System for observing and analyzing customer opinion

• US 10,438,215 B2
• Filed: 04/10/2015
• Issued: 10/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Apokatanidis, Dimitri, Brown, Jeffrey P., Gonzalez, Emmanuel B., Harrington, Shaun E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rahman, Mohammad J
• Application Number:
  US14/683,814
• Publication Number:
  US 20160300246A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,642 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/01 Customer relationship services
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A system for observing and analyzing customer opinions is disclosed. The system includes one or more cameras, a focus tracking module, an observation module, an interpretation module, and a rating module. The focus tracking module uses the one or more cameras to determine a product having a focus of a person, the product having a plurality of characteristics. The observation module uses the one or more cameras to monitor one or more physical, physiological, or behavioral characteristics of the person with respect to the product. The interpretation module determines an opinion of the person regarding the product. The rating module adjusts one or more ratings of the product in response to the interpretation module determining the opinion of the person regarding the product.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

one or more cameras; and

an analysis apparatus coupled to the one or more cameras, the analysis apparatus comprising;

a focus tracking module that uses the one or more cameras to identify an actual consumer product displayed in a real-world retail environment having a focus of a customer, said focus on the consumer product determined by;

tracking face tilt and eye gaze of the customer in relation to the consumer product when the customer'"'"'s face is visible to the one or more cameras, and

tracking head tilt and rotation of the customer in relation to the consumer product when the customer'"'"'s face is not visible to the one or more cameras;

an observation module that uses the one or more cameras to detect, from a distance, one or more physiological characteristics of the customer with respect to the consumer product;

an interpretation module that determines an opinion of the customer regarding the consumer product based on the detected one or more physiological characteristics; and

a rating module that adjusts a set of ratings of the consumer product in response to the interpretation module determining the opinion of the customer regarding the consumer product,

wherein at least a portion of the observation module, the focus tracking module, the interpretation module, and the rating module comprise one or more of computer hardware and executable code, the executable code stored on one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a product tracking module that stores the one or more ratings of the consumer product, a number of customers who have focused on the consumer product, and an amount of time that the number of customers have focused on the consumer product.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising a guidance module that recommends one or more actions regarding the consumer product based on the one or more ratings of the consumer product.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the guidance module further recommends one or more actions regarding the consumer product based on a number of persons who have focused on the consumer product and an amount of time that the number of persons have focused on the consumer product.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the interpretation module further determines a medical condition of the customer, and further comprising an alert module that sends a notification in response to the interpretation module determining medical condition of the customer.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the interpretation module further determines that the customer needs assistance with respect to the consumer product, and further comprising an alert module that sends a notification in response to the interpretation module determining that the customer needs assistance.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more physiological characteristics detected from the distance comprises one of a pulse, heart rate, breathing rate, breathing pattern, skin temperature, body temperature, and pupil dilation.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the consumer product comprises a plurality of characteristics; and

the set of ratings comprises a respective rating for each characteristic of the plurality of characteristics.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of rating further comprises a composite rating based on the respective rating for each characteristic of the plurality of characteristics.

7. A method comprising:

using one or more cameras to identify an actual consumer product being displayed in a real-world retail environment having a focus of a person, said focus on the consumer product determined by;

tracking face tilt and eye gaze of the customer in relation to the consumer product when the customer'"'"'s face is visible to the one or more cameras, and

tracking head tilt and rotation of the customer in relation to the consumer product when the customer'"'"'s face is not visible to the one or more cameras;

using the one or more cameras to detect, from a distance, one or more physiological characteristics of the customer with respect to the consumer product;

determining, by a processor, an opinion of the customer regarding the consumer product based on the detected one or more physiological characteristics; and

adjusting one or more ratings of the consumer product in response to the processor determining the opinion of the customer regarding the consumer product.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising storing the one or more ratings of the consumer product, a number of customers who have focused on the consumer product, and an amount of time that the number of customers have focused on the consumer product.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising recommending one or more actions regarding the consumer product based on the one or more ratings of the consumer product.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising recommending one or more actions regarding the consumer product based on a number of customers who have focused on the consumer product and an amount of time that the number of customers have focused on the consumer product.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining a medical condition of the customer, and further comprising an alert module that sends a notification in response to the interpretation module determining a medical condition of the customer.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining that the customer needs assistance with respect to the consumer product, and further comprising an alert module that sends a notification in response to the interpretation module determining that the customer needs assistance.

13. A computer program product for observing and analyzing customer opinion, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions readable/executable by a processor to cause the processor to:

use one or more cameras to identify an actual product being displayed in a real-world retail environment having a focus of a customer, said focus on the consumer product determined by;

tracking face tilt and eye gaze of the customer in relation to the consumer product when the customer'"'"'s face is visible to the one or more cameras, and

tracking head tilt and rotation of the customer in relation to the consumer product when the customer'"'"'s face is not visible to the one or more cameras;

use the one or more cameras to detect, from a distance, one or more physiological characteristics of the customer with respect to the consumer product;

determine an opinion of the customer regarding the consumer product based on the detected one or more physiological characteristics; and

adjust one or more ratings of the consumer product in response to the interpretation module determining the opinion of the customer regarding the consumer product.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, the program instructions further causing the processor to store the one or more ratings of the consumer product, a number of persons who have focused on the product, and an amount of time that the number of customers have focused on the product.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, the program instructions further causing the processor to recommend one or more actions regarding the consumer product based on one of the one or more ratings of the consumer product, a number of customers who have focused on the consumer product, and an amount of time that the number of customers have focused on the consumer product.

16. The computer program product of claim 13, the program instructions further causing the processor to determine a medical condition of the customer, and further comprising an alert module that sends a notification in response to the interpretation module determining medical condition of the customer.

17. The computer program product of claim 13, the program instructions further causing the processor to determine that the customer needs assistance with respect to the consumer product, and further comprising an alert module that sends a notification in response to the interpretation module determining that the customer needs assistance.