Determination device, determination system, determination method, and recording medium

Abstract

This determination device includes: a commodity information acquisition means that acquires commodity identification information read by a reading device provided in a gate through which a customer passes, with the information being stored in an RFID tag provided on a commodity possessed by the customer passing through the gate; an authentication information acquisition means that acquires authentication information of the customer for authenticating the customer; a collation means that collates whether or not the authentication information of the customer is registered; an image acquisition means that acquires an appearance image capturing the appearance of the customer when the authentication information of the customer is not registered; a specification means that specifies an attribute of the customer on the basis of the appearance image; a determination means that determines whether or not the commodity is a purchased commodity of the customer on the basis of the attribute and the commodity identification information; and an output control means that causes a determination result to be output.

Description

Determination device, determination system, determination method, and recording medium

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a determination device, a determination system, a determination method, and a recording medium.

[0002] There is a device that acquires product information about a product purchased by a shopper by reading the product information stored in a wireless tag attached to the product with an antenna installed at the gate. There is a demand for improving the accuracy of reading this product information.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that when an item is removed from a shelf and there are multiple users near the shelf, information from various sensors can be used to improve the accuracy of determining the user who removed the item, using the user's purchase history and attribute information.

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2019-145054

[0005] However, the invention described in Patent Document 1 is based on the premise that customer purchase history and attribute information are registered in advance. However, the store does not have information on customers who visit the store for the first time. It is therefore necessary to improve the accuracy of reading product information regardless of whether the customer has visited the store or not.

[0006] An example of an object of the present disclosure is to provide a determination device that can improve the accuracy of reading product information regardless of whether a customer has visited the store or not.

[0007] A determination device in one aspect of the present disclosure includes a product information acquisition means for acquiring product identification information in an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer passing through a gate, the product identification information being read by a reading device installed at the gate through which the customer passes; an authentication information acquisition means for acquiring customer authentication information for authenticating the customer; a verification means for verifying whether the customer's authentication information is registered; an image acquisition means for acquiring an appearance image of the customer's appearance if the customer's authentication information is not registered; an identification means for identifying customer attributes based on the appearance image; a determination means for determining whether the product is purchased by the customer based on the attributes and product identification information; and an output control means for outputting the determination result.

[0008] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a determination method includes a computer acquiring product identification information from an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer passing through a gate, the product identification information being read by a reading device installed at the gate through which the customer passes, acquiring customer authentication information for authenticating the customer, verifying whether the customer authentication information is registered, and if the customer authentication information is not registered, acquiring an appearance image of the customer's appearance, identifying the customer's attributes based on the appearance image, determining whether the product is the one purchased by the customer based on the attributes and the product identification information, and outputting the determination result.

[0009] A recording medium in one aspect of the present disclosure acquires product identification information from an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer passing through a gate, which is read by a reading device installed at the gate through which the customer passes, acquires customer authentication information for authenticating the customer, verifies whether the customer authentication information is registered, and if the customer authentication information is not registered, acquires an appearance image of the customer's appearance, identifies the customer's attributes based on the appearance image, determines whether the product is the one purchased by the customer based on the attributes and product identification information, and outputs the determination result.

[0010] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a determination device that can improve the accuracy of reading product information regardless of whether a customer has visited the store or not.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a determination system according to the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a gate according to the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration in which a determination device according to the present disclosure is realized by a computer device and its peripheral devices. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the determination operation according to the present disclosure. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a determination system according to the present disclosure. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the determination operation according to the present disclosure. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a determination system according to the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the determination operation according to the present disclosure.

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of a determination device, a determination system, a determination method, and a non-transitory recording medium for recording a program according to the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The disclosed technology is not limited to these embodiments.

[0013] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration including a determination device 100 according to the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 1, in the determination system 10, the determination device 100 is connected to a reading device 200 and an output device 300 via a network.

[0014] The determination device 100 is a device that determines whether or not a customer will purchase a product based on product identification information in an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag attached to the product read by the reading device 200. The reading device 200 is a sensor for reading product identification information of a product to be purchased by a customer passing through a gate. The output device 300 is a device that outputs information on a product determined to be purchased by the customer, and is, for example, a display installed near the exit of the gate or a display on the customer's terminal. The store in the present disclosure is, for example, a retail store that sells clothing, food, etc.

