TMP concerned is quite general:
“In some implementations, the tour management platform may manage a tour service that is to be provided to a user that tours the facility, may manage the various connected environments included in the facility, and/or the like. A tour service of the facility may include a curated and/or an arranged tour of the facility. The tour may include a guided tour (e.g., a tour where personnel at the facility personally guide the user through the tour, a tour where a virtual assistant and/or another virtual entity guides the user through the tour, and/or the like), may include an unguided tour (e.g., a tour where the user experiences the facility without the assistance of a guide), and/or the like. A tour service may include a plurality of content exhibits. A content exhibit may include electronic content, in-person content, mixed reality content, and/or the like, that is to be presented to the user during the tour of the facility, that the user may interact with during the tour of the facility, and/or the like. A content exhibit may include audio content (e.g., an audio recording on a particular topic, a live audio lecture, and/or the like), video content (e.g., a two-dimensional video stream or video recording, a three-dimensional video stream or video content recording, an augmented reality video stream or video recording, a virtual reality video stream or video recording, and/or the like), a product demonstration, an in-person presentation, an instructor led training course, a tour of a particular aspect of the facility (e.g., a datacenter tour, a factory tour, and/or the like), an interactive content display (e.g., interactive virtual reality content, interactive whiteboard content, and/or the like), web-based content (e.g., text, images, web based training courses, and/or the like), and/or the like.”
The vehicles and the facility may comprise a variety of sensors and input/output (“I/O”) devices which may be connected to the TMP to provide/receive information to/from the same. The sensors and I/O devices “…may be located throughout the facility and/or vehicles to provide various connected environments at the facility” ([0021]) and communicate directly with each other or through the TMP, allowing information or content that is generated within a particular context or location in the facility to be provided within a different context or location as the user moves through the facility.
10. The nature of this information is quite general, and may be related to the user, the facility, a tour service to be provided to the user at the facility or the vehicles. For example, the sensors can be used to:
“…collect and provide information associated with movement of the user at the facility, such as the user arriving at the facility, the user entering and/or exiting a vehicle associated with the facility, the user entering and/or exiting a building included in the facility, the user moving to different locations within a building, and/or the like.” ([0019])
The sensor information can also be related to the identity of the user, for example biometric data obtained via a facial or retinal scan. It can also relate to weather conditions at or near the facility, for example temperature or humidity, or traffic information at, near or within the facility, for example traffic congestion or delay.
11. Similarly, the information provided/received by the I/O devices is quite general:
“[0020] In some implementations, an I/O device may receive and provide inputs from the user (e.g., keyboard inputs, mouse inputs, touchscreen inputs, smart whiteboard inputs, voice commands, gestures, and/or the like). In some implementations, an I/O device may generate and provide video recordings, audio recordings, streaming video, streaming audio, and/or the like. In some implementations, an I/O device may display content to the user (e.g., video recordings, interactive video content, and/or the like), may play audio content to the user, may provide a graphical user interface with which the user may interact, and/or the like.”
12. As shown in figures 1B and 1C, a tour may be initiated by a user traveling to a point at or near the facility and boarding a vehicle 1 associated with the facility. In doing so, the TMP may determine the user has entered the vehicle 102, and then initiate the tour 104 based on this determination. Determining that that the user boarded the vehicle may be undertaken using sensors or I/O devices, of the type discussed above, that are associated with the vehicle. The detection process may also determine the identity of the user in some way, for example via a biometric scan or signing into a web portal.
13. A variety of actions may be undertaken by the TMP upon initiating the tour 104. These include instructions:
·to present, using I/O devices included with the vehicle:
othe tour service agenda;
oa welcome from the facility;
oa content exhibit included in the tour, including doing so automatically, for example if the content exhibit is capable of presentation while onboard the vehicle; and
othat allow the user to provide input associated with the tour and/or the content exhibit and the like;
·to the vehicle 1 to automatically and/or autonomously travel to a certain location, such as a building in the facility where the next content exhibit is to be presented.
In doing so, the TMP may determine the nature of the I/O device and/or user device on which the agenda, welcome etc. is to be presented, potentially based on a user preference for a certain type of device or the type of content to be presented.
14. As also indicated in figure 1C, the TMP may detect an event associated with the tour service 106. These include events:
·associated with the user, for example:
oarriving later than planned;
othe user specifying a change to the tour; and
odetermining a non-positive experience with a particular content exhibit;
·associated with the facility, for example;
odelayed travel of a vehicle to a building in the facility;
oa weather event within a certain distance of the facility;
oan unplanned interruption, such as a riot or fire.
·associated with a content exhibit, for example;
obeing unavailable;
obeing unavailable in a certain format;
obeing unavailable at a certain location in the facility.
15. The TMP may manage the tour service regarding the facility in a variety of ways. These include:
· generating a tour agenda, including automatic generation thereof;
· modifying or revising the tour agenda;
· optimising the agenda based on a priority score for content exhibits; and
· providing “…seamless connectivity between the various environments included in the facility” ([0043]). This may also be understood as a form of seamless experience.
16. As seen from figure 1D, the TMP may generate a revised agenda for the tour service 108 based on a number of factors, and then provide the revised agenda 110 to the vehicles and/or buildings.
17. The creation of a revised agenda may be undertaken based on:
· the detected event, for example:
o removing a content exhibit where the tour time is reduced due to an event;
o determining the duration of the tour based on the event, for example a weather event or traffic;
o changing the presentation format of a content exhibit, for example audio instead of live lecture; and
· a priority score associated with each content exhibit, for example adding or removing content exhibits based on the priority score.
18. Further information or actions may also be provided as part of providing the revised agenda. This could, for example, include:
· automatically informing facility personnel about the change of agenda;
· revising an autonomous travel schedule of the vehicles;
· changing signage in the vehicles and/or around the facility;
· locking/unlocking buildings; and
· deploying weather related structures or devices in view of the event, for example awnings in the event of a thunderstorm.
19. As can be seen in figure 1E, the TMP can provide instructions to the devices associated with the vehicles and/or the buildings to present a content exhibit based on the revised agenda 112. This may involve determining the user’s location using facility/vehicle sensors and instructing devices near that location to provide a content exhibit. As exemplified in figure 1E, the TMP may determine that the user is on board vehicle 1 and thereby instruct I/O devices on vehicle 1 to present a content exhibit to the user.
