US-12620283-B2 - Multifunction smart door device

US12620283B2US 12620283 B2US12620283 B2US 12620283B2US-12620283-B2

Abstract

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

Inventors

Jay Schneider
Gregory Morwick
JOEY HASTY
Alastair Partington

Assignees

ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240405

Claims (20)

1 . A smart door device for stateroom access control, the smart door device being located at a first stateroom within a vessel and comprising: a local data store in communication, via a vessel-based network, with a remote data store, the remote data store being located within the vessel and having stored thereon a plurality of customer profiles associated with individual customers embarked on the vessel, the plurality of customer profiles including a first subset corresponding to customers embarked on the vessel who are permitted to access the first stateroom and a second subset corresponding to customers embarked on the vessel who are not permitted to access the first stateroom, wherein the local data store stores at least a portion of each profile of the first subset of the plurality of customer profiles and does not store the second subset of the plurality of customer profiles; and one or more processors in communication with the local data store and configured to: receive, from a camera positioned to image a public area of the vessel adjacent to the door of the first stateroom, an image of a face of a person disposed within the public area; locally generate, based on one or more facial recognition software algorithms and the at least a portion of the first subset, a facial recognition result indicating that the person is one of the customers permitted to access the first stateroom; and cause an electronic door lock to unlock a door of the first stateroom in response to the facial recognition result.
2 . The smart door device of claim 1 , wherein the camera is a video camera configured to capture video footage of the public area of the vessel adjacent to the door of the first stateroom.
3 . The smart door device of claim 2 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause display of the captured video footage to one or more of the customers associated with the first stateroom as a live stream.
4 . The smart door device of claim 3 , wherein causing display of the captured video footage comprises causing a display located at least partially within the first stateroom to play the live stream.
5 . The smart door device of claim 3 , wherein causing display of the captured video footage comprises causing transmission of the live stream to a mobile device associated with the one or more of the customers associated with the first stateroom.
6 . The smart door device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: cause an access event record to be stored in the local data store or in the remote data store in response to the facial recognition result; and cause an image or video of the person to be stored in the local data store or in the remote data store in association with the access event record.
7 . The smart door device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further in communication with a door position sensor configured to detect an open or closed status of the door of the first stateroom.
8 . The smart door device of claim 7 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to generate a security alert when the door of the first stateroom is open for longer than a predetermined threshold time.
9 . A stateroom access control system comprising: a plurality of smart door devices according to claim 1 , each smart door device disposed within or proximate to a door of a stateroom of the vessel; and a server in communication with the remote data store and the plurality of smart door devices.
10 . A computer-implemented method for stateroom access control, the method comprising: receiving, at a local data store of a smart door device located at a stateroom of a vessel, at least a portion of one or more profiles from a remote data store located within the vessel, the remote data store containing a plurality of customer profiles associated with individual customers embarked on the vessel including a first subset corresponding to customers embarked on the vessel who are permitted to access the stateroom and a second subset corresponding to customers embarked on the vessel who are not permitted to access the stateroom, the one or more profiles comprising the profiles of the first subset of the plurality of customer profiles, wherein the local data store does not store the second subset of the plurality of customer profiles; receiving, from a camera positioned to image a public area of the vessel adjacent to a door of a stateroom, an image of a face of a person disposed within the public area; locally generating, using one or more facial recognition software algorithms and the at least a portion of the first subset, a facial recognition result indicating that the person is one of the customers permitted to access the stateroom; and causing an electronic door lock to unlock the door of the stateroom in response to the facial recognition result.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the camera is a video camera configured to capture video footage of the public area of the vessel adjacent to the door of the stateroom.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising causing the captured video footage to be displayed to one or more of the customers associated with the stateroom as a live stream.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein causing the captured video footage to be displayed comprises causing a display located at least partially within the stateroom to play the live stream.
14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein causing the captured video footage to be displayed comprises causing the live stream to be transmitted to a mobile device associated with the one or more of the customers associated with the stateroom.
15 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising: causing an access event record to be stored in the local data store or in the remote data store in response to the facial recognition result; and causing an image or video of the person from the camera to be stored in the local data store or in the remote data store in association with the access event record.
16 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising: receiving, from a proximity sensor positioned to detect a presence of an object within the public area of the vessel adjacent to the door of the stateroom, a signal indicative of the presence of the object; and causing the camera to capture the image in response to the signal.
17 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising: receiving, from an input device proximate the door of the stateroom, an input from the person; and causing the camera to capture the image in response to the input.
18 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the at least a portion of the one or more profiles comprises an embarkation image of a face of each of the customers permitted to access the stateroom taken at a time of embarkation on the vessel, and wherein the facial recognition result is generated based at least in part on the embarkation images.
19 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising: receiving, from a door position sensor configured to detect an open or closed status of the door of the stateroom, a signal indicating that the door of the stateroom has been open for longer than a threshold period of time; and generating a security alert in response to the signal.
20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising causing the signal to be transmitted to a display located at least partially within the stateroom or to a mobile device associated with one or more of the customers associated with the stateroom.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/453,793, filed Nov. 5, 2021, titled “MULTIFUNCTION SMART DOOR DEVICE,” now U.S. Pat. No. 11,954,956, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/867,461, filed May 5, 2020, titled “MULTIFUNCTION SMART DOOR DEVICE,” now U.S. Pat. No. 11,170,593, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. BACKGROUND Technological Field The present application relates to Internet of Things (IoT) devices for customers of a service provider, such as but not limited to a cruise operator or other hospitality or entertainment provider. In particular, the present application relates to multifunction smart door devices. Description of the Related Art Cruise ships are often described as floating cities. These ships are designed to provide every convenience and necessity to hundreds and in many cases thousands of passengers, while keeping the passengers entertained during a sailing that can range from 2 days to as many as 4 weeks. Passengers must be able to access secured accommodations such as staterooms. Furthermore, various services and/or operations associated with passenger accommodations may be desirable or necessary, such as deliveries, maintenance, dining, security, admission of visitors or crew, and the like. It is desirable to provide connected services to improve passenger comfort and efficiency. SUMMARY The systems, methods, and devices of this disclosure each have several innovative aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for the desirable attributes disclosed herein. Without limiting the scope of this disclosure, its more prominent features will now be discussed briefly. After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled “Detailed Description” one will understand how the features of this disclosure provide advantages over other hospitality solutions. In one aspect, a smart door device for stateroom access control on a cruise ship is described. The smart door device comprises a housing disposed within or proximate to a door of a stateroom of the cruise ship, the door being unlockable by an electronic door lock; a local data store within the housing in communication, via a ship-based network, with a ship-based data store having stored thereon a plurality of customer profiles associated with individual customers embarked on the cruise ship, the local data store having stored thereon at least a portion of one or more profiles of the plurality of customer profiles, the one or more profiles associated with customers permitted to access the stateroom; a wide angle camera disposed at an exterior of the housing and configured to image a public area of the cruise ship adjacent to the door of the stateroom; a proximity sensor disposed at the exterior of the housing and configured to detect the presence of an object within the public area of the cruise ship adjacent to the door of the stateroom; and a processor within the housing and in communication with the local data store, the proximity sensor, and the wide angle camera. The processor is configured to receive, from the proximity sensor, a signal indicative of the presence of an object; capture, by the wide angle camera in response to the signal, an image of a face of a person disposed within the public area; locally generate, based on one or more facial recognition software algorithms and the at least a portion of the one or more profiles, a facial recognition result indicating that the person is one of the customers permitted to access the stateroom; and cause, in response to the facial recognition result, the electronic door lock to unlock the door of the stateroom. In some embodiments, the at least a portion of the one or more profiles comprise one or more user stateroom preferences associated with the person, and the processor is further configured to modify a configuration of a networked appliance within the stateroom in response to the facial recognition result. In some embodiments, the one or more user stateroom preferences comprise at least one of a default climate control setting, a default in-room media setting, a default lighting setting, or a default window shade setting. In some embodiments, the processor is further in communication with one or more sensors configured to determine whether the stateroom is occupied or unoccupied, the processor further configured to modify the configuration of the networked appliance within the stateroom in response to the facial recognition result only if the stateroom is unoccupied. In some embodiments, the wide angle camera is a video camera configured to capture video footage of the public area of the cruise ship adjacent to the door of the stateroom. In some embodiments, the processor is configured to display the captured video footage to one or more of the customers associated with the stateroom as a live stream. In