[0015] (Gate) FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a gate in the present disclosure. Gate 1 as shown in FIG. 2 is provided, for example, near the exit of a store. Gate 1 is provided with a reading device 200. Reading device 200 has an RFID reader 201 and an antenna 202. Gate 1 shown in FIG. 2 is a walk-through gate in which, as a customer walks through aisle A within gate 1, reading device 200 reads product identification information stored in an RFID tag attached to a product P carried by the customer. Note that, in the example gate shown in FIG. 2, two antennas 202 are provided on each side of aisle A near the center of the gate in the direction of travel, but the number of antennas 202 is not limited to the example configuration shown in FIG. 2.

[0016] The RFID reader 201 of the reading device 200 is a control circuit that communicates with an RFID tag via an antenna 202 in accordance with a predetermined communication protocol and reads the identification information stored in the RFID tag of a product. The antenna 202 is installed in a position where it can transmit and receive radio waves to and from an RFID tag passing through the gate 1, and transmits radio waves to the RFID tag and receives radio waves transmitted from the RFID tag. The antenna 202 may be provided as a separate antenna for transmission and a separate antenna for reception.

[0017] In the example of gate 1 in FIG. 2 , output device 300 may be provided near the exit of gate 1 and configured to output a list of products determined to be purchased. Purchased products are products that a customer passing through gate 1 is carrying and intends to purchase. Furthermore, a configuration may be provided in which, when it is detected that the customer has exited gate 1, payment processing for products determined to be purchased is performed using pre-registered payment information. Products determined not to be purchased are, for example, products located outside gate 1 whose product identification information has been erroneously read by reading device 200.

[0018] Returning to FIG. 1 , the determination device 100 includes a product information acquisition unit 101, an authentication information acquisition unit 102, a comparison unit 103, an image acquisition unit 104, an identification unit 105, a determination unit 106, and an output control unit 107. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration in which the determination device 100 according to the present disclosure is implemented by a computer device 500 including a processor. As shown in FIG. 3 , the determination device 100 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 501, memories such as a read-only memory (ROM) 502 and a random access memory (RAM) 503, a storage device 505 such as a hard disk for storing a program 504, a communication interface 508 for network connection, and an input / output interface 509 for inputting and outputting data. The determination device 100 is also connected to each component via a bus 510. The storage device 505 stores, for example, a customer database containing information about customers visiting the store and a product database containing information about products sold in the store. The determination device 100 shown in FIG. 1 can also be configured using cloud computing or the like.

[0019] The CPU 501 runs an operating system to control the entire determination device 100 according to the present disclosure. The CPU 501 also reads programs and data into memory from a recording medium 506 attached to, for example, a drive device 507. The CPU 501 also functions as the product information acquisition unit 101, authentication information acquisition unit 102, matching unit 103, image acquisition unit 104, identification unit 105, determination unit 106, and output control unit 107 according to the present disclosure, or as part of these, and executes processing or commands in the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, which will be described later, based on the program.

[0020] The recording medium 506 is, for example, an optical disk, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, an external hard disk, or a semiconductor memory. The semiconductor memory or the like that is part of the recording medium is a non-volatile storage device that stores the program. The program may also be downloaded from an external computer (not shown) that is connected to a communication network.

[0021] As described above, the first embodiment shown in Fig. 1 is realized by the computer hardware shown in Fig. 3. However, the means for realizing each unit included in the determination device 100 in Fig. 1 is not limited to the configuration described above. The determination device 100 may be realized by a single physically coupled device, or may be realized by a system consisting of two or more physically separated devices connected by wire or wirelessly.

[0022] The product information acquisition unit 101 is a means for acquiring product identification information read by a reading device 200 provided at the gate 1 through which the customer passes, from an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer passing through the gate 1. The product information acquisition unit 101 acquires, for example, the product identification information of the product read by the reading device 200 from the reading device 200 via the communication interface 508. The product information acquisition unit 101 outputs the acquired product identification information to the determination unit 106.

