Methods and Apparatus for Automated Product Identification in Point of Sale Applications
First Claim
1. A product identification unit comprising:
- a terahertz radiation source operative to illuminate an area of interest with terahertz frequency radiation;
a terahertz radiation detector operative to detect terahertz radiation reflected from an object within the area of interest resulting from illumination by the terahertz radiation source and generating a detector signal based on the detected radiation; and
a processor operative to process information represented by the detector signal to generate indicia indicating characteristics of an object within the area of interest so as to allow for comparison of the indicia against a collection of indicia associated with products offered for sale.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and techniques for product identification using terahertz radiation detection. An area of interest is illuminated with radiation in the terahertz frequency range and terahertz radiation reflected from objects within the area of interest is detected and a detector signal based on the detected radiation is processed to generate identifying information for the objects. The generated identifying information may be compared against stored identifying information for products and the result of the comparison is used to select a product or group of products for which the comparison produces a match. Processing of the detector signal may generate a spectral signature characteristic of reflective and absorptive properties of an object under illumination, and the spectral signature may be compared with stored spectral signature information for products.
37 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A product identification unit comprising:
-
a terahertz radiation source operative to illuminate an area of interest with terahertz frequency radiation; a terahertz radiation detector operative to detect terahertz radiation reflected from an object within the area of interest resulting from illumination by the terahertz radiation source and generating a detector signal based on the detected radiation; and a processor operative to process information represented by the detector signal to generate indicia indicating characteristics of an object within the area of interest so as to allow for comparison of the indicia against a collection of indicia associated with products offered for sale. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A point of sale terminal, comprising:
-
a user interface for receiving inputs firm a user and furnishing information to a user in order to conduct a point of sale transaction; a terahertz radiation source operative to illuminate an area under consideration with terahertz radiation; a terahertz radiation detector to detect terahertz radiation reflected by one or more objects under the area under illumination and to generate data based on the detected terahertz radiation; and a processor to generate identifying data for a product based on the detected terahertz radiation, - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
-
-
14. A method of point of sale management, comprising the steps of:
-
illuminating an area of interest in the vicinity of a point of sale terminal with terahertz frequency radiation; detecting terahertz frequency radiation reflected from objects within the area of interest as a result of the illumination to produce a detection signal based on the detected radiation; processing the detection signal to generate identifying information for objects within the area of interest; and comparing the generated identifying information with stored identifying information to identify products whose stored identifying information matches the generated identifying in formation. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification