User customized greeting card design system with portal for crowd-sourced artwork

Abstract

The invention relates to systems and methods of providing a user customized card design system with a portal used to receive crowd-sourced artwork that users may select to include in customized greeting cards, games for bonuses that can be applied to customized greeting cards, and greeting card kiosks that may have different portions each having a dedicated functionality. The crowd-sourced content items may include items that are provided by various entities so that others may use the items in their own greeting cards. The crowd-sourced content items may be localized such that crowd-sourced content items within a proximity of a given location may be used to customize greeting cards at or in association with the given location. The bonuses may be won during gameplay and may include free or discounted customized greeting cards, free or discounted customization options, and/or other value.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for printing customized objects, the system comprising:
 a kiosk, comprising:
 a first printer device; and 
 a processor programmed with computer program instructions that, when executed by the processor, programs the kiosk to:
 receive a code associated with one or more design parameters; 
 obtain the one or more design parameters based on the code; and 
 cause the first printer device to print the object based on the one or more design parameters. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the kiosk further comprises:
 a payment input device configured to accept payment information for the printed object, wherein the kiosk is programmed to:   cause a payment to occur based on the payment information.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the printed object has been previously paid for using pre-stored payment information. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein to receive the code, the kiosk is programmed to:
 receive an input from a user at the kiosk.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein to receive the code, the kiosk is programmed to:
 receive the code from a mobile device coupled to the kiosk via a wired or wireless connection.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the kiosk further comprises:
 a network interface;   wherein to obtain the one or more design parameters based on the code, the kiosk is programmed to:   cause the network interface to transmit the code to a networked computer system and receive the one or more design parameters from the networked computer system based on the transmitted code.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more design parameters comprise a design parameter for a customized greeting card, and wherein the printed object comprises the customized greeting card. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the one or more design parameters are based on one or more customization options comprising:
 text to be added, a text font, a predefined text to be modified, one or more graphics, a card style, a card orientation, a type of occasion, a card size, a paper quality, a print resolution, a postage, or a customer-provided image.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more design parameters comprise a design parameter for a customized three-dimensional object, and wherein the printed object comprises the customized three-dimensional object. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the one or more design parameters are based on one or more customization options comprising:
 a type of material used to generate the three-dimensional object, a number of laminations, a number of depositions, or a number of material bindings.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the kiosk is programmed to:
 provide interactive media;   monitor an interaction with the interactive media; and   generate a bonus based on the monitored interaction.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the interactive media comprises a video game having an objective to be achieved, and wherein to monitor the interaction, the kiosk is programmed to:
 determine that the objective has been achieved; and   generate the bonus based on the determination that the objective has been achieved.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the interactive media comprises video or audio, and wherein to monitor the interaction, the kiosk is programmed to:
 determine a length of time that the video or audio has been played, wherein the bonus is based on the length of time.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the bonus comprises a credit to be applied to a user account, a discount off the printed object, a discount off a future printed object, a no charge customization option, or a customization option that is not otherwise offered unless the objective has been achieved. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the kiosk further comprising:
 a second printer device configured to print objects independently of the first printer device.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the kiosk further comprising:
 a camera device configured to take an image for incorporation into the object to be printed.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 1 , the system further comprising:
 a computer system coupled to the kiosk via a network, wherein the computer system comprises a second physical processor that programs the computer system to:   provide, via an interface, an option to include a customization option based on which the object is to be printed; and   receive, via the interface, a selection of the option to include the customization option, wherein the one or more design parameters comprise an identification of the customization option.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the computer system is programmed to provide the interface as a webpage. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the interface is to be provided by a mobile application at a user device. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the computer system is programmed to:
 provide, via the interface, an option to include a crowd-sourced content item based on which the object is to be printed; and   wherein the computer system is programmed to receive, via the interface, a selection of the option to include the crowd-sourced content item, wherein the one or more design parameters comprise an identification of the crowd-sourced content item.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the computer system is programmed to:
 obtain a target location; and   identify, based on the target location, the crowd-sourced content item to be provided as an option based on which the object is to be printed.   
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein to obtain the target location, the computer system is programmed to:
 obtain information that identifies the kiosk at which the object is to be printed, wherein the target location is based on a location of the kiosk.   
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein to obtain the target location, the computer system is programmed to:
 obtain information that indicates a location of a user device, wherein the target location is based on the location of the user device.   
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein to identify the crowd-sourced content item, the computer system is programmed to:
 identify a location associated with the crowd-sourced content item; and   determine that the location associated with the crowd-sourced content item is within a proximity of the target location.   
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein to identify the location associated the crowd-sourced content item, the computer system is programmed to:
 obtain a geotag indicating the location at which the crowd-sourced content item was created.   
     
