WO2014142746A1

WO2014142746A1 - An apparatus and a method for delivering advertising media

Info

Publication number: WO2014142746A1
Application number: PCT/SG2014/000111
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yi Jun JIAN; Gim Kian NEO; Shang Lim NG
Original assignee: Wong's Group Pte. Ltd.
Priority date: 2013-03-12
Filing date: 2014-03-07
Publication date: 2014-09-18
Also published as: SG2013018197A

Abstract

There is provided an apparatus and method for delivering advertising media according to a user profile. The apparatus comprising a server configured to access a network, a memory accessible to the server. The apparatus comprises a plurality of electronic devices configured for accessing the network and for communicating with the server. Each of the plurality of electronic devices comprises a processing unit configured for obtaining profile data of a user profile in the memory through the server, configuring the electronic device for operation under the user profile according to the profile data, obtaining data of one advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile through the server, displaying a user selectable option corresponding to data of the advertising media. The server or the processing unit is configured for determining one or more advertising media as accessible for the user profile according to the profile data of the user profile

Description

W

AN APPARATUS AND A METHOD FOR DELIVERING ADVERTISING MEDIA

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for delivering advertising media.

Background

People go for haircuts, manicure, pedicure, hair, skin and spa treatment every now and then. Such services and treatments may take up quite some time. It has been observed that the activities engaged by people during these services and treatments are typically reading of magazines, watching the hairdresser, therapist or service provider perform the service or treatment, or shutting eyes to rest.

Furthermore, it has been observed that owners of salon, spa, nail or skin care service centres and the like do not put in much effort to help customers occupy their time while they are waiting for their turn to get treatment or to be serviced. As such, most customers usually just read magazines (if available at the premises), watch television (if available at the premises) or engage their personal digital devices such as mobile smart phones to pass time.

Summary

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for delivering advertising media, the apparatus comprising: a server configured to access a network; a memory accessible to the server, the memory containing profile data of a plurality of user profiles, one or more advertising media; and a plurality of electronic devices configured for accessing the network and for communicating with the server, each of the plurality of electronic devices comprises a display; and a processing unit configured for obtaining the profile data of a user profile from the memory through the server, configuring the electronic device for operation under the user profile according to the obtained profile data, obtaining data of an advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile through the server, displaying a user selectable option corresponding to the data of the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile in the display, the server or W the processing unit being configured for determining one or more of the advertising media as accessible for the user profile according to the profile data of the user profile.

The processing unit may determine whether playing one or more of the advertising media on the electronic device is intruding to user use of the electronic device.

The processing unit may be further configured for displaying a graphical user interface for carrying out actions associated with an item advertised in the advertising media. The data of the advertising media may be just sufficient for displaying the user selectable option corresponding to the data of the advertising media.

The data of the advertising media may be a complete download of the advertising media. The processing unit may be configured for obtaining data of one or more of the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile through the server upon detection of starting up of the electronic device.

The processing unit may be configured for updating the profile data of the user profile to indicate that the electronic device has obtained the data of the one or more advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile.

The electronic device may be configured for playing one or more of the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile for a predetermined time duration after selection of the user selectable option.

The electronic device may be configured for playing the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile after a predetermined time duration of user inactivity. The processing unit may be configured for tracking number of times each advertising media is played by the electronic device and report the number to the one or more server.

The apparatus may be deployed at one of the following locations:

a salon;

a cosmetic or health treatment or enhancement centre;

a food and/or beverage centre; and

a vehicle terminal. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for delivering advertising media, the method comprising: obtaining the profile data of a user profile from a memory through a server; configuring one of a plurality of electronic devices for operation under the user profile according to the obtained profile data; obtaining data of an advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile through the server; displaying a user selectable option corresponding to the data of the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile in a display; and determining one or more advertising media in the memory as accessible for the user profile according to the profile data of the user profile.

The method may further comprise determining whether playing one or more of the advertising media is intruding to user use of the electronic device. The method may further comprise displaying a graphical user interface for carrying out actions associated with an item advertised in the advertising media.

