Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
348150000 | Point of sale or banking | 86 |
20080218591 | EVENT DETECTION BASED ON VIDEO METADATA - Video data from sources, such as cameras, is analyzed to create metadata descriptive of the events and objects occurring in the video. This metadata, which consists of data about the video, is then analyzed on a transaction basis to determine if a suspicious activity, such as a fraudulent Point of Sale (POS) return event, has occurred in relation to a transaction. | 09-11-2008 |
20090115849 | Controlling A Point Of Sale ('POS') Terminal Using Surveillance Video - Methods, apparatus, and products are disclosed for controlling a Point Of Sale (‘POS’) terminal using surveillance video that include: receiving, by a surveillance module, a digital surveillance video of a region adjacent to a POS terminal, the digital surveillance video captured by a digital surveillance camera; identifying, by the surveillance module in dependence upon the digital surveillance video, operator characteristics for an operator captured on the digital surveillance video in the region adjacent to a POS terminal; and administering, by the surveillance module, the POS terminal in dependence upon the operator characteristics. | 05-07-2009 |
20090201372 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INTEGRATED ATM SURVEILLANCE - A method and apparatus for integrated ATM surveillance of an area of interest, such as an automated teller machine (ATM), is presented. An embodiment includes a surveillance system for an ATM utilizing multiple cameras aimed at the user, the card slot, the cash dispenser, the surrounding areas and internally in the card reader (to link the card used to the ATM user). The cameras are constantly powered and begin to record images after a sensor is activated. A buffer of recorded imagery is maintained such that when the sensors are activated, the video processing equipment can store a pre-defined amount of time before the sensor is activated. The buffer allows for the video capture of events just prior to the activation of the sensor. A time stamp and any other relevant data from the cameras may also be included with the stored recorded video. | 08-13-2009 |
20090244285 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING CREATION OF ON-SIDE TEXT FOR VIDEO SURVEILLANCE - A system and method for generating side-by-side video surveillance feed and point-of-service device text is provided. The system includes a video surveillance device, a point-of-service device such as an ATM, slot machine and point-of-sale device, and a synchronizing unit for synchronizing the video surveillance feed with point-of-service text when a security officer identifies activities matching a predetermined criteria occurring at the point-of-service device. The video surveillance feed is generated and processed for display on a security monitor. When an activities matching the predetermined criteria is identified near a point-of-service device, point-of-service text is received from the device. Both the video surveillance feed and the point-of-service text are displayed side-by-side so that neither data obscures the other. The video surveillance feed and the point-of-service text are also synchronized to one another and stored for later use. | 10-01-2009 |
20090268028 | FLOW LINE TRACING SYSTEM AND PROGRAM STORAGE MEDIUM FOR SUPPORTING FLOW LINE TRACING SYSTEM - A flow line creation section generates flow line data indicative of a trajectory of a customer moving in a monitored area. The generated flow line data is stored in a flow line database. A customer extraction section extracts image data including the customer's face image from a video captured by a camera. The extracted image data is stored in a customer image database. A matching section matches the flow line data stored in the flow line database individually with the image data including the customer's face image corresponding to the flow line data, out of the image data stored in the customer image database. Data indicative of a correlation between the matched flow line data and image data is stored in a matching list database. | 10-29-2009 |
20100013931 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CAPTURING, STORING, ANALYZING AND DISPLAYING DATA RELATING TO THE MOVEMENTS OF OBJECTS - A system and method for the capture and storage of data relating to the movements of objects, in a specified area and enables this data to be displayed in a graphically meaningful and useful manner. Video data is collected and video metadata is generated relating to objects (persons) appearing in the video data and their movements over time. The movements of the objects are then analyzed to detect the movements within a region of interest. This detection of movement allows a user, such as a manager of a store, to make informed decisions as to the infrastructure and operation of the store. One detection method relates to the number of people that are present in a region of interest for a specified time period. A second detection method relates to the number of people that remain or dwell in a particular area for a particular time period. A third detection method determines the flow of people and the direction they take within a region of interest. A fourth detection method relates to the number of people that enter a certain area by crossing a virtual line, a tripwire. | 01-21-2010 |
20100026807 | SAFETY APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING OPERATION OF FUNCTIONAL EQUIPMENT HAVING MOVABLE PARTS - The invention relates to a safety apparatus for controlling operation of functional equipment having movable parts. The apparatus is configured to use a camera to view and cause detection of a safety related event in a field of view of the camera. The device is useful in a reverse vending machine (RVM) for receiving, handling, sorting and storing returnable items or objects. The RVM includes an item supporting, rotating, sorting and conveyor unit, an upwardly oriented storage chamber for such items, the safety apparatus to avoid operational hazards, a camera aided detection device for detecting at least one of a bar code on and other characteristics, e.g. contour of an item, a simplified token system, and a drive system with a releasable power coupling for operating the sorting device and a further storage device. | 02-04-2010 |
20100053329 | EXIT SECURITY - The present invention generally provides an exit security approach. Specifically, among other things, under the present invention: an item image for at least one of a set of items at a shopping checkout station is received; a receipt corresponding to the set of items is received; a first receptacle image of a shopping receptacle holding the set of items is received; a second receptacle image of the shopping receptacle is received; an integrity of the receipt is verified; the first receptacle image is compared to the second receptacle image; and it is determined whether a discrepancy exists based on at least one of the verification of the receipt and the comparison of the first receptacle image to the second receptacle image. | 03-04-2010 |
20100079593 | SURVEILLANCE CAMERA ASSEMBLY FOR A CHECKOUT SYSTEM - A surveillance camera assembly for a checkout system which captures images of a checkout environment. The surveillance camera assembly includes a panoramic mirror and a camera for capturing images of a checkout environment. The camera sends the images to a security computer. | 04-01-2010 |
20100134624 | DETECTING PRIMITIVE EVENTS AT CHECKOUT - Techniques for detecting one or more events are provided. The techniques include identifying one or more segments in a video sequence as one or more candidates for one or more events by a temporal ordering of the one or more candidates, and analyzing one or more motion patterns of the one or more candidates to detect the one or more events. | 06-03-2010 |
20100134625 | LOCATION-AWARE EVENT DETECTION - Techniques for detecting one or more events are provided. The techniques include using one or more regions of interest on a video sequence to cover a location for one or more events, wherein each event is associated with at least one of the one or more regions of interest, applying multiple-instance learning to the video sequence to construct one or more location-aware event models, and applying the models to the video sequence to determine the one or more regions of interest that are associated with the one or more events. | 06-03-2010 |
20100214413 | System and Method to Detect Tampering at ATM Machines - A system and method of detecting tampering at an automatic teller machine includes detecting start and end indicators of a transaction. A representation of a scene at the teller machine, prior to the start of the transaction can be compared to a representation of the scene after the end of the transaction. Variations therebetween can indicate tampering at the machine. | 08-26-2010 |
20100220191 | Transaction Recording System - A transaction recording system for use in recording a transaction occurring at a point-of-sale. The system includes a video capture device having a field of vision. The video capture device captures, produces and transmits video data signals representative of the field of vision of the device, and the video capture device is positioned within an enclosure at a desired position at the point-of-sale. The system includes a point-of-sale processing system located at or near the point-of-sale for receiving, processing, storing and/or transmitting video data signals. The field of vision of the video capture device views at least a portion of the point-of-sale during at least a portion of the transaction. | 09-02-2010 |
20110115914 | Sequential Hardware Event Processor with Video Event Compression and Recall - A real-time Event Processing System (EPS) for processing a sequence of events generated by one or more pieces of hardware. The Event Processor collects data generated by the several transducers or appliances as they communicate with the server platform to indicate user activity of the attached hardware. As a packet data is received from one of the appliances, the data is date and time stamped and stored in anticipation of the next data event to which it can be paired or compared with. Stored event data is compared to a template of normalized data results to see if the event data was normal or abnormal. If the event data as compared was normal, no action is taken beyond storing said data. If the stored data is determined to be outside the pre-determined or pre-assigned data range, then a video camera captures the user activity just proceeding, during, and subsequent to the event for a short duration (such as a 1 minute duration), such that the stored video can later be viewed and interrogated to determine what action(s) caused the unacceptable event. | 05-19-2011 |
20110134246 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DEFLECTING EAVESDROPPING ATTEMPTS IN IMAGE DATA TRANSFER AT A SELF-SERVICE TERMINAL - A method and a device (DET) are proposed to defend against electronic spying during the transmission of image data (Sb) or image signals (Sa) that are generated by a camera (CAM) installed at a self-service terminal (ATM), said camera recording an area (A | 06-09-2011 |
20110176004 | GAMBLING TERMINAL HAVING A DIGITAL CAMERA - The invention relates to a gambling terminal comprising a mount ( | 07-21-2011 |
20110176005 | INFORMATION PROVIDING APPARATUS, INFORMATION PROVIDING METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - An information providing apparatus includes an image capturer for capturing an image of a customer which requires a certain time to be consumed at a given location, an attribute information acquirer for estimating an attribute of the customer based on the image captured by the image capturer and acquiring attribute information representative of the estimated attribute, and a customer information output unit for outputting customer information depending on the attribute information acquired by the attribute information acquirer. | 07-21-2011 |
20110199486 | CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR RECORDING DEVICE, CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR RECORDING METHOD, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - A customer behavior recording device includes: an entrance camera ( | 08-18-2011 |
20110261203 | IMAGING SCANNER UTILIZED AS A CCTV CAMERA - A method of operating an optical indicia reader adapted for reading information bearing indicia (IBI) information comprising the steps of: capturing images of a region of interest utilizing an image sensor; decoding IBIs in captured images when operating the reader in an indicia reading mode; transmitting captured images of the region of interest to a server periodically when operating the reader in a security mode; and, archiving the transmitted images. | 10-27-2011 |
20120038772 | AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE COMPRISING CAMERA TO DETECT MANIPULATION ATTEMPTS - An automated teller machine (ATM) is proposed having a control panel (CP) that has elements ( | 02-16-2012 |
20120038773 | AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE CAMERA TO DETECT MANIPULATION ATTEMPTS - The invention proposes an automated teller machine having different control elements, such as a card entry slot ( | 02-16-2012 |
20120038774 | METHOD FOR RECOGNIZING ATTEMPTS AT MANIPULATING A SELF-SERVICE TERMINAL, AND DATA PROCESSING UNIT THEREFOR | 02-16-2012 |
20120038775 | AUTOMATED TELLER MACHINE COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE CAMERA THAT PRODUCES IMAGE DATA TO DETECT MANIPULATION ATTEMPTS - An automated teller machine is proposed having at least one camera to detect manipulation attempts that captures images of one or more elements arranged in the control panel, such as a keypad, cash-dispensing drawer, card entry slot and generates image data from a plurality of individual image recordings (F | 02-16-2012 |
20120081551 | Monitoring System - A system includes three locations of work areas ( | 04-05-2012 |
20120127314 | ITEM IDENTIFICATION USING VIDEO RECOGNITION TO SUPPLEMENT BAR CODE OR RFID INFORMATION - A method and system for confirming the identity of a product in a security system and for determining sales-related information pertaining to the products. One or more products are associated with a product identification element, such as a bar code or an RFID tag. A reader or a scanner within the system receives a signal from the product identification element containing product identity information about the product. The system further includes a camera that captures a video image of the product. Signals representing the product identity information and the video image of the product are forwarded to a data correlation unit that determines if the product associated with the product identity information matches the product in the video image. | 05-24-2012 |
20120127315 | SOFTWARE, SYSTEMS, AND METHODS FOR VIDEO RECORDING OF A TRANSACTION INVOLVING PROTECTED DATA - Software, systems, and methods for recording a scene encompassing a transaction, such as a point-of-sale transaction, are presented. In one implementation of a method, the scene is recorded to a data storage system using a first video camera capable of capturing protected data associated with the transaction. While recording the scene using the first camera, and in response to receiving a first trigger, the recording of the scene is continued using a second video camera not capable of capturing the protected data. While then recording the scene using the second camera, and in response to receiving a second trigger, the recording of the scene is continued using the first video camera. The first and second timing triggers are initiated based on at least one event associated with the transaction. | 05-24-2012 |
20120127316 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY USING VIDEO ANALYSIS - A system detects a transaction outcome by obtaining video data associated with a transaction area and analyzing the video data to obtain at least one video transaction parameter concerning transactions associated with the transaction area. The transaction area can be a video count of items indicated in the video data as detected by an automated item detection algorithm applied to the video data. The system obtains at least one expected transaction parameter concerning an expected transaction that occurs in the transaction area, such as a scan count of items scanned at a point of sale terminal. The system automatically compares the video transaction parameter(s) to the expected transaction parameter(s) to identify a transaction outcome that may indicate fraudulent activity such as sweethearting in a retail environment. | 05-24-2012 |
20120133771 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING AND MONITORING A POINT OF SALE - The present invention concerns a method and a system for controlling and monitoring a point of sale, said point of sale having an opening (A), said method and system controlling the potential customers that pass through said opening (A) of said point of sale. Particularly, the system comprises a passage sensor ( | 05-31-2012 |
20120169879 | DETECTING RETAIL SHRINKAGE USING BEHAVIORAL ANALYTICS - Methods, devices, and systems for detecting retail shrinkage using behavior analytics are described herein. The retail shrinkage may be due to, for example, sweethearting, although embodiments of the present disclosure are not so limited and can be used to detect other forms of retail shrinkage as well. One or more device embodiments include a memory, and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to execute executable instructions stored in the memory to receive data associated with behavior of an individual and use the data associated with the behavior of the individual to determine whether the behavior of the individual is irregular to detect retail shrinkage. | 07-05-2012 |
20120188377 | CART INSPECTION FOR SUSPICIOUS ITEMS - Methods and apparatus provide for a Cart Inspector to create a suspicion level for a transaction when a video image of the transaction portrays an item(s) left in a shopping cart. Specifically, the Cart Inspector obtains video data associated with a time(s) of interest. The video data originates from a video camera that monitors a transaction area. The Cart Inspector analyzes the video data with respect to target image(s) associated with a transaction in the transaction area during the time(s) of interest. The Cart Inspector creates an indication of a suspicion level for the transaction based on analysis of the target image(s). Creation of a high suspicion level for the transaction indicates that the transaction's corresponding video images most likely portray occurrences where the purchase price of an item transported through the transaction area was not included in the total amount paid by the customer. | 07-26-2012 |
20120218414 | Location-Aware Event Detection - Techniques for detecting one or more events are provided. The techniques include using multiple overlapping regions of interest on a video sequence to cover a location for one or more events, wherein each event is associated with at least one of the multiple overlapping regions of interest, applying multiple-instance learning to the video sequence to select one or more of the multiple overlapping regions of interest to construct one or more location-aware event models, and applying the models to the video sequence to detect the one or more events and to determine the one or more regions of interest that are associated with the one or more events. | 08-30-2012 |
20120242836 | RESELLER VIDEO SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM TECHNICAL AND SALES SUPPORT PLATFORM - A computer-implemented interactive collaboration system and methods allowing for guided sales support, provisioning, installation, and troubleshooting of internet enabled video surveillance monitoring systems. In an illustrative implementation, a computing environment comprises a video surveillance system provisioning and sales support engine (VSSPSE) having at least one instruction generating and communicating to one or more cooperating resellers of one or more internet-enabled video surveillance monitoring systems data representative of sales support, provisioning, installation, and/or troubleshooting for specified and/or installed one or more internet-enabled video surveillance monitoring systems. In an illustrative operation, a reseller can interact with the VSSPSE to provide data representative of an installation site. Responsive to the received data, the VSSPSE can generate and communicate data to the reseller to assist the reseller in selecting the appropriate equipment for and/or provision/troubleshoot existing equipment for a selected installation site as part of the reseller's sales/support functions with their customers. | 09-27-2012 |
20120281094 | MONITORING OCCUPANCY OF A SPACE - A queue monitoring system for monitoring persons queuing to use electronic transaction apparatus, wherein the apparatus comprises at least one user interface, the system comprising one or more cameras for providing data relating to persons queuing and processing apparatus configured to process the data to determine one or more parameters of the queue, wherein the processing apparatus is additionally configured to receive from the electronic apparatus information that is conveyed to the user interface and to use this information in processing the data. | 11-08-2012 |
20120293661 | OPTIMIZING VIDEO STREAM PROCESSING - An approach to reduce the processing power required to monitor check-out stations. A subset of check-out stations may be monitored at any given time, instead of monitoring all check-out stations at all times. The subset of check-out stations is determined dynamically according to, but not limited to, cashier records, input parameters from the user, current lane activity, past lane activity, time of day, etc. Statistical models (e.g., effective population sampling and/or population hypothesis tests) are developed along these lines that guide the lane selection process, whereby increases in the false-negative rate due to failure to monitor particular lanes when events of interest occur are controlled. By monitoring fewer check-out stations, while maintaining target performance accuracy, the amount of data that end users must deal with is significantly reduced. | 11-22-2012 |