20. A way in which the TMP provides seamless connectivity or experience is illustrated in figures 1F, 1G and 1H. Figure 1F illustrates that the TMP may determine that a user has arrived at a building of the facility 114, in this case building 1. The TMP:
“…may determine that the user has arrived at the building based on the location of the user device associated with the user, based on the location of the vehicle on which the user was traveling (e.g., vehicle 1), based on detecting the user's presence at the building (e.g., based on sensors located at building 1), and/or the like. ([0043])
21. As discussed at [0044] and illustrated on figure 1G, the TMP may undertake various actions based on determining that the user has arrived at the building. These include, for example, instructions to:
· automatically unlock a door so a user can enter the building;
· turn on lights associated with the building;
· “…to present one or more content elements associated with the tour service” 116.
22. The distinction between “content elements” and “content exhibits” is not immediately apparent, however, content elements are exemplified at [0044] as including “…an audio welcome message that greets the user as the user enters the building, may include a video presentation that provides the user with directions to a location, in the building, at which the user is to travel, and/or the like.” At [0099] they are said to include “…an electronic display of the revised agenda and/or an electronic display of one or more directions, at the building, associated with the content exhibit, and/or the like.” Hence “content elements” appear to comprise the presentation to the user of information or data relating to the process or steps to be taken on the tour, as opposed to “content exhibits”, which appear to comprise constituent parts of the tour concerned.
23. Figure 1H illustrates a further way seamless connectivity or a seamless experience may be provided, as explained further at [0045]. Here the TMP may “provide an instruction to continue to present the content exhibit at the building” 118. For example, if the user was viewing a certain content exhibit when they arrived at the building, the TMP may send an instruction to continue this content exhibit at the building. The TMP may do this by ascertaining the user’s progress through the content exhibit and beginning presentation of the context exhibit in the building at the point in the content exhibit that was reached by the user upon arrival at the building.
24. Figure 2 provides an example environment 200 in which the invention may implemented. As discussed at [0048], example environment 200:
“…may include a user device 210, a sensor device 220, an I/O device 230, a tour management platform 240, a network 250, and/or the like. Devices of environment 200 may interconnect via wired connections, wireless connections, or a combination of wired and wireless connections.”
25. TMP 240 may carry out the functions as described for the TMP above. Figure 2 exemplifies the TMP 240 as being hosted in a cloud computing environment 242, although paragraph [0054] indicates that the TMP 240 could be implemented outside a cloud environment. Similarly, the sensor device 220 and I/O device 230 are exemplified in a generalised manner commensurate with the discussion above:
“[0050] Sensor device 220 includes one or more devices capable of receiving, generating, storing, processing, and/or providing information, such as information described herein. For example, sensor device 220 may include a tag reader sensor device that may scan a radio frequency identifier (RFID) device, a Bluetooth device, and/or the like, associated with the user, and may provide, to tour management platform 240, information associated with the scan (e.g., a time of the scan, a date of the scan, a location of the scan, and/or the like), information associated with the user (e.g., a name of the user, an entity with which the user is associated, one or more attributes associated with the user, and/or the like), and/or the like. As another example, sensor 220 may include a biometric sensor that may scan a biometric aspect of the user (e.g., a finger print, a hand, a retina, a face, and/or the like) and may provide, to tour management platform 240, information associated with the scan, information associated with the user, and/or the like.
[0051] I/O device 230 includes one or more devices capable of receiving, generating, storing, processing, and/or providing information, such as information described herein. For example, I/O device 230 may include a display device (e.g., an augmented reality display device, a virtual reality display device, a two-dimensional display device, a four-dimensional display device, and/or the like), various types of input peripherals (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, and/or the like), a speaker, and/or the like. In some implementations, I/O device 230 may present a content exhibit, associated with a tour service of a facility, to a user. In some implementations, I/O device 230 may receive inputs from the user and may provide the inputs to tour management platform 240.”
26. Likewise, paragraph [0049] makes it clear that the user device 210 may be virtually any computerised device as known in the art, for example, a smartphone, laptop or a smartwatch.
27. The cloud computing environment 242 comprises computing resources 244. Computing resources 244 are said to include “…one or more personal computers, workstation computers, server devices, or other types of computation and/or communication devices” (at [0055]) and “…includes a group of cloud resources, such as one or more applications (‘APPs’) 244-1, one or more virtual machines (‘VMs’) 244-2, one or more virtualized storages (‘VSs’) 244-3, or one or more hypervisors (‘HYPs’) 244-4 (at [0056], emphasis added). As I understand it from [0054] TO [0060], the cloud computing environment 242 provides cloud computing services to/for TMP 240 using computing resources 244 in ways that are well known in the art.
28. As indicated at [0061], the network 250 includes virtually any type of network as well known in the art:
“Network 250 includes one or more wired and/or wireless networks. For example, network 250 may include a cellular network (e.g., a fifth generation (5G) network, a long term evolution (LTE) network, a third generation (3G) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, etc.), a public land mobile network (PLMN), a local area network LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a telephone network (e.g., the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)), a private network, an ad hoc network, an intranet, the Internet, a fiber optic-based network, and/or the like, and/or a combination of these or other types of networks.”
29. Paragraph [0062] makes it clear that the environment 200 is merely exemplary, and the invention may be implemented in any one of a plethora of environments within the bounds of what is well known in the art:
“The number and arrangement of devices and networks shown in Fig. 2 are provided as an example. In practice, there may be additional devices and/or networks, fewer devices and/or networks, different devices and/or networks, or differently arranged devices and/or networks than those shown in Fig. 2. Furthermore, two or more devices shown in Fig. 2 may be implemented within a single device, or a single device shown in Fig. 2 may be implemented as multiple, distributed devices. Additionally, or alternatively, a set of devices (e.g., one or more devices) of environment 200 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of devices of environment 200.”
30. As apparent from paragraph [0063], figure 3 provides an exemplary component diagram of computing devices within the environment 200, such as the user device 210, sensor device 220, I/O device 230 and computing resource 242. As further noted at [0063]:
“In some implementations, user device 210, sensor device 220, I/O device 230, tour management platform 240, computing resource 244, and/or one or more devices included in network 250 may include one or more devices 300 and/or one or more components of device 300. As shown in Fig. 3, device 300 may include a bus 310, a processor 320, a memory 330, a storage component 340, an input component 350, an output component 360, and a communication interface 370.”
