Mobile AR Shopping via Camera Pose Estimation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Small retailers face challenges in providing an engaging and cost-effective augmented reality shopping experience due to the need for capital-intensive sensor and display systems, which can be prohibitively expensive and raise privacy concerns, especially during closed hours when potential customers cannot complete purchases.
Innovation Solution
A mobile device-based augmented reality shopping application that uses camera sensors, computer vision algorithms, and data aggregation to provide an augmented reality depiction of shopping displays, allowing users to view and interact with products outside of store hours, leveraging existing infrastructure and reducing capital costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional augmented reality systems with sensors and displays are deployed in store windows, then customers can view product information during closed hours, but the capital costs become prohibitively expensive for small retailers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital 3D copy of the physical shopping display window, allowing the virtual representation to be viewed on mobile devices instead of requiring expensive physical AR infrastructure. This copying approach enables AR shopping experiences while dramatically reducing hardware costs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/optical AR system (sensors, projectors, displays mounted on windows) with a software-based solution running on customers' existing mobile devices. This substitution eliminates the need for costly retail-side hardware while maintaining the AR experience.
2Productivity
If sensors and displays are installed in store windows for augmented reality, then product information can be displayed to shoppers, but privacy concerns arise as viewing occurs in public view
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces the customer's mobile device as an intermediary between the store's product information and the customer's personal space. The AR experience occurs privately within the customer's device interface, eliminating the public display issue while maintaining information delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions the AR experience from a public 2D window display to a private mobile device interface, changing the spatial dimension where the interaction occurs. This allows customers to view product information in their personal space rather than in public view.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple sensors are configured to detect shopper position and gestures, then interactive AR experience is enabled, but the system complexity and deployment difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent leverages the mobile device's existing sensors (camera, accelerometer, gyroscope) that customers already possess and are familiar with. The system uses these self-contained device resources rather than requiring additional retail-side sensor infrastructure, simplifying deployment while maintaining interactivity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables retailers to engage customers beyond regular business hours, enhance customer experience, and reduce operational costs by utilizing mobile devices for augmented reality shopping, while maintaining privacy as interactions occur on personal devices.
Implementation Method 1
a two dimensional image of the shopping display captured by a camera
Implementation Method 2
data provided by one or more sensors associated with the mobile device
Implementation Method 3
data provided by one or more sensors associated with the mobile device
Data Source
AI summary
A consumer user can perform a number of augmented reality shopping operations using a local client shopping application executable on a mobile device. Features related to implementations of the current subject matter can include, but are not limited to, the ability to view an augmented reality depiction of a shopping display using the mobile device and to execute various “e-commerce” functions accessible via the augmented reality depiction. Visual image processing based on one or more inputs from sensors on the mobile device can be used to compute and efficiently provide the two dimensional projection of the three dimensional model to be presented on the screen of the mobile device. Related methods, systems, articles of manufacture, and the like are described.