20120320214 | NOTIFICATION SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR USE IN RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS - Embodiments herein include novel ways of alerting store personnel when various activities, events, conditions, etc., occur at the checkout in retail establishments. For example, in accordance with one embodiment, the alerting can take place in substantially real-time, when the event occurs, allowing personnel to take appropriate measures, corrective or otherwise, to deal with the detected event. Examples of such events may include situations such as when a person of interest is detected as shopping at the store, when a cashier has missed scanning an item at the checkout, or to alert store personnel if a non-empty shopping cart has exited the store without payment (a.k.a., a cart push-out). Although the discussion below uses a grocery store as an example retail environment, embodiments herein can be used in any type of retail environment. | 12-20-2012 |
20130002878 | SALES DATA PROCESSING APPARATUS, SALES DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM, AND COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM - A sales data processing apparatus which registers and processes sales data on a transaction-by-transaction basis. The apparatus includes: an imaging module that images manipulation situations successively; a recording module that successively records manipulation images taken by the imaging module; a journal storage module that successively stores and manages manipulation data of respective manipulations as journal data; a reproducing module that performs a reproduction operation of successively reading and displaying the manipulation images recorded by the recording module; a detecting module that detects timing of occurrence of a prescribed caution-needed manipulation by successively referring to contents of the journal storage module in link with the reproduction operation of the reproducing module; and a display control module that displays prescribed alerting data in association with a manipulation image at the timing of occurrence, detected by the detecting module, of the prescribed caution-needed manipulation. | 01-03-2013 |
20130027561 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPROVING SITE OPERATIONS BY DETECTING ABNORMALITIES - A system for improving site operations by detecting abnormalities includes a first sensor abnormality detector connected to a first sensor and configured to learn a first normal behavior sequence, a second sensor abnormality detector connected to a second sensor and configured to learn a second normal behavior sequence, an abnormality correlation server configured to receive abnormally scored first sensor data and abnormally scored second sensor data, the abnormality correlation server further configured to correlate the received abnormally scored first sensor data and abnormally scored second sensor data sensed at the same time by the first and second sensors and determine an abnormal event; and an abnormality report generator configured to generate an abnormality report based on the correlated the received abnormally scored first sensor data and abnormally scored second sensor data. | 01-31-2013 |
20130057692 | STORE SYSTEM AND METHOD - A store system comprises an acquisition section configured to acquire an image picked-up by an image pick-up section, a similarity calculation section configured to calculate a similarity which represents a degree with which the reference image of each commodity is similar to the image of an object picked-up by the image pick-up section, a display control section configured to display the commodity information of the commodity corresponding to the reference image with a high similarity as a commodity candidate executing registration processing on a display section based on the similarity calculated by the similarity calculation section, a selection acceptance section configured to accept the selection to the commodity information displayed on the display section and a processing section configured to process the object picked-up by the image pick-up section as the commodity corresponding to the selected commodity information accepted by the selection acceptance section. | 03-07-2013 |
20130100291 | DEVICE FOR HANDLING BANKNOTES - The invention relates to a device ( | 04-25-2013 |
20130120580 | ANTI-COUNTERFEIT BANKNOTE RECORDER, AN AUTOMATIC TELLER MACHINE AND A SYSTEM - An anti-counterfeit banknote recorder, an automatic teller machine and a system are provided. The recorder includes a microprocessor, a memory, a communication module and a first photographic device. The first photographic device includes a camera and a flasher with different types of rays. The microprocessor is able to regulate the flashlight automatically so as to provide different types of rays according to the optical characteristics on the surface of the banknote under monitoring, and control the camera so as to take photos of the banknote under monitoring, thus, photo information of the banknote is obtained. The microprocessor is able to receive commands from the external equipments via the communication module, thus, the first photographic device is controlled accordingly so as to take photos. Moreover, via the communication module, the microprocessor is able to receive transaction information in relation to the banknotes under monitoring from the external equipments. The microprocessor is able to save the photo information of the banknote and the transaction information to the memory in the form of encryption recording. Thus, transaction process of the counterfeit banknotes on the ATM is automatically and effectively recorded, which is capable of providing truly effective legal basis for the settling of related disputes. | 05-16-2013 |
20130141584 | APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF TRIGGERING ELECTRO-OPTICAL READING ONLY WHEN A TARGET TO BE READ IS IN A SELECTED ZONE IN A POINT-OF-TRANSACTION WORKSTATION - Products associated with targets to be read by image capture are processed in a workstation having a window, a solid-state imager looking at a field of view extending through the window to a target to be imaged, and an illumination system for illuminating the field of view. A proximity system detects a product associated with the target in a selected zone outside the window. The proximity system has an infrared (IR) emitter for emitting IR light into an IR emission field, and an IR sensor for sensing return IR light within an IR detection field that intersects the IR emission field in the selected zone. A controller energizes the illumination system in response to the detection of the product in the selected zone, and processes return illumination light captured in the field of view by the imager. | 06-06-2013 |
20130141585 | CHECKOUT SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING CHECKOUT SYSTEM - A checkout system of an embodiment of the present disclosure has an image pickup unit, a computing unit, a display control unit, a receiving unit, and a registering unit. The image pickup unit takes pictures of a commodity at a prescribed frame rate. The computing unit computes a similarity coefficient between standard images of each commodity and the acquired image to identify possible matches to the acquired image. The display control unit displays information corresponding to the candidate matches with a high similarity coefficient on a display unit. The similarity coefficient is determined on the basis of a comparison between images of the object acquired by the image pickup unit and a standard image. The receiving unit receives selection of the commodity information on the display unit. The registering unit executes a registration treatment according to the selected information. | 06-06-2013 |