It is quite clear from figure 3, and the discussion thereof at [0063], that figure 3 simply represents a block diagram of generalised system componentry for any type of computing device as well known in the art. Similarly, the discussion of each of those components, at [0064] to [0069] indicates that these are implemented within the bounds of what was well known in the art as at the priority date.
31. In addition, the arrangement provided in figure 3 is merely exemplary, and quite clearly any implementation of such componentry as known in the art is contemplated:
“[0070] The number and arrangement of components shown in Fig. 3 are provided as an example. In practice, device 300 may include additional components, fewer components, different components, or differently arranged components than those shown in Fig. 3. Additionally, or alternatively, a set of components (e.g., one or more components) of device 300 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of components of device 300.”
32. Figure 4 provides an exemplary manifestation of a TMP 400, which may perform the functions of the TMP as previously described and may be implemented via TMP 240 using device 300 or similar. As discussed at [0072], the TMP 400:
“…may include various components, such as an agenda management component 405, a content exhibit analyzer component 410, a vehicle/building management component 415, a user data store 420, a sensor data store 425, a content exhibit store 430, and/or the like. In some implementations, the components included in Fig. 4 may be implemented by separate components and/or devices, may be included in the same component and/or device, and/or the like.”
33. Each of the components of figure 4 may provide or support certain functions of the TMP 400. For example, the agenda management component 405 can generate an agenda or revised as discussed above in connection with figures 1A to 1H. The user data store 420, sensor data store 425 and content exhibit store 430 store information/data that is largely self-explanatory, particularly in relation to the user, sensors and content exhibits as previously discussed, and may be used by the agenda management component 405 in generating the agenda or a revised agenda.
34. Content exhibit analyser component 410 can generate priority scores for the content exhibits, for example as discussed with regard to figures 1A to 1H and store these in the content exhibit store 430. Vehicle/building management component 415 may communicate with, and provide communication between, any one or more of the vehicles, buildings or sensors associated with the facility. This may involve, for example, receiving sensor data, sending instructions to a vehicle or building to present a content exhibit to a user or sending an agenda/revised agenda or part thereof to a vehicles or buildings of the facility.
35. Paragraph [0077] makes it clear that the components of figure 4 may be implemented in any way known to the skilled addressee:
“The number and arrangement of components shown in Fig. 4 are provided as an example. In practice, tour management platform 400 may include additional components, fewer components, different components, or differently arranged components than those shown in Fig. 4. Additionally, or alternatively, a set of components (e.g., one or more components) of tour management platform 400 may perform one or more functions described as being performed by another set of components of tour management platform.”
36. Figures 5, 6 and 7 provide for particular implementations of the methods already outlined above, although the discussion of these from [0078] to [00112] indicates that each of these examples may be varied or implemented according to any means known to the skilled addressee, and in ways that do not embody or add anything that extends materially beyond the disclosure already discussed. Paragraphs [0084] and [0088] may be particularly cited in this regard concerning figure 5:
“[0084] Process 500 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and/or in connection with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.”
“[0088] Although Fig. 5 shows example blocks of process 500, in some implementations, process 500 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks than those depicted in Fig. 5. Additionally, or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 500 may be performed in parallel.”
Essentially identical statements are made regarding figures 6 and 7 at [0096], [00100], [00108] and [00112].
37. I therefore consider that figures 5, 6 and 7 comprise self-explanatory examples that do not throw any further light, in a material sense, on the invention as described. Consequently, while I have reproduced these below for completeness, I will not provide any further discussion of these.
38. It is quite clear from [0062], [0070], [0077], [0084], [0088], [0096], [00100], [00108] and [00112] that the invention is not necessarily limited in terms of the nature, type and arrangement of hardware or software used, the precise details of which are left up to the skilled addressee. Figures 2 and 3, as discussed, and [0047], [0069] and [00117] further support this view:
“[0047] As indicated above, Figs. 1A-1H are provided merely as examples. Other examples may differ from what is described with regard to Figs. 1A-1H.”
“[0069] Software instructions may be read into memory 330 and/or storage component 340 from another computer-readable medium or from another device via communication interface 370. When executed, software instructions stored in memory 330 and/or storage component 340 may cause processor 320 to perform one or more processes described herein. Additionally, or alternatively, hardwired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to perform one or more processes described herein. Thus, implementations described herein are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.”
“[00117] It will be apparent that systems and/or methods described herein may be implemented in different forms of hardware, firmware, or a combination of hardware and software. The actual specialized control hardware or software code used to implement these systems and/or methods is not limiting of the implementations. Thus, the operation and behavior of the systems and/or methods were described herein without reference to specific software code - it being understood that software and hardware can be designed to implement the systems and/or methods based on the description herein.”
39. The effect and characterisation of the invention as described is given as follows:
“[0015] As the tour service is provided to the user, the tour management platform is capable of optimizing the agenda for the tour service of the facility and ensuring that the various environments and personnel at the facility are kept up to date on changes to the agenda. In this way, the tour management platform may detect an event associated with the tour service, may generate a revised agenda for the tour service and may provide the revised agenda to various devices associated with the facility and/or vehicles that transport the user throughout the facility. This reduces the consumption of processing resources, memory resources, networking resources, and/or building resources (e.g., electricity, heating and cooling, and/or the like) by reducing and/or preventing content exhibits from being presented when there is not anyone nearby to view the content exhibits, by reducing and/or preventing content exhibits from being presented to the user in which the user has no interest, by reducing and/or preventing content exhibits from being presented to the user which conflict with the user's schedule, by reducing and/or preventing content exhibits from being presented which conflict with other exhibits, and/or the like.”
“[0042] Moreover, in this way, the tour management platform is capable of providing a more tailored and user-centric experience by ensuring that the content exhibits, included in the agenda and revised agenda, are relevant and of high value to the user. In this way, several different stages of the process for generating and/or revising the agenda are automated, which may remove human subjectivity and waste from the process, and which may improve speed and efficiency of the process and conserve computing resources (e.g., processor resources, memory resources, and/or the like). Moreover, in this way, the tour management platform may use a rigorous, computerized process to perform tasks or roles that were not previously performed or were previously performed using subjective human intuition or input, such as generating priority scores for content exhibits based on artificial intelligence and/or machine learning.”
