Computer operation control and item selection and vending methods and systems

摘要

A signal is transmitted into a computer in response to an image on a display screen of the computer such that the computer operates in response to the signal; this includes moving a scanner in optical communication with the display screen such that the scanner detects an image (for example, a bar code) displayed on the screen and generates the signal in response. One or more computers may be used, and this may be used for vending a product or other purposes. With or without such scanning, a portion of a store environment may be displayed on a screen of a computer, including showing images of actual products for sale at the store, in which images of actual products are accessed via the computer from a database containing in-store images recorded in the store during a period of non-existent or minimal customer presence in the store. A vending system is also disclosed.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a first computing device from a second computing device over a communications network, data decoded from an image of a product, said image including image indicia, the image displayed on a display device communicatively coupled to the second computing device; identifying a product based on said data decoded from the image and generating a list of items based on said product available over the Internet; and transmitting, over the communications network, data indicative of said list to the second computing device, wherein the data is usable to request images of the items over the Internet for display on the display device.