The data of the advertising media may be just sufficient for displaying the user selectable option corresponding to the data of the advertising media.

The data of the advertising media may be a complete download of the advertising media.

The method may further comprise obtaining data of one or more of the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile through the server upon detection of starting up of the electronic device.

The method may further comprise updating the profile data of the user profile to indicate that the electronic device has obtained the data of the one or more advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile.

The method may further comprise playing one or more of the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile for a predetermined time duration after selection of the user selectable option. The method may further comprise playing the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile after a predetermined time duration of user inactivity. The method may further comprise tracking number of times each advertising media is played by the electronic device and report the number to the one or more server.

The method may be utilized at one of the following locations:

a salon;

a cosmetic or health treatment or enhancement centre;

a food and/or beverage centre; and

a vehicle terminal.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will be better understood and readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the following written description, by way of example only and in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows system architecture according to an example of the present invention.

Figure 2 shows a workflow at a salon/spa according to an example of the present invention.

Figure 3 shows a flowchart for delivering advertising media according to an example of the present invention.

Figure 4 shows a flowchart for updating software according to an example of the present invention.

Figure 5 shows a flowchart for file delivery according to an example of the present invention.

Figure 6 shows a schematic diagram of a computer system according to an example of the present invention. Description

Figure 1 illustrates an example apparatus 100 of the present invention that enables customers in, for instance, a salon, a cosmetic or health treatment or enhancement centre, a food and/or beverage centre, and a vehicle terminal or a similar setup, which incurs user/customer waiting time or user/customer idling time while the user/customer is receiving treatment or services, to view advertising media that is targeted for them based on their profiles. The apparatus 100 may also be referred to as a time occupying apparatus. A salon covers hair salons. A cosmetic or health treatment or enhancement centre covers manicure, pedicure, skin and spa treatment centres, health/dental clinics, hospitals. A vehicle terminal covers airport, train station, ferry terminal and the like.

It has been observed that most hair salons, spas or similar business setup do not provide any form of media display to customers when they are having their treatment or receiving services or when they are waiting for treatment or waiting to receive services. The owners of the salon, spa or similar business setup and advertisers can only reach out to the customers through static displays, television (if available at the premises) or through printed media (if available at the premises). Furthermore, the visual experiences offered to customers at salons, spas or similar business setup are either non-existent or normally uninteresting.

In the present example, the apparatus 100 is deployed based on cloud computing architecture. The apparatus 100 comprises one or more servers 104 that are configured to access a network, in this case, the Internet 112, via Ethernet 110 and based on cloud architecture. The network could be wireless or wired and based on Local Area Network, Wide Area Network Technologies and the like. The apparatus 100 further comprises a plurality of electronic devices 108. The one or more servers 104 is/are configured to communicate with the plurality of electronic devices 108. Each of the plurality of electronic devices 108 is configured for accessing the Internet 112, for instance via Ethernet 110, and for communicating with the one or more servers 104. The electronic devices 108 may be a touch-pad device, tablet device, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a laptop computer, electronic notebook, and the like. Due to the cloud computing architecture in this example, software applications of the electronic devices 108 may be remotely run at the end of the one or more servers 104 instead of locally run at the end of the individual electronic devices 108.

The apparatus 100 comprises a memory, in this case, a database 114 that is accessible to the one or more servers 04. The database 114 contains profile data of a plurality of user profiles and advertising media. The database 114 may comprise a plurality of databases or memories.