“[0046] In this way, the tour management platform that is capable of providing seamless management of connected environments included in the facility, and using the connected environments to providing a seamless and personalized tour service of the facility. In this way, the tour management platform may engage with the user the moment the user boards the vehicle associated with the facility, and may provide the user with a seamless experience as the user travels throughout the various environments in the facility.”
The Claims
40. Several amendments have been proposed to the application during examination. After the latest proposed amendments, the application, as proposed to be amended, comprises 19 claims, of which claims 1, 7 and 14 are independent claims. Claim 1 is reproduced below. The entire claim set is given at Annex A to this decision.
“A tour management platform, including:
one or more memories; and
one or more processors, communicatively coupled to the one or more memories, that:
determine, based on one or more sensors associated with a vehicle, that a user has boarded the vehicle;
provide, based on determining that the user has boarded the vehicle, a first instruction to present, to the user, information associated with a tour service, of a facility, via at least one of:
one or more devices associated with the facility, or one or more devices associated with the vehicle,
wherein the information associated with the tour service includes:
information identifying an agenda for presenting, to the user, a first plurality of content exhibits associated with the tour service, the information specifying a first order in which the first plurality of content exhibits is to be presented to the user;
detect an event associated with the tour service, the event including one or more of:
the user arriving at the facility at a time that is later than a planned arrival time, receiving a user input that specifies a particular change to the tour service, determining that the user’s experience with a particular content exhibit is not a positive experience a delay in travel of the vehicle to a building included in the facility, and a content exhibit being unavailable to be presented to the user during the tour service and/or in a particular format and/or at a particular location in the facility,
generate, based on detecting the event, a revised agenda for presenting, to the user, a second plurality of content exhibits associated with the tour service, the second plurality of content exhibits including at least one content exhibit of the first plurality of content exhibits and information specifying a second order in which the second plurality of content exhibits is to be presented to the user,
wherein the revised agenda is generated based on a plurality of priority scores and presentation of the at least one content exhibit in a different format as compared with a format for presentation in the agenda, and wherein each priority score, of the plurality of priority scores, is associated with a respective content exhibit of the second plurality of content exhibits; and
provide, based on the revised agenda, a second instruction to present, to the user, the at least one content exhibit of the second plurality of content exhibits in the different format via at least one of:
the one or more devices associated with the facility, or the one or more devices associated with the vehicle.”
The Remaining Objection
41. As noted, the only objection outstanding is that the claims are not for a manner of manufacture. This objection has been pursued throughout all three examination reports. The reasoning presented by the Examiner has remained consistent throughout all three reports. The first report provides a detailed basis for the objection, while reports two and three fine tune the arguments in view of amendments and submissions made by the Applicant. It is apparent, from the report, that the objection may be summarised, in a general way, as alleging that the claimed invention is, in substance, a scheme, defined by certain steps as outlined in the claims, for providing a tour service and providing a revised tour service in view of events that might impact the tour service. This is perhaps best illustrated by the following passages from the third examination report:
“The substance of the invention, the ingenuity of the inventors is not directed improving any technical piece of the tour management platform it is directed to the abstract set of steps, the scheme of presenting information associated with a tour service including content exhibits to a user according to an agenda, and choosing to revise the agenda by adding, removing, swapping, or replacing exhibits, when various factors effect (sic) the agenda, then continuing to present content exhibits according to the revised schedule. The objection of the previous report that claims 1-19 do not define a manner of manufacture within the meaning of Section 18(1)(a) of the Patents Act 1990 is maintained.”
The Applicant’s Submissions
42. The submissions provide commentary on various patent office and federal court decisions and alleged relevance with respect to the present invention. What I draw from these submissions is the need for me to apply the principles as have been developed by well-established Federal Court authority. This segues into something of an analysis, of various decisions of the Patent Office and the Federal Court concerning manner of manufacture. These submissions provide commentary on the decisions concerned and their alleged relevance with respect to the present invention. What I draw from these submissions, other discussions of various decisions, such as eBay Inc. [2020] APO 49 (“eBay”) and CCOM Pty Ltd v Jiejing Pty Ltd [1994] FCA 1168 (“CCOM”), and principles from the Patent Manual of Practice and Procedure (“MPP”) is the need for me to apply the principles as have been developed by well-established Federal Court authority.
43. In any case, as will be seen, there is no material difference between the principles adopted in this decision and those put forward by the Applicant as applied to the application at the balance of the submissions, extending from pages 3 to 18 of the same. These submissions comprise a consideration of the claimed invention in light of ‘key factors’ from Commissioner of Patents v RPL Central Pty Ltd [2015] FCAFC 177 (“RPL”) said to be “…favourable with respect to the patent subject matter eligibility of the claimed invention” (Applicant’s submissions at page 3). I will consider these submissions as appropriate later in this decision.
Relevant Legal Principles
Manner of Manufacture
44. The statutory basis for manner of manufacture is found at s18(1)(a) of the Patents Act 1990 (the “Act”) which states:
“an invention is a patentable invention for the purposes of a standard patent if the invention, so far as claimed in any claim is a manner of manufacture within the meaning of section 6 of the Statute of Monopolies.”
45. Fundamental principles with respect to manner of manufacture were outlined by the High Court in National Research Development Corporation v Commissioner of Patents [1959] HCA 67 (“NRDC”) at [14];102 CLR 252 at 275:
“It is therefore a mistake, and a mistake likely to lead to an incorrect conclusion, to treat the question whether a given process or product is within the definition as if that question could be restated in the form: ‘Is this a manner (or kind) of manufacture?’ It is a mistake which tends to limit one's thinking by reference to the idea of making tangible goods by hand or by machine, because ‘manufacture’ as a word of everyday speech generally conveys that idea. The right question is: ‘Is this a proper subject of letters patent according to the principles which have been developed for the application of s. 6 of the ‘Statute of Monopolies’”
46. The NRDC decision related to a process for eradicating weeds from crop areas. A test applicable to the facts of this case was given in NRDC at [22], 275:
“The point is that a process, to fall within the limits of patentability which the context of the Statute of Monopolies has supplied, must be one that offers some advantage which is material, in the sense that the process belongs to a useful art as distinct from a fine art (see Re Virginia-Carolina Chemical Corporation's Application (1958) RPC 35, at p 36) - that its value to the country is in the field of economic endeavour.”
