Inventory Location Gaze Detection for Unpurchased Item Views
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems struggle to identify user interactions with inventory locations in physical stores when users do not purchase or physically interact with items, limiting the ability to provide targeted marketing or optimize inventory placement.
Innovation Solution
Utilizing imaging devices within facilities to capture image data, employing gaze estimation techniques to determine gaze points and generate heatmaps, and combining this data with planogram information to identify items viewed by users, even if they do not physically engage with them.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If traditional browsing tracking methods are used in physical stores, then user interaction data can be collected, but the system cannot identify items viewed by users who do not physically interact with them
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical interaction detection (physical contact, cart proximity) with optical field detection (eye tracking, gaze estimation). By using imaging devices to capture eye gaze directions and overlaying them with store layout and inventory location data, the system identifies viewed items without requiring physical interaction, thereby reducing information loss while maintaining detection accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer of gaze estimation technology between the user and the inventory items. Instead of directly detecting physical interaction with items, the system uses eye gaze data as an intermediary signal to infer viewing behavior. This intermediary approach enables indirect detection of item viewing, solving the problem of tracking users who browse without physical contact.
2Loss of information
If imaging devices and gaze estimation are deployed to track user attention, then item viewing can be identified without physical interaction, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies multi-functionality to the imaging devices, which serve multiple purposes: capturing user gaze data, tracking user movement, and identifying viewed items. By making the imaging system multi-functional, the patent reduces the need for separate dedicated sensors for each function, thereby managing device complexity while comprehensive information collection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple data streams (imaging data, store layout data, inventory location data, user profile data) into a unified analysis system. By combining these data sources and processing them through integrated algorithms, the system achieves comprehensive item viewing detection without proportionally increasing device complexity, as the computational burden is distributed across merged data processing rather than additional hardware.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure describes, in part, techniques for identifying interactions between users and inventory locations. For instance, system(s) may receive image data generated by an imaging device located within a facility. The system(s) may then analyze the image data in order to determine one or more gaze points, where the gaze point(s) indicate location(s) on an inventory location for which a user was looking over a period of time. The system(s) may then generate gaze data indicating period(s) of time that the user was looking at the portion(s) of the inventory location. In some examples, the gaze data represents a heatmap. The system(s) may then use planogram data to determine identifier(s) of item(s) located at the portion(s) of the inventory location. Additionally, the system(s) may generate metrics data representing at least the identifier(s) of the item(s) and the period(s) of time that the user was looking at the item(s).