Each of the plurality of electronic devices 108, for instance electronic device 106 comprises a display 1 18 and a processing unit 1 16. The processing unit 116 is configured for obtaining the profile data of a user profile in the database 114 through the one or more servers, configuring the electronic device 106 for operation under the user profile according to the profile data, obtaining data of one of the advertising media determined (or rendered) as accessible for the user profile through the one or more servers 104, displaying a user selectable option corresponding to the data of the advertising media determined (or rendered) as accessible for the user profile on the display 1 18. The advertising media are displayed on the display 118 based on a graphical user interface programmed to run on the display 1 18. The user selectable option may be a graphical representation of the accessible advertising media in the display 1 8, for instance, the accessible advertising media is displayed as a file that is selectable by a user for execution in the display 118. Selection of the user selectable option will play the advertising media associated with it. It is appreciated that the obtained data of the advertising media can be a complete download of the advertising media or it may be just sufficient for displaying the user selectable option corresponding to the data of the advertising media. For instance, the data can be just the text of the name of the advertising media. In the latter case, a full download or real time streaming of the advertising media can be done after a user has selected the user selectable option.

In the present example, the processing unit 116 is set to configure the electronic device 106 according to the profile data associated with the user profile upon user login to the electronic device 106. Each user login gains access to the profile data associated with one user profile. Each user login creates a new user session and the new user session would run according to the profile data associated with the user profile. In this way, a user can use the electronic device 106 according to his or her user profile. It is appreciated that a user can create more than one profile through, for instance, a web portal run by the one or more servers 104 via the Internet 1 12.

It is appreciated that a user with administrator right may activate the electronic device 106 without user login or login under an administrator profile. The user with administrator right may also set the electronic device 106 for use under any user profile. User login may be performed by way of scanning a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) card and the like instead of the conventional way of entering username and password. The card scanner for scanning the card can be connected to the electronic device 106 or the one or more servers 104. In the case where the card scanner is connected to the one or more servers 104, the one or more servers 104 may be activated to configure the electronic device 106 for access under a user profile linked to the card upon a successful user card login via the card scanner.

In more detail, profile data associated with the user profile include data for configuring the electronic device 106 for use and for displaying graphics on the display 118 according to the user's selections made via the electronic device 106 or the user's selections made via a web portal linked to the one or more servers 104. Profile data may also include typical user information required upon creation of a user account with an organization on the Internet 112, such as user name, gender, age, address, geographical location, date of birth, citizenship number, user interests, hobbies, customer status (e.g. Very Important Personnel (VIP) status) and the like. Any updates on the profile data will be communicated to the one or more servers 104 and the database 114 would be updated.

In the example, the advertising media is in the form of a software application, an audio file, a picture/text file or a video file, and it is created in one way or another to promoting and advertising items or matter for commercial purpose (e.g. to improve sales of products and services and the like) or for non-profit reasons (e.g. campaigns, donation drive, health promotion and the like). A software application may include an application for electronic gaming, information acquiring/providing, software version update, and the like. The content of an audio file may include music, news broadcast, educational broadcast, and the like. A picture/text file may include content obtained from a camera, computer generated graphics, books, magazines, and other printed material. The content of a video file may include movie, television drama, variety show, documentary, news telecast, and the like. The advertising media may also be streamed to the electronic device 106 from the one or more server 104.

Examples of advertising media may include a software application that flashes advertisements during the use of the application, a music file containing a message for promoting certain campaign, a picture or text file working like an electronic flyer for advertising certain matter, a video file of an episode of a drama having celebrities promoting sales of certain items or with incorporated commercial time, or a video advertisement for certain services. Moreover, the one or more servers 104 or the processing unit 116 is configured for determining one or more of the advertising media as accessible for the user profile according to the profile data of a user profile. For instance, an appropriate algorithm could be run by the one or more servers 104 or the processing unit 116 to determine a list of one or more advertising media targeted towards a certain gender, age group of users and/or users living in a particular geographical location (age and geographical location are part of the profile data of a user profile). Thereafter, only this list of one or more advertising media is displayable on the display 118 for user selection by the processing unit 116 for the user profile.

Each of the one or more advertising media may be incorporated with pre-recorded information to indicate which user profile it can be rendered accessible to. The appropriate algorithm can make use of such information to determine whether the advertising media is accessible for a particular user profile. The pre-recorded information may be stored separately from the corresponding advertising media but tagged or labeled (e.g. having same name as the actual file of the advertising media) to provide a link to the advertising media. This helps the algorithm to identify which pre-recorded information is for which advertising media.