20130141586 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ASSOCIATING AN ORDER WITH AN OBJECT IN A MULTIPLE LANE ENVIRONMENT - Images with respect to an object at an ordering, payment, and delivery locations can be captured utilizing an image capturing system. Capture can be after detecting the presence of the object at each location utilizing an object presence sensor. The captured image can be processed to associate it with a signature and can also be processed in order to extract a small region of interest (e.g., license plate) and can be reduced to a unique signature. Signature can be stored into a database together with the corresponding order and images. Signatures can be matched. The order associated with the object matched by the system together with at least one of the images captured at the delivery point and the order point can be displayed at a user interface located at the payment/delivery point to ensure that the right order is delivered to the right customer asscoiated with the object. | 06-06-2013 |
20130182114 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING A RETAIL ENVIRONMENT USING VIDEO CONTENT ANALYSIS WITH DEPTH SENSING - A method and system for monitoring a retail environment by performing video content analysis based on two-dimensional image data and depth data are disclosed. Accuracy in customer actions to provide assistance, change marketing behavior, safety and theft, for example, is increase by analyzing video containing two-dimensional image data and associated depth data. Height data may be obtained from depth data to assist in object detection, object classification (e.g., detection a customer or inventory) and/or event detection. | 07-18-2013 |
20130201337 | RFID-BASED ASSET SECURITY AND TRACKING SYSTEM, APPARATUS AND METHOD - Systems and methods are disclosed for tracking an item using a RFID surveillance system. In some embodiments, a security controller is connected to a point of sale system with at least one RFID tag reader. In these embodiments, the RFID tag reader is associated with an area that is observable through a video camera. If the tag reader does not recognize information obtained from a RFID tag, the tag reader may activate the video camera. When the video camera is activated, the video camera may capture images and send them to a recording device. | 08-08-2013 |
20130208122 | COMMODITY READING APPARATUS AND COMMODITY READING METHOD - A commodity reading apparatus comprises a display section, an image capturing unit configured to photograph a commodity in a photographing area to output an image of the photographing area, a recognition unit configured to recognize the commodity included in the image outputted by the image capturing unit, an area display unit configured to display an image display area smaller in size than the photographing area photographed by the image capturing unit on the screen of the display section, and an image display unit configured to display the image photographed by the image capturing unit on the screen in a manner that the center of the image is located at the center of the image display area. | 08-15-2013 |
20130215275 | ENROLLMENT KIOSK INCLUDING BIOMETRIC ENROLLMENT AND VERIFICATION, FACE RECOGNITION AND FINGERPRINT MATCHING SYSTEMS - An enrollment kiosk for collecting personal data includes a slidable main module and at least one modifiable section removably coupled to the main module. The main module includes a processor and one or more biometric sensing devices coupled to the processor. The one or more biometric sensing devices include a right fingerprint sensor coupled to the processor and a left fingerprint sensor coupled to the processor. The right fingerprint sensor is positioned a predetermined distance apart from the left fingerprint sensor. The at least one modifiable section includes at least one first input device coupled to the processor. The kiosk also includes a scene camera configured to record a video of an area surrounding the enrollment kiosk and to transmit the video to a remote operator being located remotely from the enrollment kiosk | 08-22-2013 |
20130235206 | System and Method of On-Shelf Inventory Management - An inventory management system is described that includes two or more cameras mounted on a retail display space. The cameras are positioned to capture images showing the presence of items of interest in the retail display space. A hub is in communication with each of the cameras mounted on the retail display space and is operable to aggregate information from the cameras related to the items of interest in the retail display space, and to communicate data regarding the status of the item of interest to an inventory management system operable to receive the data from the hub. | 09-12-2013 |
20130250115 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FALSE ALARM REDUCTION DURING EVENT DETECTION - Embodiments of the present invention provide a system, method, and program product to determine whether a product has been successfully purchased by identifying in a video record when a movement of a product adjacent to a scanner occurs, and whether the scanner did not record a purchase transaction at that time; measuring a difference in time between the time of the movement of the product and a time of another movement of a product, and determining by a trained support vector machine a likelihood that the product was successfully purchased. Alternately, the difference in time can be measured between the time of the movement of the product and a time of a transaction record, or between the time of the movement of the product and a boundary time. The support vector machine can use a radial basis function kernel and can generate a decision value and a confidence score. | 09-26-2013 |
20130265432 | DYNAMIC ALLOCATION OF VIDEO RESOURCES - Video transaction machines (VTMs) facilitate communications and transactions between customers of a financial institution and video transaction resources, such as video agents, by establishing a video session between a VTM and a video agent workstation. After a computing device of the financial institution receives information identifying the customer, VTM, or VTM location requesting the services of a video agent, the computing device may place the customer in one or more virtual queues based on an overall visit time at the VTM location. In order to maintain a visit time at the VTM location below a predetermined visit time threshold, the controller may prioritize transactions at VTMs with longer visit times over transactions at VTMs with shorter visit times. | 10-10-2013 |
20130265433 | CART INSPECTION FOR SUSPICIOUS ITEMS - Methods and apparatus provide for a Cart Inspector to create a suspicion level for a transaction when a video image of the transaction portrays an item(s) left in a shopping cart. Specifically, the Cart Inspector obtains video data associated with a time(s) of interest. The video data originates from a video camera that monitors a transaction area. The Cart Inspector analyzes the video data with respect to target image(s) associated with a transaction in the transaction area during the time(s) of interest. The Cart Inspector creates an indication of a suspicion level for the transaction based on analysis of the target image(s). Creation of a high suspicion level for the transaction indicates that the transaction's corresponding video images most likely portray occurrences where the purchase price of an item transported through the transaction area was not included in the total amount paid by the customer. | 10-10-2013 |