[0023] The authentication information acquisition unit 102 is a means for acquiring customer authentication information for authenticating a customer. The authentication information acquisition unit 102 acquires the same type of authentication information as the authentication information stored in the customer database. The authentication information is information for authenticating a customer, such as a customer ID or biometric information. The biometric information may be any biometric authentication information that can authenticate a customer, such as facial authentication information, iris authentication information, fingerprint authentication information, or vein authentication information. For example, if the registered biometric information is facial authentication information, the authentication information acquisition unit 102 acquires facial feature data from an image captured of the customer when passing through gate 1. The authentication information acquisition unit 102 outputs the acquired matching biometric information to the matching unit 103.

[0024] The collating unit 103 is a means for collating whether or not the authentication information of the customer is registered. The collating unit 103 collates whether or not the authentication information of the customer is registered in the customer database, using the acquired authentication information as a search key.

[0025] The image acquisition unit 104 is a means for acquiring an appearance image of a customer's appearance when the customer's authentication information is not registered. The image acquisition unit 104 acquires, for example, an appearance image of the customer captured by a camera. If the authentication information acquisition unit 102 has acquired an appearance image of the customer, that image may be used. The appearance image of the customer captured by the camera includes, for example, the customer's face, the clothes the customer is wearing, the customer's belongings, accompanying persons, products purchased at the same time, etc. The image acquisition unit 104 outputs the acquired appearance image to the identification unit 105.

[0026] The identification unit 105 is a means for identifying customer attributes based on the appearance image. The identification unit 105 extracts facial features of the customer from the appearance image using, for example, known technology. Then, the identification unit 105 identifies demographic attributes, such as the customer's gender and age group, from the facial features using a machine learning model for determining attributes. The identification unit 105 may also identify psychological attributes, such as values ​​and lifestyle, based on the customer's clothing, belongings, and other purchased items in addition to the facial features. The identification unit 105 outputs the identified attributes to the determination unit 106.

[0027] The determination unit 106 is a means for determining whether or not a product is purchased by a customer based on attributes and product identification information. The determination unit 106 determines whether or not the target product of the product identification information is purchased by a customer, for example, based on the customer's attributes. More specifically, the determination unit 106 determines whether or not the identified attributes match the customer demographic targeted by the target product. Information on the customer demographic targeted by each product is stored, for example, in a product database. The match may be expressed in two stages, i.e., whether or not there is a match, or may be expressed as a numerical value such as the degree of match. If the attributes match the customer demographic targeted by the target product, the determination unit 106 determines that the product is purchased by the customer. On the other hand, if the attributes do not match the customer demographic targeted by the target product, the determination unit 106 determines that the product is not purchased by the customer. The determination unit 106 outputs the determination result to the output control unit 107.

[0028] The output control unit 107 is a means for outputting the determination result. The output control unit 107 may output a screen listing the products determined to be purchased by the customer. The output control unit 107 outputs the list of purchased products to, for example, the output device 300 or the customer's mobile terminal.

[0029] 4 is a flowchart showing an outline of the operation of the determination device 100 according to the present disclosure. The processing according to this flowchart may be executed based on program control by the processor described above. The determination device 100 may start the flow according to this flowchart, for example, when the signal information received from the reading device 200 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 4 , first, the product information acquisition unit 101 acquires product identification information from an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer passing through the gate 1, as read by the reader 200 installed at the gate 1 through which the customer passes (step S101). Next, the authentication information acquisition unit 102 acquires customer authentication information for authenticating the customer (step S102). Next, the verification unit 103 verifies whether the customer's authentication information is registered (step S103). If the customer's authentication information is not registered (S104; NO), the image acquisition unit 104 acquires an appearance image capturing the customer's appearance (step S105). Next, the identification unit 105 identifies the customer's attributes based on the appearance image (step S106). Next, the determination unit 106 determines whether the product is purchased by the customer based on the attributes and product identification information (step S106). Finally, the output control unit 107 outputs the determination result (step S107). If the customer's authentication information is registered in step S104 (S104; YES), the flow ends. Then, the determination device 100 ends the flow.

[0031] In the determination device 100 of this embodiment, if the customer's authentication information is not registered, the image acquisition unit 104 acquires an appearance image of the customer's appearance. Next, the identification unit 105 identifies the customer's attributes based on the appearance image, and the determination unit 106 determines whether the item is a purchase by the customer based on the attributes and the item identification information. This makes it possible to determine whether the item is a purchase by a customer passing through gate 1, for example, based on the attributes identified from the customer's appearance image. Therefore, it is possible to improve the accuracy of determining whether the item is a purchase by the customer, regardless of whether the customer has visited the store.

[0032] (Variation 1 of the First Embodiment) Next, a variation of the first embodiment will be described. Below, explanations of the contents that overlap with the above explanation will be omitted to the extent that the explanation of this embodiment is not unclear. In this variation, only when the reading accuracy of the reading device is low, it is determined whether or not the product is purchased by the customer based on the attributes and product identification information identified from the customer's appearance image.

[0033] 5 is a block diagram showing a determination system 11 according to the present disclosure. Similar to the determination system 10, the determination system 11 includes a determination device 110 connected to a reading device 210 and an output device 310 via a network.

[0034] Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration including a determination device 110 according to the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 5, the determination device 110 includes a product information acquisition unit 111, a signal information acquisition unit 112, an authentication information acquisition unit 113, a matching unit 114, an image acquisition unit 115, an identification unit 116, a determination unit 117, and an output control unit 118. The configurations other than the signal information acquisition unit 112 and the authentication information acquisition unit 113 are the same as the corresponding configurations in the first embodiment, and therefore descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0035] The signal information acquisition unit 112 is a means for acquiring signal information from an RFID tag when a reader 210 installed at the gate 1 through which a customer passes reads commodity identification information stored in an RFID tag attached to a commodity carried by the customer. The signal information acquisition unit 112 acquires signal strength by measuring a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value from the RFID tag received by the antenna 212. While the present specification describes a case in which the signal information is an RSSI value, the signal information is not limited to an RSSI value and may also include a maximum RSSI value, a minimum RSSI value, etc. Furthermore, the signal information may also include the number of times the reader 210 reads each unit of commodity identification information, the reading time, and the number of antennas 212 that have successfully read an EPC (Electronic Product Code) stored in the RFID. The signal information acquisition unit 112 outputs the acquired signal information to the authentication information acquisition unit 113.

[0036] When the signal information is below a predetermined threshold, the authentication information acquisition unit 113 acquires customer authentication information for authenticating the customer. When a product is in a shopping cart or bag, the RFID tag attached to the product may not be properly read by the reader 200. This occurs, for example, when multiple products are stacked and the radio waves used for reading are obstructed by products containing metal or liquid. Therefore, in this modification, when the signal information is below the threshold and the reading accuracy of the product identification information is lower than a predetermined value, the reader 210 determines whether the product identification information read by the reader 210 is a product purchased by the customer. On the other hand, when the signal information is above the threshold and the reading accuracy of the product identification information is ensured to a certain extent, the reader 210 treats the product identification information read by the reader 210 as a product to be purchased without determining whether the product is a product purchased by the customer.

[0037] 6 is a flowchart showing an outline of the operation of the determination device 110 according to the present disclosure. Note that the processing according to this flowchart may be executed based on program control by the processor described above.

[0038] As shown in Fig. 6, first, the product information acquisition unit 111 acquires product identification information from an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer passing through gate 1, as read by a reader 210 installed at gate 1 through which the customer passes (step S111). Next, the signal information acquisition unit 112 acquires signal information from the RFID tag when the reader 210 installed at gate 1 through which the customer passes reads the product identification information from the RFID tag attached to the product carried by the customer (step S112). If the signal information is less than a predetermined threshold (S113; YES), the authentication information acquisition unit 113 proceeds to S114. On the other hand, if the signal information is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold (S113; NO), the authentication information acquisition unit 113 ends the flow.