Furthermore, profile data can include history records of previous usage of the electronic device 106 by a user under a certain user profile. For instance, if a user accessed an advertising media in the form of a video in a particular user session, the profile data may be updated with a history record of the user watching the video. This history record is useful for determining the one or more advertising media that is determined as accessible for the user profile. It serves as an indication that the user is interested in the advertising media as he or she chose to watch it and not videos with other advertising content.

Through an appropriate algorithm, the one or more servers 104 can be configured to identify each of the plurality of electronic devices 108, for instance, electronic device 106, upon detection of their starting up (i.e. activation to operate) to recognize their statuses (e.g. ready or not ready for receiving data pushes or file downloads), and push data of the relevant advertising media, or stream data of those media in real time, over the Internet 112 to the identified electronic devices based on whether the advertising media is determined as accessible for the user profile accessed using the electronic device 106. Furthermore, upon the starting up of each of the plurality of electronic devices 108, for instance, electronic device 106, the one or more servers 104 may be configured to check whether software of the electronic device 106 is up to date and check whether one or more advertising media in the database 114 is determined as accessible for a particular user profile. If any one of the advertising media is determined as accessible for the particular user profile, the one or more servers 104 or the processing unit 116 will update each of those accessible advertising media as a user selectable option in the display 118 of the electronic device 106. If the software of the electronic device 106 is found to be not updated by the one or more servers 104 or the processing unit 116, the one or more servers 104 or the processing unit 1 6 will initiate an update of the software of the electronic device 106 and the advertising media.

In the event that any advertising media file transfer is unsuccessful or incomplete, the one or more servers 104 are configured to resend the files until the transfer is completed by way of an appropriate file transfer protocol. Media integrity is preserved by way of appropriate error checks and/or encryption/decryption procedures during the time when the one or more servers 104 are communicating with the electronic devices 108.

Each of the plurality of electronic devices 108, for instance electronic device 106, is amongst other things, pre-installed with a set of client applications to enable it to acknowledge requests from the one or more servers 104 or make requests to the one or more servers 104, to upload profile data updates and receive files streams (e.g. in the case of real time streaming of video or audio files) or file downloads over the Internet 112 from the one or more servers 104. Once files are successfully downloaded from the one or more servers 104, the electronic device 106 will store the files locally in a memory 102 and await user activation. The file may appear as a user selectable option in the display 118. Furthermore, the electronic device 106 may be configured to enable downloading of files from the one or more server 104 to be performed in the background so that the downloading does not interfere with the use of the electronic device 06.

In the present example, the graphical user interface of the electronic device 106 is configured to show a user selectable option for a user to access the advertising media that has been determined accessible for the user profile, which the user login under. The user selectable option may be in the form of a file or application icon. When a user activates the electronic device 106 for use, logins to the electronic device 106, and selects an option to access the advertising media, profile data associated with the user profile will be obtained, an algorithm will be run to determine which advertising media is to be made accessible for the user profile and the determined advertising media will be displayed in the graphical user interface. The algorithm determines which advertising media is to be made available to the user by referring to the profile data of the user profile. For instance, the advertising media determined accessible may be only targeted towards users of a certain religion or citizenship, etc.

The electronic device 106 can be configured to automatically play and loop one or more advertising media rendered accessible for a user profile in a predetermined time duration based on how long it will take for a user who login under the user profile to receive service or finish a treatment, or start/stop playing an advertising media after a user has initiated interruption by, for instance, selecting a play/pause or stop button. The electronic device 106 may also be configured to play one or more of the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile in a predetermined time duration after selection of the user selectable option.