47. In Grant v Commissioner of Patents [2006] FCAFC 120 (“Grant”) the court considered the patentability of what may be generally described as a business system or method directed towards protecting assets via the creation of a trust, this not involving any computer implementation. Their Honours in Grant (at [26]) did not consider the question as to whether a business system is or is not patentable. Rather they found (at [47]) Mr Grant’s claimed systems and methods were not for a manner of manufacture in the sense described in NRDC:
“It has long been accepted that ‘intellectual information’, a mathematical algorithm, mere working directions and a scheme without effect are not patentable. This claim is ‘intellectual information’, mere working directions and a scheme. It is necessary that there be some ‘useful product’, some physical phenomenon or effect resulting from the working of a method for it to be properly the subject of letters patent. That is missing in this case.”
48. More recently the authorities have directly considered the patentability, or otherwise, of computer implemented business methods, most notably in Research Affiliates LLC v Commissioner of Patents [2014] FCAFC 150 (“Research Affiliates”) and RPL. The discussion in RPL referred to the terminology from NRDC, with the observation at [117] that such terminology was apposite but “…not conclusive of patentability”. This observation was given with respect to consideration of a similar conclusion by the majority in D’Arcy v Myriad Genetics Inc. [2015] HCA 35 (“Myriad”) at [23]:
“This Court in NRDC did not prescribe a well-defined pathway for the development of the concept of ‘manner of manufacture’ in its application to unimagined technologies with unimagined characteristics and implications. Rather, it authorised a case-by-case methodology. Consistently with that approach, and without resort to the ‘generally inconvenient’ proviso in s 6 of the Statute of Monopolies, there may be cases in which the court will decide that the implications of patentability of a new class of invention are such that the invention as claimed should not be treated as patentable by judicial decision”.
49. It was in this light that their Honours, at [96] to [98] of RPL, outlined considerations useful in determining whether a computer implemented business method is patentable:
“A claimed invention must be examined to ascertain whether it is in substance a scheme or plan or whether it can broadly be described as an improvement in computer technology. The basis for the analysis starts with the fact that a business method, or mere scheme, is not, per se, patentable. The fact that it is a scheme or business method does not exclude it from properly being the subject of letters patent, but it must be more than that. There must be more than an abstract idea; it must involve the creation of an artificial state of affairs where the computer is integral to the invention, rather than a mere tool in which the invention is performed. Where the claimed invention is to a computerised business method, the invention must lie in that computerisation. It is not a patentable invention simply to ‘put’ a business method ‘into’ a computer to implement the business method using the computer for its well- known and understood functions.
Is the mere implementation of an abstract idea in a well-known machine sufficient to render patentable subject matter? Is the artificial effect that arises, because information is stored in RAM and there is communication over the Internet or wifi, sufficient? Does any physical effect give rise to a manner of manufacture? Are the mere presence of an artificial effect and economic utility, without more, sufficient to determine manner of manufacture?
It is not a question of stating precise guidelines but of deciding, in each case, whether the claimed invention, as a matter of substance not form, is properly the subject of a patent.”
50. Thus, in relation to computer implemented inventions, it is necessary to look at the invention as a matter of substance, rather than as a matter of form. Upon doing so one will then be able to ascertain if this substance provides for a manner of manufacture using the established authorities. Relevantly RPL and Research Affiliates provided principles that assist in determining where the substance of these types of inventions resides and whether that material is patentable. In particular at [99] to [107] of RPL, their Honours reiterated a series of these principles from Research Affiliates (in particular at [94]). I note that the principles from Research Affiliates and RPL were recently cited with approval in Commissioner of Patents v Rokt Pte Ltd [2020] FCAFC 86 (“Rokt”) at [69], in Repipe Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Patents [2021] FCAFC 223 (“Repipe2”) at [4], in Commissioner of Patents v Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd [2021] FCAFC 202 (“Aristocrat”) at [29] and [106], and by an expanded Full Court in Encompass Corporation Pty Ltd v InfoTrack Pty Ltd [2019] FCAFC 161 (“Encompass”) at [77] et seq.
51. Conveniently the principles concerned have been summarised at [189] of Rokt Pte Ltd v Commissioner of Patents [2018] FCA 1988 (“Rokt Pte Ltd”):
“The respondent submitted that the law as laid out in Research Affiliates and RPL Central held that:
‘17.1 The Court must decide, as matter of substance not form, whether the claimed invention is the proper subject-matter for a patent: RPL Central at [99]; Research Affiliates at [106], [117].
17.2 This requires consideration of both the claims of the Application and the invention described in the body of the specification: RPL Central at [114].
17.3 The assessment is not done mechanically. There are no precise guidelines or mathematical formula. It is “a question of understanding what has been the work of, the output of, and the result of, human ingenuity” and then applying the developed principles: Research Affiliates at [116]. See further RPL Central at [112]:
Recognising that the claims are to a method and system comprising a combination of integers, it is necessary to understand where the inventiveness or ingenuity is said to lie ...
17.4 One well-settled principle is that a distinction exists between a technological innovation and a business innovation. A technological innovation is patentable. A business innovation is not: Research Affiliates at [94]; RPL Central at [100]. Consequently, a business method or scheme is not, per se, a proper subject for letters patent: RPL Central at [96]. Nor are abstract ideas, mere intellectual information or mere directions for use patentable: Research Affiliates at [101]; RPL Central at [100].
17.5 A computerised business method or scheme can, in some cases, be patentable. However, “[w]here the claimed invention is to a computerised business method, the invention must lie in that computerisation”: RPL Central at [96] (emphasis added). This requires “some ingenuity in the way in which the computer is used”: RPL Central at [104]. It is not a patentable invention “to simply ‘put’ a business method ‘into’ a computer to implement the business method using the computer for its well-known and understood functions”: RPL Central at [96]. In other words, if the ingenuity lies in the business method or scheme alone, the invention will not be patentable despite the computer-implementation.
