CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of European Application No. 17306559.0, filed Nov. 10, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to elevator systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods for providing information to passengers regarding the elevator system.

User interface components, such as kiosks, elevator car operating panels, and call buttons, are typically offered as standardized products. The designs of such user interface components are limited to a small product family while balancing product portfolio with manufacturing and maintenance costs. It may be advantageous to provide improved options for user interfaces to enable improved user experience.

SUMMARY

According to some embodiment, elevator systems are provided. The elevator systems include an elevator car located within an elevator shaft, the elevator car moveable between a plurality of floors of a building, a car operating panel located within the elevator car and having a plurality of buttons operable for selection of a destination floor of the plurality of floors, a digital readable marker located within the elevator car that is at least one of scannable and readable by a user device, and a digital storage system having information stored thereon, the information including directory information, wherein the directory information includes information associated with the floors selectable by operation of the plurality of buttons. When a user device scans or reads the digital readable marker, the digital storage system transmits the directory information to the user device so that the user device can display the directory information to a passenger.

In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that the information stored on the digital storage system is updatable based on changes related to each of the plurality of floors.

In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that the information transmitted from the digital storage system includes information to enable augmented reality display of the directory information.

The elevator system of any preceding claim, In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that transmitted from the digital storage system includes data enabling interactive elements to be displayed by the user device.

In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that the information transmitted from the digital storage system further includes expandable information to provide additional information displayed by the user device.

In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that the digital readable marker is located on the car operating panel.

In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that the information stored on the digital storage system and transmitted to the user device includes audio information associated with the directory information, wherein the user device can generate audio based on received audio information.

In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the elevator systems may include that the digital readable marker is at least one of a barcode, a matrix barcode, a two-dimensional code, a scannable image, and an alphanumeric code.

According to some embodiments, methods of providing information associated with an elevator system to a passenger within an elevator car are provided. The methods include installing a digital readable marker within the elevator car, storing information associated with at least one floor of a plurality of floors of a building on a digital storage system, receiving a request from a user device when the user device reads or scans the digital readable marker, and transmitting information to the user device in response to the request, wherein the information includes directory information to be displayed by the user device for a passenger within the elevator car.

In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the methods may include that the information stored on the digital storage system is updatable based on changes related to each of the plurality of floors.

In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the methods may include that the information transmitted from the digital storage system includes information to enable augmented reality display of the directory information.

In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the methods may include that the information transmitted from the digital storage system includes data enabling interactive elements to be displayed by the user device.

In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the methods may include that the information transmitted from the digital storage system further includes expandable information to provide additional information displayed by the user device.

In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the methods may include that the digital readable marker is located on a car operating panel of the elevator car.

In addition to one or more of the features described herein, or as an alternative, further embodiments of the methods may include that the transmitted information includes audio information associated with the directory information, wherein the user device can generate audio based on received audio information.

The foregoing features and elements may be combined in various combinations without exclusivity, unless expressly indicated otherwise. These features and elements as well as the operation thereof will become more apparent in light of the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following description and drawings are intended to be illustrative and explanatory in nature and non-limiting.