After the electronic device 106 has start up under a user profile, if there is no user activity on the electronic device 106 for a predetermined time duration (e.g. 10 seconds), the electronic device 106 may be configured such that it will start playing one or more of the advertising media determined as accessible for a user profile. The electronic device 106 will stop playing when the user activates the device for another purpose other than playing advertising media or has activated the advertising media to stop playing. Concept wise, this is somewhat similar to a screen saver function. However, the played advertising media is enabled for user action and can, for instance, be paused and played from a specific point of the advertising media. The advertising media may also be set by a user through, for instance, a button shown in the display 118, to loop and play again when it ends.

The advertising media may run in the background once the electronic device 106 detects user action to pause or stop it. The advertising media may run in the foreground if the electronic device 106 detects inactivity for a predetermined time duration or a user triggered an action to play the advertising media.

In the example, the processing unit 116 is configured to track number of times each advertising media is played by the electronic device and report the number to the one or more server 104. With such a setup, administrators of the apparatus 100 and advertisers who provided the advertising media can be informed of the number of popularity hits of the advertising media. Each advertising media may allow communication between the user and the advertiser. For example, users may be able to place online purchases or make enquiries on products and services advertised in the advertising media. A more specific example is in the case where a user is having a haircut and watching an advertising media in the form of a video. At about midway through the advertising media, the user sees a selectable button with a message "click here now to receive discount for product X". Upon selecting the button in the display 118 (e.g. touching the button in the case the display 118 is a touch screen), the user will be immediately transferred to the advertiser's website to allow you to purchase the product i.e. a browser application will execute and show up the advertiser's website on the display 118.

The one or more advertising media can be categorized and stored into various chapters in the database 114. Likewise, the one or more advertising media determined as accessible for a user profile can be stored in the memory residing at each of the electronic devices 108. For example, advertising media related to beauty and cosmetics may be stored under chapter 1 , advertising media related to investment and property may be stored under chapter 2, advertising media related to cars and sports may be stored under chapter 3. When a user that is identified from the user profile data to be a lady, and that she has indicated and saved into her user profile data that she does not like to receive advertising media in chapter 3, the electronic device 106 will only provide advertising media in chapters 1 and 2 for her access. In this case, only user selectable options for accessing advertising media in chapters 1 and 2 would be displayed in the display 118 for her access.

With reference to Figures 1 and 2, there is provided a flowchart to illustrate how a new or registered customer of a salon or spa, which is using the apparatus 100, may register for treatment or services or change profile data to use one of the electronic devices.

Steps 202 and 204 illustrate a new or registered customer entering a salon or spa.

Step 206 requires the salon or spa staff to check whether the customer is new.

At step 208, if the customer is new, the staff registers the client by creating a user account with a user profile for the customer. Profile data of the customer is entered by the staff for the user profile. The user account is created on one of the servers 104 and the profile data is stored in the database 114 accessible to the one or more servers 04.

At step 210, an RFID card linked to the user profile is issued to the customer. The customer can use the RFID card to access his or her user profile in future via one of the electronic devices 108. Alternatively, it is appreciated that a card with a bar code linked to the user profile may be issued to the user instead.

At step 212, if the customer decides to use the salon or spa services and the customer already has a user account created on one of the servers 104, the customer can tap his or her issued RFID card on a card scanner connected to one of the servers 104 used by the staff. In the case of a card with a bar code, the bar code would be scanned by the staff using a bar code scanner instead. At step 214, the respective server (i.e. one of the servers 104 used by the staff) would establish user profile i.e. obtain profile data of the user profile linked to the scanned RFID card. In the case of bar code, similarly, the respective server would obtain profile data of the user profile linked to the bar code. The staff may activate one of the electronic devices 108 and issue it to the customer for use at this step. The activated electronic device will be configured to operate under the user profile having the profile data obtained either by request of the processing unit of the activated electronic device to the server, or by the respective server first, which then pushes the obtained profile data to the activated electronic device. At step 216, if one of the electronic devices 108 is activated, the electronic device can be configured to prompt the customer whether her or she would like to change the profile data of his or her user profile. Otherwise, the respective server that is used would prompt the staff whether her or she would like to change the profile data of the customer's user profile. If changes are made to the profile data of the user profile at step 216, retrieval of profile data of the user profile in step 214 would be carried out again.