17.6 Thus, a claimed invention must be examined to ascertain whether it is in substance a scheme or plan, or whether it can broadly be described as an improvement in computer technology: RPL Central at [96]. Contrary to [the applicant’s submissions at [49]], this is a binary distinction: the invention is either an unpatentable scheme or plan, or it is a patentable improvement in computer technology. In conducting the analysis, it is useful to:
17.6.1 ascertain whether the contribution to the claimed invention is technical in nature: RPL Central at [99], Research Affiliates at [114];
17.6.2 consider whether the invention solves a “technical” problem within the computer or outside the computer: RPL Central at [99]; Research Affiliates at [103];
17.6.3 consider whether the invention results in an improvement in the functioning of the computer, irrespective of the data being processed: RPL Central at [99], Research Affiliates at [118];
17.6.4 consider whether the invention requires merely “generic computer implementation”, as distinct from steps which are “foreign” to the normal use of computers: RPL Central at [99], [102]; Research Affiliates at [101]; and
17.6.5 consider whether the computer is merely the intermediary, configured to carry out the method using program code for performing the method, but adding nothing to the substance of the idea: RPL Central at [99].’”
52. I note that the above principles were explicitly accepted by Robertson J at [201] of Rokt Pte Ltd. While the decision in Rokt Pte Ltd was overturned in Rokt this was not on the basis of any error in the principles listed above, which I accept are correct, noting that [189] of Rokt Pte Ltd represents a convenient summary of the principles from RA and RPL. I also note that essentially identical principles were adopted by McKerracher J in Repipe Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Patents [2019] FCA 1956 (“Repipe1”) at [39(5)], which was upheld in Repipe2, nor was there, as I understand it, any fundamental disturbance of the principles enunciated in Repipe1 as a result of Repipe2.
53. It is perhaps convenient here to note that the Applicant has made arguments, for example at page 10 of the submissions, about whether the application of the method produces a practical and useful result. It is perhaps of some note that “a practical and useful result” does not explicitly appear as one of the considerations in this decision, by virtue of its absence in Rokt, and what this might mean in terms of this decision. In that regard I refer to what I said at [37] to [40] of Amsted Rail Company, Inc. [2021] APO 25 (“Amsted”) and to the comments of the Deputy Commissioner in Grzegorz Malewicz [2022] APO 11 at [71] (“Grzegorz Malewicz”), as to the view that “a practical and useful result”, while not irrelevant to the analysis, is not necessarily determinative of patentability in a positive sense. I will return to this later in the context of the submissions concerned.
54. Overall, I took the Applicant as accepting that the question is to be answered as a matter of substance, particularly in view of the considerations from RPL cited by the Applicant. While expressed somewhat differently from the considerations in Rokt Pte Ltd, I do not take this to lead to material differences in terms of the conclusion to be drawn, noting that the principles from Rokt Pte Ltd are distilled from RPL and similar authorities
Stringency of Tests
55. As examination was requested after 15 April 2013, the substantive amendments of the Act brought about by the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment (Raising the Bar) Act 2012 apply to the present application. In particular the amendments to s49 of the Act allow the Commissioner to refuse an application if she is not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the invention, so far as claimed, satisfies the criteria of s18(1)(a). Notably the criteria outlined at s18(1)(a) is that the invention, so far as claimed in any claim “is a manner of manufacture within the meaning of section 6 of the Statute of Monopolies”.
Do the Claims Comprise a Manner of Manufacture?
56. I will initially consider this question with regard to independent claim 1 and will further consider the other independent claims and dependent claims as appropriate.
Claim 1
57. It is perhaps trite, but the fundamental question I need answer is what does the claimed invention comprise as a matter of substance? To assist in answering that question I note that claim 1 can be presented as below, for the purposes of the following discussion:
1.there is a tour management platform, which includes
a.one or more memories
b.one or more processors in communication with the one or more memories;
2.there are one or more sensors associated with a vehicle;
3.the one or more processors determining that the user has boarded the vehicle, based on the one or more sensors;
4.based on determining the one or more users has boarded the vehicle, the one or more processors provide an instruction to present information associated with a tour service of a facility to the user, via at least one of:
a.one or more devices associated with the facility; or
b.one more devices associated with the vehicle;
5.the information associated with tour service includes information identifying an agenda for presenting, to the user, a first plurality of content exhibits associated with the tour service, the information specifying a first order in which the first plurality of content exhibits is to be presented to the user;
6.the one or more processors detect an event associated with the tour service, the event including one or more of:
a.the user arriving later at the facility than a planned arrival time;
b.receiving user input that specifies a change to the tour service;
c.determining that the user’s is having a non-positive experience with regard to a particular content exhibit;
d.delayed travel of the vehicle to a building in the facility;
e.a content exhibit being unavailable to be presented:
i.to the user during the tour service; and/or
ii.in a particular format; and/or
iii.at a particular location in the facility;
7.the one or more processors generate, based on detecting the event, a revised agenda for presenting, to the user, a second plurality of content exhibits associated with the tour service, the second plurality of content exhibits including at least one content exhibit of the first plurality of content exhibits and information specifying a second order in which the second plurality of content exhibits is to be presented to the user;
8.the revised agenda is created based on a plurality of priority scores and presentation of the at least one content exhibit in a different format as compared with a format for presentation in the agenda;
9.each priority score is associated with a respective content exhibit of the second plurality of content exhibits;
10.the one or more processors provide, based on the revised agenda, a second instruction to present, to the user, the at least one content exhibit of the second plurality of content exhibits in the different format via at least one of:
a.the one or more devices associated with the facility, or
b.the one or more devices associated with the vehicle.
58. I will now consider whether the claimed invention is patentable by recourse to the considerations at [189] of Rokt Pte Ltd. I will also consider, where appropriate, the Applicant’s submissions regarding factors drawn from RPL, although I note that there is a significant degree of overlap in the Applicant’s submissions regarding each of the factors. Where possible, I have tried to address the Applicant’s submissions as relevant for each of the factors I have outlined below, even where the Applicant has discussed these in connection with a different factor. References to the “claim” in the following discussion means claim 1.
Is the contribution to the claimed invention technical in nature?
59. To assess this requires an understanding of the technical features of the invention, both individually and collectively, and the effect of carrying out the invention.
60. There are clearly individual features encompassed within each of the integers of the claim as identified above, that are either technical in nature or make use of technical features. For example, the one or more processors and the one or more memories are clearly associated with or comprise a computerised device. There are also various steps within the claim that involve the generation, exchange, presentation and processing of data, such as information identifying the agenda to be presented, the creation of the revised agenda and the content exhibits, which make use of the technical abilities of the computerised devices to implement the claimed invention. Similarly, determining that the user has boarded the vehicle and the detection of the events may make use of use of suitable sensors. There are also devices that present information regarding the tour service or content exhibits of the tour service to the user, as well as the vehicles and the buildings.
