Image-Based Group Fee Settlement for Unmanned Store Users
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies struggle to settle fees for multiple users belonging to a group in a lump sum, as they often only recognize individual users and not the groups they belong to.
Innovation Solution
A fee management system that utilizes a management apparatus to track multiple users in a space using imaging technology, recognizing the group to which they belong, and allows settlement of fees for all users in the group through a settlement apparatus when any member of the group is present.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If individual user recognition is implemented using imaging technology, then user identification accuracy is improved, but the ability to recognize and settle fees for groups of users deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges individual user recognition results by combining imaging data with position information to identify group relationships. Multiple individual recognitions are integrated to achieve group-level fee settlement, resolving the contradiction between individual accuracy and group capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The imaging system serves multiple functions: it identifies individual users for precise recognition and simultaneously detects group formations for collective fee settlement. This multi-functionality allows the same system to handle both individual and group scenarios without compromising either capability.
2Measurement precision
If traditional individual-based fee settlement is used, then fee accuracy for each user is improved, but user convenience and settlement efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically switches between individual and group fee settlement modes based on detected user positions and group formations. When users are identified as being in a group, the system automatically enables lump-sum settlement, providing convenience without sacrificing fee accuracy through conditional logic.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically detects group formations and initiates group fee settlement without requiring manual user input. Users simply need to be in proximity to the settlement apparatus, and the system handles the rest by identifying groups and processing fees autonomously, greatly enhancing convenience.
3Ease of operation
If group fee settlement is enabled, then user convenience is improved, but the complexity of the settlement system deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a management apparatus as an intermediary that handles the complex tasks of group identification, fee calculation, and settlement coordination. This intermediary absorbs the system complexity, allowing the settlement apparatus itself to remain relatively simple while still providing convenient group settlement functionality.
4Measurement precision
If multiple users are tracked individually, then fee tracking accuracy is improved, but processing time and system resource consumption deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges fee tracking for multiple users into a single group fee calculation when group formation is detected. Instead of processing and settling fees for each user separately, the system combines them into one lump-sum settlement, significantly reducing processing time while maintaining accurate fee tracking through centralized calculation.
Data Source
AI summary
An information processing apparatus includes circuitry configured to: obtain one or more images; identify a person captured in the one or more images; identify a group of multiple persons to which the person identified belongs, based on positions of the multiple persons in the one or more images; obtain information relating to a fee charged for an action of each of the multiple persons; and output, in response to detecting that the person belonging to the group is located at a predetermined position, the information relating to the fee with respect to the multiple persons belonging to the group.