If no changes are made to the profile data of the user profile at step 216, the customer would either queue up and wait for his or her turn to receive treatment or services or proceed to commence treatment or services at step 218. If one of the electronic devices 108, e.g. electronic device 106, is issued to the customer, the electronic device 106 would automatically play or be activated to play advertising media according to the earlier description with reference to Figure 1 or according to the steps in Figure 3. Figure 3 illustrates further features that step 214 in Figure 2 performs if one of the electronic devices 108, e.g. electronic device 106, is activated for use. The description for Figure 3 as follows also makes references to the description described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. During step 214, at the time the profile data of a user profile is being obtained, an algorithm is configured to run on the activated electronic device 106 at step 302. The processing unit 116 of the electronic device 106 is responsible for running the algorithm in this case. However, it is appreciated that the algorithm may also be run on the respective server used by the staff in other instances.

At step 304, the algorithm compiles selected advertising media file chapters for the user profile. The algorithm determines one or more of the advertising media residing in the database 114 as accessible for the user profile according to the obtained profile data of the user profile. Only advertising media determined as accessible would be selected by the algorithm.

At step 306, the algorithm checks whether it will be "intruding" or, in other words, interfering with the customer's current usage of the electronic device 106. A check can be performed on user activity of the electronic device 106, settings for the user profile accessed on the electronic device 106 and current activity of the electronic device 106 to determine whether it will be intruding or not. If the algorithm determines that it will be intruding, the algorithm will pause at step 308 for a predetermined time duration before it checks whether it will be intruding at step 306 again.

If the algorithm determines that it will not be intruding, the algorithm will start playing the one or more advertising media that is determined as accessible for the user profile at step 310. In this case, the one or more advertising media can be played in sequence and looped. It is appreciated that the one or more advertising media can be shuffled and played as well.

In this example, the algorithm will determine that it is not intruding if the electronic device 106 has detected no user action or user inactivity for more than a predetermined time duration (e.g. 10 seconds). Furthermore, the algorithm will determine that it is intruding under one or more of the following circumstances:

1) an advertising media is already playing or has been selected to be played (e.g. through the user selectable option described earlier);

2) the media player for playing the advertising media has been paused by the customer; and 3) the customer has previously updated his or her profile data to indicate that he or she does not wish to watch advertising media. Figure 4 shows a flowchart illustrating what the one or more electronic devices 108 in Figure 1 may do after connecting to one of the one or more servers 104 in Figure 1.

With reference to Figures 1 and 4, at step 404, each activated electronic device from the one or more electronic devices 108 connects to one of the one or more servers 104. An activated electronic device is one that has been configured for use under a user profile.

Upon connection to the respective server at step 406, the activated electronic device, or alternatively, the server, will check data in a server registry to see whether it is required to update the status of the one or more advertising media that has been determined as accessible for the user profile. Such status update is required in instances when one or more advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile has been removed or added from the database 114, or has been newly determined as accessible or not accessible for the user profile. In this case, the data in the server registry is the profile data of the user profile. The server registry may reside in the database 1 4.

If an update is required, the activated electronic device will download data of the one or more advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile to reflect the latest status at step 410. Downloading of data of one or more the advertising media can be a complete download of the respective file(s) of the advertising media or it can be just sufficient data to enable display of a user selectable option in the display (e.g. 118 in Figure 1 ) of the activated electronic device.

After the status is updated, the activated electronic device will communicate with the respective server to update the server registry by indicating that the activated electronic device has been updated with the latest status of accessible advertising media at step 412. In other words, the profile data of the user profile is updated to indicate that the electronic device has obtained the data of the one or more advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile.