[0039] In FIG. 6, the product identification information determination flow from S114 to S120 is the same as the flow from S102 to S108 in FIG. 4. That is, the authentication information acquisition unit 113 acquires customer authentication information for authenticating the customer (step S114). Next, the matching unit 114 checks whether the customer authentication information is registered (step S115). If the customer authentication information is not registered (S116; NO), the image acquisition unit 115 acquires an appearance image capturing the customer's appearance (step S117). Next, the identification unit 116 identifies the customer's attributes based on the appearance image (step S118). Next, the determination unit 117 determines whether the product is purchased by the customer based on the attributes and product identification information (step S119). Finally, the output control unit 118 outputs the determination result (step S120). Note that if the customer authentication information is registered in step S116 (S116; YES), the flow ends. The determination device 110 then ends the flow.

[0040] In the determination device 110 of this embodiment, the signal information acquisition unit 112 acquires signal information from the RFID tag when the reading device 210 installed at the gate 1 through which the customer passes reads the product identification information stored in the RFID tag attached to the product carried by the customer. If the signal information is less than a predetermined threshold, the authentication information acquisition unit 113 acquires the authentication information and determines whether the product whose product identification information has been read by the reading device 210 is the product purchased by the customer. As a result, for example, if a certain level of accuracy is ensured in reading the product identification information, the determination process can be omitted and processing can be omitted.

[0041] [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing a determination system 12 according to the present disclosure. In the determination system 12, similar to the determination system 10, a determination device 120 is connected to a reading device 220 and an output device 320 via a network.

[0042] In the following, the description of the present embodiment will be omitted to the extent that the description thereof does not become unclear. The functions of each component in each embodiment of the present disclosure can be realized not only by hardware but also by a computer device or software under program control, similar to the computer device shown in FIG.

[0043] 7, the determination device 120 includes a product information acquisition unit 121, an authentication information acquisition unit 122, a matching unit 123, a customer information acquisition unit 124, an image acquisition unit 125, an identification unit 126, a determination unit 127, and an output control unit 128. The configuration other than the customer information acquisition unit 124 and the determination unit 127 is the same as the corresponding configuration in the first embodiment, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted. Note that this embodiment is premised on the assumption that customer information including information such as the attributes of customers who have passed through gate 1 or the purchase history of the customers is stored in the customer database.

[0044] The customer information acquisition unit 124 is a means for acquiring customer information when customer authentication information is registered. Customer information is, for example, customer attributes or product purchase history. The customer information acquisition unit 124 acquires customer information linked to the authentication information in the customer database. Customer attributes include, for example, age, gender, residential area, occupation, family structure, hobbies and preferences, but are not limited to these as long as the information can be used to understand product purchasing trends. The purchase history may include purchase history at the store as well as historical information on products purchased over the Internet.

[0045] The determination unit 127 determines whether the product is a purchase of the customer based on the customer information and the product identification information. The determination unit 127 determines whether the product is a purchase of the customer based on, for example, the customer's attributes. More specifically, the determination unit 127 determines whether the attributes match the customer demographic targeted by the product. Furthermore, the determination unit 127 may determine whether the category or size matches the products usually purchased by the customer based on the purchase history.

[0046] 8 is a flowchart showing an outline of the operation of the determination device 120 according to the present disclosure. Note that the processing according to this flowchart may be executed based on program control by the processor described above.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 8 , first, the product information acquisition unit 121 acquires product identification information from an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer passing through gate 1, as read by a reader 220 installed at gate 1 through which the customer passes (step S201). Next, the authentication information acquisition unit 122 acquires customer authentication information for authenticating the customer (step S202). Next, the verification unit 123 verifies whether the customer authentication information is registered (step S203). If the customer authentication information is registered (S204; YES), the customer information acquisition unit 124 acquires customer information (step S205). Next, the determination unit 127 determines whether the product is purchased by the customer based on the customer information and product identification information (step S206). Finally, the output control unit 128 outputs the determination result (step S207).

[0048] If the customer's authentication information is not registered in step S204 (S204; NO), the process is the same as steps S105 to S108 in FIG. 4. That is, the image acquisition unit 125 acquires an appearance image of the customer's appearance (step S208). Next, the identification unit 126 identifies the customer's attributes based on the appearance image (step S209). Next, the determination unit 127 determines whether the item is a purchase item of the customer based on the attributes and the item identification information (step S210). Finally, the output control unit 128 outputs the determination result (step S207). This ends the flow for the determination device 120.

