Interactive display system for food and entertainment retail establishments

Abstract

The present disclosure describes an interactive menu display system providing retail establishments with a flexible electronic menu display that enables presentation of a large number of menu items by incorporating, among other things, a menu-item scrolling feature. The display system can be configured to subdivide a display system to include fields, such as physical portions of a display unit, or individual display units, that are designated for predetermined categories of menu items, and within those fields, the menu items may be sequentially displayed, such as in a scrolling, paging, or other step-wise fashion. The display system can also include a menu configuration user interface designed for the owner or manager of the retail establishment to conveniently and efficiently update menu content, layout, and other configuration settings. The display system can be configured to update the menu display in real-time based on updates to menu content and settings.

1 . A system comprising:
 an electronic data store configured to at least store content and layout settings data associated with a menu for a retail establishment; and   a computing device including a processor, the computing device in communication with the electronic data store and configured to at least:
 generate a menu user interface comprising at least the menu, wherein the menu includes one or more food items offered by the retail establishment, one or more drink items offered by the retail establishment, and/or one or more notice items provided by the retail establishment, and wherein the menu user interface is generated according to the content and layout settings data associated with the menu that are accessed from the electronic data store; 
 transmit the generated menu user interface to a first electronic display device to enable the first electronic display device to present at least a portion of the menu user interface; 
 generate a display commander user interface including one or more user-selectable configuration options for the content and layout settings data associated with the menu, wherein the one or more user-selectable configuration options include a menu items option to enable a user to edit content and layout settings associated with the one or more food items, the one or more drink items, and/or the one or more notice items; 
 transmit the display commander user interface to a mobile computing device to enable the mobile computing device to present the display commander user interface; 
 receive, from the mobile computing device, content and layout settings data associated with the menu; 
 update the menu user interface based on the received content and layout settings data associated with the menu; and 
 transmit the updated menu user interface to the first electronic display device to enable the first electronic display device to present the updated menu customer user interface. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the menu user interface further includes advertising content, announcements, or content from a social media feed. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the first electronic display device periodically and automatically refreshes in order to present the updated menu user interface substantially in real time. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the retail establishment is a restaurant, a bar, a night club, or a performance venue. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more user-selectable configuration options include a background settings option, a ticker settings option, or a banner settings option. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the ticker settings option is configured to, upon selection by a user, present one or more configuration options associated with a scrolling ticker display portion of the menu user interface, the one or more configuration options including at least a social media feed URL user input element to enable the user to specify a social media content source for the scrolling ticker display portion. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the menu user interface comprises a display area configured to (1) display a portion of the menu and (2) automatically scroll the portion of the menu within the display area when the portion of the menu may not be displayed in its entirety within the first display area. 
     
     
         8 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 under control of a hardware computing device configured with specific computer-executable instructions:
 generating a menu user interface comprising at least a menu for a retail establishment, wherein the menu includes one or more food items offered by the retail establishment, one or more drink items offered by the retail establishment, and/or one or more notice items provided by the retail establishment, and wherein the menu user interface is generated according to the content and layout settings data associated with the menu that are accessed from the electronic data store; 
 transmitting the generated menu user interface to a first electronic display device to enable the first electronic display device to present at least a portion of the menu user interface; 
 generating a display commander user interface including one or more user-selectable configuration options for the content and layout settings data associated with the menu, wherein the one or more user-selectable configuration options include a menu items option to enable a user to edit content and layout settings associated with the one or more food items, the one or more drink items, and/or the one or more notice items; 
 transmitting the display commander user interface to a mobile computing device to enable the mobile computing device to present the display commander user interface; 
 receiving, from the mobile computing device, content and layout settings data associated with the menu; 
 updating the menu user interface based on the received content and layout settings data associated with the menu; and 
 transmitting the updated menu user interface to the first electronic display device to enable the first electronic display device to present the updated menu customer user interface. 
   
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein the menu user interface further includes banner advertising content, announcements, or content from a social media feed. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein the first electronic display device periodically and automatically refreshes in order to present the updated menu user interface substantially in real time. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein the retail establishment is a restaurant, a bar, a night club, or a performance venue. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more user-selectable configuration options include a background settings option, a ticker settings option, or a banner settings option. 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 12 , wherein the ticker settings option is configured to, upon selection by a user, present one or more configuration options associated with a scrolling ticker display portion of the menu user interface, the one or more configuration options including at least a social media feed URL user input element to enable the user to specify a social media content source for the scrolling ticker display portion. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein at least a portion of the menu user interface comprises a display area configured to (1) display a portion of the menu and (2) automatically page the portion of the menu within the display area when the portion of the menu may not be displayed in its entirety within the first display area. 
     
     
         15 . Non-transitory computer-readable storage comprising computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a hardware processor, are configured to perform operations comprising:
 generating a menu user interface comprising at least a menu for a retail establishment, wherein the menu includes one or more food items offered by the retail establishment, one or more drink items offered by the retail establishment, and/or one or more notice items provided by the retail establishment, and wherein the menu user interface is generated according to the content and layout settings data associated with the menu that are accessed from the electronic data store;   transmitting the generated menu user interface to a first electronic display device to enable the first electronic display device to present at least a portion of the menu user interface;   generating a display commander user interface including one or more user-selectable configuration options for the content and layout settings data associated with the menu, wherein the one or more user-selectable configuration options include a menu items option to enable a user to edit content and layout settings associated with the one or more food items, the one or more drink items, and/or the one or more notice items;   transmitting the display commander user interface to a mobile computing device to enable the mobile computing device to present the display commander user interface;   receiving, from the mobile computing device, content and layout settings data associated with the menu;   updating the menu user interface based on the received content and layout settings data associated with the menu; and   transmitting the updated menu user interface to the first electronic display device to enable the first electronic display device to present the updated menu customer user interface.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 15 , wherein the menu user interface further includes banner advertising content, announcements, or content from a social media feed. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 15 , wherein the retail establishment is a restaurant, a bar, a night club, or a performance venue. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 15 , wherein the one or more user-selectable configuration options include a background settings option, a ticker settings option, or a banner settings option. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 18 , wherein the ticker settings option is configured to, upon selection by a user, present one or more configuration options associated with a scrolling ticker display portion of the menu user interface, the one or more configuration options including at least a social media feed URL user input element to enable the user to specify a social media content source for the scrolling ticker display portion. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable storage of  claim 15 , wherein at least a portion of the menu user interface comprises a display area configured to (1) display a portion of the menu, and (2) automatically scroll the portion of the menu within the display area when the portion of the menu may not be displayed in its entirety within the first display area. 
     
     
         21 - 84 . (canceled)