20130314541 | METHODS AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR OBJECT POSE ESTIMATION - In an illustrative embodiment, the free space attenuation of illumination with distance, according to a square law relationship, is used to estimate the distance between a light source and two or more different areas on the surface of a product package. By reference to these distance estimates, the angular pose of the object surface is determined. | 11-28-2013 |
20130335571 | VISION BASED TARGET TRACKING FOR CONSTRAINED ENVIRONMENTS - A system and method includes obtaining and storing video frames from a series of video frames on a computer readable storage device, calculating probability estimates for target locations in each frame for targets in a constrained environment, and determining candidate target locations in each frame. | 12-19-2013 |
20130335572 | END CAP ANALYTIC MONITORING METHOD AND APPARATUS - Methods and apparatus for monitoring and ranking end caps in a store include video monitoring one or more parameters of end caps, including dwell times, item removal, traffic monitored parameters to determine for example one or more of end cap efficiency, product desirability, and location desirability. | 12-19-2013 |
20140063256 | QUEUE GROUP LEADER IDENTIFICATION - A system and method to identify the leader of a group in a retail, restaurant, or queue-type setting (or virtually any setting) through recognition of payment gestures. The method comprises acquiring initial video of a group, developing feature models for members of the group, acquiring video at a payment location, identifying a payment gesture in the acquired video, defining the person making the gesture as the leader of the group, and forwarding/backtracking through the video to identify timings associated with leader events (e.g., entering, exiting, ordering, etc.). | 03-06-2014 |
20140071287 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING AN ACTIVITY SUMMARY OF A PERSON - In accordance with one aspect of the present technique, a method includes receiving one or more videos from one or more image capture devices. The method further includes generating a video-loop of the person from the one or more videos. The video-loop depicts the person in the commercial site. The method also includes generating an action clip from the video-loop. The action clip includes a suspicious action performed by the person in the commercial site. The method further includes generating an activity summary of the person including the video-loop and the action clip. | 03-13-2014 |
20140125805 | System and Method for Capturing, Storing, Analyzing and Displaying Data Related to the Movements of Objects - A system and method for the capture and storage of data relating to the movements of objects, in a specified area and enables this data to be displayed in a graphically meaningful and useful manner. Video data is collected and video metadata is generated relating to objects (persons) appearing in the video data and their movements over time. The movements of the objects are then analyzed to detect the movements within a region of interest. This detection of movement allows a user, such as a manager of a store, to make informed decisions as to the infrastructure and operation of the store. One detection method relates to the number of people that are present in a region of interest for a specified time period. A second detection method relates to the number of people that remain or dwell in a particular area for a particular time period. A third detection method determines the flow of people and the direction they take within a region of interest. A fourth detection method relates to the number of people that enter a certain area by crossing a virtual line, a tripwire. | 05-08-2014 |
20140160293 | Security Video System Using Customer Regions for Monitoring Point of Sale Areas - A system and method for determining proximity of individuals to specific regions of interest such as Point of Sale (“POS”) terminals within a POS monitored area of a scene of video data captured from security cameras as part of a networked security system, when the security cameras are located outside the POS monitored area, mounted on a ceiling or other high location and pointed at the POS monitored area. With the help of customer regions drawn in an abstract layer whose areas coincide with expected locations of individuals near POS terminals in the video data, and video analytics elements such as bounding boxes generated around individuals in the video data, the system can perform live and forensic analysis of the video data to infer information such as the proximity of individuals to POS terminals and the relative height of an individual compared to their expected height within the scene of video data. | 06-12-2014 |
20140176719 | VERIFICATION OF FRAUDULENT ACTIVITIES AT A SELF-CHECKOUT TERMINAL - A verification method of a fraudulent activity taking place at a self-checkout terminal is disclosed. The method verifies the fraudulent activity by confirming an incident of the fraudulent activity with multiple data generated by monitoring the transaction area and the bagging area of the self-checkout terminal. A human validation is optionally performed to verify machine-identified incidents. | 06-26-2014 |
20140211017 | LINKING AN ELECTRONIC RECEIPT TO A CONSUMER IN A RETAIL STORE - A computer-implemented method is disclosed herein. The method includes the step of receiving, at a processing device of a commerce server, a first video signal containing an image of a consumer's face. The method also includes the step of linking, with the processing device, a receipt of a purchase by the consumer of at least one product with the image of the consumer's face. The method also includes the step of receiving, at the processing device, a second video signal generated at an exit of a retail store. The method also includes the step of identifying, with the processing device, the consumer in the second video signal based on the image of the consumer's face in the first video signal. The method also includes the step of transmitting, with the processing device, a receipt signal containing the receipt to a display positioned at the exit of the retail store in response to the identifying step. | 07-31-2014 |
20140247359 | SCANNER APPARATUS - A scanner apparatus comprises a casing having an image capturing window on the front surface thereof, an image capturing section, arranged inside the casing, configured to capture image of an object in a reading area invisibly formed outside the image capturing window of the casing, a plurality of lighting sections, arranged inside the casing, configured to irradiate light to the reading area, part of the light from the lighting sections being reflected on the inner surface of the image capturing window to become a stray light, and a shielding section configured to shield the stray light entering the image capturing section. The plurality of lighting sections mutually compensate the reduction in luminous intensity of the light from the lighting sections in the reading area caused by the shielding section. | 09-04-2014 |