[0049] In the determination device 120 of this embodiment, if customer authentication information is registered, the customer information is acquired. Next, the determination unit 127 determines whether or not the item is a purchase by the customer based on the customer information and the item identification information. This makes it possible to determine whether or not the item is a purchase by the customer passing through gate 1 based on the customer information held by the store. This improves the accuracy of determining whether or not the item is a purchase by the customer.

[0050] Although the present disclosure has been described above with reference to various embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments. The configuration and details of each of the present disclosures may include embodiments incorporating various modifications that would be apparent to those skilled in the art within the scope of the present disclosure. The present disclosure may also include embodiments in which the details described herein are appropriately combined or substituted as necessary. For example, details described using a specific embodiment may also be applied to other embodiments to the extent that they are consistent. For example, although multiple operations are described in sequence in flowchart form, the order in which the operations are performed does not limit the order in which the operations are performed. Therefore, when implementing each embodiment, the order of the multiple operations may be changed as long as it does not interfere with the content. In the second embodiment, only if the reading accuracy of the reading device 222 is lower than a threshold, it may be determined whether the product is purchased by the customer based on the customer information and product identification information. In other words, if the reading accuracy of the reading device 222 is higher than a threshold, the product identified by the product identification information read by the reading device 222 may be considered to be the product purchased by the customer, and the checkout process may be carried out.

[0051] Some or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as follows: However, some or all of the above-described embodiments are not limited to the following.

[0052] (Supplementary Note 1) A determination device comprising: a product information acquisition means for acquiring product identification information in an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer passing through a gate, the product identification information being read by a reading device provided at the gate through which the customer passes; an authentication information acquisition means for acquiring authentication information of the customer for authenticating the customer; a comparison means for comparing whether the authentication information of the customer is registered or not; an image acquisition means for acquiring an appearance image of the customer's appearance if the authentication information of the customer is not registered; an identification means for identifying attributes of the customer based on the appearance image; a determination means for determining whether the product is a purchase made by the customer based on the attributes and the product identification information; and an output control means for outputting the determination result.

[0053] (Supplementary Note 2) The determination device described in Supplementary Note 1, wherein the identification means identifies the attributes of the customer based on at least one of information obtained from the appearance image, such as the customer's face, clothing, belongings, accompanying persons, and products purchased at the same time.

[0054] (Supplementary Note 3) The determination device according to Supplementary Note 1 or Supplementary Note 2, wherein the authentication information is biometric authentication information.

[0055] (Supplementary Note 4) The determination device according to Supplementary Note 3, wherein the biometric authentication information is iris authentication information.

[0056] (Appendix 5) A determination device as described in any of Appendices 1 to 4, further comprising a signal information acquisition means for acquiring signal information from an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer when the product identification information in the RFID tag is read by a reading device installed at a gate through which the customer passes, and the authentication information acquisition means acquires authentication information of the customer for authenticating the customer when the signal information is less than a predetermined threshold.

[0057] (Supplementary Note 6) The determination device according to Supplementary Note 5, wherein the determination means determines that the product corresponding to the read product identification information is the product to be purchased by the customer when the signal information is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.

[0058] (Appendix 7) The determination device described in Appendix 1 further comprises a customer information acquisition means for acquiring customer information of the customer if authentication information of the customer is registered, and the determination means determines whether the product is a purchase of the customer based on the customer information and the product identification information.

[0059] (Appendix 8) The determination device described in Appendix 7 further comprises a signal information acquisition means for acquiring signal information from an RFID tag when product identification information in an RFID tag attached to a product held by a customer is read by a reading device installed at a gate through which the customer passes, and the determination means determines whether the product is the product purchased by the customer based on the customer information and the product identification information if the signal information is less than a predetermined threshold.

[0060] (Supplementary Note 9) The determination device according to Supplementary Note 8, wherein the determination means determines that the product corresponding to the read product identification information is the product to be purchased by the customer when the signal information is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.

