US 12,444,005 B2
Internet of things-enabled dinnerware to enhance food service operations
Eric Zavesky, Austin, TX (US); and James Pratt, Round Rock, TX (US)
Assigned to AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Atlanta, GA (US)
Filed by AT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P., Atlanta, GA (US)
Filed on Dec. 8, 2022, as Appl. No. 18/063,633.
Prior Publication US 2024/0193709 A1, Jun. 13, 2024
Int. Cl. G06Q 50/12 (2012.01)
CPC G06Q 50/12 (2013.01) 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
obtaining, by a processing system including at least one processor, data about a food item that is being prepared for a consumer, wherein the data about the food item includes at least one of: ingredients of the food item, a temperature at which the food item was prepared, a temperature at which the food item is to be served, at least one customization to the food item that was requested by the consumer, a quantity of the food item, a size of the food item, at least one other food item that is recommended to be paired with the food item, or nutritional information for the food item, and wherein the data about the food item is retrieved from a database of food items;
forwarding, by the processing system, the data about the food item to an internet of things-enabled item of dinnerware used by the consumer to consume the food item, wherein the internet of things-enabled item of dinnerware comprises at least one of: a plate, a bowl, a drinking glass, a mug, a fork, a spoon, a knife, a pan, a pot, a cutting board, or a storage container, wherein the internet of things-enabled item of dinnerware includes at least one integrated sensor, and wherein the at least one integrated sensor comprises at least one of: an imaging sensor, an audio sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, an accelerometer, a salinity sensor, a pH sensor, an ionic strength sensor, a droplet crystallinity sensor, or a biometric sensor;
receiving, by the processing system from the internet of things-enabled item of dinnerware, data about consumption of the food item by the consumer, wherein the data about consumption of the food item by the consumer comprises at least one of: an amount of the food item that the consumer has consumed, a rate at which the consumer is consuming the food item, or an estimation of remaining time needed by the consumer to finish consuming the food item;
providing, by the processing system, feedback to a drone for presentation to a person who prepared the food item, in response to the data about the consumption of the food item by the consumer, and the feedback comprises a signal that controls the drone to deliver an additional food item to the consumer, and wherein the drone is a separate device from the processing system and from the internet of things-enabled item of dinnerware; and
providing, by the processing system, feedback to the internet of things-enabled item of dinnerware for presentation to the consumer, in response to the data about the consumption of the food item by the consumer, wherein the feedback provided to the internet of things-enabled item of dinnerware is presented via an integrated input/output device of the internet of things-enabled item of dinnerware, and wherein the integrated input/output device comprises at least one of: a visual output device, an audio output device, a haptic output device, or an olfactory output device.