61. However, the computerised device(s) in the form of the one or more processors and the one or more memories is not specified in any way in the claim. Selection of these is entirely up to the skilled addressee, who may utilise any such device or devices as known in the art using any suitable arrangement of these that may be devised by the skilled addressee. Similarly, the nature of the sensors and the devices, as claimed and described, is indicative that these are sensors and devices known in the art that either form part of a computerised system or are capable of interfacing with computerised systems, and it is entirely up to the skilled addressee to select and arrange these in communication with the one or more processors or other components using means known in the art.
62. The generation, exchange, presentation, and processing of data throughout the claim, as I understand it, simply makes use of the abilities of computerised devices as known in the art, particularly in view of the non-descript nature of the computerised devices as defined in the claim and the data concerned. I therefore take it that these merely extend to the use of computer technology as well known in the art.
63. The vehicle and buildings are non-descript in a technical sense and merely form context for where the claimed invention is carried out, and do not contribute in any technical way to the invention. They are, of course, not “computerised” as such, however, the fact the claim is not to the buildings or vehicle per se means, in my view, that I need not have recourse to the type of analysis from Amsted. However, even if I did use such principles, the fact the vehicle and buildings are entirely generic would not lead to any different outcome in terms of the technical contribution to the invention.
64. Consequently, to the extent there are individual technical features in, or made use of by, the claim, these merely extend to “…computer technology that is utilised for its basic, typical or well-known functions” (Rokt at [89]), and do not provide in substance a technical contribution to the invention.
Is there anything within the Application that provides for a Manner of Manufacture?
In addition to there being no patentable material in the claims, my perusal of the application does not reveal anything that, as a matter of substance, extends beyond the invention discussed above, either for the invention as claimed or as described. I conclude that there is nothing in the application, beyond that already considered, that could be claimed to result in a manner of manufacture.
Conclusion
None of the claims are for a manner of manufacture. In addition, I see no material in the application that could be made the subject of a claim so as to result in that claim being for a manner of manufacture. I therefore refuse the application.
Dr W.E. Guinea
Delegate of the Commissioner of Patents
Annex A – Claims
The claims defining the invention are as follows:
A tour management platform, including:
one or more memories; and
one or more processors, communicatively coupled to the one or more memories, that:
determine, based on one or more sensors associated with a vehicle, that a user has boarded the vehicle;
provide, based on determining that the user has boarded the vehicle, a first instruction to present, to the user, information associated with a tour service, of a facility, via at least one of:
one or more devices associated with the facility, or one or more devices associated with the vehicle,
wherein the information associated with the tour service includes:
information identifying an agenda for presenting, to the user, a first plurality of content exhibits associated with the tour service, the information specifying a first order in which the first plurality of content exhibits is to be presented to the user;
detect an event associated with the tour service, the event including one or more of:
the user arriving at the facility at a time that is later than a planned arrival time, receiving a user input that specifies a particular change to the tour service, determining that the user’s experience with a particular content exhibit is not a positive experience a delay in travel of the vehicle to a building included in the facility, and a content exhibit being unavailable to be presented to the user during the tour service and/or in a particular format and/or at a particular location in the facility,
generate, based on detecting the event, a revised agenda for presenting, to the user, a second plurality of content exhibits associated with the tour service, the second plurality of content exhibits including at least one content exhibit of the first plurality of content exhibits and information specifying a second order in which the second plurality of content exhibits is to be presented to the user,
wherein the revised agenda is generated based on a plurality of priority scores and presentation of the at least one content exhibit in a different format as compared with a format for presentation in the agenda, and
wherein each priority score, of the plurality of priority scores, is associated with a respective content exhibit of the second plurality of content exhibits;
and provide, based on the revised agenda, a second instruction to present, to the user, the at least one content exhibit of the second plurality of content exhibits in the different format via at least one of:
the one or more devices associated with the facility, or the one or more devices associated with the vehicle.
A tour management platform according to claim 1, wherein the delay in travel of the vehicle to a building included in the facility is based on a weather event within a threshold distance of the facility, and the user input that is received is based on the information, associated with the tour service, presented to the user.
A tour management platform according to claim 2, wherein the user input includes at least one of:
an instruction to add a particular content exhibit to the tour service,
an instruction to remove a particular content exhibit from the tour service, an instruction to reduce a time duration of the tour service, or
an instruction to increase the time duration of the tour service.
A tour management platform according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the second plurality of content exhibits includes at least one of:
an audio content exhibit,
a two-dimensional video content exhibit, a three-dimensional video content exhibit,
an augmented reality video content exhibit, a virtual reality video content exhibit.
A tour management platform according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the one or more processors, when providing the second instruction to present the content exhibit, of the second plurality of content exhibits, via at least one of the one or more devices associated with the facility or the one or more devices associated with the vehicle:
present the content exhibit, of the second plurality of content exhibits, via the one or more devices associated with the vehicle; and
wherein the one or more processors further:
determine that the user has arrived at a building included in the facility; determine a point in the content exhibit at which the user exited the vehicle;
and
provide, based on determining that the user has arrived at the building, a third
instruction to present, to the user, the content exhibit via one or more other output devices associated with the building,
wherein the presentation of the content exhibit, via the one or more other output devices associated with the building, is to be initiated at the point in the content exhibit at which the user exited the vehicle.