20140267735 | INVESTIGATION GENERATION IN AN OBSERVATION AND SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM - The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for generating investigations of user behavior. In an example embodiment, the system includes a video camera configured to capture video of user activity, a video analytic module to perform real-time video processing of the captured video to generate non-video data from video, and a computer configured to receive the video and the non-video data from the video camera. The computer includes a video analytics module configured to analyze one of video and non-video data to identify occurrences of particular user behavior, and an investigation generation module configured to generate an investigation containing at least one video sequence of the particular user behavior. In some embodiments, the investigation is generated in near real time. The particular user behavior may be defined as an action, an inaction, a movement, a plurality of event occurrences, a temporal event and/or an externally-generated event. | 09-18-2014 |
20140362223 | Theft Deterrent System at Product Display Area with Targeted Advertising - A theft deterrent system and method at a product display area. In a preferred embodiment, the system displays video of customers on a public view monitor (PVM) located near the product display area in response to detecting customer interactions with the products in the product display area. The system also provides target advertising via audio messages and video messages displayed on the PVM in response to detecting the interactions. The system enhances customer shopping experience by providing welcoming messages as the customers approach the product display area while also deterring would-be thieves, and provides upsell capability by sending audio and video advertising messages for related products to the PVM in response to product retrieval attempts such as “reach-ins” or selection of the products. | 12-11-2014 |
20150029339 | Whole Store Scanner - Video monitoring and tracking techniques are addressed to allow consumers to purchase items in a store with no need to checkout at a traditional checkout lane. A large number of cart check and shelf check cameras monitor additions to carts and removals from shelves along with knowledge of location and what is on a particular shelf are employed to analyze which products are selected for purchase. Customer analytic data, as well as, store inventory data are preferably also developed from the camera image data. | 01-29-2015 |
20150042809 | ANTI-THEFT ALARM SYSTEM - An anti-theft alarm system for a vending machine includes an infrared sensor, an alarm device, and a processing unit. When the infrared sensor detects an object passing through a product exit port of the vending machine, the processing unit controls the alarm device to emit an alarm to draw attention to proximate persons around the vending machine. An anti-theft alarm method for a vending machine is also disclosed. | 02-12-2015 |
20150042810 | Method and System for Managing and Monitoring Fuel Transactions - Fueling transactions (and other types of transactions) may be verified for legitimacy and validity by recording audio, video and/or images of the transaction as it occurs. The recordings may then be indexed according to one or more transaction parameters such as a driver identifier, a vehicle or transportation unit identifier, an invoice number, a fueling station and the like. A carrier associated with a driver and/or vehicle or other transportation unit may specify which transactions are to be recorded. Accordingly, the fueling station may automatically determine whether to record a transaction upon receiving a transaction initiation request. Transaction recordings may be made based on transaction recordation parameters defined by a carrier and stored and indexed based on transaction storing parameters. | 02-12-2015 |
20150054959 | Produce and Non-produce Verification Using Hybrid Scanner - Approaches to produce verification are addressed which may be suitably employed in conjunction with a low resolution image scanner. Features, such as lines, corners, text, texture, edges and the like are extracted and compared with features for an identified item or evaluated to determine if the features collectively are indicative of a produce item or a non-produce item. | 02-26-2015 |
20150085128 | MOBILE TERMINAL SECURITY SYSTEMS - Systems that can track an object as it moves across the field of view of the security device, integrate transaction data with the object information, and can identify events that trigger an alert and methods for using the systems. | 03-26-2015 |
20150085129 | PORTABLE OCCUPANCY DETECTION METHODS, SYSTEMS AND PROCESSOR-READABLE MEDIA - Methods, systems and processor-readable media for portable parking occupancy detection. One or more cameras can be provided on a portable mast for capturing video on parking of a street. Optional attachments to the portable mast can include stabilization base and/or a set of guy ropes for further stabilizing the mast. A power unit can be utilized for delivering power to the system. A video capturing/processing unit either captures and records the video from the camera(s) for offline processing of parking occupancy or processes the videos on-site. Optionally, a wireless communication unit for transmitting either video or processed parking occupancy data to a central location can be employed. | 03-26-2015 |
20150109451 | AUTOMATED OBJECT RECOGNITION KIOSK FOR RETAIL CHECKOUTS - A system, method, and apparatus for automated object recognition and checkout at a retail kiosk is provided. The system includes a controller configured with a processor and a memory to control operations of the automated retail checkout system. The system further includes an imaging device in communication with the controller and configured to create multiple electronic images of an object, such as a product for purchase. The system also includes an object recognition device in communication with the controller and the imaging device. The processor may execute software to receive electronic images from the imaging device, extract at least one feature from the images, and recognize the object based on a predetermined model being applied to the extracted feature from the images. The system also includes a display device to display an indication of the recognized object from the object recognition device. | 04-23-2015 |
20150310601 | METHODS AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR IDENTIFYING OBJECTS - In some arrangements, product packaging is digitally watermarked over most of its extent to facilitate high-throughput item identification at retail checkouts. Imagery captured by conventional or plenoptic cameras can be processed (e.g., by GPUs) to derive several different perspective-transformed views—further minimizing the need to manually reposition items for identification. One claim recites a system for capturing imagery of retail items supported by a fixture, comprising: at least one camera unit having at least one operative camera to capture imagery of at least a portion of the retail items supported by the fixture; and one or more processors configured to process the captured imagery to discern identifying information associated with the imaged retail items. In one implementation the at least one camera unit comprises a plurality of cameras, wherein a field of view of a first one of the plurality of cameras overlaps with a field of view of a second one of the plurality of camera units. A great variety of other features, claims, combinations and arrangements are also detailed. | 10-29-2015 |
20150324635 | METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND APPARATUSES FOR VISITOR MONITORING - A system for automatic visitor monitoring comprises one or more sensors and a processor. The one or more sensors can be configured to automatically generate electronic sensor data regarding visitors at a venue. The processor can be configured to process the electronic sensor data to identify one or more visitors. The processor can also be configured to identify one or more characteristics of the behavior of the one or more visitors or devices carried by said visitors. Even further, the processor can be configured to determine if two or more visitors are part of a single visitor group unit. | 11-12-2015 |