     
         26 . The system of  claim 24 , wherein to identify the location associated the crowd-sourced content item, the computer system is programmed to:
 obtain an input, from a user the created the crowd-sourced content item, that indicates a location of the user the created the crowd-sourced content item.   
     
     
         27 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the computer system is programmed to:
 monitor usage of the crowd-sourced content item to print objects;   identify a user account associated with a user who contributed the crowd-sourced content item;   credit the user account with a value based on the monitored usage.   
     
     
         28 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the computer system is programmed to:
 receive, via the interface from a user, an indication to save the one or more design parameters for use by other users;   save a template based on the one or more design parameters; and   monitor usage of the template by the other users;   identify a user account associated with the user; and   credit the user account with a value based on the monitored usage.   
     
     
         29 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a user device programmed with a mobile application to:   display an interface that includes one or more options to specify the one or more design parameters;   generate the code;   transmit the code and the one or more design parameters to a networked computer system, which provides the one or more design parameters, in association with the code, to the kiosk; and   transmit the code to the kiosk, which obtains the one or more design parameters from the networked computer system based on the code.   
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein to transmit the code to the kiosk, the mobile device is programmed to transmit the code via a wired or wireless direct connection with the kiosk. 
     
     
         31 . A kiosk for printing customized objects, the system comprising:
 a user interface component;   a first printer device; and   a processor programmed with computer program instructions that, when executed by the processor, programs the kiosk to:
 cause the user interface component to display an interface that includes one or more options configured to receive a specification of one or more design parameters, wherein the one or more design parameters comprise a crowd-sourced content item that is associated with a location within a proximity of a target location; 
 receive the one or more design parameters via the interface; and 
 cause the first printer device to print the object based on the one or more design parameters. 
   
     
     
         32 . A kiosk for printing customized objects, the system comprising:
 a first printer device; and   a processor programmed with computer program instructions that, when executed by the processor, programs the kiosk to:   establish a direct wired or wireless connection with a user device;   receive one or more design parameters from the user device via the wired or wireless connection; and   cause the first printer device to print the object based on the one or more design parameters.   
     
     
         33 . A user device for customizing objects to be printed, the user device comprising:
 a processor programmed with computer program instructions that, when executed by the processor, programs the user device to:   display an interface that includes one or more options configured to receive a specification of one or more design parameters;   establish a direct wired or wireless connection with a kiosk; and   cause the one or more design parameters to be transmitted to the kiosk via the wired or wireless connection.   
     
     
         34 . The user device of  claim 33 , wherein to cause the one or more design parameters to be transmitted to the kiosk, the user device is further programmed to:
 generate a code associated with the one or more design parameters;   transmit the code, in association with the one or more design parameters, to a networked computer system;   transmit the code to the kiosk, wherein the one or more design parameters are obtained by the kiosk from the networked computer system based on the transmitted code.   
     
     
         35 . The user device of  claim 33 , wherein to cause the one or more design parameters to be transmitted to the kiosk, the user device is further programmed to:
 transmit the one or more design parameters to the kiosk via the direct wired or wireless connection with the kiosk.   
     
     
         36 . The user device of  claim 33 , wherein to cause the one or more design parameters to be transmitted to the kiosk, the user device is further programmed to:
 transmit the one or more design parameters to a networked computer system;   obtain a kiosk identification that identifies the kiosk;   transmit the kiosk identification to the networked computer system; and   request that the networked computer system provide the one or more design parameters to the kiosk identified by the kiosk identification.