If an update is not required, action ends at step 414 and the status of the one or more advertising media that has been determined as accessible for the user profile need not be changed. It is appreciated that all actions performed by the electronic device (e.g. 106 in Figure 1 ) is actually performed by the processing unit (e.g. 116 in Figure 1) it comprises. Figure 5 illustrates step 410 in Figure 4 in the case that an activated electronic device 506 obtains a complete download of the one or more advertising media determined as accessible for the respective user profile from a server 502. The advertising media files to be transferred from the server 502 are firstly broken down into a plurality of data packets 504 using an appropriate algorithm. Thereafter, the data packets 504 are sent over the Internet 112 in Figure 1 , in this case, via cloud computing techniques, in a secure and fast manner. Once the data packets 504 are received by the activated electronic device 506, it will verify the integrity of the data received. A hash value comparison method may be used for this purpose.

Each of the one or more servers 104 in Figure 1 may be a computer 600, schematically shown in Figure 6. There may be provided software, such as one or more computer programs being executed within the computer 600, and instructing the computer 600 to communicate with the electronic devices 108, access the database 114 in Figure 1 , or carry out other possible server actions.

The computer 600 can comprise a processing unit 602 for processing the one or more computer programs, and includes input modules such as a computer mouse 636, keyboard/keypad 604, and/or a plurality of output devices such as a display 608.

The processing unit 602 (and the processing unit 116 in Figure 1 ) may be connected to the network 612, for instance, the Internet, via a suitable transceiver device 614 (i.e. a network interface), to enable access to e.g. the Internet or other network systems such as a wired Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (WAN). The processing unit 602 (and the processing unit 116 in Figure 1 ) may also be connected to one or more external wireless communication enabled devices 634 via a suitable wireless transceiver device 632 e.g. a WiFi transceiver, Bluetooth module, Mobile telecommunication transceiver suitable for Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), 3G, 3.5G, 4G telecommunication systems, or the like. Ithe processing unit 602, the wireless communication enabled devices 634 may include the electronic devices 108 in Figure 1.

The processing unit 602 (and the processing unit 1 16 in Figure 1 ) may include a processor 618, a Random Access Memory (RAM) 620 and a Read Only Memory (ROM) 622. The components of the processing unit 602 (and the processing unit 116 in Figure 1 ) typically communicate via an interconnected bus 628 and in a manner known to the person skilled in the relevant art. It is appreciated that unlike processing unit 602, the processing unit 116 is not part of the computer 600 but part of each of the electronic devices 108, e.g. electronic device 106, in Figure 1. |t is referred to in the preceding paragraphs out of convenience to illustrate the similar components that the processing unit 116 has with the processing unit 602. However, it is appreciated that the processing unit 1 16 should be configured more for mobile device usage as opposed to the computer 600, which is configured more for server usage. For instance, the processing unit 602 may also include a number of Input/Output (I/O) interfaces, for example I/O interface 638 to the computer mouse 636, I/O interface 624 to the display 608, and I/O interface 626 to the keyboard/keypad 604, which are more applicable for server usage. However, the processing unit 1 16 may include a number of Input/Output (I/O) interfaces as well but they may be for connection with headphones (not shown), Subscriber identity module (SIM) card (not shown), flash memory card (i.e. example of 630 in Figure 6), USB based device (not shown), and the like, which are more for mobile device usage.

The computer programs may further include one or more software applications for e.g. instant messaging platform, audio/video playback, internet accessibility, operating the computer 600 (i.e. operating system), network security, file accessibility, database management, which are applications typically equipped on a desktop or portable computer. The computer programs may be supplied to the user of the computer 600 encoded on a data storage medium such as a CD-ROM, on a flash memory carrier or a Hard Disk Drive, and are to be read using a corresponding data storage medium drive of a data storage device 630. Such application programs may also be downloaded from the network 612. The application programs are read and controlled in its execution by the processor 618. Intermediate storage of program data may be accomplished using RAM 620.