A tour management platform according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the one or more processors:
provide, based on the revised agenda, a third instruction to present, to the user and at a building included in the facility, one or more content elements associated with the tour service.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions including:
one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a tour management platform, cause the one or more processors to:
identify, based on one or more sensors associated with a vehicle, a user that has boarded the vehicle;
provide, based on identifying the user, a first instruction to present, to the user, information associated with a tour service of a facility, via one or more first devices associated with the vehicle,
wherein the information associated with the tour service includes: information identifying an agenda for presenting, to the user, a first plurality of content exhibits associated with the tour service, the information specifying a first order in which the first plurality of content exhibits is to be presented to the user, and
wherein the first plurality of content exhibits associated with the tour service is selected based on the user;
detect an event associated with the tour service, the event including one or more of: the user arriving at the facility at a time that is later than a planned arrival time, receiving a user input that specifies a particular change to the tour service, determining that the user’s experience with a particular content exhibit is not a
positive experience a delay in travel of the vehicle to a building included in the facility, and
a content exhibit being unavailable to be presented to the user during the tour service and/or in a particular format and/or at a particular location in the facility.
generate, based on detecting the event, a revised agenda for presenting, to the user, a second plurality of content exhibits associated with the tour service, the second plurality of content exhibits including at least one content exhibit of the first plurality of content exhibits and information specifying a second order in which the second plurality of content exhibits is to be presented to the user,
wherein the revised agenda is generated based on a plurality of priority scores and presentation of the at least one content exhibit in a different format as compared with a format for presentation in the agenda, and
wherein each priority score, of the plurality of priority scores, is associated with a respective content exhibit of the second plurality of content exhibits;
provide, based on the revised agenda, a second instruction to present, to the user and via the one or more first devices associated with the vehicle, the at least one content exhibit of the second plurality of content exhibits in the different format; and
provide, based on the revised agenda, a third instruction to present, to the user and via one or more second devices associated with a building included in the facility, one or more content elements associated with the tour service.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 7, wherein the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to generate the revised agenda for presenting the second plurality of content exhibits associated with the tour service, further cause the one or more processors to:
generate the revised agenda based on at least one of:
an estimated time of arrival of the vehicle at the building included in the facility, a weather event within a threshold distance the facility, or
an expected time duration of a transit of the vehicle from the building, included in the facility, to another building included in the facility.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to either claim 7 or claim 8, wherein a priority score, of the plurality of priority scores, associated with the respective content exhibit, of the second plurality of content exhibits, is determined based on at least one of:
a user input specifying a preference for the respective content exhibit,
feedback received from the user based on the user viewing the respective content exhibit in another tour service,
an analysis of emotions exhibited by the user as the user viewed the respective content exhibit in the other tour service,
relevance of the respective content exhibit to an attribute associated with the user,
feedback received from one or more other users that were presented the respective content exhibit, or
an amount of time the one or more other users spent viewing the respective content exhibit.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the content exhibit is a first content exhibit;
wherein the second plurality of content exhibits includes:
a second content exhibit that is not included in the first plurality of content exhibits, or
a third content exhibit that is to be presented in a different format in the tour service; and
wherein the first plurality of content exhibits includes:
a fourth content exhibit that is not included in the second plurality of content exhibits.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the content exhibit is a first content exhibit;
wherein the second plurality of content exhibits includes:
a second content exhibit having a reduced time duration in the tour service, or a third content exhibit having an increased time duration in the tour service.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:
provide, based on the revised agenda, a fourth instruction to present, to the user and via the one or more second devices associated with the building included in the facility, the content exhibit of the second plurality of content exhibits.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of claims 7 to 12, wherein the one or more content elements includes:
an electronic display of the revised agenda, or
an electronic display of one or more directions, at the building, associated with the content exhibit.
A computer-implemented method, including:
determining, by a tour management platform and based on one or more sensors associated with a vehicle, that a user has boarded the vehicle;
providing, by the tour management platform and based on determining that the user has boarded the vehicle, a first instruction to present, to the user, information associated with a tour service, of a facility, via one or more first devices associated with the vehicle,
wherein the information associated with the tour service includes:
information identifying an agenda for presenting, to the user, a first plurality of content exhibits associated with the tour service, the information specifying a first order in which the first plurality of content exhibits is to be presented to the user, and
wherein the first plurality of content exhibits associated with the tour service is selected based on an attribute associated with the user;
detecting, by the tour management platform, an event associated with the tour service, the event including one or more of:
the user arriving at the facility at a time that is later than a planned arrival
time,
receiving a user input that specifies a particular change to the tour
service,
determining that the user’s experience with a particular content exhibit is not a positive experience
a delay in travel of the vehicle to a building included in the facility, and
a content exhibit being unavailable to be presented to the user during the tour service and/or in a particular format and/or at a particular location in the facility.
generating, by the tour management platform and based on detecting the event, a revised agenda for presenting, to the user, a second plurality of content exhibits associated with the tour service, the second plurality of content exhibits including at least one content
exhibit of the first plurality of content exhibits and information specifying a second order in which the second plurality of content exhibits is to be presented to the user,
wherein the revised agenda is generated based on a plurality of priority scores and presentation of the at least one content exhibit in a different format as compared with a format for presentation in the agenda, and
wherein each priority score, of the plurality of priority scores, is associated with a respective content exhibit of the second plurality of content exhibits;
providing, by the tour management platform and based on the revised agenda, a second instruction to present, to the user and via the one or more first devices associated with the vehicle, the at least one content exhibit of the second plurality of content exhibits in the different format; and
providing, by the tour management platform and based on the revised agenda, a third instruction to present, to the user and via one or more second devices associated with a building included in the facility, the content exhibit of the second plurality of content exhibits.
A method according to claim 14, wherein the second plurality of content exhibits includes at least one of:
an interactive augmented reality content exhibit, an interactive virtual reality content exhibit,
a live presenter-led content exhibit, an interactive live content exhibit, or a web-based content exhibit.
A method according to either claim 14 or claim 15, wherein the user input that is received is based on the information, associated with the tour service, presented to the user,
wherein the user input includes at least one of:
a fourth instruction to reduce a time duration of the content exhibit in the tour service,
a fifth instruction to increase the time duration of the content exhibit in the tour service, or
a sixth instruction to reorder the first plurality of content exhibits in the tour service.
A method according to any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein a priority score, of the plurality of priority scores, associated with the respective content exhibit, of the second plurality of content exhibits, is determined based on at least one of:
a first quantity of other users, associated with the attribute that is associated with the user, that expressed an interest in viewing the respective content exhibit, or
a second quantity of other users, associated with the attribute that is associated with the user, that have viewed the respective content exhibit.
A method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, wherein the agenda for presenting the first plurality of content exhibits includes:
information specifying that another content exhibit is to be presented to the user via the one or more first devices associated with the vehicle; and
wherein the revised agenda for presenting the second plurality of content exhibits includes:
information specifying that the other content exhibit is to be presented to the user via the one or more second devices associated with the building included in the facility.
A method according to any one of claims 14 to 18, further including:
providing, based on the revised agenda, a fourth instruction to present, to the user and via one or more third devices associated with the facility, one or more content elements associated with the tour service.
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