[0061] (Supplementary Note 10) The determination device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 9, further comprising an output control means for outputting a screen showing a list of products determined to be purchased by the customer.

[0062] (Supplementary Note 11) A determination system having a reading device provided at a gate through which customers pass, and a determination device according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 10.

[0063] (Supplementary Note 12) A determination method in which a computer: acquires product identification information in an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer passing through a gate, the product identification information being read by a reading device installed at the gate through which the customer passes; acquires the customer's authentication information for authenticating the customer; checks whether the customer's authentication information is registered; if the customer's authentication information is not registered, acquires an appearance image of the customer's appearance; identifies the customer's attributes based on the appearance image; determines whether the product is a purchase made by the customer based on the attributes and the product identification information; and outputs the determination result.

[0064] (Supplementary Note 13) The determination method according to Supplementary Note 12, wherein attributes of the customer are identified based on information on at least one of the customer's face, clothing, and belongings obtained from the appearance image.

[0065] (Supplementary Note 14) The determination method according to Supplementary Note 12 or Supplementary Note 13, wherein the authentication information is biometric authentication information.

[0066] (Supplementary Note 15) The determination method according to Supplementary Note 14, wherein the biometric authentication information is iris authentication information.

[0067] (Supplementary Note 16) A determination method described in any one of Supplementary Notes 12 to 15, in which, when a reading device installed at a gate through which a customer passes reads product identification information in an RFID tag attached to a product carried by the customer, signal information from the RFID tag is further acquired, and if the signal information is less than a predetermined threshold, authentication information of the customer is acquired to authenticate the customer.

[0068] (Supplementary Note 17) The determination method according to Supplementary Note 16, wherein if the signal information is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the product corresponding to the read product identification information is the product to be purchased by the customer.

[0069] (Appendix 18) The determination method described in Appendix 12 further includes a customer information acquisition means for acquiring customer information of the customer if the customer's authentication information is registered, and determining whether the product is a purchase of the customer based on the customer information and the product identification information.

[0070] (Supplementary Note 19) The determination method according to Supplementary Note 18, wherein when a reader provided at a gate through which a customer passes reads product identification information in an RFID tag attached to a product held by the customer, signal information from the RFID tag is further acquired, and if the signal information is less than a predetermined threshold, it is determined based on the customer information and the product identification information whether the product is the product purchased by the customer.

[0071] (Supplementary Note 20) A recording medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute the following processes: acquiring product identification information in an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer passing through a gate, the information being read by a reading device installed at the gate through which the customer passes; acquiring customer authentication information for authenticating the customer; verifying whether the customer authentication information is registered; acquiring an appearance image of the customer's appearance if the customer authentication information is not registered; identifying the customer's attributes based on the appearance image; determining whether the product is a purchase made by the customer based on the attributes and the product identification information; and outputting the determination result.

[0072] Some or all of the configurations described in Supplements 2 to 10 that are dependent on Supplement 1 above may also be dependent on Supplement 12 and Supplement 20 in the same dependency relationship as Supplements 2 to 10. Not limited to Supplements 1, 12, and 20, some or all of the configurations described as Supplements may be made dependent on various hardware, software, various recording devices for recording software, or systems, within the scope of each of the above-mentioned embodiments.

[0073] 10, 11, 12 Determination system 100, 110, 120 Determination device 101, 111, 121 Product information acquisition unit 102, 113, 122 Authentication information acquisition unit 103, 114, 123 Matching unit 104, 115, 125 Image acquisition unit 105, 116, 126 Identification unit 106, 117, 127 Determination unit 107, 118, 128 Output control unit 112 Signal information acquisition unit 124 Customer information acquisition unit 200, 210, 220 Reading device 300, 310, 320 Output device 500 Computer device 501 CPU 502 ROM 503 RAM 504 Program 505 Storage device 506 Recording medium 507 Drive device 508 Communication interface 509 Input / Output Interface 510 Bus

Claims

1. A determination device comprising: a product information acquisition means for acquiring product identification information in an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer passing through a gate, the product identification information being read by a reading device installed at the gate through which the customer passes; an authentication information acquisition means for acquiring the customer's authentication information for authenticating the customer; a verification means for verifying whether the customer's authentication information is registered; an image acquisition means for acquiring an appearance image of the customer's appearance if the customer's authentication information is not registered; an identification means for identifying the customer's attributes based on the appearance image; a determination means for determining whether the product is a purchase made by the customer based on the attributes and the product identification information; and an output control means for outputting the determination result.

