Frictionless Store Group Tracking via Pre-Entry Video Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Frictionless stores face challenges in distinguishing between items taken by group members and individual ownership, especially at crowded entry points, requiring manual electronic interactions that defeat the purpose of a frictionless experience.
Innovation Solution
A system using outdoor and indoor tracking systems with cameras, wireless transceivers, and handoff agents to identify and track groups before entry, assigning items to accounts without manual check-in, utilizing video tracking and image processing to attribute items to specific individuals within a group.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual electronic interaction is required at store entry to identify individuals and groups, then accurate tracking of group members and their items is achieved, but the frictionless experience is defeated and operational efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs group identification and member tracking setup before the consumers enter the store through the entrance. Video tracking and imaging tracking processing identify the potential group and individual attributes on the premises before entry, so that when consumers pass through the entrance, no manual check-in is required and the frictionless experience is maintained while tracking accuracy is achieved.
2Measurement precision
If manual check-in is implemented at store entry to distinguish individuals from groups, then item assignment accuracy is improved, but congestion at the entrance increases and productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system identifies and tracks group members and their attributes before they reach the entrance, completing the complex identification process in advance. This allows the entrance to function as a simple pass-through point, maintaining high throughput while ensuring accurate item assignment through pre-established tracking of each member's movements and item selections.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces video tracking and imaging tracking processing as intermediary technologies between the physical entrance and the identification system. These intermediaries continuously monitor and identify consumers and their group affiliations in the area before entry, transferring this information to the tracking system so that the entrance itself does not become a bottleneck requiring manual check-in.
3Extent of automation
If video tracking and imaging processing are used to identify groups before entry, then manual intervention is eliminated and frictionless experience is maintained, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs video tracking and imaging tracking processing that serve multiple functions: identifying individual consumers, determining group affiliations, tracking movements within the store, and monitoring item selections. By using a multi-functional tracking system, the patent achieves automated identification without requiring separate specialized systems for each function, thereby managing complexity while maintaining high automation.
Data Source
AI summary
A group of consumers are identified before the members of the group enter a frictionless store on an outside premises of the store. In an embodiment, a registered account holder for a member of the group is passed to an indoor tracking system of the frictionless store when the group enters the store. In an embodiment, attributes of a potential group of consumers is passed to an indoor tracking system when the group enters the store without a registered account being identified.