SMART SCANNING SYSTEM

• US 20080296382A1
• Filed: 05/31/2007
• Published: 12/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Holdings Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Holdings Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Haas, Norman, Flickner, Myron D., Hampapur, Arun, Pankanti, Sharathchandra U., Connell, Jonathan H. II, Hammershoy, Thomas J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,794,524 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/462.01
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/256 of results relating to different input data, e.g. multimodal recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 5/00 Methods or arrangements for verifying the correctness of markings on a record carrier; Column detection devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/0004 Hybrid readers
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10554 Moving beam scanning
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10821 further details of bar or optical code scanning devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/10 Image acquisition document image scanning and transmission H04N1/00; control of digital cameras H04N23/60
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/811 the classifiers operating on different input data, e.g. multi-modal recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0063 with means for detecting the geometric dimensions of the article of which the code is read, such as its size or height, for the verification of the registration

Abstract

The present invention provides a smart scanning system comprising an integrated scanning and image capture system in which one or more image capture device(s) (e.g., still camera, video camera, etc.) and a barcode scanner are positioned within a common enclosure that is a component of a checkout station. The barcode of item is scanned and an image of the item is recorded. The identity of the item as determined based on the barcode is compared to its appearance as determined based on its image. If the identity is inconsistent with its appearance, a discrepancy is registered. It is then determined whether the discrepancy is due to fraud (e.g., theft) or device error. In the case of the latter, the system can be updated to prevent a repeat of the error.

Claims

1. A smart scanning method, comprising:

receiving a scan of a barcode of an item via an integrated scanning and image capture system;

determining an identity of the item based on the barcode;

capturing of an image of the item via the integrated scanning and image capture system; and

determining whether the identity is consistent with an appearance of the item as determined from the image.

2. The smart scanning method of claim 1, further comprising:

registering a discrepancy if the identity is inconsistent with the appearance; and

providing a notification of the discrepancy, the notification being at least one of a visual notification and an audible notification.

3. The smart scanning method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining a true identity of the item if the identity is inconsistent with the appearance to determine whether the discrepancy is either error or fraud; and

updating the integrated scanning and image capture system to avoid a repeat of the discrepancy if the discrepancy is an error.

4. The smart scanning method of claim 1, the scan being received by a barcode scanner positioned within the integrated scanning and image capture system and the image being captured by an image capture device positioned within the integrated scanning and image capture system.

5. The smart scanning method of claim 1, the image capture device being selected from a group consisting of a still image camera and a video camera.

6. The smart scanning method of claim 1, further comprising:

segmenting the image from a background; and

extracting at least one visual feature of the item to determine the appearance.

7. A smart scanning system, comprising:

a module for receiving a scan of a barcode of an item via an integrated scanning and image capture system;

a module for determining an identity of the item based on the barcode;

a module for capturing of an image of the item via the integrated scanning and image capture system; and

a module for determining whether the identity is consistent with an appearance of the item as determined from the image.

8. The smart scanning system of claim 7, further comprising:

a module for registering a discrepancy if the identity is inconsistent with the appearance; and

a module for providing a notification of the discrepancy, the notification being at least one of a visual notification and an audible notification.

9. The smart scanning system of claim 8, further comprising:

a module for determining a true identity of the item if the identity is inconsistent with the appearance to determine whether the discrepancy is either error or fraud; and

a module for updating the integrated scanning and image capture system to avoid a repeat of the discrepancy if the discrepancy is an error.

10. The smart scanning system of claim 7, the scan being received by a barcode scanner positioned within the integrated scanning and image capture system and the image being captured by an image capture device positioned within the integrated scanning and image capture system.

11. The smart scanning system of claim 10, the image capture device being a still image capture device.

12. The smart scanning system of claim 10, the image capture device being a video image capture device.

13. An integrated scanning and image capture system, comprising:

a barcode scanner for scanning a barcode of an item; and

an image capture device for capturing an image of the item, the barcode scanner and the image capture device both being positioned within a common enclosure.

14. The integrated scanning and image capture system of claim 13, further comprising a set of modules being configured to:

determine an identity of the item based on the barcode;

determine an appearance of the item based on the image;

compare the identity to the appearance; and

determine whether the identity is consistent with the appearance.

15. The integrated scanning and image capture system of claim 14, the set of modules being further configured to:

register a discrepancy if the identity is inconsistent with the appearance;

determine whether the discrepancy is either an error or fraud; and

update the integrated scanning and image capture system to prevent the error from being repeated.

16. The integrated scanning and image capture system of claim 14, the set of modules being further configured to provide a notification of the discrepancy.

17. The integrated scanning and image capture system of claim 16, the notification being at least one of a visual notification and an audible notification.

18. A program item stored on a computer readable medium for smart scanning, the computer readable medium comprising program code for causing a computer system to:

receive a scan of a barcode of an item via an integrated scanning and image capture system;

determine an identity of the item based on the barcode;

capture of an image of the item via the integrated scanning and image capture system; and

determine whether the identity is consistent with an appearance of the item as determined from the image.

19. The program item for claim 18, the computer readable medium further comprising program code for causing the computer system to:

register a discrepancy if the identity is inconsistent with the appearance;

determine whether the discrepancy is either an error or fraud; and

update the integrated scanning and image capture system to prevent the error from being repeated.

20. The program item for claim 18, the computer readable medium further comprising program code for causing the computer system to provide a notification of the discrepancy.

21. The program item for claim 20, the notification being at least one of a visual notification and an audible notification.

22. A method for deploying a smart scanning system, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

receive a scan of a barcode of an item via an integrated scanning and image capture system;

determine an identity of the item based on the barcode;

capture of an image of the item via the integrated scanning and image capture system; and

determine whether the identity is consistent with an appearance of the item as determined from the image.

23. The method for claim 22, the computer infrastructure being further operable to:

register a discrepancy if the identity is inconsistent with the appearance;

determine whether the discrepancy is either an error or fraud; and

update the integrated scanning and image capture system to prevent the error from being repeated.

24. The method of claim 22, the computer infrastructure being further operable to provide a notification of the discrepancy.

25. The method for claim 24, the notification being at least one of a visual notification and an audible notification.