Furthermore, one or more of the steps of the computer programs or software may be performed in parallel rather than sequentially. One or more of the computer programs may be stored on any machine readable medium. The machine readable medium may include storage devices such as magnetic or optical disks, memory chips, or other storage devices suitable for interfacing with a general purpose computer. The machine readable medium may also include a hard-wired medium such as exemplified in the Internet system, or wireless medium such as exemplified in the Wireless LAN (WLAN) system. The computer program when loaded and executed on such a general-purpose computer effectively results in an apparatus (e.g. 100) that implements the steps of the computing methods in examples herein described. Many modifications and other examples can be made to the apparatus and method for delivering advertising media by those skilled in the art having the understanding of the above described disclosure together with the drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the apparatus and method for delivering advertising media is not to be limited to the above description contained herein only, and that possible modifications are to be included in the claims of the disclosure.

Claims

1. An apparatus for delivering advertising media, the apparatus comprising:

a server configured to access a network;

a memory accessible to the server, the memory containing

profile data of a plurality of user profiles,

one or more advertising media; and

a plurality of electronic devices configured for accessing the network and for communicating with the server, each of the plurality of electronic devices comprises a display; and

a processing unit configured for

obtaining the profile data of a user profile from the memory through the server,

configuring the electronic device for operation under the user profile according to the obtained profile data,

obtaining data of an advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile through the server,

displaying a user selectable option corresponding to the data of the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile in the display,

the server or the processing unit being configured for determining one or more of the advertising media as accessible for the user profile according to the profile data of the user profile.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the processing unit determines whether playing one or more of the advertising media on the electronic device is intruding to user use of the electronic device.

3. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the processing unit is further configured for displaying a graphical user interface for carrying out actions associated with an item advertised in the advertising media.

4. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the data of the advertising media is just sufficient for displaying the user selectable option corresponding to the data of the advertising media.

5. The apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the data of the advertising media is a complete download of the advertising media.

6. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the processing unit is configured for obtaining data of one or more of the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile through the server upon detection of starting up of the electronic device.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the processing unit is configured for updating the profile data of the user profile to indicate that the electronic device has obtained the data of the one or more advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile.

8. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the electronic device is configured for playing one or more of the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile for a predetermined time duration after selection of the user selectable option.

9. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the electronic device is configured for playing the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile after a predetermined time duration of user inactivity.

10. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the processing unit is configured for tracking number of times each advertising media is played by the electronic device and report the number to the one or more server.

11. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the apparatus is deployed at one of the following locations:

a salon;

a cosmetic or health treatment or enhancement centre;

a food and/or beverage centre; and

a vehicle terminal.

12. A method for delivering advertising media, the method comprising:

obtaining the profile data of a user profile from a memory through a server;

configuring one of a plurality of electronic devices for operation under the user profile according to the obtained profile data; obtaining data of an advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile through the server;

displaying a user selectable option corresponding to the data of the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile in a display; and

determining one or more advertising media in the memory as accessible for the user profile according to the profile data of the user profile.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, the method further comprising:

determining whether playing one or more of the advertising media is intruding to user use of the electronic device.

14. The method as claimed in claims 12 or 13, the method further comprising:

displaying a graphical user interface for carrying out actions associated with an item advertised in the advertising media.

15. The method as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the data of the advertising media is just sufficient for displaying the user selectable option corresponding to the data of the advertising media.

16. The method as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the data of the advertising media is a complete download of the advertising media.

17. The method as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 16, the method further comprising: obtaining data of one or more of the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile through the server upon detection of starting up of the electronic device.

18. The method as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 17, the method further comprising: updating the profile data of the user profile to indicate that the electronic device has obtained the data of the one or more advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile.

19. The method as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 18, the method further comprising: playing one or more of the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile for a predetermined time duration after selection of the user selectable option.

20. The method as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 19, the method further comprising: playing the advertising media determined as accessible for the user profile after a predetermined time duration of user inactivity.

21. The method as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 20, the method further comprising: tracking number of times each advertising media is played by the electronic device and report the number to the one or more server.

22. The method as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 21 , the method being utilized at one of the following locations:

a salon;

a cosmetic or health treatment or enhancement centre;

a food and/or beverage centre; and

a vehicle terminal.