2. The determination device according to claim 1, wherein the identification means identifies the attributes of the customer based on at least one of information obtained from the appearance image, such as the customer's face, clothing, belongings, accompanying persons, and products purchased at the same time.

3. The determination device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the authentication information is biometric authentication information.

4. The determination device according to claim 3, wherein the biometric authentication information is iris authentication information.

5. A determination device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a signal information acquisition means for acquiring signal information from an RFID tag attached to a product held by a customer when the product identification information in the RFID tag is read by a reading device installed at a gate through which the customer passes, and wherein the authentication information acquisition means acquires authentication information of the customer for authenticating the customer when the signal information is less than a predetermined threshold.

6. The determination device according to claim 5, wherein said determination means determines that the product corresponding to the read product identification information is the product to be purchased by the customer when said signal information is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.

7. The determination device according to claim 1, further comprising a customer information acquisition means for acquiring customer information of the customer if the customer's authentication information is registered, and the determination means determines whether the product is a purchase of the customer based on the customer information and the product identification information.

8. A determination device as described in claim 7, further comprising a signal information acquisition means for acquiring signal information from an RFID tag when product identification information in an RFID tag attached to a product held by a customer is read by a reading device installed at a gate through which the customer passes, and wherein the determination means determines whether the product is the product purchased by the customer based on the customer information and the product identification information when the signal information is less than a predetermined threshold.

9. The determination device according to claim 8, wherein said determination means determines that the product corresponding to the read product identification information is the product to be purchased by the customer when said signal information is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.

10. The determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising output control means for outputting a screen showing a list of products determined to be purchased by the customer.

11. A determination system comprising a reading device provided at a gate through which customers pass, and the determination device according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. A determination method in which a computer: acquires product identification information from an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer passing through a gate, the information being read by a reader installed at the gate through which the customer passes; acquires the customer's authentication information for authenticating the customer; verifies whether the customer's authentication information is registered; if the customer's authentication information is not registered, acquires an external image of the customer's appearance; identifies the customer's attributes based on the external image; determines whether the product is a purchase made by the customer based on the attributes and the product identification information; and outputs the determination result.

13. The determination method according to claim 12, wherein attributes of the customer are identified based on at least one of information on the customer's face, clothing, and belongings obtained from the appearance image.

14. The determination method according to claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the authentication information is biometric authentication information.

15. The determination method according to claim 14, wherein the biometric authentication information is iris authentication information.

16. A determination method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein when a reader provided at a gate through which a customer passes reads product identification information in an RFID tag attached to a product held by the customer, signal information from the RFID tag is further acquired, and if the signal information is less than a predetermined threshold, authentication information of the customer is acquired to authenticate the customer.

17. The determination method according to claim 16, wherein if the signal information is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, it is determined that the product corresponding to the read product identification information is the product to be purchased by the customer.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising a customer information acquisition means for acquiring customer information of the customer if the customer's authentication information is registered, and determining whether the product is a purchase of the customer based on the customer information and the product identification information.

19. The determination method according to claim 18, further comprising: acquiring signal information from an RFID tag attached to a product held by a customer when the product identification information in the RFID tag attached to the product held by the customer is read by a reader provided at a gate through which the customer passes; and determining whether the product is the product purchased by the customer based on the customer information and the product identification information if the signal information is less than a predetermined threshold.

20. A recording medium storing a program that causes a computer to execute the following processes: acquire product identification information from an RFID tag attached to a product carried by a customer passing through a gate, which is read by a reader installed at the gate through which the customer passes; acquire the customer's authentication information for authenticating the customer; verify whether the customer's authentication information is registered; if the customer's authentication information is not registered, acquire an external image of the customer's appearance; identify the customer's attributes based on the external image; determine whether the product is a purchase made by the customer based on the attributes and the product identification information; and output the determination result.

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