20150341599 | VIDEO IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYTICAL RECOGNITION SYSTEM - An analytical recognition system includes a video camera, an antenna, and a data analytics module. The video camera is configured to capture video data. The antenna is configured to capture mobile communication device data. The data analytics module is configured to correlate the video data and the mobile communication device data to generate a profile of a person associated with the video data and the mobile communication device data. The profile has profile data including any one or a combination of the captured video data and the captured mobile communication data. | 11-26-2015 |
20160034766 | OPTIMIZING VIDEO STREAM PROCESSING - Transaction units of video data and transaction data captured from different checkout lanes are prioritized as a function of lane priority values of respective ones of the different checkout lanes from which the transaction units are acquired. Each of the checkout lanes has a different lane priority value. The individual transaction units are processed in the prioritized processing order to automatically detect irregular activities indicated by the transaction unit video and the transaction data of the processed individual transaction units. | 02-04-2016 |
20160070964 | POINT-OF-SALE SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONEY TRANSFER TRANSACTIONS - Systems and methods for easily and quickly performing financial services with a stand-alone unit are disclosed. In one embodiment, a housing comprising a camera is disclosed. A user interface, such as a tablet computer, may be coupled with the housing. An adjustable mount may be coupled to the housing and configured to rotate about various axes to point the camera and/or a screen on the user interface in various directions. A base may be coupled with and support the adjustable mount and may include a delineated portion indicating a desired location for receiving items of various shapes and sizes to be used for the financial service. The item may then be easily and accurately imaged using the camera. In some embodiments, the camera is fixed on a stand separate from the housing. The base may further include multiple delineated portions. | 03-10-2016 |
20160078300 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY USING VIDEO ANALYSIS - A system detects a transaction outcome by obtaining video data associated with a transaction area and analyzing the video data to obtain at least one video transaction parameter concerning transactions associated with the transaction area. The transaction area can be a video count of items indicated in the video data as detected by an automated item detection algorithm applied to the video data. The system obtains at least one expected transaction parameter concerning an expected transaction that occurs in the transaction area, such as a scan count of items scanned at a point of sale terminal. The system automatically compares the video transaction parameter(s) to the expected transaction parameter(s) to identify a transaction outcome that may indicate fraudulent activity such as sweethearting in a retail environment. | 03-17-2016 |
20160092740 | IMAGE AUDITING METHOD AND SYSTEM - An image auditing method and system may be provided. Video surveillance equipment may be operated in coordination with at least one digital computer across network architecture. The video surveillance equipment may provide a computer with footage of a transactions occurring in a target area. The footage may be filtered into at least one image of a transaction. The image may be categorized based on at least one transaction characteristic. The transaction data may be compared to transaction records from a point of sale and analyzed for any discrepancies. | 03-31-2016 |
20160110533 | ENROLLMENT KIOSK INCLUDING BIOMETRIC ENROLLMENT AND VERIFICATION, FACE RECOGNITION AND FINGERPRINT MATCHING SYSTEMS - An enrollment kiosk for collecting personal data includes a slidable main module and at least one modifiable section removably coupled to the main module. The main module includes a processor and one or more biometric sensing devices coupled to the processor. The one or more biometric sensing devices include a right fingerprint sensor coupled to the processor and a left fingerprint sensor coupled to the processor. The right fingerprint sensor is positioned a predetermined distance apart from the left fingerprint sensor. The at least one modifiable section includes at least one first input device coupled to the processor. The kiosk also includes a scene camera configured to record a video of an area surrounding the enrollment kiosk and to transmit the video to a remote operator being located remotely from the enrollment kiosk | 04-21-2016 |
20160132120 | VENDING MACHINE AND VENDING SYSTEM - A vending machine includes a camera, a display, and a computer. The computer is coupled to the camera and the display. The computer includes a processor, a storage module and a motion detector. The motion detector can detect a movement of an image captured by the camera. The processor can start to record the image into the storage module when the movement of the image is detected, and can also prompt a message on the display when the movement of the image is detected. | 05-12-2016 |
20160132733 | CART INSPECTION FOR SUSPICIOUS ITEMS - Methods and apparatus provide for a Cart Inspector to create a suspicion level for a transaction when a video image of the transaction portrays an item(s) left in a shopping cart. Specifically, the Cart Inspector obtains video data associated with a time(s) of interest. The video data originates from a video camera that monitors a transaction area. | 05-12-2016 |
20160171843 | EMERGENCY REPORTING APPARATUS, EMERGENCY REPORTING METHOD, AND COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM | 06-16-2016 |
20160178112 | MOBILE DEVICE STAND | 06-23-2016 |
20160180153 | TIME-IN-STORE ESTIMATION USING FACIAL RECOGNITION | 06-23-2016 |
20160189286 | Methods and Devices for Smart Shopping - There are provided methods and devices for improving a shopping experience of a user, including methods and devices for creating, updating, and maintaining a list such as a shopping list and methods and devices for automatically identifying a suitable substitute to a user selected product. | 06-30-2016 |
20160191857 | Dynamic Allocation of Video Resources - Video transaction machines (VTMs) facilitate communications and transactions between customers of a financial institution and video transaction resources, such as video agents, by establishing a video session between a VTM and a video agent workstation. After a computing device of the financial institution receives information identifying the customer, VTM, or VTM location requesting the services of a video agent, the computing device may place the customer in one or more virtual queues based on an overall visit time at the VTM location. In order to maintain a visit time at the VTM location below a predetermined visit time threshold, the controller may prioritize transactions at VTMs with longer visit times over transactions at VTMs with shorter visit times. | 06-30-2016 |
20160253859 | System and Method for Processing Value Documents | 09-01-2016 |